depeche mode coffee and wookies in the restroom?

I learned today that flies in missouri are caffeine addicts. how did i come to this epiphany, you might ask. well. i left an unfinished cup of coffee on the table and came back to it later. the one drawback of being in the country is that there are flies...it's like they all gravitated toward buffalo missouri, curious about the visitor from tx...they must've seen my car plates and registration on the way in...

so, i've been practicing my fly swatting skills-i knock 'em silly and then chaco plays with them until they stop moving. i'm pretty sure he swallowed one or two. but i digress...upon returning to my lukewarm coffee (which is still better than no coffee...), i felt a little chunk pass my lips and spit it back into the cup...it wasn't like grounds that had gotten past the filter, it had legs! so i went to the sink to dump it out, and there was another one! NASTY. it did make me think of the old depeche mode song: fly on the windscreen.

in the beginning, the flies kinda drove chaco crazy...he'd see them flying around and hear them, and get the anxious shivers as he started looking around in his all-vigilant-mode, ready to pounce. by the end, i'm pretty certain that he was actively seeking the flies out.

any time a car slowed down or pulled into the drive, they were at the window...thyey loved it.

i'm not complaining that it was raining...every day while i was in missouri, just stating the facts. yep, it was a wet one-which also made it cooler. when i left, it was 75 degreees, and by the time we'd travelled into oklahoma and just south of the clouds, it had rapidly reached 98. boo. then when we hit texas, it was triple diigits. no flies. i'm pretty sure they don't dig the heat....nor the traffic.

on the way home, i slowed down enough to get a pic of the local park restrooms.this particular one always catches my eye.

 so, here's the story. the first time i saw it i thought, 'hmm. f for female. m for male..what is the w for? wookies?' (pause) 'WAIT A MINUTE! m is for men, w is for women....f is for farmers...er...family' 

this morning i had to wake up earlier than i liked, but i did it. i had a conference for coaches. it was interesting. in the first session i went to, one of the traininers told us to turn to our neighbor and give them the finger...which if you had your back to her and weren't watching her, you might get the wrong idea. poor word choice. she was waving her pointer finger back and forth as if to say no,no,no. i wouldn't really call that giving someone the finger. (and she's not a foreigner or anything, no excuse for poor phrasing).

in another session, they laid out chart paper on our desks, and i may of may not have been doodling cartoon characters. as i was walking out, the trainer said, "i could've watched you all day!"

anyhoo, i definitely got a lot of valuable information from the conferences.

the phrase i am growing a little weary of is: let's put the right tools in our toolbox. i'm not a carpenter...not a plumber...not an electrician. i don't carry a toolbox (even though i own tools)...

so-i was up at my school preparing for the schoolyear today and this guy caught me off guard as i rounded the corner a little too quickly:

i'm guessing that marlon probably put him there as a joke...and to wax the floor.

and after about an hour and a half, i went into the bathroom, and noticed that my hair was pulling an alfalfa. (little rascals)


it's a good look. for norms from now on, instead of taming technology, more importantly will be taming hair.

all in a day.

but the best part of my day to this point has been the zucchini fries that i made! woah. side by side, i would eat these over potato chips or fries every time! and they are super easy! (shake and bake, parmesan cheese in a bag, sliced zucchini dipped in egg, 15 minutes at 450) yummers!

like i said, the best part of my day to this point...only because i did not get to come straight home for a nap! when we were in branson, bmayes suggested a foam topper from amazon for my mattress because i was telling her how uncomfortable i've been recently. so i ordered it while i was at my parents', and it came the day i got back from my vacation! all i could think of all day during my conference trainings was getting back to nap on that mattress!! i wasn't even tired, i just wanted to enjoy laying on it! i can't wait to go to sleep tonight!

on that note, i will be going to bed early tonight!
julie

summer is always too short!

well. finally a little summer vacation. it went by all too quickly!

as soon as summer science discovery camp was over, i had to stick around town for a special introductory meeting for STAND for children-educator network. we had a great turnout for summertime! as a matter of fact, i did speak, but that wasn't the most exciting part (although i felt like i nailed it) the best part-as always was the spread:

you really cannot beat brie with fruit-one of my all-time favs

 of course before the big event, i took the boys for a walk--i love it that i can get on that back trail and walk them without the leash, and that they are pretty good about staying this close.

 the next morning was an early morning because i did not have everything packed in the car as i had planned it out in my head; and we wanted to get an early start! so we were able to get out of dallas around 6:30ish, which got me up to Oklahoma around 9 something. when we got there, for a brief layover (stopped to get bmayes), the boys got out of the car and bruno thought it would be a brilliant idea to roll around in the grass-still full of dew...hmmm.  so when we got around to leave, i'm sure bmayes was relieved to be driving her own car, because as i got into mine, it was 'wet dog'--if o'reilley auto parts sells that as an air freshener, i'll pass!

we left my car and the dogs at my parents house and then went on to branson-kind of a second home!
i probably should have paid more attention to the ratings before i booked the cheap hotel off hotels.com...it was pretty shabby. kinda dark-like vampire dark movie. and the bathtub...i wanted to go to the store for some cleaning supplies. we decided we weren't going to be spending much time there anyway. and bmayes thought the hotel next to us was featured in hotel impossible. i was like..."oh, the one with howie mandell?" because all bald men are howie mandell to me. and she said, "no...i guess he kinda looks like howie...he is bald." so...it's actually anthony melchiorri. and i did look up the episode and the pics..and then i google-mapped it satellite view and as a matter of fact, it WAS one and the same!!

bmayes, we probably should have gone and bothered one of the cleaning folk to just 'get a glimpse' of the newly renovated rooms!

anyhoo...we did get krispy kreme, and were not disappointed (totally worth it to go in and get the hot fresh doughnut as well!)

don't ask, i just liked the display!

 we were under the impression that silver dollar city was closed on monday because apparently they didn't update the schedule on google from their winter schedule...we decided to stop by anyway just in case, and guess what! it was open! thankfully bmayes had worked at kamp and we were able to get in at a discounted rate!

the girl in front of us definitely tried this and looked a little silly

 best ride in the park...powder keg! we definitely went on this one twice.

 we also went on the outlaw run (once), fire in the hole (once-nostalgic-i went when i was really young, and it was definitely more exciting then [plus there weren't sarcastic, annoying teens back then]), wildfire (twice- short line) and thunderation. i was a little nervous every time i had to leave my purse and phone in a cubby...in fact more worried about that than roller coaster mishaps (even after the disaster at six flags about a week prior)

 one of the random things we got to do was just lollygag (who even came up with that word?) around at dicks 5 and dime, which is a little dime store with a little bit of EVERYTHING! i think the little train that goes around the store is somewhat endearing.

 then we made our way over to trish's to drop off a wedding gift for her son, only no one was there! so we left it on the porch. then we went out to kamp to see who was there. on the way down the main drag, we stopped and chatted with diane at the ropes course and were fortunate to be joined by dj who was driving by on some sort of mission.

then we made our way down to chat with trish and had the rare opportunity of catching her at her kamp home with no one else there but Darla muffin (her yorkie); it was so great to sit down and spend some time with her. i know she was busy and had a lot on her mind as they were preparing to go to her son's wedding! (wow, it seems like just yesterday when he was in elementary school reading the lion the witch and the wardrobe!) how time flies when you're growing up!

we then headed up to the dining hall, and didn't eat (there is a reason). we got to see shayla (trish's daughter) and i got to see a former kamper from Egypt-taline! that was a throwback!! how fun!

we went back up the hill and stopped at diane and hank's house to see the work they'd done, and diane gave us the grand tour with emmy-it is grand! i wish they had even more time that they could spend up there!! it is such a beautiful home!

there comes a moment when hunger wins out over everything else, and we had to leave to go to the blueberry farm, because let's be real...you don't stop out in this area without stopping at persimon's!

this is why we couldn't have lunch....cumulobluebus...ah.

 we also hit up mr. gilberti's-best pizza in the area! and we also made sure to get danna's barbecue- i had never had bbq beef nachos before, and i was a little skeptical, but i'm glad i had them! yummers!

bmayes had to get back to ok, so she dropped me back at mom and dad's, and i may have taken a nap. the boys were pretty excited that i was home! and i hear that they make a lot more noise when i'm around than when i'm gone. i chalk it up to the protective factor.

 

so peaceful!

 they quickly found resting spots beside me in the office.

just...wherever.

my dad decided he needed a shop to work in. when he first mentioned building a shop, i thought about the shops I've seen in dallas behind houses-more of a little storage area. so when i saw this little house, i thought, "whoa! i should have him and Rodney build me a house." i don't need anything fancy...just a house.

today he was on the roof outside working on the tyvek, and i will admit, i was a little worried that he was not on a harness or scaffolding or something.

 

 i did stop into the local pet store and make a purchase. i got clippers for the dogs. i got the expensive set. i figure if i pay a lot, i will make sure that i use it. it was a little exciting and a little scary at the same time. little dogs are harder to shave than big dogs. they have such little parts! and of course the model on the instruction manual was an ugly giant poodle. (a little easier than a 5 lb yorkie...).

mom said she saw them scratching and thought they might've gotten fleas from the cat, or the yard. well, i figured i would scare the crap out of those little buggers and they probably felt like those mice in the secret of nimh. anyhoo, today i made the homemade version of flea and tick stuff and gave them a spray and a comb...i haven't seen anything, and i don't think they've been scratching, so...knock on wood!

the lady at the shop was pretty excited about this tool, and she since there was no one else in the store, she showed me all of the tips and tricks about trimming the dogs!

 

we were doing fine until he started wiggling...he may have a little bare spot on his chest that slightly resembles a heart if you cross your eyes and squint...

i am excited about getting home on wednesday, because i should have two important things coming in the mail! woo hoo!

julie