Astros 9 Pirates 1

Well, we had ourselves a family night with the Astros. It was a promo night, and we were able to get good tickets at half price, and my motto is, "If it's cheaper to take the kids to the game than hire a babysitter, then to the game they go." Heartwarming, isn't it? But ,we really had a great time. Of course, as long as the popcorn, peanuts, and ice cream kept flowing, Holland was one happy Astros fan. They also got some time before the game to play in the Squeezebox indoor playground which started the night off right.

This is the only smile I can get from him these days when I take a picture. He's really a happy kid when he's not being photographed....really, he is.

Showin' Roy O. some love

Racing the mechanical runner.

It was a bit sunny for the first 30 minutes of the game down the 1st baseline.

It was also Friday Night Fireworks after the game. It was sponsored by Marathon Oil. Let me just say thanks for paying a couple of extra cents at the pump to pay for this fireworks display. Your money was well spent, because the fireworks were spectacular.

OOOooooohhhh, AAAAaaaaahhhhh

A small taste of the fireworks.

Roller Skating

Holland, learning to roller skate is easy. It's just like trying to ride a bike.

Never mind.

What A Long Strange School Year It Has Been....

The last day of school began as any other school day. Grey has always been really good at getting up and getting ready. He can be dressed, scoop the litter box, eat breakfast, and be outside in 15 minutes. And he does it without complaining. ( I love that!)

Holland, not so much. She doesn't mind getting up. She just doesn't want to go to school or anywhere for that matter. She always says "I wish it was stay-at-home day." Big sigh.
If I can get her mobile, there's some improvement in her disposition. But, woe unto the soul who wakes her up on a morning after a night she stayed up past her bedtime.

First day of Kindergarten (August 2008)

Last day of Kindergarten. (June 2009)

First day of 3rd grade (Aug 2008)

Last day of 3rd grade and about 6 more inches of hair (June 2009)

"FREE AT LAST..FREE AT LAST..."

They both did very well and were promoted to the next grade.

This has been such a strange and expensive school year, so I'm kind of glad it's over. Let's take a gander back at the last 8.5 months, shall we?

*Hurricane Ike--they were out of school 11 days

*Fire (arson) in the Kindergarten area that had the K class roaming the school for weeks.

*Back Surgery for Moi

*Audited for 2006 tax year by the IRS

*Bought a new car

*New car hits deer less than 6 weeks after we buy it

*Fire (Arson) burns down warehouse and damages showroom of one of Mac's major accts. right before Memorial Day weekend

*Just yesterday the a/c went out upstairs (about stair 8 you hit a 91 degree wall of heat); had to replace a part on that unit.

So, I told Mac I am taking the next 82 days of summer off from major decisions and purchases.

( At least, I hope so.)

Today Is The Official Start Of Hurricane Season

In years past, that was a piece of information I never took notice of. But now, I take a lot of notice. Day 9 without power fashion.

Being out of school 11 days drove the kids straight to the bottle.

(Applebee's hurricane beverage menu consisted of tea and bottled root beer.)

Our hurricane battery-operated big screen tv.

Looking back, I think I should totally get camping credit for those 10 days. That earns some sort of badge, right?

Good Luck With That

If there is one thing I have learned about Holland it is that if she is not self-motivated to learn something new, it is not going to happen. No amount of bribery, threats, banging your head on the concrete, crying (on my part) is going to get her to do it. It is what it is, and I have come to terms with it. 4 years of attempted swim lessons have made me wise, a little bitter, but mostly wise.
So when Mac said he wanted to teach Holland how to ride her bike sans training wheels when she has expressed virtually no interest in that milestone, I said, "you are on your own, cowboy."
And then I hid in the house to protect my ears from the wails of frustration. Then I decided I would take some pictures for you folks, because well, it didn't involve me behind a princess bike chanting, "you CAN do it" in between trying to breathe and running until my legs are numb. Besides that's what daddies are for.

Let's try a smile that doesn't look as though you have been waterboarded at Guatanomo Bay.

I guess that will have to do.

We are having fun, now. And Nick, the neighbor is being real helpful by telling her how easy it is.
(If it had been Grey, she would have hauled off that bike and knocked him out.)

She pleads to her mom, who wisely does not get involved.

There was LOTS of this.

And this. Mac may have a permanent slouch.

Finally, the voice of sanity rang out, and they quit and decided to play a little catch, and everybody was relatively happy again. Holland still can't ride a bike, but she's okay with that. And there is peace and calm again. And you can't put a price on that.

Sock Monkey's Adventure

Grey: "I don't know how it happened."

Me: "Could it have happened when you were repeatedly throwing Sock Monkey up in the air?"

Grey: "Yeah...that may have been it...."

We really need to invest in a tall ladder.

Mac vs Nature, Part 4

Maybe Mac should take up hunting, you know, with a gun instead of his vehicle. He's killed/wounded more deer in the time I've known him than most hunters ever do.

With today's hit, the total stands at 3 deer and 1 tree.

I think Nature may have a beef with Mac.

The Outsiders (the movie)

Pony Boy Curtis or Two Bit Matthews

Tough call.

The Grande Finale

Well, Holland had her spring and final recital of the 2008-2009 Dance Season. She has really enjoyed the recitals and competitions and for once I felt like I got my money's worth out of a costume. Yay, for both of us. Anyway, for her recital, they learned....tried to learn a new dance. With the end of the season, a couple of girls dropping out, absences, last minute choreography changes, it was well.......I wouldn't call it a train wreck, maybe just shy of a hot mess. But Holland was unfazed and enjoyed herself anyway.
However, she will be hanging up her competitive jazz shoes for the summer and next year. She wants to give noncompetitive cheerleading and tumbling a try, so we are. She's naturally loud so we already have that working in our favor.

She really has grown up during this year, and I don't think it's just the blue eyeshadow.

Holland and Tori

The Juicy Fruit Experiment

We have had ourselves a guest that just will not go away. No, it's not family. It's actually a mole that has been reeking havoc on our yard. He pops up all along the beds and you can see his path through the yard. My neighbor/friend has the same problem in her yard, too. So she moseyed on down to our local Ace "is the place" hardware store to find something to get him out of her yard. I'm not saying either one of us would want to send it to our next door neighbor, but the house next to us is empty and wouldn't that be convenient. Terribly wrong, but awfully convenient.
Anyway, the people at Ace gave her a couple of options. The first was a trap that would spear the mole, but the carnage, folks....not for me. The second was to put a half of a stick of Juicy Fruit, in one of the many many holes he has made and let him eat it. Apparently, it eats the gum which "gums" it up, and it dies. (Surely, you weren't expecting a happy ending for the mole.)When she told me this, I said, "that is just ridiculous enough to work." Anyway, we are giving it a try and so far we haven't seen any more paths or holes so maybe it's smacking on a piece of Juicy Fruit in mole heaven.

Hmmmm I wonder how this would work with houseguests. When they have stayed too long, I'll slip a piece of Juicy Fruit under their pillow. Something to think about.....

Happy Mother's Day, 2009

Here is Holland's Mother's Day Gift of Art.

(I have totally misjudged purple lipstick. It's quite fetching on my paper twin.)

Holland's Mother's Day Card:

I love my mom bccus she is the best

My mom plays gams whit me

I love my mom bcuss she reeds to me

I love my mom bcuss she maxc me denr and she cooks.

I love my mom

...................................................

Here is one of the poems from Grey's Mother's Day Gift of Poetry:

MOM

The important thing about mom is she can make a lot of food.

She loves to watch football and she likes shopping at the mall.

She enjoys working on her blog and does not like fog.

But the important thing about my mom is she can make lots of food.

....................................................

That's right, they love me and they think I cook. Mother's Day 2009 rocks!

Yeah..Me,Too

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Round 2

If only poolside posing was the gateway to actually learning how to swim.....

The Hair Battle

In the words of Charlie Daniels,

"Just leave this long-haired country boy alone."

(even though it pains me greatly)

Mother Daughter Banquet

Every year Holland's dance studio holds a Mother Daughter Banquet where the girls receive their awards and recognition for another year of dance. Personally, I thought I deserved my own medal because of all the effort I had to put in to get her to dance each week. The last thing she wanted to do when she got home from school was change clothes and go to dance. It became a weekly battle. She said, "I just want to do the competitions and recitals, not practice." Yeah, if you can find a parallel universe where that happens, I'll drive you.

Holland and Ms. Becca, her dance instructor. There's no way they pay this woman enough.

Holland loves trophies......

and lemons. The girl loves lemons.

Yep, It's 85 degrees, today.

The New Office

We said goodbye to the Infiniti, recently. With the economy as it is, we had decided to keep her going as long as we could or until she became the money pit. In fact, we had just put in a catalytic converter, and it was as expensive as it sounds. But apparently it was not enough. She, like 3 out of the last 4 cars of Mac's, got within sneezing distance of 180,000 miles and started to have some "issues". This last diagnosis was for a couple of things, most pressing the tire rod. If you don't fix it, the wheels could come off while driving it. So, I like to say Mac drove her until the wheels almost came off. You really can't ask for more than that.

The upside of a downturn economy is that dealerships want to sell cars. So we got a nice deal on this '08 Honda Accord. It's very nice, and Mac enjoys his "new to him" office. Now if only I could get him to quit turning on my heated seat when it's 85 degrees outside.

Let the Swimming Commence

Today, I started the swimming portion of my recovery. So, if you happen to be at my gym and looked in at the pool and saw a woman in a hot pink swimmer's cap with professional goggles that swam with the most beautiful of swim strokes, you might have seen me. I was 2 lanes over with a wild mane of hair held back by my goggles from Walgreen's and swimming with the most unimpressive flailing of arms and legs, But you know what, I got a workout, because I felt it about 10 minutes after I got out of the pool.
Then, as I was wading out, I passed one of Holland's ghosts of swim instructor's past.(They ALWAYS remember Holland. I think their ears still ring with her cries for help.) She said that all wet, Holland, looked like me. And then later, I thought, was she talking about our physical features or our swimming prowess? I don't think I want to know.......

Happy Birthday, Mac!

I'm always glad when he has caught up to my age.

A Microdiscectomy Rocks

So, I'm finally catching up on my blogging. Hey, I have had back surgery, cut me some slack.

(I wonder how much longer I can use the "back surgery" card.)

I tell you I could really feel the prayers, because I had such a peace the whole time, even when the nurse who came in to set up my IV asked me how my neck was feeling. I simply replied, "my neck is feeling fine, my back and leg, however, hurt." She ran over to check my chart. No panic for me. Now had the surgeon said that, I might have expressed some alarm. I was actually more worried about my hospital gown that had this pocket with a hole for some sort of medical purpose that fell over a strategic part of my body. I kept trying to move it to where I was less likely to have a wardrobe malfunction. I told Mac if he was around when I passed out to please make sure I wasn't popping out on my way to the OR.

Though I was scheduled for 7:30, I didn't go in until 10:30. Apparently, it doesn't matter what time you are scheduled, it's all about where you are in the lineup. So, I patiently (no pun intended) waited and watched as other similarly clad operees headed off to the OR. Finally, I got my turn. They gave me my margarita (that's what they call the anesthesia. It's south Texas, people.) I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the OR, because I was curious to see if it was anything like what the TV portrays it as. Alas, I passed out in the hall, and woke up in recovery 45 minutes later to a spoonful of ice chips. I remember nothing about Margaritaville. Probably for the best since there was some nudity involved.

The surgery was a success. I had immediate relief. Of course, I had the incision pain, but the herniated disc pain...GONE! Mac got to see the part of the disc Dr. W. cut out. He said it looked like a little pink shrimp. (I'm disappointed I don't have a comment for that.) I got to go home around 3:30. I was still coming off anesthesia and hopped up on pain and anti-nausea meds so every time my head touched something, I dozed off. Not much for conversation or complete sentences. I need to apologize to one person who called and I actually picked up the phone and tried to hold a conversation. First of all, I must have been on drugs to even answer the phone. I hardly do that on a normal day. So, I'll say thanks for the call, sorry for the conversation. You know who you are.

So here I am 2 weeks later, had my checkup and everything looks great. The scar is minimal. (Just glad I never got that tattoo on my lower back in college.) In fact, one of my friends said it just looked like a scratch. I call it the $23,000 scratch. There's still a good size knot/lump at the incision, but that will go away in time. I am not destined to live life as a camel or the Hunchback of Kingwood. I was slightly concerned about that. Anyway, I've got 2 more weeks of no bending or twisting, and then I can slowly resume my limbo and hula hoop career. I've missed it so.

So, let me wrap this up by first of all saying thanks for the prayers, cards, and even phone calls before, during, and after surgery. You rock! Thanks for the meals. I'm afraid Mac may sign me up for more surgery for some more of those chicken enchiladas alone. Thanks to David for enduring the 3 hour tour of waiting and keeping Mac company during the surgery and for not telling the Lifegroup that my first name is Margaret. You rock! Thanks so much! I am blessed to have so many great friends and family!