Tree

Here are the pics of the tree in the baby room. Ryan did an AWESOME job! I love it so much! Tomorrow I will blog about my first public pregnancy break down. I would do it tonight but I am tired... and it's only 8:52. So, until tomorrow...

BEFORE:

DURING:AFTER:

And here was my project...her letters on the wall. I don't know if you can read it but this is officially the first "public" unveiling of her name...If you can't read it then you get to wait in suspense for longer...I hope you can sleep tonight.

One Step at a Time...

Baby room is now mostly painted. We are going to attempt painting a tree on her wall...actually, that is not true. "We" are not going to be that crafty, Ryan is. So here are a few updated pics.

We also went to the Dave Matthews concert this weekend with our friends Rick, Amy, Darren and Ann. I have been wanting to see Dave for a really long time! I am a huge fan and I thought the show was great...started off a little slow but he finished well!! So, a few pics from that as well.

Yes, I do see the double chin in this picture....maybe I should stay away from Shipley's donuts during the week...

Other than that, not much else to say today. I am trying to suck less...and I always like blogs with pictures.

I suck at blogging...

That is the conclusion I have come to. I was very dedicated at first...but now I have a really hard time. I used to sin by not updating my blog but still looking at everyone else's. Now I just don't do either. So the other night I got on and spent f-o-r-e-v-e-r reading up on everyone's lives. So I thought, what the heck...I'll see if anyone still checks mine.





Here are a few projects we are working on around the casa. I know... I 'm retarded and didn't rotate this picture before I put it on here...this is our entry way. We painted and bought a cute table, hung some pics and found a fabulous zebra rug.

This is what we are going to do to the front of the house. Ryan did this handy work all by himself. We HATE the white columns and the natural wood makes the front of the house look completely different. Yes, we have only done one so far...we wanted to make sure we liked it first. Next on the to do list...get rid of the white paint.

We finally picked out some baby bedding. Does it look a little big for the crib?? Well, that's because it is actually a queen sized bed spread but we loved the material and knew we could find someone fancy enough to turn it into baby bedding for us. We haven't actually found that person yet but we do have some names. I would volunteer but I obviously can't since my sewing machine was taken in the summertime robbery.

And here is what her room looks like so far...boooooorrrrriiiinnnngggg. We haven't painted, or really done anything besides put the crib together and put her stroller in there. Lots of work to do.........

Pain in my Butt...

Always a good expression but right now it is my reality. I am having some sciatic (sp?) nerve issues. I can't really explain the sensation but every so often hot pain shoots down my butt and sometimes reaches my calf. It only lasts for a few seconds but afterwards it feels like I just did 100 squats. This, therefore, makes me waddle. I was at school yesterday and someone said, it's too early for you to be waddling...thank you. That is an awesome observation.

We just got back from Ruidoso a few days ago and I haven't reentered the real world yet. It is 11:30 and I am still in my pajamas. I am waiting on the carpet installers to get here so maybe I should change soon. Today, carpet is being put in our bedroom and the front bedroom and yesterday Ryan laid the wood in the baby room. He is a hot handy man! Now we just need a few key items like a crib, some bedding, some furniture and a baby.

Can CPS be called for a baby that hasn't been born yet? I decided to paint the entry way this week. I was really careful and had lots of air flowing through and I stopped about every 10 minutes or so. But then I was reading in my baby book that said her sweet little brain is doing lots of growing right now. Great...I may have just ruined her chances of being a national merit scholar because I needed to paint the entry way!!! Sorry baby rabbit...

Stupid Blogger

I tried three different times last week to write a post and everytime I clicked publish it kicked me off!!! And I tried to leave comments on Molly's and Annalee's blogs and it wouldn't let me leave them. Stupid...

REALLY GREAT NEWS...
Anyway, we found out last week that we are having a GIRL!!!! Ryan and I were both surprised. Even though I wasn't making a guess, deep down I really thought it was a boy. I am super excited! I can't wait to choose bedding and decorate her room. Ryan has already picked out pink converse, Jordan's and Vans. We have no name ideas yet, so luckily we still have awhile. Right now she is being called Rabbit, please see Heathers blog for more info on that.

REALLY CRAPPY NEWS...
BOTH of our cars were broken into this weekend. They broke the back windows on both cars and really didn't steal much of value...to them! They stole my leather school bag (which I love with all of my heart) that had all of my grad stuff in it. They don't need any of that. They are probably just going to throw it all away. They could have just dumped the bag out in my car and taken the leather bag if they really wanted it...stupid idiots. One bright spot, they cut themselves when they broke into Ryan's car and blood was on his door so CSI came to our house and took a blood sample and dusted for prints. The CSI guy didn't drive a hummer and didn't have on cool sunglasses so I am not sure if he was for real. They also stole our (mine and Heather's) sewing machine. Yes, I know...I should not have had a sewing machine in my car...lesson learned.

For Shauna...

Sorry, Shauna. I did not mean to keep you in suspense for this long. Here are some pics from the trip! And the much anticipated Vince pic.

This is at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Everyday at 11:00 they have a parade for the ducks that live in their fountain. The ducks sleep in a house on the roof and ride the elevator down to the first floor and walk across a red carpet to the fountain. They stay in the fountain all day until 5:00 when they do the parade again back up to their house. It was awesome!!I haven't posted a picture of our house lately so here is a random one of our living room. Okay, not really. We went to Graceland and this is one of the outstanding rooms in the house. Unbelievable.This is one of the awkward time when we were trying to get a picture of Vince Gill without him knowing. If you look closely you can see him in the background.Heath and his beautiful bride!Finally, we got up the courage to get a group shot with Vince.

So that's it. The exciting Vince Gill picture! My new claim to fame...

Count Down to Sex Day

I probably could have come up with a better title...it's not what you think. Only nine more days until we find out the babies gender! So, I probably should have titled the blog count down to gender day but...sex day is way more fun to say.

We just got back from Tennessee at our friend Heath's wedding...unbelievable! Amy Grant and Vince Gill sang at the wedding and were just hanging out at the rehearsal dinner and reception. We did finally get brave enough to ask for a picture with Vince...I'll post that tomorrow. I haven't uploaded them on the puter yet. We also hung out in Memphis for a few days before the wedding and went to Graceland...also unbelievable and a little bit ridiculous but we had lots of fun.

I just started my LAST GRAD CLASS last night! I think it is going to be great. I was completely dreading it but the professor is really cool and there aren't many assignments! Only four weeks and I am free!!!!

Not too much exciting stuff to discuss today. I'll be more creative tomorrow, I promise! So let's make this interesting and make baby gender guesses...I have no clue! I have done all the mumbo jumbo with the chinese calendar and wedding ring over the belly. I have officially gotten 50-50 results...I have no motherly instinct telling me what the baby is. Today Ryan tried to ask the baby through my belly button but we didn't get a clear answer. So, it's up to you...what do you think???? BOY??? GIRL???

Jumbo Shrimp

This week the baby is the size of a jumbo shrimp...weird! Most of the info I have read refers to the baby as the size of a lime or small orange but this was definitely the first time I had heard jumbo shrimp. That sounds a little more creepy than cute...but I am a science teacher so I like creepy! I am 13 weeks and am not really showing at all. For those of you who have seen me recently...yes, I know I am growing in other areas but as far as I know babies don't live in back fat. The only times my tummy pokes out is when I am bloated or I just ate supper. I definitely look more pregnant at night than in the morning. Slide into the jeans at 7:00 am...1:00 pm undoing the button, 4:00 pm lucky if they are still zipped and by 8:00 I don't have to worry if they are zipped or buttoned because they aren't going anywhere.





I went ahead a took some tattoo pictures for everyone. The first one is what my tattoo looks like in the morning and the second is what it looks like by the end of the day. So we can all just imagine what it will look like after nine months of this!!




7:00 am

9:00 pm

Big News...

I don't know if anyone is ever going to read this blog again because of my 40 plus day hiatus (sp?)...I was busy gathering all of the animals in the world and putting them in pairs of two...but just in case anyone is still out there, here is an update.



For those of you who read my blog and don't know (there can't be many of you) I am pregnant! I will be 11 weeks tomorrow and so far b-dub (baby Ware) is doing great. I have no pics to post because I have not taken any. Everyone does the belly pictures so I guess I will too but I decided not to start that game until week 12. Why? I have no idea... I was trying to be creative and come up with some other body part to take pictures of instead of my belly but the only ones that are changing would not be appropriate to post on my blog.


I could take a picture of my tattoo...it was a really great idea at the time, I promise. Right now it is a cute little dove but by the end of this thing it could be the size of a falcon. That could be fun...we'll see if I am brave enough to put those pics out on the world wide web.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH

This house thing is going to be the death of me...I don't even want to get into all of the caca that has been going on because, believe me, you don't want to hear it all.

I haven't posted lately because a tree fell over in our backyard and pulled out our phone line. yipppeee...that is so fun.

Heather just searched me on the internet (the "Meredith needs..." thing) and here is what we got:
Meredith needs:
6. written and oral communication skills.
5. to be given medication throughout the day. (they don't know how true this is)
4. a new facility specifically designed for continuing education.
3. to assert herself a little more, sometimes she blends into the scenery.
2. a break. (ha!!!!)
1. to get out and live.

You need to do this...got a few laughs out of me on a very stress filled day!

Lots and lots of posts...

Guess what I should be doing right now?? Yep...writing a paper. I started already, really...it is currently a tab at the bottom of my screen right now and I am already on the third page. It is due today (I am not competely crazy, I do realize it is Sunday...) and really I am ahead of schedule because I thought that I was going to be up super late tonight finishing it because I thought Ryan's parents would be in town this afternoon and then I thought we would have small group but neither one is the case. Unfortunately Ryan's mom got sick last night so they left to go home early this morning. And small group was moved to last night but we couldn't go cause the fam was in town.

Speaking of being completely crazy, the last few days I have said and typed some really weird things. Now, I am not the best typist in the world but it is usually due to the fact that I don't really know where all of the keys are not because I am crazy (Flashback to the post when I didn't use the backspace key...). But yesterday I was typing my post and wrote "house in the rooms" instead of "rooms in the house". That is just weird. Then yesterday we were at IKEA and I said to Ryan "Isn't this a really great chucar?" What the heck is chucar??? I was trying to say color...those words aren't even close! Then last night I took out some pants that my mom bought me (thanks mom!) to show Ryan and I said "They aren't exciting or anything, they are just brown." Why is that wierd, you ask??? The pants aren't brown...they are blue!! I am officially losing my mind.

Today, Ryan and I laughed really hard at a bumper sticker...I don't usually laugh out loud at bumper stickers but this one was funny (maybe because I can relate) so I thought I would leave you with this closing thought:
I am only speeding because I really have to poop.

House update

Ryan met with the inspector and everything checked out okay. So...I guess we will be moving in about 3 weeks!!! I think that there are a few more loose ends to tie up but the inspection was the biggest hump to get over. Here are a few more pics of the house:

This is the back of the house (obviously).

This is the back yard.

This is probably the only room in the house that we won't change. Just kidding. This is the second bath.

This is going to be our living room.

A crap load of stuff to do...

What does that mean actually??? A crap load? I say that quite a bit and just realized it doesn't make since. I love the movie Sweet Home Alabama ( I love all Reese W. movies) and in one scene when she comes to Alabama from New York and wants her husband to sign the divorce papers and he says "Are you sh**in" me?" And she says "No, I am not sh**ing you. I never understood that expression any way." (Or something like that) It cracks me up everytime!!! The phrases we use are funny.

The month of April is going to be a crazy one. I had a paper due today, one due tomorrow and a presentation on Tuesday night. In between all of this my parents and Ryan's parents are coming in town, we are supposed to go to a Ranger's game Monday night and I am driving for a field trip on Tuesday. But the good thing is that once Tuesday is over, I have about two weeks until anything major is due again. Then is hits like a ton of bricks a second time. So in other words, I should definitely be working right now and not typing this post.

We got a counter offer on the house, we accepted it with a few stipulations and they signed the contract. The inspector is meeting Ryan in the morning and we should know by tomorrow afternoon if we are getting the house. I think that the inspection will go well but I don't want to get my hopes up too soon! Here is a picture of the outside. I will have Ryan take some more pics tomorrow. I hope this doesn't jinx it! Just kidding.

FYI: When I posted the picture I widened it to make the house look extra big.

Times they are a-changin'

It (of course) has been awhile since my last post. Thank you for reminding me Tara... So here is a little update on my life.

The nine hours I am currently taking in school is biting me on the you-know-what right now. I three things due every week in April (papers, tests, presentations), so needless to say, I am a bit busy this month, but this will soon all be over. If I live until then.

My students have been excellent for the last few weeks!!! Praise the Lord for that. I am spread so thin right now that I give about 40% in all areas of my life and that just doesn't work real well when you have 28 faces looking at you first thing in the morning. But they have been great.

Ryan and I got a membership to a gym and have had record breaking attendance (for us at least) I am going to get totally buff...watch out Chyna (WWF reference here...Ryan just told me to put her name). She is a little manly...so hopefully he wasn't making a direct coorelation between us...

Ryan and I have been house hunting since around Christmas and have finally found something we like so we may put an offer on the house sometime this week. It's scary.... We got some really great insight from our small group last night...thanks everyone! (because I know ALL of you read this...)

I got my internship set up for this summer which means I am almost officially getting ready to be done with grad school! Hip..hip...hoorrraaaayyyy!

Other than that, not much else is going on :) This post is very boring and I am sorry. I will work on some more material for Wed. Can't post tomorrow, I have class!

A few pics from the trip...

This is actually from our last night at D.W. Ryan and Bowen were enjoying the light parade and fireworks at Magic Kingdom.
Here is Ryan helping push a lady up a hill. Her motorized scooter/wheelchair died at the bottom of the hill. A little momentum and she was on her way!
Here we are at...you guessed it! Epcot.

Laine with face paint in Animal Kingdom.

Me and Heather on the jungle safari. It was grrrrreeeattttt.
These are our new sunglasses we bought at Animal Kingdom. Not really.

Ryan and Jazz-man.

More sweet sunglasses.

The trip was awesome! I will totally go again someday. Or I would love to go skiing or to New York next year...Mom???

No comments from me...

I just realized that everytime I have left a comment on someone blog recently it hasn't posted. I traded over to the "new blogger" and I didn't know that I had to verify my stuff before it would let me leave a comment. So...to all of my blogging friends I have been reading your blogs and I have actually commented on many but it hasn't worked. Sorry friends! I do still love you all.

We are leaving for Disney World in about 7 hours. I can't put in words how excited I am. I am 26 years old and I have never been. My parents are paying for the whole family to go so we are definitely going to have some fun! I will post many pictures when we return. I love spring break. I know that many of you out there that have "real" jobs no longer get to enjoy spring break and for you, I am sorry. I have had a spring break my whole life. When you go from being in school to teaching school, you still get the same rewards. So, even though no matter how hard I try I will never make big bucks...I am happy right where I sit. Because not only are we off for one whole week, this summer will almost be a full three months. (due to the later start in August.) So keep your money, Texas, I'll take the vacation time. (But I would totally not argue if they decided to increase teacher salaries...)

Spring Fever

I already have it and it isn't even March yet. I know that I am getting the itch when my students begin to annoy me for no reason. It's not their fault (at least not all of it.), I just am in the mood to be outside, sitting in the sun reading a good book and worrying about absolutley nothing.

By the way, YES we did complete the half marathon with our full marathon numbers. It really wasn't that big of a deal. They just marked a huge red A across our chest when we finished...Not really. It was great. I will post pictures (and would have sooner) when I can figure out my camera. It's not new really, I just don't remember how to make the pics appear on my computer. I thought that I was going to be really amazed with my skills whenever we finished and I thought that I would want to brag to everyone that I JUST RAN 13.1 MILES!!!! but I didn't really feel that way. Mainly I just wanted to brag about not having to run ever again if I didn't want to! I didn't run all last week and I actually got the urge to hit the road again on Sunday but I didn't. I think I will start running again...in fact, I am declaring that this Wednesday will be my first run since the half marathon. There, I said it. Now I can't back down...or can I?

6 Weird Things...

Actually, I don't think they are weird, I think they are totally rational but other people might think they are a little strange.
1. I am deathly (obviously a bit of an over statement) afraid of grasshoppers. I believe I have explained this fear in a previous post so I won't go in to great detail. If you need more info I will share.
2. I am equally as fearful of fish. Not fish in my fish tank at school...that would be silly. I am afraid of being in the lake with fish. I get anxiety every time someone mentions going to the lake. I absolutely refuse to just swim in a lake. That is not fun for me at all!!! Anytime I have ever gone water skiing I look like a complete idiot because when I fall I splash like a freaking psycho until I get back in the boat. I am not 100% sure if I am more scared of the fish or the unknown. There could be a 12 foot baracuda swimming right underneath me and the thought of that makes me wet my pants a little as I type this...
3. I like to swallow gum. Not little pieces of gum, I can handle those. I am talking about bubble gum (Bubble Yum to be exact) when I put a big juicy piece of gum in my mouth it takes all my will power not to swallow it. I used to do it all the time. Then I had some issues with my appendix and someone told me that swallowing gum can cause those types of problems and I stopped...but I still get the urge every now and then and I have to spit it out immediately.
4. When I find a bra that fits really well I wear it until it falls apart. I think I have some bras that are like seven years old...that is kind of gross when I actually type it out and put that information out there. I hear Victoria's Secret calling my name.
5. I love to fall asleep during movies. I love the way it feels when you are fighting off sleep because you really want to watch the movie but then you just give in because closing your eyes feels sooooo goooood. Ryan does not really enjoy this about me.
6. I have weird superstitions when I play tennis. They used to be really bad when I played in high school. Like one time, I took my watch off during a match and set it on the back of the court by the fence. I won the next two games so when I went to pick it up because we were changing sides I noticed exactly how it was sitting and instead of throwing it in my bag I took it to the other side of the court and set it up the exact same way. I did that for the remainder of the match...there are others but they get a little wordy and I am tired of typing.

Now it's your turn!

BIIIIIIIIGGGGG MISTAKE

I made a HUGE...huge mistake this week. I am used to making small mistakes pretty much everyday but it has been awhile since I have screwed the pooch as bad as I did this week. I would like for you to take a minute and think about the last time you made a huge mistake. I'm not talking about something bad that happened TO you, I'm talking about something that YOU did, something YOU had control over. ( If this is bringing back terrible memories, please forget your mistake and live vicariously through mine.)

Ok...so, we have been training for a half marathon since about October. I have known since then that we were going to run the Austin Marathon, which is this weekend, since OCTOBER. We have been running every week, long runs on the weekend, I checked the website to see how much is cost to register, I even saw that there was a date when the price went up and I told all of my friends so they would be sure to register on time. ( do you see where this is going already?) So, even though I have known for approximately 5 months that I would be running this particular half marathon on this particular weekend...I forgot to register. So, I get on the website this week to see when late registration is and the half marathon is FULL and they are accepting NO MORE ENTRIES!!!!!!! WHAT???!!!???? I flipped. Not just a little. I am talking panic attack, flip out. I called Ryan and I think I hung up on him in mid-sentence so that I could call my mom and I was able to choke out what happened and I was so delirious that I couldn't find my Dad's number on my phone and almost called Durham bus services because it was right below Dad. Finally, I composed myself and called the Austin marathon people and said surely this is a mistake, I mean, I'm nice, I screwed up and can you PLEASE let me in??? Did I mention that this means Ryan isn't registered either and we are meeting my sister, dad, sister's friend, Audrey and others to run in this thing. So it's not like this just affected me and Ryan. I just wanted to let you know what type of screw up scale we are talking about here.

So we are still going. We are still running. But we are registering for the full marathon because there are still 850 spots for the marathon. Are we running the full marathon uhhhhh...no. We are just paying $120 each for the full marathon (instead of $60 each for the half) and we are only running the half. Sounds cool, right? I am such an idiot.

Sometimes I'm a little bit awkward...

I am not really that good at small talk, this is when I tend to say the awkward things to people. I am not sure what makes me think that I need to fill silence with random words but I do. For example, one night Ryan and I were eating out and we saw a couple that we knew. I had heard that she was pregnant so I asked her about it and she told me that she was due on Christmas day. So what do I say? "Oh, so you are going to have a werewolf?!?" Yes, you just read that right. But you can go back and read it again if you want to. I don't know why I said it. It just came out. I'm not even sure if that is true but I think I heard an old wives tale once that said babies born on Christmas were werewolves. Can anyone verify this? Dad, are you reading this? But even if it is an actual "old wives tale" that isn't even the point!! Who says that??? Normally when I say weird things Ryan at least gives me a courtesy laugh and then tries to direct the attention away from my awkward moment but even he couldn't help me.

So, because I am such a poor small talker I actually fear situations where small talk is going to be necessary. Another example: If I see someone I know in public, I immediately get anxious and turn bright red. It is not because I don't like them or I am embarrassed, it's because I am worried that I won't be able to come up with something meaningful to say. I have diagnosed myself with small talk anxiety disorder. I just can't do it. And if there is a time when I am actually being successful at "small talk" I go on and on for so long about random subjects that it actually becomes "long talk" and no longer falls under the category of "small talk" anymore. And those of you that know me, know that I am completely capable of "long talk." But even then, I think that I have a disorder because I will come away from a conversation and think, "Did I even let the other person say anything??" So if you have ever fallen victim to my small talk anxiety disorder or have ever been completely overwhelmed by a conversation you have had with me because I didn't let you get a word in edge-wise, I am sorry.

Yes, this is random...but at least I am blogging again.

I don't even have a good excuse...

So you aren't going to get one. I was trying to decide what to blog about for my return to the blogging world. In the past I have just done one big update on my life but that sounds way to involved and a little bit boring. So I am just going to pick a random topic. Hmmmm...

Okay, here is my list of pet peeves (sp?). Actually they may not all be "pet peeves" but they are things that bother me:
1. Water around the sink. Because when you are tall you lean over to look in the mirror and the water gets on your pants. Plus it just looks gross.
2. Morning breath.
3. Shaving my legs and having them immediately start to grow back as soon as I step foot out of the shower.
4. Cutting myself shaving...I mean seriously, I have been doing this for about 15 years and I still can't get it right?
5. When my students ask me where they turn in an assignment. They have turned in assignments TO THE SAME PLACE ALL YEAR...figure it out!!!!
6. I take the time to paint my toenails then I go run and they are all chipped and stupid looking.
7. Having to charge my cell phone. They should have created something by now that just works forever.
8. Waking up at the crack of dawn every morning. Of course my school district would decide to change the middle school start time to 8:30 NEXT year when I might not be there any more...thanks so much.
9. Getting a blow out and not really knowing how to change a flat but trying to pretend so that hopefully someone would stop to help me. Trying relentlessly to pull the spare out of the trunk and saying a bad word right as a nice man walks up to help me, reaches in and unscrews a cap keeping my spare tire in place...the tire then came right out.
10. The fact that I still have to look at the keys to type because if I don't then my sentences might look something like this: Me love you long tim... Me lobe you long time... You are ruining my joke, get out of my offive. ( Please tell me that some of you watch the Office...)

Sorry this blog seems sort of negative. I am actually in a very good mood and I hope this just made you laugh and wasn't actually a downer to anyone! Have a great day!

"Thanks for finally posting, Meredith."

You are welcome.

Tagged...a long time ago. Sorry Shauna!

A - Available or single: That doesn't make sense. Aren't you available when you are single? Anyway, I am neither.
B - Best Friend: Ryan Matthew
C - Cake or Pie: Cheesecake...which I am not sure falls under either cateogry but I don't care.
D - Drink of choice: Coca-cola
E - Essential Item you use everyday: hair stuff...it doesn't even matter what kind. have you seen my hair without product??? Yikes!
F - Favorite color: Green
G - Gummy Bears or worms: Worms
H - Hometown: Abilene, Tx
I - Indulgence: I don't know what this word means. Ok, I just asked Heather...probably getting my hair cut and colored. I don't like to tell Ryan how much it cost so this has got to be it.
J - January or February: January. Because it doesn't have a silent "r" that makes it hard to spell.
K - Kids & Names: None.
L - Life is Incomplete Without? Laughter. Ryan makes me laugh everyday. We just watched Little Miss Sunshine and there is the funniest part where the car horn won't stop honking...I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
M - Marriage Date: July 12, 2003
N - Number of Siblings: 1-Heather
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples
P - Phobias or Fears: Fish and grasshoppers. I hate both. Grasshoppers are ridiculous. I could go on and on about how stupid it is that when you come up behind one and you think you can scare it and make it jump forward but it really turns on you and comes straight at you like a C 130 and lands on you with its nasty grippy legs and...you get the idea.
Q - Fave Quote: "You ate an entire wheel of cheese? You pooped in the refrigerator? I'm not even mad, that's amazing!" Ron Burgundy
R - Reason to Smile: When your student names your class turtle tes-tes because he saw the word in the back of the science book and didn't look at the definition.
S - Season: Winter because you can go skiing.
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: heather, Robin, and all of the rest of you that haven't done this.
U - Unknown Fact about Me: Currently my hair is blackish-red due to a poor attempt at self coloring. Hopefully it will be normal again by the time I see any of you. But I promised pictures that I'll post soon.
V- Vegetable You Don't Like: Tomatoes and mayonnaise. neither one is a vegetable but I don't like either of them.
W - Worst Habit: Overanalyzing my imperfections.
X - Xrays: Had one a few months ago due to a severe muscle spasm in my neck. I was heavily medicated and could barely stand still long enough to let them take the picture. I have also had several on my back, quite a few MRI's and an upper GI.
Y - Your Fave Food: Pei Wei - really anthing from here
Z - Zodiac Sign: Leo

Merry Christmas!

I turned my hair marroon. Actually it is a little but fuscia. How you ask? I like to think that I am a hair dresser sometimes and can dye my own hair. I went a little too dark and too red and taadaa....fuscia. Laine asked for a barber chair for Christmas so next time I'll just get her to do it. Can't get any worse. I'll post a picture later. We are going to Abilene today so I will post a before and after. After? you say. Yes, I'm thinking that if I put an ash brown color on top of it then it will even out the red. See...I am practically a hairdresser. Anyone want to be my first client????

Bowling

It's going to sound like I'm bragging but I'm not. I just have to preface this post with a little information that most of you know, but some of you don't.
I have played tennis my whole life. I started when I was in the single digits and began playing tournaments when I was around 10-11. I moved up in the ranks when I was around 13-14. I played tournaments about twice a month, took lessons 2-3 times a week. Played super-champ tournaments in 14's, 16's and 18's. I got a scholarship to play tennis at ACU but then was totally burned out and injured and I quit.

So what?

Last week I had a student in my room for detention and he was telling me that he was in the PE tennis class and asked why I didn't coach the competitive team anymore. I told him it was because I was in grad school and needed to have more time to devote to that. He then replied "Oh, I can't really see you as a coach anyway." So I said "Well, I've played tennis for a long time so I guess I know a thing or two about it." He then said "I just can't really see you running around much. I can't picture you on the court hitting a ball." To which I wanted to reply "Wanna go right now? I will school you!" But I didn't. I just said "Really?" He said "Yeah. You don't look like a tennis player. I think you look more like a bowler."

A bowler...who looks like a bowler? Now, this did come from an 8th grader so I took it with a grain of salt but really? A bowler? Who says that? If you aren't a teacher or you have never taught in middle school then you might not realize that these kids don't have very good social skills and they will be brutally honest with you about pretty much everything.

Like my first year of teaching when the kids asked me how old I was and I told them to guess. Never do that. You don't want to know what they think.

So I could take this one of two ways. Either be bitter and try to prove my tennis skills or embrace my bowler appearance and hit the lanes to brush up on my curve ball. Is that what you call it? You know, when you throw the ball down the lane thingy and it goes straight for awhile and then curves and smacks all the pins down. Yeah, I think this is going to be good.

4 MORE DAYS!!!

I think I can make it...I hope. Only 4 more days until Thanksgiving break. I know that God built in Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks just for teachers. If they weren't there, there would be lots of injured children this time of year!
We had lots of fun in A-town this weekend. Here are a few pictures of the Thomesen Thanksgiving. Next week we will celebrate the Ware Thanksgiving. Having two Thanksgivings is good.
Me and Ryan at the cool new art thing at ACU. It is amazing!!! Go see it if you are in Abilene soon.
When you look at the sculpture from a certain angle it makes a cross.
Laine with curly hair. So cute!
I was being crafty and making a wreath. It is so gaudy that it is cute! I found all the stuff at Wal-Mart for 97 cents.
The angels climbing up the ladder in Jacob's dream.

New bed

I've had a pretty uneventful week...plus, it's hard to follow the cat pee story. We are going to A-town tomorrow for "Thanksgiving" with my family. I am excited to get out of town so I don't have to look at the laundry piling up or my dirty floors or school stuff. It will be nice.

We've still been running. We are up to 4 miles now...look out. That may not be much in the grand scheme of things but it is definitely the furthest I have run in about 6-7 years. We usually average about a...I'm actually not going to tell you how fast we go. Because when you tell someone that you ran a half marathon your audience will be one of two types:

Type One: They are just really impressed that you ran a half marathon and are trying to remember exactly how far that is. They couldn't care less how fast you ran it because they are now busy thinking about the last time that they worked out and how long ago it was. They then occupy their thoughts not with you running a marathon but could they actually do it themselves...
Type Two: You tell them you ran a half marathon and they want to know: what did you average per mile? how many times did you walk? do you walk while you are drinking water? what kind of energy gel did you use? how many races did you run to prepare for the half? And you want to know what I have to say to these people? I WAS BEHIND YOU... the whole time. I am slower than you are so don't ask. And probably, you already know that I am slower than you and you are only asking so that you can feel good about yourself when I tell you my speed.

Anywho...we got a bed recently. We still have the same bedroom furniture that I used when I was 13 but we splurged and got a new bed.

It Could Happen To You...Actually No

No it couldn't. It could only happen to us. The "it" I am referring to happened the other day. I came home from work and the sugar container was out on the counter.

Let me describe sugar container...nice ceramic thing from Pier 1. Has a cute little lid that I left off while making some tea.

I noticed the container because it was scooted to the edge of the counter...not it's usual home so I looked inside. Here is what I saw:

Carmelized sugar. "Weird..." I thought. I wonder how it got all wet. Maybe it has been like that for awhile and I hadn't noticed. I had just been getting the sugar off the top and hadn't seen that it had hardened into a brick like structure.

Forgot about it. Got in bed.

Ryan comes in from a late client. (yes, I go to bed early...shut it.)

Ryan: Did you see the sugar?
Mere: Yeah...what happened.
Ryan: You don't want to know.
Mere:Yes I do.
Ryan: No, you don't.
Mere: Yes.
Ryan: I think either Mike or Pete (not people...our cats that live outside) was trapped inside last night.
Mere: uuuuhhhh...
Ryan: gross.
Mere: Are you kidding me?
Ryan: No.
Mere: They didn't really.
Ryan: Totally.
Mere: Did you smell it?
Ryan: Yeah, I smelled it!
Mere: Are you 100% sure?
Ryan: Do you want to smell it?
Mere: No!!!!
Ryan: Believe me. It's true.

WANTED: Mike or Pete Cat

The Crime: Peeing in the sugar container.

Camping Trip

We went camping this weekend with Aaron and Andrea in Atlanta State Park. Aaron was Ryan's good friend from ACU and right now he and his wife (who is from Nicaragua) live in Searcy while he finishes school. We had a great time hiking, hanging out by the camp fire and eating...lots of eating! Anywho...here are some pics. I have a great story that I am going to post tomorrow. Hate to leave you hanging...but that's how I roll.

Me, Ryan and Lola in front of our tent. Do you like my sweet hat?

Aaron and Andrea on the trail.

Me and Ryan trying out the timer action on our camera. This is a random "ampitheater" near our campsite.

I am a Hallo-weenie!

First of all, this is how I feel today. (This is my neice Laine, making a funny face for the camera. I thought it captured my mood perfectly!) I have headache behind my eye. It's an I-don't-feel-cute day. My student's were a little bit insane-o. I have an assignment due for my grad class but my parents are in town so I don't feel like doing it. It isn't due until tomorrow but I have a conference all day tomorrow and a meeting in Denton at 5:00. So like I am going to get it done then...

But that is not the point of this blog.

I am a huge weenie when it comes to scary stuff! For example...
*I don't like roller coasters if they go high...i.e. the titan, the texas giant, Mr. Freeze, the cliffhanger etc.
*I don't like taking a shower if Ryan isn't home. I think this is mainly because one time he was in the shower when I got home and I went in the bathroom and scared him really bad. Now I am just waiting for payback every time I get in the shower.

As far as Halloween goes, I don't like haunted houses. Ryan has been trying to get me to go since we got married. And I refuse. Now, I would go to haunted houses in Abilene, those weren't a big deal. But when I think about haunted houses in Fort Worth, it makes me wet my pants a little bit. There are two huge ones right by our house. So, today...I am thankful that it is Halloween because tomorrow the haunted houses will close and I won't have to worry about Ryan talking me into going, and standing in line with knots in my stomach, and getting the crap scared out of me by some high school kid with a chainsaw and walking through the rest of the haunted house with my eyes closed and being mad at the end because I paid $40 to get in and then I didn't see anything!

Until next year...scary haunted houses...until next year.

p.s. Point taken on the purse, guys, THANKS!!!

Things don't last like they used to...

We carved pumpkins about a week and a half ago and here is what they look like now...

Not too shabby...uuuuhhhh, right! They looked like this after about 3 days! I really don't remember pumpkins rotting this fast when I was younger. If you can't tell that is the top of their heads sitting behind them because they are too small to fit in the hole in the top. Mine (the one in the back) had some pretty sweet buck teeth but they curled up into his mouth. Ryan's guy just has a sunken in face and a little gangrene (sp?) inside of his head.

I was going to try and make a list of "things that don't last like they used to..." and now I am drawing a blank. Any ideas?

Oh...and don't forget to offer up your opinion on the dooney purse, see below. No anonymous comments allowed...whoever you are! :)

I'm back and I need your opinion

Ok- It has been over a month since my last post...I have no good reasons for not blogging. I just haven't been. But today Ryan and I bought a digital camera (yes, we wanted to continue our move into the 21st century) so maybe this will inspire me to post more!

So now, I need your opinion...if any of you are still out there!


I have this Dooney and Bourke bag that I have had for a long time and I have not carried it for years. It is in great shape....but is it still cool to carry it??? Check out the professional pictures and let me know! And be honest...please.

I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to

Quick update:
1. I am still alive.
2. We are still training for the marathon. We are currently running 3 miles 4 times a week. The real training starts at the end of October.
3. I still can't blog at school which is the main reason for such a long hiatus.
4. Lola got spayed today.
5. My cousin Robin had her sweet baby and it is really too bad that she is not cute at all... :) (just look at her pictures on www.lefttexas.blogspot.com)
6. I am still alive.

Now...I really need a second title for this next part of my entry...it would probably be something like: Dustbunnies and Crotch-less panties. Don't worry friends this is not x rated.

This weekend Ryan went to Oklahoma to see his sister and brother-in-law who just moved back from Oregon and I had to stay here because I was playing in a tennis tournament. So Friday night I decided to deep-clean our bedroom. I bought a new duvet cover, put that on, rearranged some decorations and then decided to rearrange the furniture. We have wood floors in our room and when I vacuum I usually take the hose and stick it under the furniture. However, I guess this isn't the best way to do it because when I moved our dresser there was a hairball the size of a ferret! I guess I now know why they are called dustbunnies. If this thing had legs it could easily defend itself in the wild. Since Ryan wasn't there and I watch a lot of CSI, I took a shoe placed it next to the hairball so that he could determine the size and I took a picture with my phone. I really wish I could post it on here but it just isn't possible.

As I continued my cleaning frenzie I noticed that there were about 5-6 pairs of my underwear (**the no panty line kind) laying on the floor. I knew they couldn't be clean so I tossed them into the laundry basket. When I picked up the 6th pair I noticed something a little peculiar. The most vital part of the underwear was gone! Lola has taken it upon herself to start up a business where she makes crotchless panties by chewing out the well, the crotch...of course. What the heck, Lola??? The crotch is the most important part!! I mean, couldn't you chew out the tag or something? That would be helpful...but chewing out the crotch? Come on...
But I'm a glass half full kind of girl...what better reason to go on a new panty shopping spree! By the way, when it was all said and done, she had chewed a grand total of 11 pairs of panties.

I hope you all haven't completely given up on me! Even though you are few, you are loyal!

Half marathon...shmaff marathon

Whatever that means...Okay I am making this official so that everyone can hold me to it and bug me about training and make me feel guilty if I quit...Ryan and I are going to run a half marathon in Austin. Now, I know you will all want to come and watch...you can actually get a triple whammy because Heather is running too (no backing down now)...but the marathon isn't until February. I think. See, I don't even know when it is, how serious can I be??? But we did just do our first "official" pretraining run. We ran for 20 minutes and I felt good when we were done. Granted it is 8:45 and today was the first day it was under 100 in like 3 months but hey, we did it.
When we first got married we trained with a running store here and ran every Saturday morning at 6:00. I think the furthest I ran was 5 miles. In case you didn't know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles (isn't it?) That is a whole 7 miles further than I have ever run in my life. But have no fear...I ran for 20 minutes tonight!!! There's no stopping me now!
But I can do it...right??? If my dad can run 2 marathons and several half marathons surely I can run one. Seriously, I am almost one third his age and both he and my mom are in better shape than me. (Ya'll can thank me later for writing that.) But not for long. You all now know of my plan and when it is written in blog world it is truth. There is no turning back...see you in February.

Taaaadaaaa

Here I am. I know, I have been baaaaaddd at posting lately. School started and you will never believe what happened. They blocked blogs at school!!! AAAHHH!! I knew it was going to happen eventually but I was just keeping quiet as a mouse wishing that they would forget. But no...I can no longer blog during my conferences anymore.

My students are so far, so good. No huge complaints yet. But to all the teachers out there, is it just a given that every year you are going to have one class that is completely ridiculous?? I have had one every year since I started teaching. This year, they just have started to rear their sweet, ugly heads a little earlier than usual. But we will survive, I have no doubt.

I just took Lola on a walk. It was enjoyable. I am wearing a pedometer and my goal is to walk at least 10,000 steps every day. Yesterday I walked about 14,000 but today I only barely made 9,000. As we were walking Lola, of course, stops to poop in someone else's yard. I was embarrassed and dramatically slapped my hand over my eyes in case anyone was watching so they would know that if I had known she was going to poop I would have brought a bag to put it in. (right) But what do you do? If I even did have a bag to pick the poop up in, do they really expect me to carry it with me on the rest of our walk? No thank you. I am totally cool with other dogs needing to poop in our yard if it is an emergency...but I am also not in charge of mowing.

Think positive...

It is now 10:44 and I am just now starting to feel tired. This is a normal time to feel tired for most people but not me...not when I have to start school tomorrow and I need to go to sleep! I still have to take a shower and decide what I am wearing tomorrow...that is another story in itself, we have these shirts that everyone from our school wears to convocation and I don't even have words to describe what it looks like on me. I borrowed Heather's camera so hopefully I can get a good picture and post it.

I have to wear khakis (sp?) tomorrow...is it weird that I don't really like khaki pants? I don't own a cute pair so that just makes my outfit for tomorrow that much worse. My life is sooo awful...just kidding.

We had a great girls weekend. It was just what I needed! I loved seeing all of my friends and just getting to hang out with them...no interuptions. We did lots of fun things and laughed a lot. I hope that I can post some pictures soon. I took them on my really fancy disposable camera so I will have to try to scan them onto the computer. The only problem is we don't have a scanner.

My goal for my life right now is to be more positive. I think that I am usually a pretty positive person (if you don't agree I don't want to hear it) but lately I have been griping about stupid stuff. I think it just becomes a habit and I need to quit. A verse I read in James last night really stuck with me: "Those who consider themsleves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this...keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
That is what I am right now...polluted. My first challenge will be tomorrow morning when I am putting on my silly outfit for my first day....think positive...and then when I get to school and I know that every other girl will be complaining too....think positive I need to stay above that! Think positive...khakis and an ugly shirt can't bring me down!!!!!