Travelling in Arkansas

  Good Evening blogging world!  It has been a crazy and busy week.  I have been travelling our beautiful state this week for work and I am sleepy.  Tuesday I was in Batesville, Wednesday in Wynne, today in Pine Bluff, and tomorrow I will be in Hope.  My little roadster is getting some miles this week.  I only have one travel day next week to Barling, but the next week I am at it again.  The good thing about all the travelling I am doing is I am able to see parts of Arkansas I have never visited.  There is a yummy smelling bakery in Batesville, a beautiful library in Wynne, and Pine Bluff is well, Pine Bluff.  I have been there before, so nothing to report.  Plus, I was in and out of Pine Bluff and was not able to venture around.  In the other towns I have meetings in the morning (hello 5:30 wake up), a break and then another meeting in the afternoon so there is time to kill.  I forgot my Kindle yesterday, so I went to Walmart and picked up the book Orange is the New Black.  I did not realize the tv show was based on a book.  So far it is pretty good.  I will be glad to get back into it when I have completed my assigned readings for book club.

  Who is looking forward to the 3 day weekend?  Me!!!!!  I am also very excited because it is the first Razorback game of the season.  Woooooo, Pig, Sooie! Hubby and I will be going to our friends to watch the game.  It is a tradition we started quite a few years ago and we love it.   The kids are with their other parents for the long weekend, so it is just hubby and I.  I am also looking forward to some romantic time with the hubby.  It is has been a while since we have had a kid-free weekend so we are going to take advantage of the time.  I am also seeing some pool time this weekend - hopefully on Saturday if it does not rain, so cross fingers.

  Short post today, as I am sleepy and ready for some downtime.

Have a fabulous Thursday night!

Hugs!

Words

  Words.  They can lift us up or bring us down. One word can make or break your day or mood.  Mean, ugly, worthless, hateful, bitchy, useless, fat, horrible, just writing these words sours my mood.  Happy, nice, helpful, beautiful, friendly, sweet, so much better.   Words can have long lasting effects.  Do you remember being scolded as a child?  I do.  Vividly.  I am not saying it was not deserved, but I do remember it.  Lasting effects.  How are you using your words?  To lift up or bring down?  Hopefully it is the former and not the latter.   If someone does utter those hateful words to you, try your best to ignore.  Know your self worth and brush it off.  Easier said than done, I know, but try.

  How was your weekend?  Mine was laid back.  I stayed home, for the most part, and got some much needed things done around the house.  We are painting the dining room and hallway this weekend so I wanted to get some cleaning, sorting, getting rid of done.  We moved in to hubby's house when we got married, so we are working on making it our own.  Not that it has been difficult.  It was quite bachelor/boy decor when we moved in.  It is amazing what some decent paint will do to the look of a place.  I am in search of a dining room table now.  Hubby had one and lost it in the divorce which is a shame because I really liked that table.  It was just the right size for any kind of activity.  Wink wink. Oops, family blog here, sorry.  So we are now on the hunt for a new dining room set.  The one we have now belonged to my parents and one of my weekend projects was doing some repairs, but I think I was only able to do a band aid fix and it is time to replace it.  Luckily it is Labor Day weekend and you know what that means, Sales!!!!  My favorite.   Maybe I will get lucky and a Groupon will pop up.  I love those things.  Do you use them?  We have eaten on them, traveled on them, and exercised on them.  They are awesome!!!!

  Hope your Monday is happy.  Loving the sunshiney weather.  It makes my heart happy!  Give someone a kind word today.

Hugs!

Ice Bucket Challenge

  Have you done the ALS ice bucket challenge?  Have you donated?  I have.  I think it is a brilliant idea.  Raising awareness, having fun, and collecting donations for research?  What more do you need.  Quit hating on this idea.  There is always going to be those who just do the challenge and never donate.  Who cares?  It is on them, not you.  So far they have raised lots of money that they would never have seen had this not happened.  Kuddos to them.  Get your challenge done or pay the $100.00.

Have a fabulous weekend my friends.

Hugs!

Change

  Change can be a good thing.  I am making small changes in my life that are making a huge difference.  Some of them are as simple as getting up 15 minutes earlier so I can get in the office earlier to take care of minor things before everyone gets there.  It is our busy season at the office, so at 8:00, we are hitting the ground running and I want to be ready.  I am also starting to eat lunch at home more.  I love going out to eat, but I tallied up what we spent on eating out the past few weeks and I did not like the total.  Luckily, I only live 5 minutes from the office so this is an easy thing to accomplish.  I am also going to start meal planning again.  I got out of the habit, and there are times when I get home and I do not feel like cooking, so we will get pizza or something equally as bad.  I think that is okay every once in awhile, but I do so much better when I meal plan.  Hubby and I have a fabulous arrangement.  I cook during the week and he cooks on the weekend. This works out great since he has soccer stuff 3 days a week and I make quick easy meals, where he likes to do stuff that is a little more elaborate. I am also making some minor changes that I will not elaborate on right now, but it is doing wonders for my mental health.  I am a fixer.  I do not like when things are out of sync and I want to fix them when they are.  I have finally realized, with the help of hubby, that there are some things I will never be able to fix and that I just need to learn to deal with it.  Simple, huh?  Difficult to carry out? Yes, but I am managing.

  Speaking of change, hubby and I went to the boys' open house at Catholic High last night.  As a parent, I think this is so important to attend. It really is the only time you will get to meet your child's teacher and get an overview of what to expect for the upcoming year.  Remember I blogged earlier about being a guide for your child?  Last night gave hubby and I some great tools on how to guide our boys this year.  Selfishly, it is also a great time to catch up with friends I have not seen in forever and it is a bit of a mini reunion.  I still love the shock of people I went to high school with who learn I am married to my hubby.  We are such the cliche'.  Mount graduate marrying a Catholic High graduate. I still laugh about it.

   Are you making some changes in your life?  If so, remember, it is the small stuff that can make the biggest difference.

Hugs!!!


 

My dad is a student

  This handsome guy, otherwise known as my dad, had his first day of school yesterday.  He is taking Applied Calculus at ASU Beebe.  Now, my dad already has a degree, 3 actually, yes, he is Dr. Daly, not Mr. Daly, as is the misconception and another pet peeve of mine.  He earned that PhD, call him Dr., dammit!  Anyway, I digress.  At 78 years young, he still does some scientific research and felt he needed a little refresher course in math.  So here is, on his way to class.  I talked to my mom last night and he had a great first day.  He said some terminology had changed, but other than that, it is still calculus.  Now, what you may not know is my dad is also a professor.  He taught sophomore medical students Parasitology and Immunology for many years at UAMS.  Chances are if you see a doctor in Arkansas, he was a student of my dad's.  He has also taught a genetics class, nursing students, and many more.  So, my dad knows a thing or two about a classroom.  It should be an interesting semester for him to say the least.  Me, I am very proud of him and wish him well.  I am so glad I am out of school.  I am done studying!

  Hubby had a doctor's appointment this morning so we can try and narrow down this allergy thing.  We hate to dismiss a whole area of food when it could just be a spice.  He is hopefully going next week to get the allergy test.  He had an appointment scheduled at 7 am and it was almost 7:20 before he went back.  Grrrr....we definitely let them know of our disapproval.  The nurse said the appointment was just a suggested time.  Suggested time?  What the hell is that?  I questioned this and she started to go on and on about some nonsense and I just cut her off.  An appointment is an appointment not a suggestion.  If that was the case than my appointment at 2:00, I may show up at 2:30.  I doubt very seriously I would be seen then since I was late.  Suggestion my  ass.  

  Have a fabulous Wednesday!  It is hump day

Hugs!

  

Pet Peeves

  Pet peeves.  We all have them, we all hate them.  Here are a list of my pet peeves in no particular order:

1.  People who are late to meetings. I was there on time, show me the same courtesy.
2.  People who do not fill out all the parts of an application.  They are on there for a reason!
3.  People who do not replace toilet paper.  Grrrr, this actually should be number 1.
4.  Baggers who smush your bread.  I hate smushed bread!
5.  The last driver on the car leaving the gas light on.  I hate this!!!  Now, this may make me late because I did not plan to get gas.
6.  Leaving the television on in a room while not in in that particular room.  Turn it off!  It is not that complicated.
7.  Dirty dishes in the sink.  Especially when the ones in the dishwasher are dirty.  Yuck!
8.  Not parking in your own parking space.  Learn to park your car.  It is a common courtesy.
9.  Talking on a cell phone in a public restroom.  I do not want to hear your conversation while I am handling my business.
10.  Putting things in the refrigerator that are empty, i.e. ketchup bottles, milk jug, etc.  Seriously, why would anyone do this?
11.  Borrowing things and not returning them.  Ummmm...I need that back, please.
12.  Professors who take forever to grade and return classwork. I am one of those that want to keep up with how I am doing.  Help a girl out.
13.  When my McDonald's order is wrong.  Making a half sweet/half un sweet tea is not that complicated.
14.  Not getting napkins when I order through the drive thru.  I am in a drive thru, I am messy.  I need napkins.
15.  Cracking knuckles.  Yuck, gross, eww..do not do it!
16.  Biting fingernails.  Do you know how much bacteria is under your fingernails?????

Okay, just the top of the list. What are your pet peeves?

Hugs!

First day of school

  Happy Monday!  Hope your day is going swimmingly.  Mine is so far.  Princess started school today, so this weekend was officially the last one of summer.

 She had to wear her cheer uniform today because they are "ambassadors of the school".  If a new student needs help, they are told to find a cheerleader to help them out.  I think this is a great idea.  I did tease her and told her that since she was a cheerleader she had to wear her uniform every day to school like the Cheerios in Glee.  She did not find this as funny as I did.   

  Since yesterday was the unofficial last day of summer, I spent some quality time at the pool on Saturday and Sunday with friends.  I have not had enough pool time this year because our weekends have been packed full this summer.  I keep telling hubby we need to convert our backyard to a pool or just move to a new house with a pool already there.  The problem with the latter is our house is very convenient to work, school, etc and the thought of moving gives me the hives, so if anyone knows any pool builders, send them my way!  

  Hubby spent the weekend on some diy projects.  I am so thankful he is handy.  He replaced and fixed the shower in the main bathroom and installed a new shower head in our bathroom downstairs.  I love it.  It is a dual shower head.  One on the top and another in the middle.  It is awesome!!! He also fixed our front screen door.  Now we just need a new garbage disposal , a new cook top and we are good to go.  For now.  There is always something to do at the house.  Our next big project is redoing our main bathroom.  Hopefully that will be our fall project.  I need to plan it out first.  I have an idea of what I want, I just need to finalize so hubby can figure out how to make it happen.  We have such a good working relationship.  I come up with the ideas and he executes them.  It is fabulous.  

  How is your fitness life going?  I am still working my old school exercises.  I do need to bulk up, though.  I am getting a bit too un muscley for my liking.  I know that is not a word, but that is the one I am using today.  I need to hit the gym and do some weight training, so I will take advantage of my free UALR gym membership.  A great perk of being an alum!   

Have a great Monday!!!

Hugs

  

Happy Meetaversary!!!

  Happy Friday!!!!  I want to wish my hubby a happy 4 year meetaversary!  Four years ago, on a beautiful day on Lake Ouachita, I re met my hubby.

 Who knew 4 years later we would be married?    Love you, my Mark!!!

Last night, Jeanne, Kim, and I took the ALS ice bucket challenge.  My friend Jeanne was challenged by her friend in Texas, Ronny Harp, who lost his dad to the disease.  And of course, being female, we tend to do things together, so we were only happy to do this challenge with her.

To see the actual video, visit my facebook page.  It is sweet and funny.  It was cold, but worth it.  We in turn, challenged our sons.  We all have seniors at Catholic High, so I can hardly wait to see that video.  

  I am ready for the weekend.  Are you?  Do something fun and enjoy yourself.  I definitely will.

Hugs!

7 Rules for Life

  Last night as I was scrolling through Pinterest, which I love, and I came across this little gem.  Since then, I have really been thinking about the above rules for life.   I live in a butterfly rainbow world.  The glass in not only 1/2 full, but 3/4 full.  I am a forever optimist.  I have always been this way and I think it is because I pretty much follow the above rules.

1.  Making peace with your past.  I like that this is number 1.  I have a saying in life: "Life is not a series of could haves, should haves and would haves.  You have lived the past.  Accept it and move on.  Learn from your mistakes, but do not dwell on them.

2.  Who cares what others think of you?  I certainly do not.  I live my life the way I see fit.  If others do not like it, oh well.

3.  Time most certainly heals all things.  It may take more time than you would like, but you will heal.

4.  Do not rely on others for your happy.  Be happy with who you are.  If not, then fix it.

5.  I have never understood the comparison thing.  You are comparing apples to oranges when you do this.  No one is like you, so what are you comparing it too?  And, everyone is dealing with something, please do not kid yourself that they are not.  No one has a "perfect" life.  Mine is pretty close to being perfect, I think ;)

6.  Do not over think, over analyze, etc....it hurts your brain.  Make a decision, be happy with it and move on.

7.  Smile.  No one likes the RBF (resting bitch face).  I am in my mid 40's and have earned my smile lines.  It is hard to look ugly with a genuine smile.

Have a fabulous Thursday my friends!

Hugs

My baby is a Senior

  Sniff, sniff   Proud yet sad this morning as my oldest son starts his last first day of high school.  Proud because of all of the things he has achieved over the past 12 years of school.  I remember when I dropped him off for the first day of kindergarten.  He looked over at me and said "Mom, I got this".  And he most assuredly has.  I am also sad as this is ending the chapter of his boyhood years.  This time next year we will be packing the car ready to send him off to college.  I will not see him every day and will have to rely on text messages and phone calls for communication.  So I am going to embrace this last year of school with joy and and sadness.  And, I will not apologize for it.  

 Freshman Year

Sophomore Year with the Freshman Step Brother

Junior Year with the Sophomore Step Brother

Senior Year with the Junior Step Brother

I love these boys and am so proud of them.  Here is to a great school year!  Go Rockets!

Hugs

I am mad today

  I am mad today.  We lost a fabulous actor/comedian yesterday.  Robin Williams took his life yesterday.  Yes, he was battling the mental illness of depression and yes, I understand it is a horrible mental illness, but that does not make me any less mad.  Suicide is a selfish act and leaves a path of destruction to those who are left behind to deal with the many questions that will be forever left unanswered.  I hate suicide.  Hate, hate, hate, hate.  Jake lost a friend his sophomore year because of it and a good friend of mine lost his brother from it 4 years ago.  So, I am mad today.

  That is all for today.

Hugs

 

The fun part of Saturday night

  The party was fabulous.  We are going to let go of the fact that we spent Saturday night in the emergency room and focus on the fun part of the evening.  Saturday night we celebrated this girl:

This is my awesome friend Jill I was telling you about. Talk about making an entrance! I told you she was fun.  She is sporting the latest in shot attire.  Those are yummy shots she is wearing  appropriately named "birthday cake"  and they were wonderful.  The rest of the evening was spent eating, toasting, unwrapping presents, and of course dancing.  There is always dancing when we are all get together.  I have a wonderful group of friends.  Pictured below are just a few of them.  Beautiful, aren't they?  Make sure you are surrounding yourself with beautiful people inside and out.   

  

  Happy Monday, my friends!!!

Hugs!

Our new friend, the EpiPen

 

  Does this look familiar?  In case you do not know, it is an EpiPen used when a person has a severe allergic reaction.  This EpiPen now resides in our home.  Last night, hubby had a severe allergic reaction to shrimp.  We attended a shrimp boil last night at a friend's house(more about that tomorrow) and Mark was one of the chef's as well as one of the partakers of said shrimp boil.  Things were going well, and I noticed about an hour into the evening that he was turning a bit red. He had been on the soccer field all day, it was a bit warm in the house, and the champagne and wine were flowing so I did not think much about it.  Well, around 11:00 pm, his palms started itching.  We gave him some benadryl and made our way home.  After we got home, the symptoms kept getting worse.  He started itching all over and then his chest started tightening.  Now, when your chest starts tightening, it is time for medical intervention.  We headed over to St Vincent Emergency Room and got in straight away.  By this time, he was turning as red as a lobster and the itching became unbearable.  They gave him a shot of benadryl and a shot of steroid.  This seemed to be working until they gave him an IV with saline solution to re hydrate him.  He became very dizzy and started itching again, now down his legs and feet and his blood pressure and pulse ox shot up sky high.  This action bought him an ekg.  By this point, I started to go a little into freak out mode.  I mean, this is my Mark.  It was awful to see him this way.  They finally gave him a shot of epinephrine which then caused his heart to race, gave him the shakes, and his blood pressure shot up even more.  Scary stuff.  Finally, about a very long 20 minutes later, the shot started to work.  Within another 30 minutes his redness was almost completely gone and he fell sound asleep.  This was around 2 am.  I climbed in and snuggled up against him as we were going to be there at least another 2 hours.  At 4:30 am we were released, me armed with prescriptions and strict orders to go to the 24 hour pharmacy to get our new EpiPen.  I dropped Mark off at home, and left Jake to "babysit" him while I went to get our Pen.  The pharmacist at the Walgreens on Bowman was so nice and helpful.  She gave me refresher course on how to use it and sent me home with two pens and a tester so we could practice.  I got home and got us all tucked in around 5:30 am.  Needless to say it was an exhausting night.  I have not had many dealings with allergies so this episode completely freaked me out.  Everyone in our house is now well versed in the use of an EpiPen.  I want to thank everyone for their texts, calls and messages regarding my Mark.  He is doing much better today, but is exhausted.  We are now aware of his shellfish allergy and are taking this very seriously.  I have definitely been the helicopter wife today, but I will not apologize.  We went through some scary stuff last night and I am still not completely recovered.  Anyway, to all my friends and family out there who suffer with allergies, I have a much greater appreciation of what you go through.  So, when you come visit us, please leave your shellfish at home and if you come around him with shellfish, I will take you out.  Not really, but really.   I personally, am done with it myself.  I am a huge seafood lover, but I do not want to put hubby in danger, EVER.  It is just not worth it.   

Hug your loved ones today.  I am definitely holding on extra tight to my Mark today.

Hugs!!!

It's raining!

  Yes, a Saturday post.  I have been super busy at work and have basically couch potatoed almost every night this week.  It could be due to the fact that hubby and I are addicted to British TV.  Right now we are knee deep in Doc Martin.  Fantastic show and absolutely gorgeous scenery.  If you here me talking in an English accent, you will know why.

Oh my gosh!  It has been raining and pouring and I do not mean just the weather!  Last week, youngest step son totaled his car, hubby's car broke down, the shower in our main bathroom is busted(thank goodness we have 3!), and now the ceramic top on our stove top cracked.  Enough!!! Luckily my hubby is quite handy around the house, but the whole car thing?  Not so much.  He can do minor stuff, but thankfully we have a great mechanic who is trying to fix the hubby's car for as cheaply as possible.  So from 4 cars, we are down to two.  Very inconvenient for all around.  Hubby and I work at the same company, but I had 3 meetings this past week that I needed the car for, so we have been doing the driving juggling dance.  Not very fun.  We used our in laws car while they were out of town, so it was not too bad and the boys start school Wednesday and we live walking distance from school, but still.  We need at least our third car.  Hopefully we can get it repaired soon.

  My last blog post, way back on Tuesday(again, sorry!) I mentioned briefly about different  parenting styles.  Mr. Straessle, the principal at the boy's school, mentioned two different types of styles you do not want to take on.  One was the absentee parent.  This type of parent, is like "woo hoo! My kid made it to high school!  I am done!".  The other is the helicopter parent who hovers around way too much.  I like to think that I am somewhere in between.  I may hover a bit too much, but that is me.  I am a planner and I need to know my kid's have a plan as well.  Especially the oldest son as we are deep into making college decisions.  I am not the absentee parent at all.  I know my kids need me around for guidance because let's face it, teenagers think they know it all and we know nothing and they tend to make some not so smart decisions.  So, I am trying to put myself more in the middle so as to not take my kids out with the helicopter blade.

  How is your fitness life going?  I am still going strong with my old school fitness routine.  I still feel funny doing jumping jacks, but hey, they work.  Calf raises are awesome.  I can whip 50 out in no time.  So I am doing 50 in the am and 50 in the pm.  Quick, easy, great results.  I am going to add hand weights tomorrow.  I tend to alter my fitness plan on a Sunday.  No waiting till Monday for me.  Get used to it on the weekend and then I am raring to go the following work week.

  To close, I want to wish my beautiful yaya, Jill, a very happy birthday.  She is full of love and has an amazing zest for life.  She is so fun to be around and you cannot help but be in the best of moods when she is there.   Love you Jill!!!!

Hugs!

Crazy Life

  Happy Tuesday!  Life has been crazy these last few days, what else is new, so I will summarize what has been going on in list type fashion in no particular order.

1.  Youngest stepson totaled his car on Friday morning.  He was ticketed and faulted.  One of the scariest phone calls to receive is hearing your child has been in a car accident.  Your heart stops.  My oldest totaled his car last year, so this is twice in one year.  Luckily in both accidents all parties were fine.  Like I told the youngest stepson, cars are replaceable, people are not.

2.  Saturday morning hubby and I were at the Rivermarket looking at some lovely glass art by local artist, Judd Mann, when we received a call that the car youngest stepson was driving broke down on the freeway.  Sigh....another car repair.   I promise, Judd, I will get there so we can talk.  He really does amazing work and I am so excited to get a piece for our house.  Check out his website:  juddmann.com

3.  Meetings, meetings and more meetings.  This is our busy time at work and I am enjoying getting out of the office and meeting new people.  

4.  Calf raises.  Do them.  They are awesome.  I follow quite a few fitness buffs on twitter and one says she does hers in the shower.  I thought why not.  I started off with 50 and now am up to 100.  I do them while waiting for the water to warm up and then finish the reps in the shower.  Your calves will not thank you at first, but then you will be amazed at the results.  Push through.  You can do it.

5.  I registered princess for her last year of junior high school yesterday.  Sniff sniff.  Today I will register the oldest for his last year of high school.  Sniff sniff  Hubby registered stepson for his Junior year yesterday.  Sniff sniff    I will admit though, we do enjoy these moments with our kids. We are both very involved parents, but not too much.  That is the topic of tomorrow's post.

6.  Oldest son and I started filling out college applications yesterday.  Reality is setting in.  I will be sending by baby off to school.  This time next year we will be packing the car ready to ship him off.  Sigh....I need a hug

7.  Went out on Saturday night and saw a great band, The Intruders.  They are Catholic High grads from '82ish.  It was a mini Catholic High and Mt. St. Mary Reunion at the Afterthought.  Hubby went to Catholic and I went to the Mount.  It is so fun that we have all types of  friends in common.  It seems like who he did not know, I did and vice versa.

  I think I have hit the highlights.  I have missed my blogging world.  I will try not to be absent for so long next time.

Hugs!