No Promises

Once again it's been over a year and no new posts from me. So I am not even gonna promise to pick this back up on a regular basis, but I am gonna try to do better than once a year.

Well, in case you haven't heard, we FINALLY got the final adoption decree for Hannah!
She's still doing gymnastics, graduated from 8th grade, and is moving on to high school in the fall.

James just finished 6th grade, is deep into the world of Mine Craft, and will still be at TFAA next year.

Jeff and I celebrated 21 years of wedded bliss, and have a few more gray hairs.

So there's a quick one year update in 3 seconds or less.

I hope to write again soon, but remember no promises!

Long Time, No Post

Okay, my friend Candace (yes, I am naming names) commented that she was disappointed that I have not blogged in a long time. I have been debating about keeping up with this blog or just letting it go. I can't seem to find much time and feel that I am doing too much with FB and a blog. But since Candace shamed me, I decided I would go ahead and post anyway.

On the adoption issue. We received an e-mail in December saying that the wording had changed on the Order we got back in May. So we have to get an amended Order with the new wording before we go to our Immigration Interview (no date has been set for that yet). This means we had to go back to our TN lawyer and get him to file the paper work which is now going to cost us more money. He filed the paperwork and the court date is set for this Wednesday. Jeff is going to court and I am going to Ft. Worth for work. The lawyer says it shouldn't be a big deal since we laid out everything in our original order. But you know how things go with us, so please pray.

I have one more week to wear this stupid boot on my foot. For those of you who don't know, I broke my foot three days before Christmas. Yesterday I didn't wear it around the house and I was severely chastised by my oldest child. She asked me why I was not wearing my boot. When I said, "I didn't want to.," she replied, "Mom, we all have to do things we don't want to do sometimes." I guess she's heard that before : )

Said daughter has started competition season. She is now a level 8 and doing fantastic. I had to miss her first meet, but will be there for the rest.

Youngest son starts basketball tomorrow. He was all gung ho until I reminded him last night. Then said, "I am not sure I am really into basketball anymore." I told him he had to try since I have already paid. His response, "Do I have to do the whole season?" Uggh what am I going to do with him?

Dearest hubby is still trying to adjust to life at Riverdale. He misses Oakland and the friendships he formed there. I keep praying that he will feel better about the situation.

So that's the updates. I'll try to be better about posting.

Last Weekend's Project

I used wordle.net again to make gifts. I used a friend's favorite Bible verse and then framed it. I am becoming majorly addicted to this site. It is so easy and fun.

Mother's Day, Weekend Project, & Jame Quote

Mother's Day was good. The kids lead the service at church and did a fabulous job. Then we went to Jeff's sister's for lunch. Since my dad was out of town, my mom and grandmother came, too. My weekend project involved the gifts I was making for Mother's Day. See the picture's below. It was so easy using the web site wordle.net.
I also made one for Hannah's room.

Enjoy pics of the fam.




And for the latest James quote, which by the way earns me the Bad Mommy Award yet again. On Thursday, James wanted me to take him to the art show at his school to show me his artwork. The only problem is he waited until there was only 15 minutes left. So I declined. James said, "Well, apparently you don't care about my education at this point and time."

News On the Home Front

Today was a day of mixed news. First the good, I e-mailed our lawyer because we haven't heard from the guardian ad-litem. Our lawyer said he had a long talk with him and that he is aware of our case, but has more urgent cases that need his attention. Our lawyer said that he will contact us well before the court date. They way he talked it's just a formality.

The not so good news is that Jeff got called into the principal's office and told he was being involuntarily transfered to a rival high school in the county. They blamed it on the budget and for the betterment of the system he needed to go teach at the other school. Jeff is really sad because he graduated from Oakland and always wanted to teach there. We are grateful that he has a job, it's just a lot to process. His principal had an assistant principal come to his room during a class and tell him to go to the office. When he got there they told him he had to transfer and handed him the papers to sign and then sent him back to class to teach as if nothing had happened. That really is a crappy way of dealing with employees if you ask me. So we will survive and we'll buck up and Jeff is determined to do his best no matter where he goes, but at heart he'll always be a Patriot.

President Michael Jackson?

Yes, Hannah was a little confused about her Presidential first names. She asked me if I had ever been to Michael Jackson's house, the president from Tennessee. So I explained that his name was Andrew Jackson and yes I have been to his house. I told her Michael Jackson is a singer which led to her next statement, "I thought that was Michael Jordon." Um, no that would be a famous basketball player. Hannah's reply, "All these M's and J's get confusing."

No News

I've been out of town for the last two weeks with work. There have been no new updates and 2009 is starting out slow. Hopefully, within the next week I'll have something to share.

Response to Gym Stars Comment

Jimmy,
I apparently didn't check the Sommet Center's Web site before I went :) Anyway, lots of people had their cameras and the only thing the folks who worked at the center said was to be sure and leave the flash off. If you're using a camera you have to turn off the flash during the performances and if you're using video, you have to turn off the recording light. It's that way at all meets I've ever been to. They even came up to the people on the row in front of us and told them it was okay to use their camera, but turn off the flash. We did use the flash at the meet and greet part that we went to early.

Fine China

Some of you may know that I had a little out patient surgery last week. On Tuesday, I had to go do all the pre-admit stuff, you know get the blood drawn, sign your life away, and promise not to sue should the doctors scar you for life. Anyway, I was worried they might postpone the procedure because I had a bad allergy/sinus thing going on all weekend prior to this.

But by Tuesday, I was feeling a lot better. So I signed all my papers and went into get my blood drawn. As luck would have it, I felt this small tickle starting in my throat, that then turned into a full blown coughing attack. I asked the nurse if there was a water fountain close by. (Who wants to be coughing with a needle sticking out of your arm?) My luck wasn't getting any better. Seems my nurse doesn't usually work at Stone Crest but at Centennial. So she has no idea where the water fountain is. In hopes of keeping me from coughing up a lung, she offers me her fine china.

She followed her offer with, "We do this all the time. Of course, we don't normally suggest this to our patients, but I promise its sterile." Oh, yes she was talking about providing me with a specimen cup to drink from. Now, because I was already coughing uncontrollably, and I watched as she removed the cup from its sterile packaging, I acquiesced.

So there I am sitting in the lab, drinking from a specimen cup, trying to get myself under control. After a few sips, mission accomplished, or so I thought. But as soon as I threw my fine china cup in the trash, yes, another coughing fit hit. The nurse was so kind and opened another sterile cup. By now, I am totally embarrassed.

She was finally able to draw my blood, with my sterile cup sitting by my side just in case.

Just For Fun

1. What is your middle name? Marie
2. How big is your bed? Queen
3. What was the last thing you ate? Ritz crackers
4. Last person you hugged?James, I just tucked him into bed.
5. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Left a message for my niece, does that count?
6. Favorite type of Food? Whatever someone else cooks :)
7. Favorite holiday? Easter
8. Favorite Season? Spring one of the reasons for above answer.
9. Last Movie you Watched, Who Was it With? Game Plan, the kids.
10. What books are you reading? Just finished The Shack
11. Favorite Movie? Don't have one
12. Favorite college football Team? Ugh, must I have one?
13. What were you doing before filling this out? copying this from Anna's blog
14. Dogs or cats: cats, but can't have one James is allergic.
15. Favorite Flower? tulips
16. What would you like to see right now? the back of my eyelids
17. Have you ever fired a gun? No, but somedays, I'd like to.
18. Do you like to travel by plane? Yes, way fun.
19. Right-handed or Left-handed? righty
20. If you could go to any place right now where would you go? Argentina
21. Did you get enough sleep last night? the answer is always, NO!!
22. First thing you thought about this morning? Is it morning already :(
23. Grilled or fried? grilled, usally
24. Are you afraid of the dark? Not anymore, was when I was little. Ask my sister why : )
25. Favorite hangout? Home, I don't get to stay here enough.
26. First thing you will buy if given a thousand dollars? I would pay on bills.
27. What are you afraid of ? cock roaches.
28. What is your nickname? Carolrie or Reesy (but only my dad or Jeff uses these)
29. Favorite color? purple.
30. What did you wanna be when you were a kid? teacher.
31. What do you usually do when the clock reads 7AM? If it's a good traffic day, I am walking into work. If it's the weekend, I am hitting the snooze button.
32. Who do you want to meet? Jesus

I copied and then cut alot of the questions, I didn't want to answer. Feel free to copy and add for fun to your site.

World Wide Web Overload

Okay, I think I am officially on web overload. I joined a Yahoo group for the Women's Ministry at church, I started a facebook to keep up with my friends at work, and I have this blog. I've even been told that I need to "Twitter." The only thing I "twitter" at is the thought of having another user name and password to keep up with. I really think I've lost my mind, I mean I hardly post on here. But anyway, if you have a facebook, I need friends. It's very depressing to look and see that you have no friends. I'll probably find reading your facebook more interesting that keeping up with my own : )

Teachers Today

How would you like to come into class, only to see your teacher looking like this . . .

Yes, Jeff went to school dressed as Captain America and taught class that way. Why? you ask. Well, it was homecoming week and the kids had "Villian" day, so Jeff thought he would come as a hero, as we know all high schoolers think their teachers are:) I really think that the asbestos must be getting to him : )

Effects of Economy on the Home Level

The economy is definitely effecting things on every level of my life. I am clipping coupons (yuck), being the mean mom who doesn't allow much eating out, and trying to save on gas. But it really hit me the other night when Hannah asked if we could afford our house and all the other things we (namely her gymnastics) do. Now, this was out of the blue and I know that I have been expressing my opinion about how we all need to do our best to save, but still it caught me off guard. So I asked why she would think that. She explained that there are alot of houses for sell in our neighborhood and she was wondering if we could afford ours or if we would have to move, too. Now, that just breaks my heart that she is worried about losing her home. I assured her that no matter how tight things were, we would always be sure the necessities were covered first.

Yeah, I Did It!

I am not sure how I like this new background, but at least I finally figured out how to do it after 2 hours of work. The first site I visited to create a page let me, but then it didn't save :( So, then I went here to get free backgrounds. Thanks, Candace for the tip.

Also, thanks Anna for helping me learn how to link.

Questions for My Fellow Bloggers

Okay, not that any of you have managed to give me any money making advice, but I thought I would give you a shot at teaching me something new (to me) about blogging.

1. How do you get a link to highlight inside your post? I have seen it on lots of blogs where the blogger says go here or here and you click on the word here and you go there. However, I really haven't figured out how to do that. I am sure it has something to do with Add enclosure link, but I tried and it didn't work.

2. Is there a way to add a tracker to my blog to see how many (in my case how few) people visit my blog? I am just curious to know if anybody does or not.

3. How can I put a fancy background and headline on here. I know that some of you know when I taught school, I changed the room around every 4-6 weeks and I change my office quite ofter at work. So it's driving me crazy that I have had the same template forever.

Anyone who wants to give me a tutorial, would be my personal hero : )

Suggestions Wanted

If you read my last adoption post, you know that we are faced with the task of raising money to pay for lawyers. On top of the money we already owe, that's going to mean a need for extra income. If any of my friends have suggestions or leads on how I can go about earning said extra income, please feel free to share your suggestions. Almost all suggestions will be seriously considered :)And for my friend Jeff, yes, that means I might even consider a Spam Fundraiser :)

Dinner at Al Capone's

Jeff's mom and step-dad took us to dinner two weeks ago in Monteagle. Yes, I know with the price of gas, they wanted to drive to Monteagle to eat. It was at the High Point which was one of Al Capone's homes. It was very beautiful. They took us to thank Jeff for coming over and helping them clean out their attic and me because I didn't complain too much when Jeff and James brought their "treasures" to my house from said attic. They know I just love to have stuff around the house :) It was a very nice evening and if you have a special anniversary coming I would recommend the drive.

Miss. Julia Hits the Road

Not really, but if I was writing the next book in the Miss. Julia series that would be my title. There are six books in the series and after book number three it's time to send Miss. Julia packing. She's a Southern lady with a very independent streak and a knack for whining. The plot in each book is the always the same. Someone has a problem, she thinks she has to fix it and nobody else knows what they're doing, problem solved, end of book. I decided I could take no more of this and quit while I was ahead. So if anyone has any suggestions for new reading material, I would be much obliged.

CentriKid Rocks

Camp was alot of fun. I was so proud of our kids and the growing they did. Hannah made a decision to accept Jesus into her life. So now she and James will be baptized at the same time.

OMC was a blast. Thankfully, there was no chocolate syrup this year :) I hate sticky!!! And I got to be in the No Fly Zone which was a blessing. The kids loved it though.

Headed to Camp

Hannah and I are headed to CentriKid this morning. We will be gone all week, so no updates, unless I can Jeff to do them. (ha!)