may we go back to may? part 3 (didn't realize it was a trilogy?)

like i said, may was a busy month!

shortly after the mock training, i was summoned to help support in ms, which was a good experience as well. i was able to help plan and then be available for additional support onsite. we had a good time, and it was great getting to know ann better!

the uber to the hotel was informative, it was like tourist-guide-ish. then we met that night to go over the presentation, and i didn't realize until after she'd dropped me back off, that my purse was nowhere...i couldn't get back into my room (but worse than that, my license was in there, and i couldn't help but think about my flight home!)...so i called a lyft to return me to the starbucks we'd been at...the hotel clerk offered her car, but i felt a little weird about that, so i waited and prayed! unfortunately the lyft driver had to go down several exits to turn around to get to me (20 minutes later) because there was construction along the freeway! fortunately the area where the starbucks was is in a great part of town and all the other shops in the little area had been closed before we finally left, and my purse, being black and sleek, was still hanging there, patiently waiting for me on the back of the chair out on the outside seating area.

our ticket out of the training!

the training went well, and i was off to the airport again, a good 6 hour wait for the next flight. ew.

then the following day one of my great friends from kamp came to visit! the great thing was that she has a job that allows her to work from home, so we were both able to work on friday, monday and tuesday before i took wednesday and thursday off! and since shea was also working, we played in the afternoons, and it worked out well!

fields of gold

old tree photo shoot

wembley photo shoot

lido beach waiting for...

hammocks on the beach, sunset pics, myakka park- we did see alligators, and the 'sea of gold' flowers were in bloom, which is seasonal, not more than two weeks later the entire meadow was under water... we got over to st. armands, lido beach, obviously we had to introduce her to the farmhouse donuts (the biscuit and gravy twist), fish tacos, nascrab races at a local favorite...then wednesday was our early morning and off to animal kingdom!

i decided at shea's suggestion to go ahead and get annual passes for the parks, and when we decided to parkhop to magic kingdom, i determined real quickly that it was so worth it! for parking, hopping, the pics, etc, it will pay itself off quickly enough! and to be only 2 hours away, it's an easy day trip. plus a great excuse (not that i need one) to go hang out in orlando with brandy, and not feel rushed at the parks! so yes, we went we conquered! we stopped to meet and greet pocahontas, walked through to see all sorts of animals, we caught the safari ride, everest, etc, then we wandered around a bit, we wanted to do the avatar ride, but the line...ohhhhh....the line! (although, in hindsight, i understand it may have been worth it, note to self, will have to return! even if only for this ride!) we ate in this land and loved it-such interesting burger pods and hot-dog bites and very unique drinks! it was almost a given we'd eat there, as we had prepped by watching a couple nights earlier with homemade ceviche!

at some point we decided that we would spend the second half of the day at the magic kingdom. we arrived as they were recognizing a veteran, followed by a small parade, which shea almost interrupted (oh the scolding)...

anyhoo, we took advantage of every photo op available! we did some of the smaller fun rides, as the lines weren't too ridiculous...probably the longest line was our meet and greet with ariel! yikes! but she did pull out the dinglehopper and combed shea's hair, so that was worth it! as was the fast pass on splash mountain!

celebrating our mentor, TRISH HELSEL's bday (who knew she'd just gotten proposed to!?!)

these are the pictures we love!

we caught the light show from one of the small diners, then tried to get to space mountain, but the line was ridiculous! we did end up doing the winnie the pooh ride, which i believe was our last of the night, and we took the ferry back. #productiveday

the following day, which i also took off, we did a little siesta key factory tour, and beach, then when shea was off, it was a little rainy, so we went down to the tiki-hut (we'd been wanting to try the food there to mark it off the list). it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible, either. i'm pretty sure bmayes got the best option- hard to go wrong with coconut shrimp! eventually the little downpour passed by, and we made our way to a little ledge where you could sit and watch the sunset-which was pretty much set-still beautiful. and the lights were turned down because: turtle nesting season.

the following day, we got some more work done before taking bmayes to the airport for the late flight back. the issue on that 7:00 pm flight is always either traffic, or weather! fortunately we made it in a timely fashion, and despite all the other cancellations due to wx, hers went well!

and after that, i slept!

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

whose child created the interstate/road system in houston anyhoo?

wednesday morning, i had to get up early so that i could get some creamer for coffee. i spent the morning taking pictures of receipts and making some changes in plans...instead of staying in town-ish on friday, i was going to be flying to houston for a different training. that evening i messaged an old high school friend from HONDURAS, who now lives in houston to see if there might be a possibility of getting together...the response was overwhelmingly positive! once i arrived, i was going to meet up with her and friend/s for dinner, and then spend the night at her place. something to look forward to (apart from the training itself).

and now let me back up. that afternoon i was fortunate enough to participate in (and by participate, i mean listen in) on a live webinar. i'd listened to most of the recorded webinars, so it was especially fun to listen to one live! lori does a great job with these-very animated. in fact, i was thinking at one point that she would be a great d.j. and if she d.j.'d for a station that played music i enjoyed, i'd totally listen to the traffic-talk...but then of COURSE she'd be a d.j. for music i enjoy...right? and if not, i'd call in and say, "hey! play music i like, or i will have to switch stations!" 

so the plan was to get to houston around 7:05 and meet indi at the restaurant, but alas, my flight was cancelled and i rescheduled for the later flight. i didn't arrive until late, and they were done with dinner by that point, so i must made my way to her place, and when i arrived, it was a little dark, but i was pretty sure i was at the correct address, so i called, and she told me to meet her at her house. i told her i had arrived, but wasn't sure which house, or where to park, then turned the car lights back on. she said, "oh! it's you! i'm in the truck in the driveway, park under that tree!" (which is exactly where i was!) and before i knew it there was a figure running down the middle of the road, and i couldn't get out of the car fast enough!! good thing it was 11:20 and there were no cars in sight, because there was a huge embrace in the middle of the street! it was SOOOO great to finally get to see each other in person after all these years! we went in and i got to see the beautiful remodel, and i unofficially met her sleeping son-meaning: don't wake a sleeping football player who needs to get up early!

photo cred-indira selfies! has it really been so long??? 91 seems forever ago! but at the same time like just yesterday!

between her looking for a letter that she'd written, and grabbing some water, we got to talk and catch up before crashing on a most comfortable bed! i really wish we'd had more time because we barely got to the tip of the iceberg! i've missed this girl-nothing is quite as comfortable than being with friends that you've grown up with and known for ages-and that was exactly how i felt! thank you indi for just being you! can't wait to see you again!! the alarm didn't go off at 5:15, but i am light-sensitive and my body has this internal clock thing, so at 6:10-ish, i checked my clock because i could feel the sun coming up, and i jumped out of bed and was thankful that i had packed the way i did, because my outfit for the day was all rolled up and all i had to do was pull it out, put on some mascara and pee....then i threw everything into the carry-on and rushed downstairs, and gave indira a huge hug and goodbye, again,wishing i had more time! (never long enough)...and then i sped off to try to avoid traffic!

let me just say that i hate the routes in houston...i missed a turn and had to reroute more than once...it seemed to me as if some children had been asked to join the planning team and been given the task of drawing some roads and then the engineers looked and said, "it is good" and began to draw up construction designs...for real though. yikes.
         
and then some of the drivers...lets not even go there.

but i did make it to the training on schedule, and was thrilled when sabrina pulled up! this meant i was in the right place, and she hadn't given me a bogus address just to pull my leg! good way to start!

we chatted for awhile as we waited for the unlocking of the doors so that we could make our grand entrance. upon entering, we put our stuff down, i found the perfect place from which to observe and take notes. there was a spattering of participants settling in, so while she was working with the projector and sound system, sabrina asked me to pass out several handouts--my workout for the day. (working out my fingers-counting pages and meticulously maneuvering the phalanges as to not acquire any paper cuts-mission accomplished!) 

i thoroughly enjoyed observing sabrina, and seeing how she runs her training. it was very fitting. she did a great job keeping the crowd engaged and having them jump right in! very personable, and comfortable with the crowd. it really was a great group that showed up for the training, especially considering that it was the last friday of their summer break! the best part was hearing some of them say that it was so great to finally get training, as they have been using the program, but had never really had training, and it was more or less a compliance-thing.

lunch was lovely- due to the fact that we were pretty 'out-there' and we weren't sure what was going to be available, we looked on 'aroundme' and found a denny's--but it started to seem very far, and sabrina was cool with whatever, so at one point i said, "how 'bout we stop at the second restaurant we see from here?!" she was game, so we ended up at sonic-when in doubt, a route 44 goes a long way #comfortdrinks

i loved the drive because it was 'get-to-know-you-better' time. i love that she is so tight with her family and loves them so much! proud mama, with every reason!

great trainer-i see friendship in our future!

sporting the hawaiian shirt she purchased for her son-which i really think she might have to rethink and keep for herself-it's totally her color! 

the after-lunch crowd is always a doozy-same crowd, carb-loaded...snoozy.(as after-lunch p.d. always is because no one builds naptime into the agenda these days...) so it took some work to get past that initial after-lunch zombie-state, but once she got to the goal-setting, people started to perk up because this is something they were really interested in...well, most people...of course there is always that one table (there was at my school too!) and yes, this was no exception-the "we-didn't-go-over-that" table...and of course i looked at my notes and, yep, verbatim, we had gone over that...and of course that table gets the looks from everyone else, nodding their heads and saying, um..yes..we did..i know. sometimes it's hard to listen and multi-task at the same time, and it was ok, because they already knew the information; they were just doing their job of being the reminders to make sure that we went over it.

once all was said and done, i'd gotten answers to my questions, and after getting a couple of pictures, we parted ways. i loved observing sabrina, and i'm sure i'd pick up something new each time. i had to take off to make sure that i arrived at the airport in time to return my rental.

on the way back, part of the route was toll. i wasn't sure exactly how to do this, i should've asked prior to departure...when i saw the sign that said: LAST EXIT BEFORE TOLL, EZTAG ONLY/VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED...what does that even mean? prosecuted? sounds awfully harsh! water boarding... bamboo shoots/fingernails...why can't they just say you'll get a bill in the mail? (?) so i got on the service road and the lady in my phone maps kept trying to get me prosecuted! so i pulled over to a gas station, worrying about my time, and finally called the car rental to ask them about all of this toll-shenanigans...they set me straight, and basically said i was equipped  my car was equipped with tags on the plates, and to just roll on through, they'd send a bill...and i'm sure they will. so i did just that, and please let me tell you that the trip from our training site to the airport was where my child-map theory came from. i mean...it was ri-di-cu-lous!! puh-lease. but eventually i did make it to the airport and realized that my flight was actually an hour later than what i thought...this was good, because it meant i had time to grab some grub-thank you, peppercorn ranch burger, you blessed me more than you know. (burrgers, burgers-i think my life is about finding the perfect burger).

once i landed in dallas, i was driving home at 9 pm, thinking, "welp, everyone else is just leaving home to enjoy their friday night, and here i am ready to go home and settle in!" also in my thoughts was that my friend b.mayes was at the dixie chicks concert in dallas! (jealous) and i later saw on facebook that my boss was there as well, enjoying the festivities! (hope she doesn't mind the reference as boss, it's just so much shorter than the vice president of professional development...lookin' at you, lori!) and then of course i thought what if they were sitting near each other...then i saw something about hatin' on the karaoke-ers and immediately hoped they were nowhere near each other. not that i think bmayes would've involved herself in too much crazy loudness...or would she?

it's good to get home to the boys-i'm certain they were sad while i was gone, but they were immediately excited to see me when i walked in the door...too bad i couldn't say the same for the flowers...

up early-ish for breakfast at breadwinners at northpark, because that's what you do when friends are in town! it was great to meet sarah and her friend as well. it's always good to catch up, and there was a lot of catching up to do! something fun- b and sarah stayed at the double tree, and saw the istation building! (i mean, not as fun as like..a ferris wheel, or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey fun, but it's all relative!) on the way home, i found myself behind this car, and i couldn't help but think that it looked like a character in a video game that lost a life//game over...

note the Xs in the eyes...

the rest of the day was somewhat productive...wait that was today...i meant for today to be much more productive! the most productive thing i did today was finish another letter and receive a call from sheryl who had just received a letter! (we never know how long it's going to take for international mail to reach its destination!) and talks with sheryl are always animated-touching base with her is always enlightening, and they change quickly, especially when you have teenagers! love the real friends who never change, just the circumstances...the love is always there #thosefriends

so tomorrow i will wake up early, as i am going to be taking off on the 1:00...so i need to get to bed!

sleep with the angels (many of you probably already are)
julie

btown, bmayes, b with friends, b safe!

it's ou/tx weekend!! that's why i left! um..ok, not the real reason. actually, a few weeks ago, my friend bmayes shot me a text suggesting a visit to branson. a friend of ours would be getting married, and what better time to visit the ozarks than fall, with the changing of the leaves. so we made plans, but the details were not quite hammered out. it was perfect because it was that weekend that dallas elementary schools have fair day on friday!

unfortunately, as you saw in a previous post, my radar detector went out a couple of weeks ago, and had me feeling naked in my car...like something was missing! so i knew that going on a trip would probably require the comfort and security of a radar detector, but the alarm store where i'd made the original purchase was closed down and no longer there, so i had to look it up on my phone and was pleased to see that best buy sold them. so i stopped in and purchased the new guy.

bff

last week, i got the text that said the wedding was actually to take place at 4 pm on sunday. hmm...that was not good news for me because if you add in the reception, that would put me home WAY late. so, unfortunately as i sit here, i am thinking that i will miss the wedding-because i really want to get home safely. so we decided to drive in separate cars so that b can stay for the wedding.

as i was driving through oklahoma, almost at the halfway point, i knew that i should stop to get windshield wipers, because the ones i had were getting flappy (you know, when the rubber starts to come off and just starts flapping around). um. so when i saw the dark nimbus clouds in the rearview, i decided it was time to stop at walmart in mcalester. and guess what. when i walked out of the store, it was raining. great. so i put my hood up and proceeded to replace my wipers in the rain. i was having a little difficulty, and a young man came over and offered to help. he showed me exactly what i needed to do, so the second one was a cinch! i've been daydreaming about getting new wipers, because i remember getting the new ones for the g-6 and being overwhelmed by the efficiency and the amazing work these things do!

be still my beating heart!

because we drove separately, i was able to leave early and get up to see mom and dad's new place! i had the address, but there was no reception, so when i got to the general area, i turned off to the right on old hwy 5, not realizing that every turn off on hwy 5 is old hwy 5! so when i turned off and drove up a way to see the number on the mailbox, it was too high...i knew i had to go back, but what i didn't know was turn to the right or left. so i started driving and went with my gut and turned on the other side of the highway, and drove up a bit-fortunately i have a good gut-my intuition was right! (it was GOD) i saw mom's car, and when i pulled in, i saw her wind chimes and i knew i was in the right place! i got the nickel tour, and they have quite the property- so i got to spend a little time with them before back-tracking to come back down to toward branson west, where we met up for dinner at dana's bar-b-que! love me some bbq nachos! (if you ever visit b-town, i would highly recommend dana's).

once our appetites were taken care of, we took off to find the air bnb the bmayes had booked. i was following, and we got a little turned around because the directions said to turn in at a time-share complex, and it was a bit confusing...so we came back and took the directions, which led us down to a little road that wound around the complex and into a little mobile home park nestled in a little treed area near table rock lake. the light was on, some music playing and a pumpkin signaling that fall was in the air-so inviting! cozy little place!

by the time we got there, it was probably around 9pm, and i was exhausted from a long day of driving. for some reason, as soon as i got into mo, people seemed to be just driving stupid...passing at their cruising speed, which took them forever to get around semis..this drove me crazy!! driving etiquette folks, if someone is coming up behind you, accelerate, get around the slow car and move yourself on over. it drove me NUTS. i will refrain from revealing my speed, as it was a bit ridiculous. but i digress, bmayes was in the main area room, and i set up camp in the additional add-on space. i figured, since i brought one of my memory foam mattresses (remember how i travel with it whenever i can?), i would take the futon. well, it so happens that the futon was a bit smaller in dimension than mine. this basically meant that the mattress lay sloping on both sides, i tried it-nope. moved it, there was still quite an incline, and i thought it might work, so i tried it.

well, i woke up several times, thinking i should take the mattress and just lie on the floor...i didn't, and i didn't until finally, i couldn't handle it anymore. it was about 6am, so i pulled the mattress to the floor, trying not to wake bmayes in the other room. the best two and a half hours of sleep that night! morning! when i woke up, i was already thinking about breakfast! so i got on yelp and found billy gail's cafe. it sits near a campground, just up the way from silver dollar city. i had seen it several times before, but never stopped. they had great reviews, and when bmayes was awake, she said she'd seen the same thing! so it was a deal!

we drove up to the joint, and as promised by yelp reviews, it was busy-hoppin'! b dropped me off to find a parking spot, and i put our name in-45 minute wait. yes please. i knew i needed a cup o' joe, and then we stood outside with a bunch of other patrons and waited patiently; good chance for conversation! when we finally got sat, we ordered the pecan cakes and biscuits and gravy with a side of eggs to split. wow. it was delicious! good biscuits and gravy make me happy! when we were finished, we were graced with a visit from gail herself! quite the firecracker, this old gal! she and bmayes had a bonding moment, as her granddaughter is named brittany as well.

then we got back to the pad and watched the ou/tx game. sorry tx fans, i cheer for ou, because so many of my closest are from there! unfortunately tx had a lucky day.

after the game, we took off to springfield to get donuts! hurts-thank you! we decided we should take them with us to trish's, as she had offered to make taco soup for dinner that night! yum! so we were able to get the best donuts and back to trish's by 5:30. time with these two is so much fun! we just sat and talked for a couple of hours; i can be very blunt with them, and i know they don't judge me. i am not p.c. around my closest friends. i don't have to be. to be fair i am really not fond of being politically correct anyway. i'm not a politician, so i have no reason to be a hypocrite. if it's going to offend someone, i'd rather just not talk about it at all instead of trying to wear kid-gloves (my hands are much to big and my opinions can come off a little harsh). so i cherish my time with these two, which is why it was a fun surprise when trish invited us back for breakfast hashbrowns the next morning!

we wanted to get some coffee from this cute little joint in hollister, but unfortunately it was closed on sundays. so we went ahead and grabbed our coffee at casey's and made our way to trish's again. we let ourselves in, because it really is home-away-from-home...and grabbed our plates and just kinda' made ourselves at home, because that's how we roll. no one in sight, so we just figured they were getting ready for something or...something. shay came up and was like, "hey! what's going on?! does my mom know you're here?" probably not. so she went and got trish, who just laughed when she saw we'd gone ahead and helped ourselves. like i said: home-away-from-home!

we were going to go geo-caching, but we ended up going to look for shoes instead, and it took awhile, but we finally found something that was going to work well for the dress bmayes had. alas, by the time we left kohl's, it was already almost 1! WHAT?! that basically meant that when we returned, i packed up and took off. the drive home was uneventful, although when i stopped at the rest area, there weren't many family cars, or others around, but there was a man walking around with his cell phone..so i made certain to grab my knife for security purposes-better safe than sorry? i mean...doesn't everybody carry knives with them? or something to protect self?  #ilikebeingalive

never a 'dull' moment!

i picked up the boys the next day, and they seemed to have had a wonderful time with joanne! chaco talkin' all about the backyard, and begging me for one..so i told him when we went to visit mom and dad's new place, he could enjoy theirs.

i can't believe it was just a week and a half ago! which means that a lot has happened since then, and i should be writing up another post in the next few days!

julie

love affair...i'm sure i'll get over it...maybe if there weren't thousands of recipes

and yet another week has managed to slip away...already we are entering our 2nd 6 weeks of school. strange, as i have still not been able to settle into any semblance of a routine. that is not good for me. i'm like a kindergartner-routine can be a good thing.

i mentioned in my previous post that my nutribullet RX came last week-and already i have been putting it to use. made the usual shake-enough for two, so i could have some for lunch...and then i made a tomato soup on saturday. that is a minor mystery-miracle. i don't even like tomato soup. in fact, when mom used to make it for us, i'd skip the soup and just eat the grilled cheese sandwich. well...now i'm skipping the grilled cheese sandwich and eating the soup! it was SO good! that i ate a little...then i ate a little more..and then i was craving it for dinner...and i may or may not have had the last of it today for lunch. yikes..i know. and so i decided to try making a hot pumpkin spice latte drink...only i fear i did it wrong, because when i wasn't watching, the liquid started coming out, and when i came around the corner (because something in my gut said jrob, you better just check it out, being the first try and all...)...when i saw pumpkin coffee-stuff oozing out of different parts of the machine, and puddling on the counter, a little on the wall, i quickly unplugged and tried desperately to salvage what i could because i really wanted to taste it! so i had this dilemma of: SAVE THE DRINK vs SAVE THE MACHINE-dry it out! i know it's not supposed to be submerged, so i'm fairly certain it isn't supposed to be self-deluged either...good thing i got the 3 year warranty...

that said, i was able to save about a cup-worth...but it needs some tweaking. i wasn't thoroughly impressed.

this morning i was hopeful that when i plugged her back in, she'd work like a charm...and she didn't disappoint!! (must come up with a name for her). so...today i decided to try a couple of different things. this week i decided to revert back to fish tacos, so i made my avocado/roasted pepper sauce for the coleslaw....yum. and then i decided i should try another drink-this time a cool drink, so i had a caramel cooler-that recipe is a keeper! it fixed the rumbly in my tumbly. and now all i can think about is what to make next...is this what a love-affair feels like? surely this cannot be healthy..even though technically everything i am making is healthy...

it's amazing to me how those little blades can extract all of those goodies and make the smoothest drink ever! even more so than my ninja (which i thought was pretty amazing-looking somewhat like edward scissorhands). if all other weapons are not accessible, turn on the nutribullet and try to get the villain to come closer and stick his hand in...ok, so not that practical as a weapon.

yum! papaya, mango, pineapple, raspberry, greens...i pulled some russian kale and pumpkin leaves to try them...it was a little nutty. (not like nut-house-crazy, more like a nut-flavor); perhaps it's an acquired taste.

the comforting tomato basil...and i added a few of my own ingredients (turmeric and nutritional yeast for a cheesy-flavor)

 a few weeks ago, i decided that i liked an idea on fb, so i thought it would be a good exercise to start collecting some of the things that make me happy and filling up a jar. after i got a couple in a jar, i realized that they only put that picture on fb because it looked cute. if you're putting in a 'happy' every day, they would never fit in that little jar (unless you were a fairy and wrote with the tip of a baby safety pin on a 16th of a square of toilet paper and wadded it up and then put it in the jar). so i found this old cereal container-and since i don't do cereal, it is working out perfectly. i just have to remind myself, and sometimes i forget, so i do double duty-triple duty ok, sometimes i just don't even limit myself, and i write several.. #doesntplaybytherules so yes, i may have more than 365 by the end of the year-and i've only been doing it for a few weeks-WHATEVER!! don't judge! there are just so many things that make me happy! deal wit it!

 one thing that made me sad was when i got into my car the other day and my trusty escort did not turn on. i've had my little radar buddy for a good 6 years now. it was a sad day. so i brought it inside, and i haven't had time to look at it. i don't know if it might just be the cord, or if it is the radar itself. either way, it is a necessity, so i will have to go into the shop (hopefully it's still there!).

i don't think even mcgeyver can help with this one. sad day. 

i love it that we are working with social/emotional learning at school this year! our second graders are learning about their brains, and this week, i believe this class is going to be looking at some tools to help students, like breathing and the glitter ball to calm their little brains.

i am thoroughly excited to be going up to branson to visit and play for my long weekend-bmayes will be joining me after work! woo hoo!! i'll get to see mom and dad in their new place (maybe help with a little unpacking?) and then head down to b-town. yay! one of our friends is getting married-but it's not until 4:00 pm on sunday-i have to work monday, so i don't know that i will get to attend the wedding as originally planned (i didn't realize the wedding was so late in the weekend). and i have a feeling that after playing all weekend, i won't do well driving late into the night. but at least i will get out of dallas for a bit, see the autumn leaves-good times! the boys will be staying with joanne, and they seem excited about it! bruno was happy about not riding in his car seat for so long, especially as we will probably be making the trip for Christmas.

today, we actually got to share our walk with joanne and fudge, they all walked really well! it was nice to actually have a chance to talk to joanne, because we've seen each other at a couple of PL things in the haskell building, but each time, there has been something going on, making it impossible to actually catch up! boo. so it was good to catch up today-we have certainly missed having her at cabell, but i am excited that she is enjoying what she does in her new position!

i've spent most of my weekend working on curriculum maps, because although we worked on them last week, the materials that the district has made available to us are better than the curriculum we have at hand. especially after going to the training and asking our teachers to go to the training...i felt like this should be something they have at hand. i still have one more grade level to work on, but hopefully it will be helpful-

and with that, i think i will call it an evening! (and yes, breakfast shake with the RX!)
julie

oklahoma- best part of my break, thanks to a long overdue reunion

here we go again!

happy new year! i'm certain it will be a great one with new adventures, fun meetings with friends, and growth. i had no plans or intentions to do anything over this break apart from relaxing and catching up with some reading and artwork. well...i got a text the day after we got off for break from shea, one of my amazing kamp friends, saying that she was going to be in oklahoma for the break!

so, we had Christmas here in dallas,

all dapper in their Christmas best!

and then on the 26th, we went up to oklahoma and stayed with bmayes, another amazing kamp friend-in case you don't follow this blog, or missed the episode from our last visit to norman, bmayes is the proud 'mother' of 2 yorkies (chaco's sister, reagan, and half brother, thatcher). it's always great for them to get together and socialize...and even greater for me to get together and socialize!! 

How do you know when you've reached oklahoma? well, it seems pretty obvious. follow the truck with the native american!

 we arrived to fall-like weather; it was gorgeous! so of course they went out to play first thing.

oh how they loved the yard with leaves!

then lo and behold, the next morning we had no idea, but we woke up to huge snowflakes! it was rather unexpected...none of us are into weather-watching and checking forecasts. hmm. 2 inches of snow out there!

so, of course, they had to play in the snow every chance they got! they even pretended that they had to go pee...and they didn't...you could almost hear them laughing each time.

so on the morning of the snow, it made for a lazy day, but everyone was meeting for breakfast..so eventually we were coaxed into joining for breakfast at cracker barrel, where stories and catching up began with a side of grits and biscuits. then we returned to bmayes' house to see puppies and just hang out for a bit. it's always a little worrisome having so many people around so many-especially friends who aren't used to having small dogs around; little critters have a tendency to get in the mix of things and then they are under threat of being crushed. more anxiety for me than the dogs.

 i don't have the actual photo, but here's a link to the charming pic taken by shea's camera!  http://instagram.com/p/xIMRxQF6yA/ what a fun bunch! yet more of the amazing kamp friends (anyone see a theme here? my kamp friends are pretty stinkin' amazing). i always feel so refreshed after i hang out with these guys!

after visiting at bmayes', everyone eventually headed out to shea's home, where her mom had prepared a delicious 'after-Christmas' spread-it was phenomenal!! then we played a little card game during which we found ourselves laughing harder than we had expected! good times, so if you wanna' know how to get a party started...just let me stand up and tell you...only i probably won't.

and i almost failed to mention that i was introduced to hurt's donuts...and for the love...they will literally hurt you. these donuts..i dream about them. my mouth is watering right now for the twixted...they gave me a new fondness for cake donuts-only they are gourmet-amazingness. twixted, lucky charms, Jesus donut, bacon-maple, choco-crispies, samoa-girl scout cookie....i will cry if they ever go out of business.

back at the bmayes homestead, the boys were making themselves right at home and marking like pros...grr. i wish there were a way to curb that. thanks for putting up with that b! they may have learned some 'bad' habits from the residents-climbing onto tables. chaco figured it out after a few tries. it's probably cuter because they aren't great danes...

thatcher looks on from the table as bruno thinks about doing something sneaky.

i was really excited when shea texted about going to the rock climbing silo...they had some awesome climbing walls in there! i definitely made a decision that i need to get in shape so that i can enjoy doing the things i love doing such as the rock climbing-i did a little research, and there is a gym not far from my place that has auto belay, so i will be partaking in that this year. it will be a good stress-reliever, as well (and likely much-needed).

shea making that reach of faith.

umm...so it's a little tiring.

before we left, several joined us back at bmayes place to play cards and, once again, it was mostly fun...apart from the judgmental gf stick-in-the-mud who came in tow. methinks she doesn't get us. and that's ok, next time, she has a true heads up and can stay home and knit or something.  we had plenty of food for chips and cheese dip, puppy chow, etc. but none of it was eaten because the hursts had gone out for mexican and we'd just gone out for hideaway-phenomenal pizza!! (zero snackiness-it's a word now, deal wit it)

before i left, i made an appointment to switch my cable to a basic-basic plan and get the internet because the service that i had was spotty-bad connectivity and speed. so i had that taken care of today and i am so happy i did! in fact, i cannot believe that i put up with the previous service for so long! it was rough! and then tonight as i was trying to cancel the former service, the lady kept going on and on trying to figure out how she could keep me as a customer, but i was strong. she even called back after the service was dropped. and i then let her know it was too late. no worries-i was polite. i worked in a call center at one time-in fact, most of my life i've been in some form of customer service, so politeness is usually not an issue.

this was the other problem, i was unable to use roku with the other service, so when i set this up today, i couldn't help but smile!

i am dedicating today to finishing some artwork, reading and perhaps a couple of letters. it's been a great break so far- 2 more days to make the most of!

happy new year!
julie