a few more festivities, a few more friends and a new favorite hobbie

what else happened during this holiday season?!

well, i failed to mention that when i returned from viewing the lights at the motor speedway with the gals, i came home to find a marker in the middle of the living room, without the top. i know that i didn't leave it that way-my markers are treasure to me! so that left bruno or chaco-i looked everywhere to try to locate the cap, and didn't see it anywhere. but there was a tiny shred of green plastic in chaco's facial hair...grr...could he have really?? i mean he did do some damage to the red papermate not too long ago... although i wasn't too worried, i went to bed, and then at about 3am, i couldn't sleep, and i ended up looking on animal web md...found something to make chaco throw up, in case he had eaten the thing. so i actually got up, got dressed and went in search of canned pumpkin to make this concoction...i finally ended up at walmart, where i should've just gone in the first place (although, in my defense the 7-11 has had it in the past..about 5 years ago, but still)...got home, made this stuff, fed him (so i had to give bruno some pumpkin, because if chaco eats, bruno has to). and then in about half hour, i was up cleaning after chaco-looking for green bits of marker cap. this happened about 7-9 times, no marker. i'm an idiot. we went all day with no problems, then he was doing it again the following evening, so we went in to the vet-xrays for both of the boys-nothing, (bruno's was just to check his leg for lameness) but they did discover that although there was no marker top, chaco did have a slight case of pancreatitis, and we got some prescription food for him. they love the canned stuff, and it seemed to help calm his tummy (he's had issues with the vomiting before-but i never really thought anything of it, because it would pass...don't want everyone thinking it's bc i gave him some pumpkin crap!). 

i hated going out to get this!!!

and so he rested with me the following day, while i was doing work-ish stuffs!

well, then, my friend bmayes came down to do some Christmas-y-dallas-y stuff one weekend. she was going to an early dinner with one of her small-group gals, and she actually ended up going to walk another girl's dog-which, all said and done, i think she was back around 10:30-11-ish, and we still drove around to look at lights near park and midway. they were beautiful, and the estates are enormous!

this HUGE lit tree was so beautiful!

and of course, chaco, waiting to see if there was going to be any more fun that evening!

the following day, we ended up getting in one event-the george w bush presidential library at smu, as they had a Christmas display. we almost didn't find parking because our outing just so happened to coincide with the smu graduation. oops. it was pretty cool, and i've been meaning to get over there for quite some time now! anyhoo, b had to get out of town shortly after that (wanted in several states, trying to keep in front of the law..oh, wait not her, that's someone else i know)...she had to get home before the weather in norman got bad! this was the day that it was 70 at about 11am, and by 7pm it was down in the 30s. half-day of spring to winter...it was great.

because it's all business in the oval office!

and the following evening after the cowboys played a stellar game, kristi, an old friend from HONDURAS happened to be passing through, and got to stay with me and we stayed up late catching up, and the following morning got to do more catching up before she took off around noon. truly i do love catching up with old friends! not much has changed apart from new experiences! seems like just yesterday that we were playing water-war games in the empty lots around the neighborhood, climbing up the water-tower and playing beach volleyball! #timestandsstill....

good times with this kid!! (i must have been about to say something, i look silly)

i got a text from nicolette asking what was going on tuesday p.m. and she text back that we were going to medieval times! she was the lucky winner of 4 tickets on instagram! so tickets had to be used! we met up and got the greatest paper crowns in the kingdom- red and gold! the food-always phenomenal, and while i didn't get much of a chance to catch up with olivia-all the way on the other end, it was fun just to be there! our knight was handsome in his own way, until i began imagining him with a man-bun.. he did not win the princess' hand though. he did throw a flower my way, but it was just a little short, and i didn't jump for it...the little girl in front of me picked it up to give it to me, but i told her to give it to her sister, the birthday girl. and afterward, nicolette and i ran some errands because she had some gifts that needed to be rounded up. unfortunately we weren't able to find all the necessities, so i was able to find some gift boxes from lush that made the cut..crisis averted, the team was getting more than last-minute gas-station sunglasses and a diet coke! we met later that evening, as i was leaving the next day.

yum! eating with no utensils always makes the food more delicious!

fun times! which one of these girls has no toilet paper at their place? hint: i do!

our handsome knight! quite adept with his tools of the trade!

throughout the week, i received fun stuff from our boss-team and hr! it was like Christmas all week long!! very fun, very unexpected and very appreciated!

so very thoughtful!

thursday i was taking off for missouri, so after packing everything, i made a stop at the vet on the way out, to pick up pain meds for bruno's leg, and they seem to be working great...and she called to tell me that his blood tests were normal, so we have the green light to schedule his surgery!

love going to mom and dad's! while i was there, i got to make a detour down to branson to see trish (so often, she's not there), so it was great to sit with her and enjoy conversation! one of my mentors, and a dear friend-only wish she didn't live so far away..it only means that the occasional random times that we do get the opportunity to hang out is that much more precious!

fortunately the weather was nice enough to do some target practice that afternoon! i haven't gotten much of a chance to go target shooting around here, so i love it that dad has set up a great spot.

we did Christmas, gift exchange and such, then we had a shortened morning service at church. after that we picked up a young man who used to go to our church up in iowa, and is now living near mom and dad. he did lunch with us, and then dad dropped him back off at his place, and mom and i continued picking up pecans! yes, they have a pecan tree, and there were so many pecans on the ground-it was like looking for easter eggs!! then we watched some football! go chiefs!!

and we will most likely be using one of these photos for next year's Christmas card!

and my new favorite pass-time over the break became 'pecan-shelling'! i've become quite good at extracting full halves. it's like a game now...so soothing, so calming, such a great meditation-al device! apart from the blister-inducing devices. so now i have a great little nut-cracking-callous on my pinky finger. nice.

i didn't mention it, but as i stopped at the tx rest area on the way home, i was stretching the boys' legs, and we saw some people gathering something from under the tree, so i went to ask if them was pecans they were gathering, and i think the man was very hesitant, as he thought i might be encroaching on his territory and a perceived threat (we encounter that when searching for shark teeth quite often)...no worries, mr! i got two bagfuls in my cah--get over it!

and that takes us to the uneventful drive home, the day after Christmas. uneventful.
finishing out EOY vacations next,

julie

labor day, fish tacos and trail tots (nothing like tater tots)

first countdown: labor day-check! now, only 80 days to the next big one-thanksgiving! (that's 11 weekends!) and only 104 days until Christmas (15 weekends! not that i'm counting...) we've made it to labor day with no major glitches. although, i did receive a message that i need to do my tei calibration test again-in basics, it's just a test to ensure that we (coaches and administrators) are on the same page and really using the rubric to evaluate during distinguished teacher reviews. which means another half day off campus. boo.

on thursday i almost forgot to go to the chiropractor-mostly because i simply forgot it was thursday, and i was super excited because we were able to get a larger pool than i anticipated to participate in CATCH UP & READ (CAR),which is the program we began working with last year. in fact, i'd only had one person answer the call and step up to the plate, so i was afraid we'd not be able to have the program. so i sent out one last ditch effort email and gave a brief 5 minute spiel at our pd session, and after some begging and cajoling, we were able to get enough teachers to match it up in such a way that some will work the program every other week, and some will work it one day every week instead of two, to cut down on the over-commitment. hopefully it will go well, and be beneficial to everyone involved! i am going to do everything possible to make it fun and really show appreciation to the teachers, TAs and students involved!

as i began to say, i was so excited about the turn-out, that i almost forgot about my chiropractor appointment! i'm so glad that i didn't because had i missed it, i would've missed this gem! i was driving, minding my own business, when out of the peripheral, i noticed an suv to my left passing by. only without actually looking at it, it seemed oddly shaped. then i noticed that was because it wasn't an suv! it was a ridiculously tall car. dear sir, over-sized wheels do not make you a monster truck. sorry. i'll bet it makes it easier to tip the car over.

he has no idea how ridiculous he looks.

 and i also found out that the chiropractor is closed on monday for labor day! so i would've missed a whole week of adjustment and probably wasted a trip on monday, not knowing it was closed. 

i made no big plans for labor day, which is allowing me to save money-which is part of the plan! as part of the 'no plans weekend,' this morning the dogs were ecstatic about going out for a walk that was longer than just going around the pond! we did the back trail, and as we were walking, i had to keep them away from the 'nature-y' part of the trail, because there is still a bunch of poison ivy over yonder. then i saw some fruit on the ground, some of which had been bitten into and pulled apart. so i picked one up, as they looked to be some sort of nut, and i wanted to take it home to identify it.

i googled the images of the fruit, and found it to be exactly what i had suspected-PECAN! that was exciting! i decided to peel it and see the nut inside. and just like the walnuts used to do, it stained my fingers-darn it! why is it that the good things in life can be so messy?!? anyhoo, i will be watching that tree closely as we move to late september and into october! i hate paying so much for pecans at the store-robbery!

it looks like i was fingerprinted with pecan fruit

and last night as i was contemplating cleaning out my closet, i got sidetracked when i found my trail tot book...AND the vest! yes. i was in trail tots when we lived in raytown, mo back in the day! that was in the kinder year. 6 yrs old. and i rocked trail tots at our church! the lady in charge was mrs. aubry, the mother of curtis, one of my brother's friends. (may have had a crush on him). and the aubreys were good friends with my parents. as for trail tots itself, we did crafts, learned verses, played games...one of the things i remember doing while we were at the church was finding an animal print out in the yard and making a plaster cast of it (not sure what that has to do with Jesus, but it was pretty darn cool)...and finding a crab apple tree- i don't think our leader encouraged or even knew that we had picked apples from the tree, but i learned very quickly that they were not delicious.

this piece of vintage pleather still fits. yes, i did try it on, and i almost threw my shoulder sockets out trying to get it off! 

using the write from the beginning rubric, i believe the picture should receive a rather high score.

perhaps this was part of the development of my love for letter-writing!

DRAW SOMETHING THAT GOD MADE: please note snow-capped mountains, the tree with leaves, and the dead tree with no leaves and a hollow...the birds at different distances...AND the helicopter! God didn't make that, but what a lovely addition!

as i think about the things we did, look at the question at the bottom of the page, what we were doing at church was in essence engaging us in our interests and preparing us for school- verbal interaction, memorization skills, community and civics...i really wish more of our students were involved in something like this outside of school or before they came to our campus, because it really is beneficial!

i am doing my best to stay away from brats (the hot dog-kind) this weekend, even though it is truly the food for labor day, because i cannot buy just one, i have to purchase an entire package, and then i have to eat them within a certain time-frame before they go bad, and it really isn't on my list of good meats. so instead, i purchased fresh fish at the store yesterday and today i ventured to make blackened fish tacos at home. they were actually quite good! and i still have 1 1/2 fillets left, so i'll be eating fish tacos this weekend-and i'm not even a tiny bit sad about that!

alright, for all of you that work (for those of you that do not work-and are capable, i don't think you should take part in this holiday, as you are riding on the backs of those who do), remember that this day: honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. God Bless America!

alrighty then, have a fabulous long weekend!!
julie

bruno and chaco put on a show and i endured awkwardness

and we've made it through yet another monday...wait..it's tuesday. good! this means it's going to feel like a short week! and thank goodness next week is spring break, so that we can recuperate from springing ahead...no. no...thank goodness next week is spring break so that we can have a bit of a break before the madness begins!

on saturday i packed up the boys and we drove to petsmart, and we walked around the parking lot so that if they had to, they could do their business. then we went inside just to get dog food, and while we were in the store, i saw that look in bruno's eyes, and so i hurried along, not allowing him to stop in one place until we got to the register and tried to pay really quickly. while i was paying, a little asian boy approached and chaco started barking, drawing attention to himself, and it never fails when we're in petsmart, bruno decided to take a dump. nice. i'm sure the way it went down was "psst..hey bruno, you go poop, and i'll bark really loud to get everyone to look! ready? here come some people, go, go, go!" pretty sure i know who the instigator is! good thing i always keep a poop bag tied to the leash! and out the door we went with a bag of poop and some dog food.

and i rewarded them by taking them to the park-our favorite...

then we went to the little park near the store that they love so much..it's tucked away so you can't really see it from the street, but we love it! and on the way we saw daffodils! i like daffodils, but they look so stinkin' fragile and sunday morning bonnet-like. they remind me of little miss muffet for some reason.

i tried to get a pic of the boys smelling them, but chaco would have none of it. "no, not a pic of me smelling flowers, what would the other dogs say?!"

 i was worried about the time, but i got them home, then got ready to go to a surprise bday party for a friend. i decided to leave early to try to get up to allen so that i could stop by cabela's to try to purchase ammo for target practice, but they were out. boo. early for nothing. but then, my day was made when i stopped at the register and saw the candied pecans. it made up for the disappointment of coming all the way over and not finding what i really wanted...in fact, next time, i'm not going for ammo, i'm going for roasted pecans, and if they happen to have ammo, added bonus. i am a sucker for these things! it brings back fond memories of renaissance festival in kc! good times!

YUM!!

 i had received a text earlier in the day that one of my coworkers was not going to be there, boo. i had seen olivia and lindsey's name in the email list (i learned later that natalie was also on that list), and since they were going, i thought i would go, as i did not really want to go to a party where i knew no one. well. i got a text early in the day saying that lindsey couldn't go because she was feeling sick, legit...but i thought, "no big deal, olivia will still be there!" 

i arrived late because i missed my turn and had to loop all the way back down to legacy and back up to allen to get there, then when i arrived, it was located in this plaza area, and i had no clue where to park because it was such a beautiful day, and everyone was out and about. finally i circled around and found a spot in the garage. then as i was trying to figure out exactly where it was at, i tripped on the curb because it was much higher than it should have been-nothing damaged beyond ego.

when i found it, i walked in and had to wait for the hostess twice. she finally showed me around the corner, and i was at least hoping to see his wife, but alas, i looked at the gathering and knew no one, so i asked if this was for dallas, and was told yes. so i sat where there was an available seat (the family was all there-5 people at one end and 5 at the other end, the available seat was in the middle, so i sat). it was a little awkward because it was about 15 minutes before they showed up, and no sign of olivia...so i just kinda sat there. didn't really talk to anyone because they were all engaged in conversation...no one really talked to me...yep.i even ordered a caprese salad at one point thinking if i slowly gnaw on some food maybe i wouldn't have to talk to anyone...well, that salad never came...but i still didn't have to talk to anyone (i probably seemed like a jerk...or a loser, not sure which, don't care!) then i was relieved when dallas and diane finally walked in! and that's when diane mentioned that natalie couldn't make it either. boo!

half way into it, a couple of other coworkers showed up, but they were at a separate table, so i just enjoyed the pizza and nothing bundt cake! my first time at grimaldi's pizza and i loved it!

it was worth it, and dallas was truly surprised-diane did a great job!

then sunday i decided to go ahead and make the dehydrated watermelon because xochitl had been asking for it! so i took some down while i was in the library i snuck it over to her in the teacher's lounge..then she had to share it because everyone else was interested! so i took another batch to her in her classroom. i love it that she loves it so much! smile.#goodtofeelneeded

i may have to keep the dehydrator out and do some more fruit! i loved it too! mango's good...

so today i went to the store to get some salsa ingredients, as mine was running low, and it is the best condiment for pretty much anything (minus a hot fudge sundae-which is not on the diet). and when i went in, my eyes immediately glanced over at the spock machine, but i noticed he wasn't there anymore...when i came out i took a closer look:

hmm..interesting, spock's not there, AND it's out of order. i don't know exactly what happened, but i imagine that when the lights went out, he performed some sort of vulcan mind move and got himself out, and then unfixed the machine for the best interest of the others

so, i started to walk out and stopped at the 'gumball machines' that actually sell toys. i really wanted something, so i put my bags down and dug through my purse for three quarters. then i put two of the quarters in, but i wasn't able to turn the knob to insert the third quarter. so i had to shimmy the other two quarters out and try to turn the knob to figure out how it worked...no luck, so being determine i tried the two quarters again, but to no avail...i have no doubt that the people passing by were thinking that i was somehow robbing the thing when i kept trying to get the quarters back out...so i walked away without my toy. sad day.

but not so sad, because when i got home, i saw a package in front of my door! my watch has finally arrived! now i can be a real adult!

it was the blue-silver face that won my heart!

ask me what time it is, go ahead...
julie