TGIF?

Okay, well, I know that I haven't posted anything again ..... in a long time ..... again.  But I woke up this morning and experienced some stuff that I just didn't want to forget.  So here I am.

I got up this a.m. and prepped to take my girls to school.   When I started my truck, my "dummy" oil light came on flashing, "Check Oil Level".  So, I checked the oil dipstick and saw this.....

Doesn't that look bad?  Now, tell me true, doesn't each little dot represent one quart of oil?  That's what I thought, too!!!  So, I got into my vehicle and proceeded to drive my girls to school 10 miles away.  The oil pressure gauge on the dashboard looked okay so I was thinking that if I didn't drive like crazy then I'd be all right. 

We arrived safely at the school without any mishap and I drove over to the little gas station where I purchased 3 quarts of oil  (at $6 per quart!).  I went out to my truck and dumped all 3 quarts in at once.  I mean, look at that dipstick!  Wouldn't you do the same thing?  Something within me urged a recheck of the dipstick.  To my horror, I discovered that 3 quarts MAY have been too much oil!!!

At this point, I decide the best thing to do is call the Dahlin' and relay my lesson. I also told him that I need to rewind my day and start over.  Doing this stuff on a Friday isn't supposed to happen to me.  A Monday perhaps, but I NEED my Fridays!!!  Therefore, TGIF?  Really?

Dahlin' bluntly advised me to gently drive my truck to the nearest oil changing place and have it serviced ... which I promptly did.  While at the oil changing place, I was gently reminded by the oil changer person that the oil in a vehicle needs to be changed every 3,000 miles.  I had neglected to service my trusty "steed" for 19,518 miles!!!  Well, heck, with all the running around I do, how am I supposed to remember how many miles I've traveled????!!!  I need an alarm on the truck to notify me that it's time for an oil change!  Not a little flashy light.  That does nothing for me.  An alarm bell or something would be more like it!

Lesson learned, for the time being, don't wait so long to get the oil changed.  I'm back running the roads singing my theme song (Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again"), and paying the bills.  I won't forget to change my oil again .... well, not any time soon.   

Summer 2011

Yup, I've taken an extended break .... again.  There's a whole lot going on in this household.  I'll try and make it brief in order to give you all a quick update.  Then, I plan to do a daily blog post or something.  Facebook has kind of ruined me in that area.

Since my last post, I have basically just done ... well, not much.  Just trying to keep the kids all together so I don't lose one here or there. 

Back in April, I completed the New Orleans Crescent City Classic.  In June, my niece and nephew came to join the family (24/7) for the summer.  After they came to us, we started trying to participate in a variety of music camps, VBS, and the Bass Pro Family Fun Camp.  We've also been hiking and enjoying mystery rides to places like the LSU Museum of Natural History and to see Mike the Tiger at his house near the stadium.  Other Mystery rides have included visits to the Louisiana Children's Discover Center and the Louisiana State Capital building. 

In the near future, I have more mystery rides planned as well as some craftsy stuff at home.  I have been inspired by a new blog I stumbled across where the writer posts different craftsy tutes etc.  I can't wait to try out some of the stuff I've seen on her site!

So, that's about it for now.  I plan to be back later this week with another post or two regarding what we've done this week.

Thank you for continuing to keep up with me.  I know I'm not the best bloggy author but I do appreciate your loyalty.

Crescent City Classic 2011 - I DID IT!!!

I DID IT! I participated in the Crescent City Classic 10K walk/run for the first time ever! My brother had been harrassing me for the past few years to share this experience with him. He had run it several times before. So, this year, I caved...I gave in and agreed to do this with him.
On Saturday morning I woke up early (5 a.m.) to hitch a ride with my sister who was supposed to be picking up myself and my step mom. At 5:30 she still hadn't arrived and I was beginning to think she'd forgotten me. So, I called her cell phone which she sleepily answered right away. She apparently had overslept and was quite upset with herself.

At 6 a.m. she FINALLY arrived and we were on our way. The plan was to meet my brother and then ride down to New Orleans with him. We got to N.O. at apx 8 a.m. The race was to start at 8:30. After parking, we huffed and puffed (endured a brisk walk for 1/2 a mile) our way through the 85% humidity to get to the start line.

We were there just long enough for a quick picture before the US Marine Color Guard posted the colors and fired the cannon signaling that the race was now on.

I began walking and promptly was bombarded from behind by many runner all itching to get first place or at least make better time than they did last year. It was unreal!! At a quarter mile, I saw my sister standing on the sidewalk patiently waiting for me to catch up to her. (She walks really fast! Either that or her legs are longer than mine.) She went on ahead and I started walking faster trying to keep up. Then it dawned on me that this was a 10K (6.2 miles) race. There was no way I could walk at that pace for that distance. So, I just decided to plug in my MP3 player with my Couch to 5K tunes on it (complete with a walk/run prompt). I figured I'd be better off by tuning out everthing around me as I attempted this first time feat.

Another quarter mile (and my 2nd 60 second run), I saw my sister again standing on the sidewalk. As I jogged past, I told her to "Jump in!" .... which she did. She took three steps and made a face plant right there on Poydras Avenue, badly injuring both of her knees. A lady stopped mid jog to help me and my sister hobble to the side of the road while the sea of athletes all passed us by.

We were only a few steps away from a police officer who offered to contact EMS, but stated that they could take a while getting to us. Sis decided that it wasn't an emergency, she just needed a first aid kit and a few moments to regather herself and then she would continue on. Would you believe this police officer did NOT have a first aid kit!? A kindly restaurant manager who was standing by watching the runners, entered his restaurant and returned with a dry towel, wet towel, ice packs, and bandaids in order to help patch up my sister. She then told me she was fine and waved me off to continue the endeavor alone. She said she'd catch up later.

And so I go, putting my earphones in once again to pick up where I left off. I kept running/walking along the way, in as much shade as I could find and was surprised .... I mean, REALLY SURPRISED! to find myself a short time later looking at the 5K mark painted on the pavement. I thought to myself, "I DID IT! And I feel REALLY good!!! This ain't so bad after all!" followed by, "Oh wait a minute. This is a 10K - I'm only halfway there!".

My sister did catch up to me a short time later and we spent the rest of the race fighting my "Defeatist Attitude" (as my brother called it). Two and a half hours later, I finished the Crescent City Classic! I was weak from having no breakfast and my feet (especially the top of my left foot) was killing me to the point that I was limping.

I'm pretty sure my stride was off a bit so that was why my foot hurt. I have been inspired, though, to get back to my Couch to 5K interval training program and then move on to the Bridge to 10K training program. I plan to RUN the 10K next year and shave off 1.5 hours! Meanwhile, I relish the fact that I DID IT!!!

Here I stand at the Crescent City Classic finish line with my time posted above my head.  I know, it's not a flattering picture but then again, who looks pretty immediately after a 6.2 mile run?

I'm Back with some Disney shortsets

Have I REALLY ignored my blog for 4 months?  Whoa!  I need to get on the ball!  Things have been pretty crazy around here with all the daily road running and chauffering the kiddos back and forth.  I really should get me an Iphone or notebook or Ipad so's I can keep up with the online duties while I'm sitting in a parking lot somewhere.

Another reason I haven't been on here much is because I've been on Facebook a whole lot more!  :D  I need to curb that addiciton as well.  And speaking of addicitons, I have been sooooooo busy sewing!  I'm just loving the feel of the thread and needle as it punctures the various fabrics I'm playing with.

In order to supplement the family income, I've decided to try my hand at custom sewing projects....focusing on Disney inspired short sets.  I have recently completed 3 outfits that I'm very proud of.  I think I'll go ahead and try to expand the collection with even more shortsets for boys AND girls.

Meanwhile, enjoy these pics of my latest creations!  Each shortset is ONLY $50.  Just comment if you're interested in one.  Then we'll exchange the needed info.

Cleaning House again

Last year, I started off with this grand plan to have a clean house within 30 days.  (See that meager beginning here.)  Now, it's the first Monday of 2011 and it's time to attack the house again.  I'm so glad I saved my cleaning schedule!!!  That'll help me stay on track once again as I purge the junk and clutter from the recesses of my closets! 

Pray for me please.  Pray that the Lord will help me to be ruthless as I toss out un-needed items and junk that I've hung on to for years because, "I'm gonna use that!"

Top 50 Comedy movies to see before you die

I have this list.  I don't know where it came from.  I just happend to be searching through my Documents folder on my computer and I stumbled up on this list of comedy movies to see before you die.  So, I started reading over the list and discovered that I have seen a lot of these titles already.  That's a good thing too because I just don't know if this coming new year will allow me time to sit and watch all 50 of these movies! 

I'm gonna post the list here so that I can delete it from my documents folder.   I'll also mark the ones I've already seen so that I won't watch them again.  Then I'll come back from time to time and update my list by marking the next one that I watched.  I don't know if I'll do a "movie review" yet, but I suppose I could squeeze in a sentence or too.

Here's the list:

1.        Super Troopers

2.       The Hangover (one of the stupidest waste of films I've ever seen)

3.       Road Trip

4.       Superbad

5.       National Lampoon’s Van Wilder

6.       Old School (Not a Will Ferrell fan, had a hard time watching this one.)

7.       American Pie

8.       Dumb and Dumber (Eh)

9.       40 Year Old Virgin

10.   There’s Something About Mary (Ugh)

11.   Happy Gilmore

12.   Meet the Parents (shrug)

13.   Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (Ugh)

14.   Scary Movie (What!?)

15.   Hot Tub Time Machine (right when I posted this list, this movie was on my TV, unedited.  This movie was cute and I liked it, except for all the language and some of the sex scenes.)

16.   Anchorman:  The Legend of Ron Burgandy

17.   Borat

18.   South Park:  Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

19.   Zoolander

20.   Clerks

21.   Shaun of the Dead

22.   Tropic Thunder

23.   Austin Powers:  International Man of Mystery

24.   Knocked Up (Ugh)

25.   A Christmas Story (I love this movie!!!)

26.   Forgetting Sarah Marshall

27.   The Replacements

28.   Team America World Police

29.   I Love You Man

30.   Dodge Ball

31.   Eurotrip

32.   Beerfest

33.   Rush Hour

34.   Animal House

35.   Sexdrive

36.   Trailer Park Boys

37.   Me Myself and Irene

38.   Police Academy

39.   Fight Club

40.   A Night at the Roxbury

41.   Napoleon Dynamite (this HAS to be the stupidest movie ever made!)    

42.   Step Brothers

43.   Liar Liar (Meh)

44.   Grown Ups (I'm not a big Adam Sandler fan, but this one was cute!)

45.   National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

46.   Ground Hog Day (It's been a while since I've seen this one, so I might watch it again)

47.   Chasing Amy (got only 1/3 of the way through this movie.  Couldn't handle the language and subject matter.  Ugh!)

48.   Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (LOVE this movie!)

49.   Coming to America (Haha)

50.   Grandma’s Boy

So, there ya have it.  A list of movies I plan to watch sometime this year.

The Completed Christmas Projects

The following pictures are of the gifts I made for my family members for Christmas this year.  If you saw my previous post on Christmas Projects to make, then you've seen what I had planned to do.  This post is to show you what I actually got done.

This went to 6 married couples in the family.  It was a certificate, a box of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix, and some Hershey's Kisses.  It is a membership to a "Cookie of the Month Club".  Not a REAL membership mind you, because although those ARE available, I wanted this to be more personal.   It's a promise to send the recipient two dozen homemade cookies on the 15th of each month. 

 The schedule is as follows:

• January:  Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
• February:  Sugar Cookies
• March:  Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip
• April:  Peanut Butter Honey Cookies
• May:  Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
• June:  Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
• July:  M & M cookies
• August:  Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
• September:  Old Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies
• October:  Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• November:  Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• December:  Ginger Krinkle Cookies

I think I may have shot myself in the foot with this cookie gift thing.

Then, I gave hubby a membership to the "Date of the Month" Club.  I think he liked this gift, but he has yet to give me his date options so that I can start planning.

Dahlin' had also complained that we didn't have enough pot holders or hot pads in the house for him to use when cooking.  So, I went garage sale shopping and found these wonderful little denim place mats for only $3 for the set!  Now, when you go shopping and you see something like, say, a place mat, I'm sure you see a PLACE MAT.  Not me, unh unh.  When I look at a place mat like these, I see things like.......

Custom made potholders and.....

Sweet little denim pocket purses.

I also had a little roll of camoflage duct tape which I then tranformed into a wallet for the Boy Scout son of mine.

Here's another little creative idea that I gleaned from the internet.  I just love the internet. Don't you?

Personalized Checkers game

I also made a Family Yahtzee game and a Memory Card game.

Then, I made a charm bracelet for my daughter.

Time to start planning next year's projects!

My December Christmas To Do List

Well, here it is.  December 1.  Only 24 more shopping days until the Big Day!  It's been a tough year for us here at the oxbow.  Dahlin' hasn't worked like he did last year which made our budget just a tad bit tighter.  I'm a little late with the brainstorming, but I wondered if I could possibly do a "buy nothing" Christmas....well, with the exception of purchasing things like computer ink or glue for the handmade project completion.

Then, I had the little problem of figuring out what to do for all the household members.  There's Dahlin' to consider as well as DQ, the Teen, Birdie, and Roo.  Then there's the added family members who all expect (not really) a little sumpin' sumpin' at the annual get together.  Since today's the first of December, well, I can't tell you what I'm doing for the extended family, that'll have to wait until after Christmas.  However, I happen to KNOW that my KIDS don't read my blog, so it's safe to share what I have planned for them.

On that note, here's my To Do List, complete with photos and links to the instructions....just in case this post motivates you to try a few of these yourself.

I'll start with the list of what I'm planning to do for my girls. 

1.  Read along books on CD - using books from the girls bookshelf, my own computer, recording software, and a microphone. Okay, so there's no link or photo for this one....just got the idea from somewhere else that I can't remember right now.

2.  Doorway puppet theatre like this one. 

3.  Pillow buddy critter

4.  Pillowcase PJ Pants

5.  Soap Crayons

6.  Denim Pocket purse

For DQ: 

A cool looking tote bag

Some bath fizzies

 And a shrinky dink charm bracelet. I'm thinking of using family photos since she's always bragging about the girls or her brother or even now, her new baby.

For the Teen:

Handmade Boxer shorts, I guess these would be similar to PJ pants but shorter.

A Duct Tape wallet



And a big bucket of junk food just for him!

Finally, for Dahlin':

First of all, I'll help the girls make him a pretty photo ribbon book mark like this one. 

That'll be from them to him.

And from me to him:  A membership in the Date of the Month Club featured here at the Love, Actually blog.  This blog is so cute!!!  I have found lots of great ideas here. 

I'm so excited about this upcoming Christmas!!  Now, I just have to make the time to get these gifts all made and wrapped up.  And I only have 24 more days to get it done!!!  Accckkk!!!

My Christmas Wish List

Every year, beginning in July, while my kids are camped out in front of the squawk box, there will be an interruption of their enterainting little cartoon or whatever for the marketing geniuses to bombard the viewers with commercials of neat gadgets and toys.  Every year, each commercial is then followed by a chorus of, "Mommy!  I want that!"  repeated until they are certain that I have heard and understood.

Well, this year, there are some things that Mommy wants!  I'm listing them here so my older kiddos can browse and purchase these items for me.  If they feel they should.  I guarantee they should be feeling that they should make such purchases.....if they know what's good for them!



Hand Warmers for those cold Sunday mornings when I have to play the piano.  I no longer need these since a friend gave me some this week!!  Yippee!!!

  


A Brother 3034 D 3&4 Thread Overlock Serger - for all those sewing projects
 in my head that I just can't get started until I have this beautiful contraption.







A digital recorder so that I can record my piano stuff right into my computer and sing alongs too!!!  I can also check this item off my list.  I played piano for a group of choirs this week and this was given to me as an appreciation gift!  Woo Hoo!!!  I play for the coolest people!






A decent sized family cabin tent for all the family weekend campouts
that I'm craving without the hassle of towing the travel trailer.



I need 2 of these XL camping cots to go inside that Cabin tent for comfortable sleeping.  I'm getting too old to sleep on the ground.  However, the kids would be happily comfy on the ground so they don't need much of anything.  Maybe an air mattress for them.  Oh, but this isn't about them is it!?



Now, is that too much to ask for?  I hope not.  Santa - and my kids - do you hear me!?

August Postcards

Here are the postcards I received in August.



LeeWade from China says, "Hi America!  I like!  This cummer is very hot in Wenzhou, my hometown.  I like drinking the photo's water every day."

 

Piet of Belgium says, "Hey, Best regards of Belgium.  I live near the town Antwerpen, a very historical city in North Belgium with a very important European harbour."

Nina from Finland says, "Hello, I hope this card find you well and happy.  I'm very much addicted to this Post Crossing, it has been far most nicest hobby I hever had and my daughter has participated this too.  I'm also active on Form, so most of my free-time goes to this.  This is my last week of summer-holidays, next week kids go to school and summer will be over, too bad :(



Claudia tells me, "Sunny greetings from the north part of Germany.  I'm living in Hamburg but Bielefeld was my city were I grow up."



Anastasiya from Siberia Russia sent this lovely card.  The description on the back reads, "The manors of Zaistochie:  the late nineteenth-century manor built by architects P.F. Fedorovsky and S.V. Khomich in Ulitsa Tatarskaya, 44."

 

Stephanie says, "Hello, Many Greetings from Germany.  Here you see a famous town near my hometown.  Noted for his bear and castle.   Happy Postcrossing, Mausbaer YA"

This one arrived from China with no name!  Only a handwritten note on the back that says, "Always keep the Faith.  Best Wishes."

Anne, I think from Germany says, "Hello!  At 1st we have the same interests!  I'm also a geocacher.  I love to see places which I would not see without Geocaching.  Especially, I like lost places caches.  It's very interesting.  Next year, I travel to Australia.  There we will buy a van or a 4wd and we will travel and camp with hit.  In Australia are many caches!!"



This very interesting and peaceful looking card comes from Holland.  "My name is Jolanda and I'm 28 years old.  I live in Holland in a small place south from Utrecht.  I'm a teacher in primary school in the 4th class.  In my spare time I love to travel also to countrys outside Europe (India, Afrika, Cuba).  Greetz!"



Fourth Grade Writings - The Headless Rider

The Headless Rider in the City

On halloween I will a headless rider. I will run around a subdavison and shout "I am the headless rider of Denham Springs." Everyone will come out and get so frightend they'll run back in a jump under the T.V., Their beds, couchs, hide in their gun cases and all that, when they come out on the porch they will run back in and start all over again. My Daddy will race after me on his mule, but he'll never catch up. But I know one thing, I'll stop at people's houses and get some candy and run as fast as I can. Oh, I forgot to tell you I'll be riding my horse. So long!

Fourth Grade Writings - The Haunted House

The hauted house that had a Ghost.

One night I went to an old, old, old house. behind it was a cematary. I had a freind with me. It was very haunted. My freind's name is Penny Ann Ballard. Well lets get out of that part. That night we were walking in the cematary. The wind was blowing, "Whoosh" the wolves were howling, "A-r-r-r-r-r-r-r". As we walked we saw a knife glittering in the moon-light. I thought we should go and see what it was. Then I said, "No we'd better not go, unless we want our heads choped off". In an hour my freind wanted to go over and see what it was. so I had to say "Alright, you go and I'll stay here". She wnet and looked she hollard, "Ra-Ra-Ra". The knife swung at her and chopped her head off.

I ran to get her mother, but the man got me and tied me up. Then he put me in the haunted house and when Goofus saw me he untied me and saved me. Thank to Goofus Ghost. Three cheer for Goofus, "Haray, Haray, Haray for Goofus".

The End

Postcards from July

Card #1 - "Hello all, I send you this card which shows Turku Cathedral in southern Finland. Turku is the oldest town in Finland, founded in the 8th (?) century. The oldest part of the cathedral is also from the same century. My name is Bror, means 'brother' in English, and I live about 25 kilometers outside Turku in the beautiful archipelago."

Card #2 - From Astrid in Nederland








Card #3 -"Hi Everyone! Greetings from the Czech Republic. I live 6 KM from this beautiful castle called Krivoklat. I hope you like it. Enjoy the summer. Michaela"

Card #4 - Them Imperial Palace in Shen Yang

Card #5 - "Hello! Greetings from Finland's beautiful summer! I've got a busy day today as I've reserved the laundry room and will wash the rugs, blankets, curtains, and other big stuff. I also have an appointment at my hairdresser's today. I didn't remember it when I booked the laundry room, so it's quite inconvenient. I'll ride my bicycle to my haridresser's. It's about 10 miles one way, so good excercise as well as a pleasure. These flowers grow in a small swap (swamp?) near where I live. They are called suspursu in Finnish. Regards Sini/Saint"

Card #6 - "Hello and Greetings from Germany. My name is Betty. I live together with my husband, three children, and two cats in a little village not far away from the beautiful castle shown on the postcard. I enjoy hiking and geocaching. There are some wonderful caches around that castle. Happy postcrossing!~"

Card #7 - "Hello! The Spirit of Finland. I live Finland city of Helsinki. I am a grandpapa of Topi boy. Topi is now 5. Helsinki is small but nice summer city. Greetings from Helsinki. Jussi"