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

dad diagnosed the boys' travelling condition best

home! today was a long driving day! the gps lost signal off and on in oklahoma. (thanks oklahoma...) and i wasn't paying close enough attention-apparently i missed my turn off, and ended up going through tulsa. boo. much longer than necessary. whenever i looked back in the mirror to check on the boys, what dad said on our trip to iowa rang true: chaco seems to enjoy the trip, and bruno seems to endure it.

oh, guess what i found when i was packing bags to leave...the usb cord! woohoo! umm..here are the pics of the dogs on the trail:

bruno posing-chaco was to busy smelling things

on a mission to get over the bridge!

i had to go to the bathroom and get fuel at one point and turned off the toll road, and it was a single booth, same lady when i exited and when i got back on...she looked like paulette from legally blonde (bend and snap hairdresser). the second time i drove through, she asked, "where did you get that?" and she was pointing at something in my car, only i wasn't sure what. i said, "the shades? the seats?" she pointed again-oh, that. i told her it was a trunk organizer from walmart. by that time, there was a car behind me and three cars lined up on the other side.

as you can see, i had to rig it with caribiners

i thought i would make it the rest of the way home without needing to stop, but nope, we had to find a petsmart in mckinney. while we were there, the trainer saw us and said, "why haven't i had you guys in training?" and i told her we were from dallas, just passing through. she proceeded to let me know what an amazing trainer she was..top 10, blah blah blah (as i was trying not to have an accident), i may have interrupted her to ask where the bathroom was.

it was a wonderful and relaxing vacation, but it always feels good to be home. i definitely need to get into some sort of routine. my body is feeling the effects of all of the 'special occasions' we've allowed ourselves....

this was at pizza hut-i thought it was funny-the evolution of the pizza cutter

bruno just found the petsmart bag and the treats we got.

got too curious and got his head stuck in the handle.

blessings-
julie

green secrets and harness amplification

last night when i went to bed, i found one of the hidden rawhide chews..under my cover...oh, silly chaco.

they woke me up early today, so we went for a walk because it was like 80' out. we walked by the dog park because big dog was in there, and when we got up toward the playground, we saw children running over toward the sidewalk, where there was another walker with a boxer. bruno looked up and said, "can we please cut across the lawn?" so we did to avoid the children. and we went through a breezeway toward the ponds and around the office, and by the time we got up toward the office, the boxer and his lady was already up there. the boxer was showing interest in the boys and so she had him sit, then as we walked by, he couldn't control himself and he lunged forward to play, but of course it scared the boys because they didn't know big, scary, so we kept going and the boxer was dragging his lady-she had very little control-he was obviously stronger than she was. so  we walked as fast as we could until we were out of reach.

one of my friend wasn't sure what kale was, so i thought i would take a pic because it's so good for you and i hear it's fairly easy to grow your own...hearty kale!

looks like many other greens-

let me quickly outline the benefits of kale for those who are not familiar:high concentrations of antioxidants-cartenoids and flavanoids-proven to aid in prevention of bladder, breas, colon, ovary and prostate cancers...also contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that boost cardiovascular health and detoxify the system. the longer it sits, the more bitter it becomes..smaller leaves will be milder and more tender.

swiss chard-(for visual, click here) significant amount of fiber and protein-helps regulate blood sugar levels after consumption. excellent source of vitamins c, e and k, beta-carotene, and manganese. offers a load of antioxidants.

flax seeds-nutty, crunchy, king of Omega-3 fatty acid, offer healthy dose of fiber and contain organic compounds that help lower cholesterol and strengthen bones.

chia seeds- mayan strength seed contains protein, carbs, fat and fiber, making it an ideal energy booster! high in omega3 and omega6 fatty acids, helping the body stabilize blood sugar and slow carb digestion. also a good source of iron, calcium and zinc.

sesame seeds-packed with nutrients. helps lower cholesterol, prevent high blood pressure, protects body against liver damage. great source of calcium(bone development, reduce risk of colon cancer), anti-inflamatory, arthritis fighting  copper!

the above information is from the nutriblast pocket nutritionist- i got it special with my magic bullet and i love it because it has a lot more information about fruits, other greens and other boost seeds and nuts.

 

today was relatively lazy..we may yet make a trip to petsmart to see about collars. we got a few things done. i was able to make some more green chicken chili (a recipe which i have shared with several-love it), i poached some chicken for later use in the week, and froze 2 breasts (chicken breasts of course)...

i also looked up those cabins i was thinking about staying in , when we go to our family reunion (the ones i mentioned yesterday...well, they would have been great-$35/night, up to 6 people, right there at the park! already reserved. boo. so i looked up some hotels and their ratings and found one that i think will serve our purposes...now to see if mom and dad can get a discount through their membership! i wish we didn't have a stupid training thing at the beginning of august, right in the middle of my plans. that sucks.

so we didn't find any collars that fit at petsmart, so we made our way back to pet plus, and found the matching collar! and the gal who helped us, when she saw what i was doing said, "that's brilliant!" well, i am an elementary school teacher for dallas isd, you learn how to get creative!

you can see where the collar and the harness are connected.

bruno is a little stubborn about getting in the car, then when he realized where we were going he was at ease

but sadly neither store had patriotic collars...what is wrong with this picture? i guess we will just have to find our collars online.

green dreams....

julie

sorry girl scouts...i'm going to have to pass...i really AM on a diet-not like all the other people who walked by and stole my line!

shopping for produce today was ridiculous! we'll see how long i can make it last. i am pretty excited about trying some new recipes.

i also decided that it is probably a good thing that i don't have kids-i would go broke! i am slightly impulsive:

i went into petsmart for greenies...i came out with a bag full of dog treats that will last us awhile.ugh. must gain control!

i'm excited to get started reading a new book i just got.it was a suggestion from a dear friend in iowa-my former Bible quizzing leader. i want to start when i have time to thoroughly enjoy it, uninterrupted.

 but it won't be this weekend! i should be grading some assessments right now, so as soon as i finish this post i'll be back to the tests..bruno again offered to help, but he scores high. chaco won't even read them because: "there's no pictures!" 

today when i went to walmart, the girl scouts or brownies or someone pretending to be girl scouts...were outside the door selling cookies. i didn't even want any. i tried to avoid eye-contact as i was going in, but they caught me on the way out. "hi ma'am! would you like to buy some girlscout cookies?!" and i'm sure it sounded like a lame excuse that they'd heard all day, "no, i'm actually on a diet." i'm sure the mom was sitting back there thinking, "yeah, right, stop lying to my girls." and i almost felt like saying, "i'm serious! let me show you my bags! you'll see-it's all vegetables and fruit! and some meat...." but i didn't, i kept walking. but i almost went back to give them a few bucks as a donation, until i thought, "why should i feel guilty? i donate to other causes that are pretty darned important. you can't save the world." don't get me wrong, i like girlscouts-i was a brownie and  got all the little patches (bird-watching, toilet cleaning, etc).

alright, back to grading, because it's so much fun.
julie

i need a weekend re-do

rough weekend. i'm glad i got my lesson plans done on friday! friday night after i went to bed, i had that nasty feeling of getting sick. i was cold, but sweating...got an extra blanket to bundle up and saturday i didn't wake up until 11:30 and i still didn't feel like getting up, but i did. i didn't do much-dozed in and out of you've got mail, and decided to take a nap. (breakfast was a quick blueberry/banana smoothie) then i didn't eat again until about 6 pm-still wasn't hungry, so i had some peanuts and peanut butter. and went to sleep early.

it must've been a 24 hour something or other, because this morning i woke up and didn't feel that bad, so i was able to do my workout and breakfast...then i was in and out of the bathroom until 2pm when i decided i'd better take two small green pills. i hoped they would work because i promised the boys i'd take them to petsmart for food and go to the dog park.

petsmart was great-bruno LOVES petsmart. so we strolled around the store a bit before taking our purchase up front. no problems yet. we went to the dog park and the boys got to meet some of the other dogs-bruno has been much more outgoing. chaco is slightly overwhelmed because of his size, so i don't mind when he growls and snips at dogs who get in his face...(his theme song is SO WHAT by pink)

and tonight i decided to precook some meals for this week, and whiting fish was one of them. i don't know that i am too pleased with this, i may have to disguise it with other side dishes...oh well, learn by trying.

next weekend will be better.
julie

flip the switch or not? will it alter the escence of our school?

this morning i heard a kid talking about the yogurt label at breakfast and this was what i heard: it has an indian, that means they made it a long, long time ago. so...at least they got the concept of indigenous tribes in tx before the settlers came!

this morning, the announcements seemed like an extension of last night's world series game-train wreck! it was quite a fiasco...start the pledge, stop the pledge, say it wrong, do the next, repeat...then do bdays, and oh yeah! weekend bdays...and they eventually did draw to an end.

when i was in the special bathroom at school, i noticed something i've never noticed before!

desmond, push the button! it's been 108 minutes!! the red light was definitely activated..i have no clue what that switch could possibly be for!

doesn't it remind you of something from lost? the dharma initiative? i'm not really a lost geek, i had to look up pushing the button and believe it or not, there is a lostpedia...is it just me or is that ridiculous? since when do we just stick pedia on the end of a word and then use that as a resource to tell all about that word?


i love the geico robot daycare commercial! i do a half laugh every time the robot squeezes the juice into the little girl's face! she really looks like it's unexpected and she doesn't know what to do!

yesterday i stopped to get my mail and when i was getting my checkbook from my bag in the trunk of the car, i heard a lady across the little courtyard in the other parking lot yell, "hey!" i looked up and she said, "i like your car! that's a good-looking car!" i politely said thanks and she got in her car and drove off.(is there a more appropriate response? i don't really know 'car-admiration-etiquette') i have no idea who the lady was. so i crossed the drive to go to the office to pay my bill and on the way back out, i detoured over by where the lady had been parked to see if my car somehow looked spectacularly different from this point of view. and i'm sure the two girls in the truck which was now sitting there were wondering what in the world i was doing as i took this strange route to my car.

on the way home today i did go to petsmart to return the cat stuffs...and i got bruno his sweater. he loved it...ok, at least he wore it. then we went out for our walk and tote. bruno rode in the sling because he wasn't in the mood (again). so we went to the office and the boys cut up and joked around with mandy and shannon and they brought out the soft dog snacks...mandy proceeded to smell it and said she wondered what it tasted like, so true to form, i said, "if it's ok for the dog, it's safe, try it!" shannon was also prodding her to try it. and she did. and the shannon tried it because mandy said it was good...tasted like beef jerky! easy targets.

and i thought maybe bruno would walk home...he started out ok, but about 20 ft out, he stopped cooperating. grr...but at least they looked good in their new shirts!

oh weekend, what am i going to do with you??ZZ(that was bruno stepping on the keyboard...i think i kinda like his idea!)

oh, i had a crazy dream last night too. i showed up at a school to confront a boy who was rumored to be sexually harassing some of my Bible-study girls, so i went in and showed his picture to someone who told me i'd have to talk to the coach. so i turned and there were 3 different coaches with name tags on that said 'coach' but none of them knoew who he was..wrong coaches. so i went outside to the baseball field and a guy was throwing practice pitches....only, the practice field was surrounded by huge pine trees and other foliage-it seemed more like we were in a forest. the coach stopped and showed me his plants that were out near the outfield-they were huge bushes with softball sized reddish-maroon flowers (mini-me's of the little shop of horror's plant); and their little mouths opened wide enough to catch the ball.
well, i was going to say 'it's your 12th man!' but i caught myself at "it's your..." because i wasn't sure how many men are on the baseball field at once, and i didn't want to sound stupid, so i just finished with, "your secret weapon!" smart move...and it was about there that i must've woken up because i draw a blank on the rest.

i know, you probably don't care one bit about my bizarre dreams..i think it was the peppermint coffee, world series, piney-woods (social studies), and svu...it might have also been the little girl i saw trying to sneakily cut the apartment roses up front by the water fountain and sneak them into her little basket keeping an eye out to not get caught(the flower bush part).

well, i suppose i'll lay off the coffee tonight before bed!
julie

with my sunglasses on, everything is a little brighter!

today was the last observation for Xochitl! woo hoo!! certification, here she comes!

today was also 'shade out drugs' day..not sure what that means exactly, but i did go ahead and stop by the local gas station, and guess what? they had the blu-blockers! woo hoo!! and they were as wonderful as i remembered them. the grass truly is greener on the other side when you're wearing them!

i know, you cannot really tell, but all the same...it's like they say, just because you wear rose-colored glasses, it doesn't make your water pink lemonade...not that these are rose-colored glasses...or that i was looking at water.

 wednesday-check..done!

i decided to go to pet smart to check on a sweater or something for bruno because i am hoping that i can find something that fits a little snug, that might be like one of those 'thunder blankets.' thinking that maybe he'll feel more secure with something tight to walk in. (i mean i don't like walking in tight things, but he might...skinny jeans for bruno?) so i went and found a couple of things...darn, i always spend more than i should there, because then i got a few more things. when i got home i realized i would have to return a couple of things and look again. one of the shirts fit chaco instead of bruno

we'll keep this one-chaco really likes it; says it makes him a rebel

..and i bought a couple of cute Christmas head-gear things (not like braces to bed head gear)...it was cat headgear....oops.epic designer clothing fail...well, i righted a wrong by getting the 'rawhide cookie ghosts.' they look really good, but i just wanted to see if the 'frosting' was sweet. it is not. it is bland and about as tasteless as a piece of wood.

bruno shot me a thumbs up..only he did it with his looks, not his thumb

i also saw some socks while i was there that ha yorkies on them. most of the stitchings looked like yorkies, but somehow this little guy must've gotten on there by accident..i'm pretty certain it is NOT a yorkie, though.

almost looks like chewbacca

kinda resembles this guy a little bit, no?

if he had dark eyes and smaller ears...one of my friends sent this pic...said maybe she wants one...don't do it mary!!!

alright looks like the canceled the game tonight because they're afraid of the 'rain'-gers!

 g'night!
julie