The Bear Den(s)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

2010-12-12T22:25:00.000-06:00

And I mean a LOT!

I think I went a little Christmas crazy this year--and I could totally buy more if it was in the budget.

Thought I'd share a little of what I have turned our home into, much to B's dismay.

Living Room:

Fireplace with stockings (yes, that is 5 stockings for a 2-person household--one for Dash and Raspy and the middle is our angel furbaby's); table behind the couch, view from the front door in the dark, and chair by the tree.

Entertainment center. I went all-out this year here and took down all my usual decor and decorated for Christmas. I even put lit garland along the top. The bears are no longer there. We had to move the center for AT&T u-Verse to be installed and I put the bears in the chair (in the pic. above) during the move. B said he liked them there and the babies haven't tried to eat them, so I think they are staying. Lights are still up and I'll probably add more floral stuff next year.

Close-ups of the entertainment center: left and right bookcases with my tin "collection" (I don't throw a lot of things away, so the tins and purses have become decoration over the years), candles, and a couple of projects for the year.

I was having a hard time deciding what to put on that top shelf. It needed to be something that would work with the light and not block it at the same time as the shelf is glass, so the light filters down. I finally decided I wanted to do a vase or bowl with balls. I put this together myself: vase with ornament balls from the dollar store and a greenery around the bottom to dress it up. I also dressed up the fake flickering candle with some ribbon garland. I didn't like that the stand was gold, so I covered it up.

Dining Room:

The dining room is my favorite room in the house anyway, but I really love the table. I'm pretty proud of the centerpiece. I made it myself a two years ago out of a lasagna dish and some flowers from Garden Ridge. I have to put it together every year, but I love it.

Next year, I want another small tree to go on top of the wine rack. I think it just needs something. I have my eye on a black pre-lit at Walmart. I also need to get a Christmas platter for the top of the china cabinet.

Kitchen:

This is also new this year. This is the bar between the kitchen and dining room. I have always put lights up and covered it with fake snow (it was the tree skirt for my first tree in my first apartment). I've always wanted a little village but hadn't gotten around to purchasing anything, so I usually just put up my small tree and just some little knick knacks. But, when I was at the dollar store, I found these little buildings and people for a dollar each (the people were three for a dollar plus trees two for a dollar). So, for around $12, I got my little village. I already had Santa and Santa's workshop (the lit house). And B has already pointed out that not only will Santa not fit into those houses, but the tree is too big too--I say it is the town Christmas tree. It's called an imagination.

I don't have any other pics of the kitchen. I don't have much going on it there aside from a tablescape. Next year's project!

Bathroom:

Yes, I decorate my bathroom. This was last year's project. It started with the monogrammed towels from my mom and the candles in the corner of the counter that I've had for years. The snowflakes on the shower curtain are ornaments and I love the vase. The bathroom's normal theme is ocean/beach, so it's kind of cool to turn it into snow and ice for the season. I probably a few things to add next year, but I love it--I actually kep it up through February last year.

And the tree:

Oh, how I love my tree. Probably more than a person should love their tree. I thought I had gone a bit overboard on the lights, but my friend Tracie assured me that I have the perfectly lit tree. Apparently, you should have 100 light for every foot of tree. I have a 7-foot tree and approximately 700 lights. No, I do not have a pre-lit. Yes, I will buy a pre-lit next time we buy a tree. Because it is ridiculous to put all those damn lights on.

It may not be as obvious by the way they are spread out in the picture, but I do have a lot of bears--my tree topper is even an angel bear. I have collected teddy bears forever, but they all reside in our spare bedroom. I insist, however, that my Christmas bears be displayed every year. For many years, my mom bought me a Christmas bear every Christmas, which is where most of the came from. They are probably a bit much, but I love them. And B tolerates them, bless his heart.

Happy Decorating!

Playing Hooky

2010-10-17T21:52:00.000-05:00

Well, it's probably not playing hooky if you ask for the day off and everybody at work not only knows that you won't be there and where you are going. But, whatever. It felt like playing.

We went to the great State Fair of Texas last Thursday, per my request (Blogger didn't want to upload pictures then, so just now getting to post). We had been a few years back with Scotty P. and our friend John:

Four people, one camera, idiocy ensues.

Beyond that, I'd only been one other time as a kid. I was ready to go again. We've got a busy weekend and the other weekends had been too crazy with football games, and that's just too many people for me. So, we decided a weekday was it. The great thing about going on a weekday, besides smaller crowds, is that there are lots of deals to get in cheaper. A regular ticket is $15, but on Thursday with an empty 20oz. bottle Coke product you get in for $4. Combine that with $10 each to ride the TRE from Fort Worth to Dallas, not only avoiding $15 to park but also the traffic, and we had a date.

I printed up schedules and wrote down all the cool things I thought we'd like to do or see. We barely hit any of them, but still had lots of fun!

We found our new vehicles:

And I just thought this was cool:

Love the car show.

Took silly pictures:

Walked around the cool marsh/swamp outside the Nature Museum:

These African Acrobat were really cool and apparently a pretty big draw this year:

People watched. Oh the people you see:

Posed with Big Tex:

Clearly, I am the better picture taker.

Photo Op:

We wanted to go to the History of Football/Tom Landry exhibit, but this:

prevented that. We walked by three times and that line never went down--all the way around the building. Disappointing.

Attempt to recreate a picture from the last time we here:

It would have been better if we had had someone to take the picture for us.

And, then of course, there was the food:

I wanted three things to eat at the Fair:

Corny Dog.

Funnel Cake.

Fried Frito Pie.

Gotta love Texas and our love for all things deep fried!

And, last, this is why we took the train:

See that bumper to bumper? Yeah, one of us would not have made it home alive!

Oh, wait, one more 'cause I think he's cute:

Thanks for a great day, babe, and for buying me all the food!

Monthly Rewind: October

2010-10-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd try something new. I was inspired my yesterday's post where I posted a picture taken a couple of years ago. Each month, I'm going to post some pictures taken in that month in past years. This might make more sense to start in January, odds are I'll forget by then and October is fitting since that is when we met, so that's the beginning of our pictures!

October 2003:

In Colorado for our second dating anniversary. This was our "nice" dinner out in Colorado Springs. I wish I remembered the name of the place, but it was an Italian place. Good food!

A at Garden of the Gods.

B at Garden of the Gods.

Man, we need to go back there!

October 2006:

Heading up in the hot air balloon. B surprised me with a hot air balloon ride for our 5th anniversary. It was such a cool experience. We went up at sunrise out of Plano. At the end, the people did a champagne toast and gave us the bottle to keep with the date and such written on it.

Really cool fog over a small lake.

The balloon.

October 2008:

Awesome shower at work thrown by my fabulous friends/co-workers.

And that's just some of October. October is a good month!

How to Spend a Saturday Afternoon?

2010-10-10T18:58:00.000-05:00

Helping survey the Barnett Shale?

Making tornadoes?

Playing in the mirror?

Car shopping?
B: What? No sub-woffers

Spying on the neighbors?

Making new friends?

Catching up with old friends?

(Pic. 2, 2008)

Meeting the local wildlife?

Or, just a fun afternoon at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History?

Trying to think of something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon to get us out of the house, B suggested a trip to the Science and History Museum and a show at the Omni. When checking out show times for the Omni, I got to looking at shows at Noble Planetarium.

B has been watching all kinds of documentaries and such on stars and planets and space lately, so I thought he might enjoy the Planetarium more, plus we've done the Omni multiple times. Boy was I right!

We did have lots of fun exlporing the museum, first time since it's complete makeover, though B was hoping for more history and less science. But, on the science side, he did deepen his love for the stars by getting to look at the telescope and trying to talk me into buying one.

It was great fun acting like kids for the afternoon, and we'll be going back to catch more shows at the Planetarium, I'm sure!

Friday Night Fun

2010-05-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

~~Vegas~~ Winstar, Baby!

B and the WinStar sign
(a little blurry--the camera was no cooperating)

Sorry, couldn't resist that one. If we can't go to Vegas, much to B's dismay, we can at least hit up the WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma every now and then, which is what we did Friday night.

We bought tickets a month or so ago to see Rodney Carrington's comedy show. If you haven't seen or heard Rodney, you should. He's hilarious. A little on the dirty side, a little on the country humor side, but hilarious. I think he'd fit in nicely with the Blue Collar Comedy guys.

Let's see. Quick rundown of the trip: I'm B's bitch, great show, successful poker playing, and arriving back home nearly 24 hours after we got up the previous morning.

How am I B's bitch, you wonder? Well, to know for sure, you'd have to ask idiot road rage guy who was ticked that B honked at him after IRRG sped up so that we wouldn't get in front of him when we tried to change lanes. We honked, so he thought he should then flip us off, point to the side of the road (presumably so we would pull over so he could beat up B or something--ha!), and make a gun gesture with his hand--that got his license plate written down. Then, when we ended up next to him in the stop and go traffic, he threw a rock at the Jeep--and didn't miss--and proceeded to say he'd shove B's badge up his a** and then yelled "F*#@ you and your Bitch!" Before he sped off, B hollared after him (in his best "Church Lady") "Hmm . . . Satan!" While a little scary, still pretty funny in the end. We're still walking around with B saying "you're my bitch, baby!"

The rest of the jaunt up 35 was less uneventful, thankfully. We made it there in plenty of time to walk around a bit while waiting for our friend Kelly and Scotty P., who were going with us to the show, to get there. Now, for my one complaint about the place. Do people smoke in public places that allow it just because they can? I'll admit, it wasn't as smokey this time as last time we went up there, but geez! Or is like drinking? You have to smoke while you gamble? I just don't get it. And since the casino is basically, one big tent, the ventilation isn't great, so the smoke just sort of sits there.

Me, Scotty P., and Kelly waiting for the show to start.

Bad attempt at getting a self portrait before the show started.

Someone sitting near us took pity and got a shot for us.

These were all taken with B's phone because no camera's were allowed. People were even gettting reprimanded for having having out the camera phones.

Anyway, we had lots of fun at the show. The opening act (don't remember his name AT ALL) was pretty funny in the end, but hit a few duds. Someone should have told him that at least half his audience was probably from Texas so he could have cut out or changed his Oklahoma jokes. We Texans just weren't amused.

Rodney was great. I've only heard bits and pieces from his CDs that B owns. His schtick is mostly country/hick family/couple fun. A lot of his stuff about couples you have to laugh at because it so dead on. He also has a whole segment of singing. He's got a really good voice, so you focus on that at the beginning of the song and then he pops out some outrageous lyrics. He's probably best known for his songs "Titties and Beer" and "A Dozen Roses" (which sounds innocent enough, but is NOT!). Honestly, my face hurt by the end from laughing so hard.

Oh, and thanks, Kelly, for getting such awesome seats!!

B and I waiting for the bus take us back to the poker room.

Kelly and Bernie goofing around while we wating for the bus.

There's no getting a "real" picture of these too!

Yet another attempt at a self portrait.

Can you see B sort of peeking out in the back.

And what a lovely shot of my double chin.

And that's a whole lotta Bernie!

After the show we met up with Bernie, got some food at the restaurant next to the live music that was good but so loud we couldn't hear to talk, and then let B and Scotty P play some Hold 'Em. Now, we went all the way up there and lot of you probably know that I'm a Hold 'Em player too, so you may wonder why I didn't play. I dont' do cash games. Too much pressure and I'm not nearly an aggressive enough player to have much success. I had $100 to possible play slots, but I ended up just hanging out with Kelly while the guys played--well, while B and Scotty P. played and Bernie watched over them to give updates and make sure they didn't go broke!

They didn't go broke. B even came home over about $150, so all-in-all a successful trip.

And despite being crazy tired, we got home safely and the munchkins nicely let us sleep until nearly 10:00. Needless to say, we spent most of Saturday lounging on the couch. We are definitely too old for these late nights!

Taking it on Tuesday: The Great Landscaping Project of 2010

2010-05-04T23:52:00.000-05:00

So, remember this little TioT from a couple of weeks ago?

Well, that "little" project took a turn for the big.

B had been throwing out the idea of a walkway in the front yard for the last year or so, but we've never had the resources or inclination to take the project on. But, this time when we went to look at flowers to plant in the pots, we decided it was just the right time to take it on.

First stop was Lowe's to take a look at what kind of stone or brick we wanted to use. We picked a sandy colored cobblestone that would look good with the brick for the house, but that we could also stain if we wanted. The next morning, before making any purchases, we did a rough design of what the pathway would look like with the water hose, then it was off to Lowe's to buy our supplies.

Here is the official before pic. I had already started to remove a couple of bricks from the original border.

The plan was to extend the plant bed out about a foot and half to add a few smaller plants/bushes in front of the existing shrubs then make a walkway/border from existing pathway around the side of the plant bed and stopping at the corner of the house. Eventually, we will probably extend the walkway all the way to the gate.

B spent most of that Sunday digging a trench with the edger (is that even a word?) and digging out the grass along our planned pathway. Do you see all that dirt and grass? It was crazy! Oh, and, no, we did not leave the grass and dirt in the City of Fort Worth trash bin. B just needed someplace to put it until I got home with lawn bags, which we initially forgot!

Next came pouring the sand, which really made it start to look like something.

Now, picture this scene. This was Sunday a little over a week ago. Game 3 of the Western Conference playoffs between our Dallas Mavericks and the hated San Antonio Spurs (that was just for my friend, Cris!). Game started a 6:00 and we still had a lot of work to do, so I opened the front windows and turned the TV up really loud. Let's just say that it is amazing that our neighbors did not call the cops on us--well, me--for all the yelling I was doing at the TV through screened windows. Yeah, next time we won't plan a big project during the NBA playoffs.

Finally, we start laying the pavers. B started on the ones up the side of the bed then I started laying some. We quickly realized that I seemed to have more of a knack for laying the pavers, so I spent Monday through Thursday evenings after work until dark laying out the pathway.

We hit a few snags.

Does something look a little different from the original plan above?

Yeah, we were unable to get the tool for cutting the pavers and they were a little too soft to chisel, so we decided to work around the issue and not have the walkway curve. I still think it turned out completely awesome.

Here we are late Thursday night (finishing up just in time to head in for Game 5 Mavs/Spurs) with the sand poured over the top and wet down to set.

Something we learned after this point. The guys at Lowe's do not always know best. B initially wanted to use paver sand, which is sand mixed with cement to set the stone. Guy at Lowe's said this was unnecessary and all we needed was the regular sand.

Wrong!

The pavers just weren't quite setting right, so when we went back to Lowe's Friday night to get planting soil, plants, mulch, and grass to fill in the bare spots we didn't hit due to the design change, we got the paver sand. We went ahead that night and did the first round of paver sand and by the next morning, the stone was setting in quite nicely.

Saturday morning, we finished up setting the stones and then I went to work on the planting. I didn't want to plant just flowers in the bed. Our original idea had been just more shrubs/bushes, but maybe some yellow or red/purple ones. Unfortunately, all the ones we found at Lowe's were going to grow bigger than the space we alotted for. So, Plan B was to find some perennials that would grow kind of big and give just a little color to the space.

They are a little hard to see because they are still small, but the two on the outside are Marmalade Rudbeckia, which will yield some pretty yellow flowers, and the two on the inside are Passionate Blush Gaura, which should show pretty pink flowers as well as reddish leaves.

We used a black mulch to really contrast the the lightness of the pavers and also to coordinate with the black shutters around the windows.

And here we are, almost all finished. B has put one coat of stain on the pavers, but needs to add another.

View from the sidewalk. I've still got my pots our ready to get some flowers in there to complete the landscaping look.

I'll post more pictures when B finishes staining. We're really pretty proud of this project and really excited with the way it turned out.

Happy Tuesday!!

All in a Week's Time

2010-05-03T21:28:00.001-05:00

It's funny how life works sometimes.

It's funny how the highs and lows of life hit.

In the span of one week, I've seen and felt (felt as an observer) the highest of highs and lowest of lows in life.

Last Tuesday, one of my very best friends, Julie, gave birth to her first child.

Julie and I work together and have been friends for nearly 9 years. Since we are both friends and co-workers and talk on a daily basis, I had a firsthand account of her entire pregnancy, talking with her as she planned and prepared for her sweet son, all the things that come with impending motherhood.

Another good friend and I waited (impatiently) all day for her husband to update us on Facebook of the new baby's arrival. At work all day, people anxiously asked for updates. We could hardly stand the wait. And then he was here.

I most definitely teared up seeing the first picture posted of that sweet baby boy and later pictures showing him with his two proud big brothers, his daddy, and his mommy.

It was such an exciting, happy day to watch, even from afar.

It was a major high.

On Sunday morning, our very dear friends, the Perry's, lost their beloved husband, father, and grandfather.

I've mentioned Scotty P. before. He's Bill's best friend and has been for over 15 years. Bill considers Scott's family his family, and as an extention of Bill, I do too. The Perry's are a wonderful family who love each other so much and love to laugh together. Jerry was such a big part of that, maybe the biggest part.

B and I spend all Saturday night, into the early morning Sunday, sitting with Scott and his family at the hospital as Jerry's situation steadily became worse. It was one of the most awful things to witness as these wonderful people tried to wade through their emotions and grief. But, I was glad that we could be there to support them and hope that in some way, we were able to give them some amount of comfort.

On Sunday, I took a step back and realized what had just happened in a week's time. I've never experienced anything like that before. It seemed so surreal to have these two major life events happen in such a short time. I know it happens every day, every hour really. There is life and new death every day. But, to see these things happen to people I am so close to really hit home to me.

Life is strange like that.
It is beautiful and precious.
It is made up of highs and lows that we sometimes don't even see.
But it is all life nonetheless.

Welcome to the world sweet baby boy (who I hope to meet, live and in person, really soon!).
And, goodbye, Jerry, a man I am so happy to have known.

A

Weekend Fun: Phive-K Run for ALS

2010-04-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

I took a quick little trip to Baylor last Saturday.

Why?

To participate in the Phi Delta Theta (Baylor Chapter) Phive-K (get it?) Run for ALS. Why would I do that?

Because my baby brother, Kyle--a freshman at Baylor, asked me to.
Here is Kyle trying to look like the cool frat boy he thinks he is--ha!

Well, really, my mom asked me to because Brad, my stepdad, was supposed to be in Russia (that's just a whole other story) and she didn't want to walk alone, but then his flight was cancelled due to the volcanic ash from the volcano in Iceland (no news link--watch the news, people). But, since I'd already said I'd go and I had been wanting to get down to Baylor, I went.

The only shot of me (a "lovely" self-portrait B said I should put on here) from the day.

Speaking of B. He had to stay home. Poor guy just still isn't quite up to even walking a 5K after the blood clot in the lung. His lung capacity is slightly diminished right now, but hopefully that'll get better soon!

So, Mom, Brad, Alex (really baby brother), Alex's friend Gabe, and I took off Saturday morning in the very gloomy, rainy weather to go walk a 5K.

Mom and Kyle. Mom needed to take a picture in her UNT Health Science Center T-shirt for work. I guess they do that when they go places.

Kyle and his girlfriend, Kirstin, before we got started. Hmm . . . does this boy ever smile?

Oh, hey, there's the smile. Dad got it out of him!

Alex and Gabe, high school seniors, walking around like they are right at home the college campus.

Sorry, but isn't Alex just the cutest?

After a few words from the organizer, Anthony, we were off.

Now, Kyle and most of his fraternity brothers took off on in a mad dash, leaving the rest of us--mostly family and a few friends of the brothers--to make our way along the course.

The course followed Bear Trail, the walking/running trail around the Baylor campus. The trail appeared to be 2 miles. We followed it around once, went another quarter mile or so around the trail, then cut across campus back to the start to complete the 5K.

Because I have not quite been keeping up with my workouts, I was not prepared to run this 5K, so I walked it. Now, I'm a powerwalker. A seriously, freakishly fast walker at times. And I figured if I was going to go all that way and walk 3+ miles, I was going to make it worth my while. Unfortunately, the rest of my group did not feel the same.

Look at those stragglers!

These two strapping young boys were not much better, goofing around on the trail.

So, I led the group even though I had no idea where the heck I was going. See, the trail is only marked at the start, the 1 1/4 mile , 1 3/4 mile, and the 1/4 mile (I think). And we did not start at the start. And since the guys putting this thing on took off in a run, most of us walkers had no clue where we were going, so we just kept walking.

Well, Alex did run for a minute. Yeah, cause that looks real!

See those lovely ladies up ahead of me on the trail? They were the only two anywhere near us the entire walk. Every time they got to a possible cutoff on the trail they looked back at me to see if we were going the right way. None of us had a clue.

Funny story about these women. Toward the end, we had no clue where we were going, so we called Kyle (who had finished) to ask where we needed to cut across. Once we found out, I ran ahead to tell these two so they stayed on the right path. Once I caught up with them and relayed the message, the one on the left introduced herself to me and the mom of one of Kyle's fraternity brothers.

And asked if my son was in the fraternity.

I so could have been offended here, but she quickly said I didn't look old enough. Couldn't really blame here. I am 13 years older than Kyle and I clearly didn't look young enough to actually be a student, so if I looked a couple of years older than my age then I could have been a young mom to a college freshman.

But still.

Anyway, really good time. The weather cooperated, thankfully. We had been having quite a rainy day up here if Fort Worth and even down in Waco, but the storms stopped just in time and we had lovely walking weather.

Can't wait to go back and visit Kyle again and see more of the campus!

Happy Tuesday!

Shopping Alone

2010-04-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you are shopping alone and can't decide which size of something looks better on you? Step out and look at the three-way mirror? Nah. Ask another woman in the dressing room who is sure to understand your problem? Of course not. Whip out the cell phone and take pictures of yourself in the mirror to compare the two? Hey, that's a great idea!

Yep, that's how big of a dork I am.

I went to Target after work today to find some pants to wear tomorrow. My little brother's fraternity (at Baylor) is sponsoring a 5K walk/run and I'm going with my mom and stepdad to walk it. I do work out, but have slacked a little in that area of late and put on a bit of weight (can't believe I just admitted that, but it's not like you can't tell by looking at me), so some of my nicer workout attire is a bit on the snug side. Also, I work out at home, so my workout clothes don't exactly need to be presentable since only B and the pups see me in them.

So, I needed some presentable pants (read: pants without holes in them) to wear to this event. Target is a pretty great place to find affordable, but GOOD, workout clothes. So, off to Target I went. Love me some Target. Probably a good thing we don't live across the street from it any more!

Anyway, pants. Found some pants that said they were looser fitting, picked them up in two sizes--no, I will not be saying WHICH two sizes--to try. Then I noticed some capris that looked really cute, comfy, and exactly what I was looking for. Problem: they were tagged as fitted. I'm, shall we, um, say on the curvy side? Okay, I have a big butt (there is a reason "Baby Got Back" is B's ringtone for me) and larger hips and thighs. All of this basically means that fitted does not really work well for my body type. I have accepted this, but there capris were really what I was looking for. So, I went ahead and grabbed two sizes of those too and off to the fitting room I went.

Decided to try the capris on first, in the smaller size. To my surprise, the fit rather nicely. I'm not going to say I looked great or thin or anything, but I didn't think I looked like a big, fat cow either. I thought I'd go ahead and try on the larger side just to make sure those didn't look a little better. Well, they actually made me look bigger because they were a bit baggy--until I turned around to look at my rear. Whoops, knew I forgot something. Cardinal rule of trying on clothes: look at yourself from all angles. I hadn't looked at my butt in the smaller pair. So, I quickly switched pants again and thought my butt looked too big in the smaller ones. Went back to the big ones. Couldn't tell if I could see a difference, but I didn't like how the bigger ones looked everywhere else. I told myself to remember what I looked like in those and then tried the smaller ones back on. Couldn't remember. Great. I just knew I was going to be there for 30 more minutes and still end up with the wrong ones. This is why I need a shopping partner. Then, it hit me. Camera phone!

I whipped that bad boy out and took picture from the side and back (that was fun, I'll tell you) in both pants and took a look. Decision made. Smaller pair it was! Butt may look a little bigger, but overall, I looked better in the smaller ones.

Now I never need a shopping partner again. B will be so happy!

Happy Friday!
A

Taking It on Tuesday: Gardening

2010-04-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

This was not what I was planning on taking on this week. And, really, I probably get to any actual gardening and planting this week, but I'm going to start the planning process.

I have not had the best luck the gardening department. The lovely summer-in-Texas heat usually bites me in the butt.

We've been in our house for four years now. The first year, I got super ambitious and we bought all kinds of flowers to plant in our the bed under the front windows, which only held the itty-bitty, newly planted standard new house shrubs. I thought I'd just plant some flowers around them and also around our lone little Charlie Brown tree in the front yard. I encountered a few problems. First, I did not pay attention to the sunlight our yard gets. The tree gets quite a bit, so the beautiful begonias dried out and died. The bed, however, gets very little sun at all, which was not conducive to wide variety of flowers I planted there. Not to mention the fact that those lovely shrubs grew. I did fair a little better with the flowers planted in a few pots around the walkway, but eventually the heat got to them too. So, overall, big fat fail.

The second year, my grandfather, who has one of the best yards ever, asked about my attempts at gardening. He suggested I try only planting in pots and perhaps buying hanging plants and transplanting them. Sounded like a good idea and I certainly couldn't argue with his success, so that I did. I had a really pretty landscape:

Pretty, huh? And look at that lawn! I take no credit for that. The lawn is all B's baby.

So, that's how the front of the house looked for, oh, a month. Then the heat hit again and my beautiful flowers started to wither away, no matter how much (or little, as the case may be) I watered. The next year, much of the same.

Last year, I just never got around to it. I had a lot going on and I just couldn't bear the thought of spending money on flowers only to have them die away again. Actually, I did plan on planting. I even bought some books about Texas flowers and planting and such. But, life got in the way of on my planning and we went flowerless.

So, my plan right now is to plan and get to planting. My goal for this week is to study my yard. I'm still going to stick with pot planting. I'm cracking myself up right now because it sounds like I'm going to plant weed. Hehehehehe. No, no weed for me. How the heck would you say that? Anyway, I'm only going to plant in my pretty pots. Seriously, I love my pots. Got them at Garden Ridge. They are all a heavy plastic, but look like ceramic. Anyway, I'm going to place the pots where I want them and then spend a day studying the shade and sun patterns.

I already know the front of the house, especially right next to the house where the pots will go, does not get a whole lot of sunlight. But, I want to know for sure what gets sun when so I can plan my plants accordingly. Since I work from home on most Thursdays and plan to this week, that's the perfect day. I'm going to draw a diagram of the house (please stop laughing at the thought of me drawing a diagram; it's not that funny) and then write up a timeline. I'll go check every hour, I think and note where the sun hits or doesn't hit.

Now, all of this planning will not solve the lovely problem of the "awesome" Texas heat. But, the only thing I can do there is really know my flowers. Know how much water they are supposed to get and try to keep up with it. And also, know which of them are meant to last through summer and not just spring.

I know I do not have a green thumb, but damnit, surely I can keep a few flowers alive through summer. I hope so anyway.

Happy Tuesday!

A

A Week (and more) in Review

2010-04-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

I've been a bad blogger. Just lots going on and then I hurt my back and sitting in a chair (or even upright in bed) to use the computer was just not happeing for me. But, lots of stuff did happen (not exciting to most, I'm sure; but exciting in my little world), so I wanted to share in pictures and, hopefully, few words.

On April 1st, we had a new back door (frame and all) and a storm door installed. Can I just tell you how much I LOVE my storm door. It has a window that can be pulled down to have it open with a screen, which is awesome for getting some air in the house.

My little sunbaby, Dash, loves the new door too:

Let's see, last Sunday--Easter Sunday--was Brad's birthday.

Oops, I don't think I was supposed to take a picture with his glasses on--hehe! This was actually him telling me not to take a picture with his glasses.

We had his birthday dinner with family the night before at my Uncle Jimmy's house.

Yummy spaghetti with ribs (my favorite--I should make and blog that one these days) and I made Brad's favorite cake--Boston Cream Pie, which also happens to be my favorite dessert.

Let's see, no pictures or much else from Sunday.

Monday, April 5 was Opening Day at the Ballpark. My company/department has been going to Opening Day to see the Rangers since long before I ever started. Two years ago, the Rangers asked if we would like to be a part of the Opening Day ceremonies by helping unfurl the giant American flag on the field during the National Anthem. We, of course, jumped at the chance and while it was a bit hot and humid and a lot of fast, hard work followed by a lot of standing around, it was a LOT of fun. We got to see a bunch of old players while we waited in the tunnel to go on the field. We stood on the field for the entire ceremony, so we got to see the opening lineup up close and personal, got to see pitching legend Nolan Ryan throw out the opening pitch. It was just an awesome time. We were asked again this year and had a much less awesome time.

This happened to the flag (which is made of a parachute-type material) during rehearsal, which led to us unfurling an 11-striped American flag on the field:

Yep, that would be a very large rip.

Along with some smaller rips.

We attributed this to some not so good direction this time around in the whole flag unfurling thing. The people running it did not seem to be as good as last time, so we were really unprepared when we got to the field.

But, it all turned out okay (except for the two missing stripes) and we did have time for pictures on the field since we smartly decided to be on the end and, therefore, did not have to stand there holding the flag before it got unfurled:

I think this on the left was supposed to be an attempt at a picture of Rusty Greer. He's a coach now, but back when he played, he was by brother Kyle's favorite player, so I had get a picture.

However, the un-fun continued when we got to our seats. We first went to the pro shop so B could look around. By the time we got to our seats, others had occupied them (too long of a story for here), so we found other seats.

Here was our view:

Outfield:

Home Plate:

TV in case we couldn't see all of the field:

We left early. Went to visit Scotty P's dad in the hospital. Lots of thoughts and prayers for him right now.

When we got home, I thought I would continue my sewing endeavor by finishing up mending some of B's pants. Um, that didn't go as planned as the brand new sewing machine decided it didn't want to work anymore. Pretty sure this one had been opened and returned to the store. So, I did that as well.

New sewing machine:

A "few" more bucks, but lots more bells and whistles and I think it will last better in the long run.

Tuesday morning while brushing my teeth before my shower, my back went out. This is not something new to me. It happens every few years. That laid me up for the day and I was still in lots of pain for the next few days. But, we learned that B follow directions very well as he cooked me dinner Tuesday night from a recipe that he had never seen before. I was very proud! (And the recipe will be blogged later!)

Thursday, we had the carpets professionally cleaned. We bought our own machine a couple of years ago, but our carpet, 4-years-old like the house, was looking pretty bad what with having the two little munchkins and all. Dalworth came out and did a fantabulous job, so we think we'll get some more years out of this carpet.

Yesterday, we trekked out to Kelly & Bernie's house in Frisco for a surprise party for our friend Jerry. The party will get it's own post since I took lots of pics of the evening.

So, that's where I've been for a week. I'll be better at blogging this week--I hope!!

Happy Sunday!

A

Wordless Wednesday: Sewing Startup

2010-03-31T18:50:00.000-05:00

Taking it on Tuesday: Sewing

2010-03-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

I bought this yesterday.

I have only used one of these one other time in my life: middle school Life Management class (fancy name for home economics). That didn't go so well. I got strep throat the entire week we learned how to use a sewing machine and when I came back, it was time to sew our chosen pillow patterns. I, thinking it would be so easy--I mean, my mom knew how to sew, so surely I could pick it right up--had chosen one of the hardest patterns to sew before I got sick. That result was not so pretty (however, my two youngest brothers took the same class many years later and it turns out my pillow was better than either of theirs, so that says something, right?).

Anyway, after that little foray into sewing, I thought I was a dud and never pushed my mom to teach me how to sew. As I have recently learned, she did not push to teach me because she doesn't really like it (even though, from my memory, she's pretty good at it). So, I grew up not even able to sew on a button. Yep, that's something I've mastered in just the last couple of years. For the first many years of our relationship, B did all button replacing and minor mending.

So, why the sudden interest? A few months ago, a few of B's pants came apart at the inseam. We really didn't want to spend money on new pants since these were not old, so I attempted to repair them by hand. It worked pretty well, but took a pretty long time. I said I probably needed a sewing machine. But, mending was not the only reason. Many of my friends know how to sew (some having recently picked it up) and have been making things I would love to know how to do.

My main "creative" hobby is cooking and baking. I love doing both, but that can be an expensive hobby and one that is hard to do a lot of when there are only two of us in the house. I can only take so many baked foods to share at work. Anyway, I also just really wanted to learn to be creative in a more tangible, long-lasting way. I envy my friends who can make baby blankets or clothes. Or my awesome friend Ginger who is a fabulously creative scrapbooker. And, like I said in my first "Taking it on Tuesday" post, I just want to challenge myself to try things I've never done before, especially things I've been afraid to try.

So, I bought a sewing machine. This was my first project:

A sad attempt at learing how to use the machine and sewing a straight line. Not to pretty, but not horrible either. I did manage to mend one pair of B's slacks tonight and they look pretty darn good. And it only took seconds!

Happy Tuesday!
A

Things I Love Thursday: The Slow Cooker

2010-03-25T22:26:00.000-05:00

A couple of Christmases ago, B got me a slow cooker for Christmas. Now, before you go giving him hell for giving me a kitchen appliance, I have to point out that I asked for it--along with a dutch over, a tortilla warmer, and a grill pan. I'm that kinda girl. I love to cook and I love stuff for my kitchen.

Up until that point, my only real interaction with the slow cooker had been keeping queso, meatballs, and mini wienies warm for parties or work. But, I knew there was this whole world of slow cooker meals out there and I wanted to try it out. So, I asked for a digital with an automatic shutoff/warming setting.

I started out with basics--roast, tortilla soup, etc. I bought a couple of cookbooks. And I only used it on weekends/days we were home. B asked that we not use when we are not home. Now, being the person who had done the research, I knew hundreds if not thousands of people cook dinner in the slow cookers every day while they are away at work. But, B was concerned about a fire hazard, especially with the munchkins in the house, so I did as he asked. Because of this, however, the slow cooker didn't get a whole lot of use because a lot of weekends our plans were up in the air, so it was hard to plan to use it.

I did use it on occasion when I was off work to make some new favorites like meatloaf in the slow cooker (sooo good). And I used it the one month I decided to try Once a Month Cooking--it was great for cooking large amount of shredded BBQ chicken and shredded Mexican chicken to freeze.

Then, about a year ago, I was given the opportunity at work to work from home one day a week. In January of this year, I began doing it on a regular basis and realized this would be a great way to get more use out of the slow cooker. I could just take a little break sometime in the morning, prep the food and throw it in, and dinner at 6:00! Since then, I've been searching out new recipes to try. If you check out my cooking blog, you'll see some of my most recent dinners.

Now, I'm certainly not the first person to "discover" the slow cooker. But, it's new to me and I really do just love it.

The meat that you get is so tender. I even got B to eat ribs--twice--because the meat just fell off the bones. I love that mine is big--8 quarts--so I can usually get dinner and lefovers out of one recipe.

It's really good for more than just meals. I wanted some shredded whole chicken not long ago, so I threw in a whole chicken I bought on sale overnight, took it out the next morning and let it sit in the fridge all day, and that night, I had plenty of shredded chicken for a dinner with mashed potatoes, sandwiches for lunch, and some to freeze that I later used in a pot pie. I saved the broth for other uses and the bones to make stock. How awesome is that?

I can't find a link to my exact slow cooker. But, it's Cooks brand and 8 quarts. It can be a little big sometimes, but I just have to make sure I plan for the leftovers.

I can't wait to try and share more recipes!
Happy Thursday!

A

Wordless Wednesday: Work from Home Day

2010-03-24T20:32:00.000-05:00

Pulmonary Embolism: The Whole Story, Part 2: Getting Diagnosed

2010-03-22T08:50:00.000-05:00

So, with the doctor's orders, and with B still swearing he had a broken rib, off to Harris Methodist ER we went. We got back immediately where they did another EKG (which showed the same things as the first). Eventually they drew some blood, which they told us came back showing clotting, so blood clots it was. The next step was a CT to determine where the blood clots were. Turns out they were in the lining of the lungs--which explains the pain. At this point, the assumption was that the clots had started in his leg--thus, the leg pain--and had traveled to his lungs, which is pretty common.

At this point, we had been in the ER for nearly 6 hours and we knew they were most likely admitting him, but we had yet to see a doctor. We were hungry and tired and worried. I finally complained. While B went for yet another test, a very abrupt ER doctor took all of 2 minutes to tell me that they found clots in his lungs (which I had already been told by our nurse), that he would need to be admitted (which I had been told by another nurse), and that he would be put on blood thinners (duh!). We asked if he could eat and they said yes, so I went to the cafeteria.

We finally ate around 10:45 while still waiting for a room. And this was when I had my first meltdown. Here is was almost 11:00 pm and our babies hadn't eaten since 5:30am (normal time) or pottied since around 1:00pm. But, I didn't want to leave until they put B in a room (really, I didn't want to leave him at all, but knew I needed to), but I also didn't want the babies suffering. So, B suggested I call Scott and ask him to go. Bless Scott. He got out of bed at 10:45 to drive to our house (now, before you go feeling all sorry for him, he lives exactly 6 minutes from us) and feed and potty the pups. But, of course, I still felt horrible that they were home alone and probably confused.

Close to midnight, the nurse shift changed and the new nurse came in to check on us. Once again, we asked about a room. This time we were informed that he would be staying in the ER as there were no rooms available--in the entire hospital. Yes, seriously. (And, you know, I get that it is an ER and they are really busy, but you can't tell a person who is waiting that he is not getting a room that night? Really?) At this point, we realized I could not stay any longer, so I went home and B tried to sleep.

Thursday (3/11) morning, B was taken down for a sonogram to make sure he had no more clots his legs. When he came back up, he had moved to a tiny room in the ER. The room was so small that they could not even have a regular hospital bed in there, just the gurney with the crappy pad. But, it was a private room with a door and TV, so we took it. Overnight, he had been put on oxygen because the heart monitor kept beeping. At no point was he ever actually short of breath, it just hurt to take deep breaths, so he didn't. That cause oxygen levels to lower, and the machine beeped. Our regular doctor had also come in to see him that morning before I arrived and told him what we had not been wanting to say outloud--that he could have died. We still try not to actually say that outloud. We know it, we understand it, but that's just a lot. Over the course of the day, we waited--mostly impatiently--for a room. We were told on multiple occasions that we may not have a room that day. B was also put through a couple of other tests for his heart "just to be sure." All of these tests confirmed what the EKG had already told us--nothing wrong with his heart. We were also visited by the pulmonologist who asked a lot of questions and gave few answers. Gotta love doctors sometimes.

Around 5:00 pm, we were finally given the news that they had a room for him (note, we had been in the ER for over 25 hours). But, they had to take him down for an echo on his heart first. Poor guy. All he wanted was to get to a room so he could shower, change clothes, and get in a comfortable bed. But, he was there soon enough and got to do all those things.

More to come on the hospital stay . . .

A

Pulmonary Embolism: The Whole Story, Part 1: What the Heck is Wrong with Bill?

2010-03-21T21:17:00.000-05:00

I started this blog post almost a week ago now. The first night, I got too tired to finish. Then, B came home and I just didn't want to sit and think about it all. But, it is time to finish it. I'm thinking about breaking it into two or three parts just for the sake of length. I think most people reading know me personally, so you know I can talk with the best of them. I fully admit to my long-windedness. And my storytelling does tend to go on and on and on and on. But, that's usually because I don't like to leave things out. And in the case of what happened to Bill, to us, I don't want to leave anything out. I want to be able to have this story so we don't forget and so it's just out there for people to know about because we were so completely blindsided by what happened. Originally, I had hoped this would be a straighforward account of what happened medically, but there was so much more that I know the emotional/stressful parts will find their way through. I've said it before, I'll say it again: my blog, my perogative!

Also, we've told the story so many times to so many people that I feel like having it written out, printed, lamenated, and on hand to pass out when someone asks.

So, one more time, from the top.

On Friday, March 5, B started complaining about his left calf hurting. We didn't think too much about it as his legs often get stiff and sore because he refuses to stretch properly after working out--yes, I'm calling you out here, dear, so that maybe you'll start doing it!

He woke up the next morning with it hurting even worse. I rubbed the leg pretty extensively that morning and throughout the day. It was very stiff. It hurt him to put weight on the leg and after awhile actually hurt when I rubbed it. Sunday, more of the same.

Monday (3/8) morning, we decided he'd go ahead and do the elliptical like he does every morning, thinking maybe he could work out whatever stiffness was going on. But, we also said he'd take it really easy. After less than 5 minutes, I walked by the room and looked in on him. He was barely going, saying it hurt really bad. I looked down at the left calf and from across the room could see a small (maybe marble size) bump/knot on the side of his calf, about an inch and half above his ankle. Thinking he might have actually fractured a bone or something, I immediately told him to stop working out. Once we looked closer, we didn't think it was a bone sticking out, but still were not sure what it was. I urged him to see a doctor.

Monday evening, I brought home Dairy Queen for dinner--burger and fries. A couple of hours after dinner, B started complaining of chest pains, which he gets from time to time if he eats spicy, greasy/heavy, or acidic foods. He said he was hurting pretty bad and I asked him where the pain was, if it was down his left arm, etc. He said it hurt a little in his neck/back and some down his arm. I gave him two Gaviscon, which he normally takes for heartburn, and an asprin, which he also takes every morning. He continued to complain and actually started to get worried himself, which is rare. Neither of us slept that night and we discussed going to the emergency room.

Around 3:00 a.m. Tuesday (3/9), B was just about convinced that we should go the ER. I got up and got the laptop and brought it back to bed. I just wanted to see if I could pinpoint some symptoms. Within 10 minutes, he fell asleep for the first time all night. I stayed up looking at symptoms and was convinced he was not having a heart attack. I considered gall bladder because some of his symptoms reminded me of my mom's--she had her gall bladder out about a month ago. But, his pain was on the wrong side--his left side. Around 4:15, I decided to lie back down for a bit and woke him up at 5:00, our normal time. He was still pretty groggy and I knew he wasn't going to work and I decided I was at least staying with him until we had a chance to call the doctor. I got up at 6:30 to call my boss and he got up a little while later to do the same. He decided he wanted to go ahead and get up and thought he was feeling a little better. He went to the bathroom a couple of times and was burping a lot--both of which seemed to relieve the pain/pressure.

I thought the doctor's office opened at 8:00, so I made him wait until after I could get ahold of them to eat in case he could get in and they wanted to do any kind of bloodwork or anything. I finally got ahold of the doctor's office at 8:50. I explained to the woman at the appointment desk what was going on and she told me our doctor did not have any openings that day, but she went to talk to his nurse to see what we should do. I should mention here that at some point when I was looking up symptoms at 3:30 in the morning, I had considred his leg and I think even saw something about pulmonary embolism, but by the time I called the doctor, I did not think to mention his leg. Anyway, the doctor's nurse was going to talk to the doctor and call us back. She called back pretty quickly, but said they were thinking it may have been a really bad bout of heartburn/reflux and wanted us to try Prilosec or Prevecid and make an appointment to see the doctor as early as possible. I accepted that and B thought he was feeling better, so we decided to go with that.

We both had some errands to run, so we got out and about, but B was still not quite right. We stopped by my mom's office to pick up my jury summons that had been mailed to her house. We got to talking about how B was feeling and mentioned his leg. That set off alarm bells to Mom and she said we needed to go the ER or at least call the doctor's office back and tell them about the leg. B was skeptical, but while we were eating lunch, it was pretty clear he was still in a lot of pain. By this point the pain was localized to his lower ribcage on the left side. I was starting to get very concerned by this point, so he agreed to let me call the doctor back. This time, one of the nurses happened to be answering the phone and realized, I think, that this might be more serious than heartburn or even gall bladder. She got him an appointment with another doctor the next day at 1:00.

Well, B being B, did not want to keep the appointment because he was supposed to have his review at work the next day at 1:00. I told him we could cancel if he wanted. On the drive home, I still had a nagging feeling and we actually ended up in the parking lot of Harris Southwest ER. He convinced me that he was feeling better, but that if he felt bad again, he promised he would go to the ER. So, home went. Had a normal evening, complete with B playing Halo with the guys.

At 4:00 Wednesday (3/10) morning, B woke me up saying he really thought we needed to go to the ER. He was having pretty severe pain in his lower left ribcage. It hurt to take a deep breath, it hurt to the touch, and he could not get comfortable. He wanted to take a shower first, so he got a shower and I got up to take care of the pups. At this point, he was convinced he'd somehow broken a rib. By the time he got out of the shower, he felt a ton better and claimed it didn't hurt as bad. He again decided he did not need to go to the ER, but agreed to let me make an appointment with his doctor (but cancel the appointment for that day). So, off to work we went. I cancelled the appointment and made another one for the following Thursday.

Around 9:00, B called me and asked me to call back and see if the doctor could still see him that afternoon. The pain had gotten worse again and his boss was postponing his review and telling him to go home. I later found out that she actually tried to drive him to the ER herself and told him he was being selfish for not going to the ER/doctor to be checked out. All of this was enough to convince him. So, I called the doctor back and they scheduled him for 2:30 that afternoon. He went home and waited for me to come get him.

We did not see our regular doctor. She listened to everything, including the story about the leg, which B thought was silly tell, but at this point, I did not want to leave anything out. She seemed perplexed by all of the seemingly random symptoms and wanted run an EKG. Now, B was a bit scared by this. He is overweight and he has high blood pressure and high cholestrol/triglycerides. He was a little worried about what an EKG would show. Turns out, the EKG showed him to have a very healthy heart (I attribute that to his years an an athlete/runner). But, it did show some things that concerned the doctor. Without something to compare it to, she couldn't tell if it was normal for him or if what she was seeing indicated something else. She said she would not feel comfortable unless she sent him to an ER for some more testing. We asked her what she was thinking and she said blood clot (pulmonary embolism) or an infection around the heart.

Weekend Recovery

2010-03-21T15:34:00.001-05:00

There were so many things I should have done this weekend. More of the house needed to be cleaned. The winter decorations in the bathroom needed to be taken down (though, Mother Nature made them seem not SOOO out of place). We need some basic groceries in the house (got milk?). Car needs inspected. Work could have been made up. All of these things could have made up my Friday Plans/To-Do list.

Instead, I recovered. I haven't posted the entire weeklong saga of B and the pulmonary embolism and the prolonged hospital stay. It's half typed out, just waiting to be finished. Maybe I'll do that later today. But, bottom line was, after the week and half we had, I, we, needed to recover.

I slept in both days (when did 9:00 am become "sleeping in"? must be that aging thing)--even the pups didn't feel the need to get up early, which is very unusual for them. Sleeping in, I think, I was the biggest thing for me. I was exhausted--mentally, physically, emotionally. I needed some long, uninterrupted, restful sleep.

Before I continue, I here are pictures of the babies from this weekend. They are very upset that they have only made blog appearances once before.

Dash

Raspy

I did some shopping. Bought myself a shiney new 20" monitor (that would be a computer monitor, Scott--hehe) that not only makes personal use of the home computer so much better than the old, clunky monitor, but will also make working from home soooo much easier. Also went shopping for our goddaughter's 6th birthday. Emmy's daddy said she is into play makeup and dolls. I sooo wanted to get her some play makeup because loved that stuff when I was her age. [Tangent: When I was about her age, maybe a little older, I love makeup and playing with hair. At that age, I was still an only child when with my mom and stepdad, so not always someone around to play with. So, my stepdad, God bless him, let me play with his hair. Now, I NEVER put makeup on him, but he did let me brush his hair and put hair clips in his hair. Thinking back, I am not sure how the heck I got away with that!] Back to Emmy. So, I went to Target in search of play makeup. None to be found. So, I got her a really cute doll that looks just a little like her.

Saturday, we went to Emmy's birthday party and to eat with Scotty P. again. Emmy's party was so much fun. We hadn't seen her in awhile, so that was great. B also got to catch up with some old friends. And by old friends, I mean, these guys have know each other since birth--almost literally in some of the cases.

Adam, B, Scott, Ben, Ritchie

Ritchie is B's oldest friend in the world--quite literally. Ritchie is exactly 9 months to the day older than B. They grew up across the street together and 37 years later are still great friends. Adam is Ritchie's younger brother, so B's known Adam his whole life. Ben is another neighborhood friend. Scotty P., as previously, mentioned is the best friend. He and B met back when they worked at Oshman's 15 years ago. Scotty was quickly just one of the guys.

Anyway, it was so much fun for the guys to see each other and catch up after all these years. Of course, we see and talk to Scott practically everyday and we see Ritchie on a regular basis too. But, Adam, we only get to see a few times a year, so it was great to finally meet his wife and his kiddos. Ben actually came up to the hospital to see B, but B was so out of it, he barely even remembered! And it was so much fun watching Emmy open presents and play with her cousins and friends. I am SO glad we were able to go to the party.

Emmy trying on a new outfit from Grandma. Isn't she the cutest?

Emmy playing with her Daddy.

Today is Sunday and my Sunday is usually very packed with grocery shopping and laundry and ironing and just getting ready for the week. So far, I have slept in, put ribs in the slow cooker for dinner, watched a movie with B, and not much else. I will do some ironing because I HATE doing that on weeknights and I should at least go buy some milk--it just feels weird to have no milk in the house.

But, I really think this the way I needed to spend this weekend. I needed the rest and I needed to spend some real time with my husband. I think I will be a much better person for it later this week!

Happy Sunday!
A

Things I Love Thursday: Mexican Food

2010-03-18T22:43:00.001-05:00

So, I still have the whole account of B's ordeal with the pulmonary embolism to post. It is half typed out, but it's long and a lot to get out, so I'm still processing. In the meantime, I'm going to try to keep up with my weekly posts, meaning today is Things I Love Thursday.

I love Mexican food. LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE Mexican food. I could eat Mexican food every meal, every day, no question. There is very little about Mexican food I don't love. I used to not be so much of a hot and spicy kinda girl, but over the years, I have developed a tolerance. I still can't, say, eat a pepper or even just a slice of a jalapeno, but I don't think that makes me any lesser of a Mexican food lover.

Now, I suppose here is where I should point out that when I say Mexican food, I mean Tex-Mex. I'm a Texas girl--born, raised, and never left. I have been outside of Texas and tried Mexican food outside of Texas. It sucks. I don't even know what it is that makes Tex-Mex so much better, but it is. The only Mexican food outside of Tex-Mex that doesn't suck is authentic Mexican food. Living in Texas, you can find that and I have been to Mexico. The meats are different in authentic and often the dishes themselves, but there is something about eating authentic that makes it good even if it is not what you are used to.

So, my very favorite thing to eat at a Mexican food place and usually the thing I order the first time I try a new place is Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. I love them. If my older brother was reading this, he would take this time to tease me about not liking sour cream. At some point when we were young children, I turned down sour cream on tacos claiming to not like it. While I do remember this incident, I have absolutely no idea why I said it because I do not ever remember a time in my life that I didn't love sour cream. What's not to love? And that is why I love the Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas.

And here is where I would like to discuss enchiladas for a moment. I'm a bit of a cooker myself. Due to my love of chicken enchiladas and B's love of, well, all enchiladas, I have tried my hand at them. My biggest complaint about recipes I see for enchiladas is that the majority call for flour tortillas. Enchiladas are NOT made with flour tortillas. Burritos are made with flour tortillas. You put fajita meat on flour tortillas. You can even make soft tacos out of flour tortillas. Enchiladas, however, are made with corn tortillas. Yummy, slightly fried corn tortillas.

Now that we have that cleared up, I need to tell you why I love Mexican food today.

Today, I had dinner at El Paseo. As you have probably gathered, I have eaten at a lot of Mexican food places in my life. And there are other places that I also love (Mexican Inn--the original locations, not the franchised locations--is a family tradition). But, no other place in many years has come close to rivaling El Paseo when I want real, down home, authentic Mexican/Tex-Mex.

B has been eating there with family for years. His late brother, Johnny, worked there for years. For some reason known only to him, B waited well over a year to share this place with me. I will never forgive him for that year or so I lost. We used to live minutes from the Fort Worth location, which is actually the only location I've been to. When we lived there, I could pretty much convince him to take me anytime I wanted. Now, we live over 30 minutes away, so it's a bit more of a decision if we want to go. But, it's also less than 10 minutes from my in-laws' house, so I have NO problem ever visiting them (I have no problem visiting them anyway; I love my in-laws) because even if B wasn't planning on taking me, odds of my father-in-law taking are pretty good. My father-in-law loves this place as much as I do. We are obsessed with the chips and salsa. We get our own basket, just the two of us. They have to refill it often.

Anyway, our best friend, Scotty P., took us to dinner tonight because B had been craving some Mexican food while in the hospital and, well, we love the place. So, we made the 30 minute trip out there and were not disappointed. In case any of you locals would ever like to try it, the dishes we got tonight (and that we get pretty much every time) were:

Steak Fajitas (Scott)

Steak a la Mexicana (B)

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas (A)

Soooo yummy!!! I love the fajitas. Really awesome steak. But, B's dish is their specialty and so worth the extra wait to cook. The steak is absolutely perfect and sooo different from the fajitas. And the SCCE are, hands down, my favorite of any other restaurant.

I need to say here that when I have mentioned my love of El Paseo to others in the past, I have received bad reactions. Other people--reasonable people whose tastes I usually agree with--have said they do not like El Paseo. However, these people have not been to the location I go to. Perhaps there are differences; I don't know. All I know is, the Fort Worth location is so good that I have been known to say I could just stand in the entry way and smell the air!

Happy Thursday!

A

Wordless Wednesday (a day late): Discharged!

2010-03-18T08:43:00.001-05:00

Weekend Goals/Projects/Plans

2010-03-12T23:57:00.001-06:00

So, I think Friday's blogs are going to be all about things I want to get done on weekend. Not the silly mundane stuff like house cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping. The bigger things--home improvement projects, big organization projects, cooking/baking projects, etc. Sound boring? It probably will be, but I just feel like putting things out there.

This weekend will, of course, be a bit different because it is certainly not a normal weekend.

I'm breaking my first rule by putting house cleaning on this list. But, the house was already in need of a good cleaning after a couple of weeks of overtime at work, which causes me to neglect the house a bit. And, now, I've barely been home in three days and, frankly, it's getting a bit disgusting. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I can actually see layers of dust. Blech.

So,

House cleaning
Rest
Learn more about Pulmonary Embolisms and treatment
Learn how the heck I'm going to feed B with some of these dietary parameters (seriously, I'm going to kill the guy trying to keep up with servings of foods he should and shouldn't eat).
Get the full account of what we've been through with Bill this past week written up in a blog post so it's just "out there."

There are a few other things I'd like to do, but between trying to get some rest and spending time with the munchkins and spending time at the hospital, I'm not going to set my sights to high.

A

Things I Love Thursday: My People

2010-03-11T23:22:00.000-06:00

"Things I Love Thursday" is supposed to be my own little version of Oprah's Favorite Things--except I won't give anything away and nobody really cares what I love. But, my blog, my perogative!

Anyway, the intent is supposed to be to talk about things I love to do, things I like to read, watch, buy, eat, listen to, etc. But, like "Wordless Wednesday," it just so happens that the first post has to sort of take a different feel given what's going on this week. I'm not going to go into the full story right now, though I will post it later. Short story is B is in the hospital with blood clots in his lung. So, my head and heart are in a very different place right now than usual.

With that being said, the things I love this week are "my people." First, don't give me any crap about people things. You get what I mean. I've been thinking about this for the past few hours, batting around how I would word this: "my friends," "kind-hearted people." I just couldn't quite figure it out until I actually typed out the title. Kind-hearted people was too general. Friends didn't quite encompass everybody and, more importnantly, it didn't quite describe how I feel about the people I'm referring to.

We are very lucky to have so many people in our lives who genuinely care about us. Though I've always known these people care and are true friends, you really see when something like this happens what people are really about. Who will offer to do/help with ANYTHING while you are trying to worry about your husband getting into a real hospital room and getting his medication knowing that you are probably not doing thing for yourself like eating? Who will offer to take care of your beloved doggies? Who will just call to check on you and ask for updates or simply send good thoughts and prayers?

I am literally going to list those people. Mom, Mom, Scott, Julie, Cris, John, Terri, Ritchie, Jamey, Kelly, Marcos, Bernie, Jerry, Dina, Judy, Nora, Ginger, Cobi, Alex, Kyle, Angela, Angela, Melissa, Carol, Melanie, Darren.

I have no doubt there are others, but these people have let me have meltdowns, called or texted for updates, emailed a sister who had been though the same thing to give me some information and insight, came to visit, bought funny gifts, brought me food and took care of my doggies and stayed late to walk me to my car, emailed to tell me they were praying for me, offered prayers through a social networking website to someone they haven't seen since high school and her husband they've never met, offered their heartfelt prayers and good thoughts, took care of loose ends at work, took on full responsiblity of planning an event.

All of these things seem so little, but when you are dealing with so much, these things are huge. These things make the people who are "just friends" so much more. They are extended family. They are "my people." They are the people I can count on, the people I can call.

So, they are what I love today. I highly recommend everybody get their own people!

A

Wordless Wednesday: It's All About Bill Today

2010-03-11T01:54:00.001-06:00

Taking it on Tuesday: Hey! Look! I'm Updating the Blog!

2010-03-09T20:57:00.000-06:00

I don't even know if anybody even checks to see if this blog gets updated anymore. Doesn't matter, it's one of my new goals. Blogging. I started this blog a year and a half ago and have managed approximately 6 blogs since then. But, I've been inspired as of late. I'm a "bloggie." Don't know if that term has ever been coined before, but in case it hasn't, for my purposes it means I'm a lover of blogs. I will at least check out any blog I come across and you would not believe the number of blogs I check out on a daily basis. I should probably use Google Reader to keep up, but I think it's more fun my way. I will try to get my faves listed on here.

So, are you wondering about the first part of this blog title? In an effort to make myself keep up with blogging, I need some type of motivation or goal. So, each day will be a different "theme." I'll explain them as I go along (no, that doesn't mean I haven't figured out what they all are yet; okay, I haven't; whatever).

Tuesdays are going to be "Taking it on Tuesday." What does that mean? What am I taking on? The plan is for it to be something different each week. Sort of challenging myself to try new things or remembering what I loved about things I've done in the past.

This week, I'm taking on my blogs. Yep, that's right, blogs. I do have the two. I'm working on this one first. See the pretty new background? I love it! Super cute. And here is the post. My goal is to keep up with this blog. I don't promise it will always be interesting, but it's more of an outlet for me. I hope to give B his own day, but we'll have to see about his motivation. Oh, and that second blog, my cooking blog, is next. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already. While I haven't updated it in a while either, it has lots more posts than this one ever did.

See you tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday (to be explained then because I need to watch Lost).

A

Finally, a post

2008-11-05T20:14:00.002-06:00

I should be working, I know, but here I am. A lot has gone since I last posted, so long ago.

We have a new niece. Our fabulously adorable nephew turned 1 (yeah, I'm just mentioning him since mentioned his baby sister). And we got married! And we have a new president elect.

So, what to talk about? I haven't really decided.

I kind of want to talk about the election and our new president. But I don't want to talk about the politics of it all, the differences in the candidates, or even who I voted for. None of that matters anymore. The election is over, we have a winner. Barak Obama will be president. A bi-racial man is going to be president of the United States. A half-African American man is going to be the leader of our country. How many people of any generation ever really thought that was something they would see in their lifetime? I'm 30 years old and even I have doubted ever seeing that.

I commented on a message board earlier that I have not been so proud to be an American since the aftermath of 9/11. In the days and weeks following that tragic even, I saw our country pull together in a way I never really thought it could and in a way I'm certain much of the world, and mostly those terrorists, never thought we would. In those days and weeks we were not different cultures living together in this great country, different races, different religions, different nationalities. We were all just Americans.

Last night, I felt that same pride. I saw seas of different colored faces cheering on a man who even 20 years ago would never have even been the presidential nominee. And I saw results for some counties and states where the majority who voted for Obama were white.

It occurs to me now that I am making this race seem like it was about race, but for me, it was not. I do believe that for many it was. And I believe that those who do think that were dead wrong. But, that does not change the fact that in the end, race is what made this an historical event.

We saw history happen last night. No matter your political affiliation, who you voted for, the color of your skin, you cannot deny that fact. One of the memorable moments for me was seeing Martin Luther King III on ABC news. Finally, all these years later, his father's dream has come to fruition. Something his father fought so hard for, died for. While we have made so many strides since Martin Luther King, Jr.'s time, I think this has to be the ultimate way to see that he did not die in vain.

I suppose at this point it sounds like I am an Obama supporter, that I voted for him. It really doesn't matter if I did or not. But for the record, I did not. I voted for McCain. I voted for the right choice for me. However, I will not say I'm not an Obama supporter now. He will be our president, so my only choice right now is to support him as our president. I can guarantee I will not agree with all of his choices and decisions, but he will be our president and I have to respect him for that.

So, that's all I have to say about that.

I'll blog about getting married later. And I'll post pictures for anybody who hasn't seen them. And I promise to try to update more often.

A

Mr. Fix-It: Friday Night Fun

2008-08-23T11:12:00.001-05:00

We really know how to live it up on a Friday night. There are just times when you realize just how domestic you've become.

Poor B comes home to find me, on the floor with our steam cleaner on its side, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with it.

We bought the Bissell 9500 Pro Heat 2x Clean Shot a few months ago and after not many uses, it stopped spraying the cleaning formula. We've tried cleaning it to make sure we didn't have any clogs to no avail. This was not an inexpensive machine and it's not been working for going on a month now. I was ready for the damn thing to be fixed!

So, without even changing his clothes, down on the floor with the machine B went. He too pieces apart, we called Bissell for troubleshooting, and nothing. Bissell referred us to a service shop. But that wasn't good enough for my Mr. Fix-It. He wasn't going to quit until that thing was working again.

Using the "tools of his trade"--oops, I left the flashlight out of that picture (and, see, still in work clothes)--he kept at it. It now works like a champ again. And it only took him two hours, which isn't really that bad considering.

Oh, and the culprit, clogged hoses. See, we chose not to upgrade the carpet when we had the house built. We didn't think it necessary. Boy, were we wrong. Word to the wise, if you have inside dogs, or children, ALWAYS upgrade the carpet. Between all the little munchkin hairs and the fuzz from the carpet, those hoses were good and clogged. And the troubleshooting had us check for clogs, but these clogs were in places they wouldn't normally be. So, the machine will be now be getting an even more thorough clean after each use from now on.

So, that is how we spent the first few hours of our Friday night. Don't we lead an exciting life? Now, B did get to go to his fave--Outback--for dinner after, so it couldn't have been all bad for him

Criminals......"oh my damn!"

2008-08-14T21:44:00.002-05:00

Hello all you people out there in blog-land. My name is Bill, and I am the other half of The "Bear-Den" .. if fact, that would be my last name. Any who... I have been nagged by my beautiful, (some would say better half)baby-girl Ashley to start blogging, so in order to spare getting on her bad side, (and having to camp on the couch), I decided to tell you about my GLORIOUS day! For those of you who don't know, I am an Adult Probation Officer, which is really just a fancy title for adult baby-sitter. "Oh my damn," these people really get to me sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I actually like my job, I mean aside from the 11 hour days, occasional threats of bodily harm, accusations of being "too mean," and of course having to go to court to testify against some moron who has already been on Felony probation for DWI-Repetition for the 3rd freakin' time, only to get put on trial yourself by the snake defense attorney. OOOOOOOhhhh sorry I had to vent for a minute, and in case you haven't noticed, I kinda had a rough day, oh and it gets better since I have to be in court all day tomorrow in a monkey-suit getting drilled by the defense attorney for failing to dot my I's and cross my T's, instead of being with my buddy Dennis at the office chilin' on Casual Friday wearing jeans and kicking back a little. I mean sometimes, I just feel like I'M LooSInG mY MInd!!!!!!!!!!! "Probation has had no psychological effect on me, no sir, no psychological effect on me at all.... "BIG-BIG DOGS LANDING ON MY FACE!" "DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF THAT CHICKEN?" "WE'RE IN THE SPIRIT WORLD ASSHOLE!" Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!! ok, sorry,, I'm back now. Anyway, I think this is actually theraputic, I doubt anyone will read this anyway, but on the off chance someone does... don't worry, I'm ReALly nOt thaT KraZy!!!!!!!!!! Just ask Ashley! Good night all. If you want me to blog again, just let me know in the comments, and I will oblige! PEACE- Three-5!

BB

So, we're getting married.

2008-08-10T11:37:00.002-05:00

Finally! After seven years, we have finally decided to just do it. It's probably silly that we've waited this long, but, hey, we're doing it now.

We are getting married on our anniversary, October 20. I figured we've had the same one for this long, why try to remember a new one? So, if anybody is checking their calendars, yep, that's a Monday. And how do you get married on Monday when the bride can't take more than two days off work at a time and you are giving yourselves about two month's notice? The JOP.

We've tried for a while now to figure out the whole "how to have a wedding" thing. I finally came to the conclusion that I'm just not up for the challenge. And we could wait some more to try to plan something and to try to save up more and more money, but we just don't want to do that.

It's really more us anyway, so it kinda works. Anyway, we're really excited!

And I'll try to make Bill post something. I don't think he's figured out the whole blog thing yet.

A

I hate the scale.

2008-07-25T00:12:00.005-05:00

The scale, of course, being that little device that you step on once a day, once week, or maybe once every other year depending on how you feel about it. I'm an every-dayer and have been going on a little over a year and half. January 1, 2007: the day I started trying to lose weight. At that point, even though we owned a scale, I don't think I could have actually told you how much I weighed. After that day, I knew. And I didn't like it. See, I initially decided I needed to lose weight because I didn't want to be the "fat" bridesmaid in my friends' wedding. In December '06, we had picked out and ordered the dresses and did not like the size that was coming. And it didn't help that the other three girls little. That was as good of motivation as I needed. And I had until May

So, I bought workout DVDs (Biggest Loser Workout), came up with a plan to eat Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen meals for lunch and dinner, gave up alcohol, and basically put all my energy into losing weight. For some reason, I though it would be easy. I must have lost my mind. Hardest thing I've ever done. And I'm still doing it. Well, by May, I had lost 20 lbs. and was pretty proud of myself. Until I saw pictures. While I looked so much better than I had six months before, I still didn't like what I saw. But I had lost 20 lbs., right? That was a big accomplishment. And so I let it go at that. And I maintained that weight for the next six or so months.

Then came January of this year. Actually, December 27 of last year came first. That was my birthday. My 30th birthday. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have an issue with turning 30, but it did get me thinking about my life. I was 30. Was I living the life I wanted to live? Was accomplishing certain things? Just thinking. And one thing I realized was that I was not in a place with my health or how I looked that I wanted to be. I wanted to look and be healthy. I didn't want to diet. Diets don't get you anywhere. I wanted to live a long, healthy life and I wanted to be able to teach our future children how to live healthy lives. Who knew that would be better motivation that fitting into a dress or looking good in a bikini (another past motivator)?

But, I digress. So, I have this new, profound outlook on life and living healthy. The scale shouldn't matter. I know that I'm eating better, working out, and feeling better because of it. I can see with my own eyes that I'm losing inches and gaining muscle mass and definition. I'm going down sizes in clothes.

But still that damn scale just sits there.

Since that initial 20 lbs., I've lost an additional 13, but I still have at least 16 and up to 21 to go to be in the "normal" range for my height. And yet the scale doesn't move.

We are so programmed to care what the scale says. As a rational, fairly intelligent human being, I understand all the reasons why I don't see the number on the scale going down. But as an irrational, often hormonal, woman, I won't be completely happy until that scale shows me what I want to see.

And it's all the scale's fault, you know!

A

So Who Are We and Why Do You Care: Our First Post

2008-07-24T23:54:00.003-05:00

We are Ashley and Bill, unoffically The Beardens [get it, The Beardens, The Bear Den(s)]. Why unofficially, you wonder? Well, if you don't know us, it's because technically we aren't married, but we may as well be and we are working on it. And, frankly, we got a kick out of the play on words for the title. And why do you care? Hey, you clicked on the blog!

We just thought it would fun to do this together. A little blog about our lives, our loves (including each other), our munchkins, and any other little thing that pops into our heads.

About us? We have been together for almost seven years (in October). We are engaged. We have two adorable dachshunds. We built our first house a little over two years ago. As a couple, we love movies, love bike riding, working out, taking drives, and in general, having fun.

Our plan is to sometimes blog together, sometimes blog apart. We may blog on the same subject, sometimes not so much.

Enjoy!

A & B