Summer time fun

This summer has been a busy one! A couple of weeks before school was out I finished my coursework for Lamar. Yay! Graduation is on August 13, but since it’s in Beaumont, I won’t be attending. So I guess it’s not technically official until then. To complete my administrator’s certificate for Texas, I need to attend a 5 day training called ILD – Instructional Leadership Development. My first week out of school I was signed up and ready to go. Unfortunately it was all the way at Region 10 in Richardson. I went on the first day and it was ok. The presenter told us that if you miss a day for any reason, you can’t come back, you have to go to another session later in the summer. For instance, if you miss day 3, you’d have to join in another group on day 3 later. So what happens to me on day 2? My car won’t start! Dead battery! After freaking out and calling my friend Sarah to come take me, I decided that once she took me, I wasn’t going to have a way home and my car still wasn’t going to be fixed for day 3. So I have to go later on this month. Yuck! I can’t take the administrator’s certification test until I finish this course so I’m nervous that I’m going to have forgotten everything I learned in grad school when I take the test. But I guess we’ll worry about that later. Luckily I got my car worked on that day because it took them about 7 hours to fit me in and work on it.

I’ve tried to get into couponing lately. Not quite extreme couponing, like the tv show, but just seeing what it’s all about. Well, let me tell you, it’s time consuming! And I just don’t buy groceries that often. But I did make a trip to Target and managed to save $14. I thought that was impressive! The bad thing about coupons for me is that they make me want to try new products and before I know it, I’m buying things I normally wouldn’t have…and that does not save you money.

my loot

I went to Ruston for about 5 days to visit my family. I enjoyed spending time with them and getting to have dinner with a few high school friends - Tina, Elizabeth, and Cynthia. One day my dad, my niece Reanne, and I went out to the Peach Store and bought some peach ice cream. Yummy! There weren’t any peaches ready that week.

quite the entertainter!

Reanne and GaGa making pizza

We were having fun with the camera timer

I wanted to stay for the Peach Festival, but I already had plans to float the river with some friends in New Braunfels. We had such a great time there! We took about 12 people and stayed in a really nice house outside of Gruene. I made some new friends, some that even live about 2 miles from me. It’s a small world! We ate at the Gristmill, one of our favorites. Larry Joe Taylor was playing at Gruene Hall that night but it was just too hot to stick around.

July 4th was fun. Koby had several of us over to his house for dinner. Greg made brisket, Gina made potatoes, Audra made banana pudding, and I made Wendi’s baked potato dip. It was a crowd favorite and it’s so easy too! We went out to the alley behind his house and watched the Castle Hills fireworks show on the wall. The next day I started housesitting, which is what the next post is all about.

hanging out on the wall

Gina, me, and Audra - about to sing some patriotic songs

My summer is flying by and I don’t like it. I’m having a blast but I want it to s.l.o.w…d.o.w.n!

What a week!

I house/dog-sat for some friends a couple of weeks ago while they went on vacation. It ended up being quite a week! It started with me taking them to the airport at 5:30 in the morning. Whew, that’s early for me, especially in the summer. That night one of the Yorkies, Finley, threw up in my bed. Gross!!!

Finley

I woke up and cleaned it up, scared if I was using the right cleaning product on the really nice duvet. And yes, it left a ring around where I cleaned it, and would need to go to the dry cleaners.

the shy one - Burke

This is little Greta a few months ago. I don't have a current pic of her...

except for this one, when she was swimming. She looks like a drowned rat!

The next day I dropped my phone in the toilet! I was wearing a pair of shorts that have a little pocket. Nice! I tried putting it in a bag of rice like people said, but it just didn’t work. The phone’s manual said the battery was built in and couldn’t be taken out. Luckily my friend used to work for Nokia and had some extra phones in the house.

Thursday I was in the pool when I noticed that one of the wheels on the Polaris pool cleaner broke off. I worried that they would have to replace the whole thing and it would be really expensive. Come to find out, it was a $12 fix. Yay!

For the first couple of days, I guess the 3 dogs were trying to show me who was boss around there because they kept peeing and pooping in their beds. The little yorkie loved leaving me surprises around the kitchen and living room. I felt like I was constantly having to watch where I stepped. After a few days, they finally realized it wasn’t funny anymore. :)

Then Friday night I was heading back to the house after Burger Babes and a rock hit my windshield. As soon as it hit, it started cracking. By the next day, the crack was 2/3 of the way across the windshield. Luckily with insurance, it only cost $50 to replace it. I had a hole fixed on my windshield a few months ago at my school. At that time, I had 2 more holes but they were close to the edge and the guy said he could try repairing them, but the whole windshield would probably crack. He suggested I wait until a real crack happened. When the guy showed up at my house last week, it was the same guy. I told him I hoped we would stop seeing each other so often.

There's a glare on the windshield but you can sort of see the huge crack

I was really beginning to feel like everything was going wrong that possibly could. But after a few days of not so fun things happening, my housesitting time got better. Luckily there was a very nice pool to lay out in everyday…definitely a nice perk of staying there. Audra, Jill, and Audrey came over to swim on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately Kristi had to work both days. I finished 3 books while I soaked up the sun. Also during my week there, I went to Winstar with my friend Melinda and her parents. I won $20. Woo hoo! We had the best time. Melinda mostly played black jack but I preferred the machines.

Sweet little Audrey

I house/dog-sat for a total of 9 days. The best part was the payment I received at the end of the 9 days – a new iphone and otterbox cover!

That definitely made all of the ups and downs worth my time there! I came to the conclusion that I am not ready to 1) own a house and 2) own a dog. But I wouldn’t mind owning a pool! :)

Another prize they brought me from the Grand Cayman Islands - a rum cake

the Pioneer Woman book signing

Pretty much everyday I read the Pioneer Woman's website (http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/). I've gotten so wrapped up in her recipes and stories, I feel like I have to check it daily. Not to mention that she has giveaways a lot so I try to keep up with those. As soon as I go a few days without checking it, sure enough she'll give away 5 Kitchen Aid mixers!

A couple of months ago she put out a cookbook. My parents were going to get it for me for Christmas, but when I found out she was coming to Dallas for a book signing, I decided I wanted the book early so I could try to get it signed.

I found a friend at school that likes her website too. Not as much as me, but enough to want to go with me. She wasn't able to go as early as I was so I headed to the Borders in Plano by myself to see what the process was like to get in line. I had seen on another friend's facebook status something about getting her ticket a few days early for a signing in Houston. I called that morning and found out you had to get a bracelet first. The first 100 bracelets were one color, then the next 100 bracelets were another color, and so on. By noon they had already given out 2 or 3 colors, so I felt like by the time I could get there after work, it would be too late. I almost didn't even go. The lady on the phone told me that I could only get one bracelet and my friend coming late would be on her own.

I got there, got my bracelet, and asked the lady how long of a wait she thought it would be. She said I could leave and come back around 8 (it started at 7) and it would probably be time for me to get in line. Well thank goodness I didn't leave! They called my color group around 6:00 or so. Come to find out, they were forming the (very long) line ahead of time. To have book signings as often as they do, those Borders people were very uninformed!

Once my friend Tina got there, she drove around for 30 minutes just looking for a parking space. Finally she got inside and got her bracelet. While waiting for her, a lady came by who had an extra bracelet in my group so Tina was able to get in line with me. She had not bought her cookbook ahead of time so when she went to buy one, it was the LAST one they had. It even had a little tear on the cover but she didn't care.

We waited in line until about 10:00 to meet the Pioneer Woman and get our book signed. I thought that sounded late until I saw on her facebook page that she was there until after 2:00 signing books. She had mentioned earlier that day that she would stay until every book was signed and I guess she did. Those were some true fans at 2:00. I felt sorry for her! Her 2 daughters were with her.

It was weird to see people in person that you read about everyday and feel like you know better than you actually do. It ended up being quite a fun adventure. I'm glad I went and stuck it out, even if I didn't get my homework turned in until the next day!

Not the best picture of me. I asked the guy to take 2 pics since I have a tendency to blink in pictures--sure enough, I'm about to blink and he only took 1 pic!

And SOMEday I'm determed to win one of her contests! I just hope it's the Kitchen Aid mixer day and not something random. And as long as I'm wishing, I might as well wish to become a good cook like her and find someone similar to her Marlboro Man. ;)

Happy New Year!

Wow, it seems like just the other day we were all worrying about Y2K and now it's already 2010. I've enjoyed my time off for the holidays. I've gotten in the habit of staying up late and sleeping in. Tomorrow morning is going to be rough! I should probably take a tylenol PM tonight to help me get to sleep.

I enjoyed decorating my house for Christmas this year. I haven't decorated the last couple of years. By seeing what all I had, it helped me not to buy more decorations this year. I LOVE buying Christmas decorations! And wrapping paper is another one of my weaknesses, even though I don't wrap that often. I even found some really cute red and white polka dot paper that was on clearance at Target that I can save for next Christmas.

Here are a few pics of my house...

I didn't put up a big tree, just these 3 little trees instead:

Somehow we didn't take a single picture at my parents' house on Christmas. My mom videos us opening presents every year and I guess we just forgot to take pics. We had a fun time together. A few years ago we started the tradition of going around the circle taking turns opening one present at a time while everyone watches us. That's fun and it makes opening presents last longer. :)

Here a few pics of my nieces that we took while I was home for Thanksgiving...

oh tech, thy halls so beautiful...

my little buddy Hannah's huh-lar-ree-ous expression

I sure am enjoying this fall weather. It makes me want to go to Canton this weekend. It would be the perfect weekend for it. I decorated my house for fall and Halloween this week. I needed to have someone come fix my garbage disposal so that gave me a good reason to clean. So then when my house was all clean, it made me want to get my decorations out from storage. Before we know it, Christmas will be here. Or maybe it seems like that because some stores are already decorating for Christmas. :)

trick or treat on my computer desk

the mantle above my fireplace

the dining table

I'm really enjoying watching the new fall shows on my new tv. My friend was upgrading so I bought his tv from him.

1 gently used tv + 1 free home delivery and set up = a 2 good to be true deal

I just finished watching the DAWGS beat Hawaii on it tonight. Now I'm listening to the band play the alma mater trying to remember all the words. :)

o tech, thy halls so beautiful,

thy pleasant walks, thy noble trees,

that charmed in my college days,

are ever dear to me.

louisiana tech, i love thee

my alma mater, my alma mater,

i will ever loyal be

to thee, my alma mater.

those old tech days, those joyful days,

so cherished in my memory,

though days of toil, in many ways

were happy days and free.

Who's going to homecoming?!?!?!? :)

museums, dolls, and a baby shower

Unfortunately summer is just about over around here. It's time to get back on a schedule and start my new job at my new school. We had a leadership meeting this past week so I got to meet several of the team leaders and support staff. Change is good but it can also be hard. I saw some of my friends from my old school last week at training and it reminded me that I'll miss not seeing them everyday. But I'm sure I will make lots of great new friends this year.

Part of the Davison family came out for a quick trip to Dallas before school starts back. Sarah Margaret had been telling Margaret that she wanted me to take her to the airplane museum that we went to 2 summers ago. So I take her and Lannie to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison thinking that it's the same museum as last time. Uh, nope! We get there and it's lots of cool airplanes...OUTside. And boy was it hot

By the time we were done, it was too late to get to the correct museum (Frontiers of Flight) at Love Field before it closed. So the next morning we got there as the doors were opening and Sarah Margaret loved it. It was just as she remembered it. If only we had her brothers there to tell us about all of the planes, like last time. I highly recommend both museums for both kids and adults. :)

Then we met Margaret back at the Galleria to have lunch at the American Doll Store. That place cracked me up. I think some of the moms were more into it than the daughters. You could even pay $10 - $20 for a lady to style your doll's hair or get the doll's ears pierced!!! The Bistro was cute and fancy. It even had little chairs for the girls to sit their dolls in and attach to the table.

Sarah Margaret and Lannie shopping for doll accessories--those outfits cost as much as my outfits!

enjoying our lunch at the Cafe

Today I went to Emily's house for Jen's baby shower. Baby Colton will be here in less than 2 months! It was fun seeing everyone and catching up.

Emily, Jen, her mom and sisters

Jen and her mom Dorothy

Meg cutting the cute cake into perfect sized pieces :)

And no, they didn't make Jen bake her own cake. :)