Learning to Live

Oh to be a kid and enjoy this rare Texas snow . . . oh who am I kidding . . . I had fun too! The last big snow was in 1982 and I was about Colin's age. Colin insisted on his own snowman and well not to be outdone . . . my dad and I did our own!

After I finally got Colin inside, it was time to cook Chicken and Dumplings and this for my sweet tooth craving! Yummmmmy and oh so fatty too! And then it was back outside for Round 2 . . .

Last month when we went to Austin to see Uncle Tommy, Colin got very excited because he thought Murphy was living there . . . he was disappointed when I told him that he was in Dallas with Grandpa. Today the Sims came to visit and guess who they brought . . .


. . . Colin was so happy to see 'his' dog. Several times while inside playing he commented that he needed to get outside because Murphy was probably lonely or that Murphy would be so excited to see him. What is it about boys and dogs?

I know he would love to have Murphy in our backyard. It is hard to believe Murphy will be 9 in June . . . you know I miss that dog being around.

I tell you the big test period for Texas is looming . . . about six weeks before the big day. I spend a big chunk of my time with 5th graders (which was my favorite grade when I was in a regular classroom) who have three chances to pass the math section in order to be 'promoted' to sixth grade . . . of course there are always exceptions BUT for the most part they really must pass or repeat 5th grade. I tell you these kids were driving me nuts lately. If I had a dollar for every time I said . . .

. . . show your work!
. . . you could not possibly need help because you haven't even had time to read the question!
. . . where is your work? No work; no key words circled; NO HELP yet
and my favorite one . . . obviously working it out in your head isn't working for you. You might want to consider writing it down . . . show your work!

Show your work . . . show your work . . . why the hell do these kids refuse to SHOW THEIR WORK! I mean come on you are in 5th grade and can't multiply/divide these numbers/fractions in your head! I realize some kids can but trust me these kids can not! I swear I am going to have dreams about saying "show your work"! Okay off to watch some pointless TV shows and thank goodness I don't have to show any work, LOL.

We had a nice day yesterday . . . nice weather and even better food. At the last minute I decided to be crafty and finally give cake pops a try . . . a really fun blog I have followed for awhile but projects are pretty time consuming. I had issues with the stick so they became cake bites I guess. I also put them on some Valentine's heart plates that I have had for years but never used . . . Bakerella has not to worry about me but next time I know what to do different . . . not totally pretty but they tasted good.



The kiddo LOVED his lobster tail and crab . . . and strawberries dipped in chocolate too!


We ended out night with the first episode of The Amazing Race . . . not impressed and hope it gets better BUT was so hilarious the team who painted the inside of the wrong house and the real worker was SO confused when they asked for the clue . . . oh and what is up with teams who give up? AND the chick who has long gone over her 15 minutes asking for a plane ticket to China when she needed to go to Chile, LOL . . . oh my now I know why they cast her . . . think she will provide some entertainment this season and can so see some major drama, breakdowns, and emotions too. Okay so it has to get a little better!

Tonight I am going to enjoy my Lush bath stuff . . . no photos, LOL. The house so smells like a store . . . those who have ever walked within a block of a Lush Store know exactly what I am talking about!

Oh Valentine's Day . . . how us who are without our Valentine sort of just think of it as another day, LOL. I think everyday should be Valentine's Day . . . I mean if you are in a loving, happy relationship then well, everyday is a day about being with those who mean the most to you . . . I know gag right?

Anyway, I have had a nice day . . . Colin will roll back in to town soon for our Valentine's Dinner. We will cook steak and lobster tails with all that other stuff too. My mom was telling Colin what we were going to have when he just had to call me on the cell phone . . . this is how it went:

C: Mommy, when you buy me those lobsters you need to get me some crab legs too.

H: Well Colin that might be too hard and I don't know if they will have them.

C: Mommy, when you go to HEB (grocery store) they sell them right by the shrimps and lobsters. So get me some because you know Mommy I really like those too.

H: Okay honey I will do the best I can. Bye

That little stinker is too smart for his own good . . . and of course I got him a lobster tail and crab legs . . . not exactly how cooking them will go but certain photos will follow tomorrow.

SO enjoy your day with the ones you love the most (even my wife)! Oh and thanks to my 'real' Valentine across the pond . . . loved the flowers and Lush stuff too! OMG, they really do listen, LOL.

I know I am lazy . . . in fact I will just blame it on the weather. I will not complain about our colder temperatures and rain that seems to not want to go away because compared to the east coast we are not doing so bad! Seriously, if it was a couple degrees colder we would have one majorly pretty snow storm in my part of Texas . . . I know if, if, if . . . you know it will wait for spring break or Easter to be white again. Anyway what have we been up to?

Colin celebrated his 100th day of school and I totally laughed when he came home with a sticker that said, "100 days smarter." I thought it was funny and certain the teacher had to cringe when she stuck it on him, LOL. Of course he really has progressed the last 9 weeks but still has room to grow.
I am still me . . . counting down until Spring Break . . . would you expect anything less? I wish the airline would just put tickets on sale super cheap so I could stop logging on every morning and putting them on hold for yet another day! I mean the flight is very empty at this point so drop prices and they will sale . . . well I hope not because I want an entire row so we can lay down and sleep . . . hey why not be greedy? It sure was nice in January to sleep the entire 10 hours.

I managed to 'declutter' my hanging files . . . read that as clean them out and put that stuff in another box to move around. Oh and I made all brand new tabs thanks to my label maker. Okay no smart ass comments about the label maker.

The Amazing Race starts up again on Sunday . . . not sure how I feel about the teams yet. I am SO tired of all these want to be celebrities taking up spaces on my favorite show . . . hello Big Brother former house guests and Miss Teen who answered her question without answering . . . your 15 minutes are O-V-E-R . . . I want to see real people like myself who love travel and adventure . . . so if someone at CBS is reading this have I got a team for you! Come on give us a shot . . . we have been waiting for a VERY long time and I promise you our little intro would raise some eyebrows. Which by the way, I am hoping that I get to see this future partner on Spring Break across the pond . . . he was the person who got me hooked on this show way back when he was only 11 . . . I told you it would raise some eyebrows, LOL. Oh and for Spring Break we are going to a location that had a moment with a couple who about duked it out . . . can you guess where it was? I think it was Season 6 between a couple . . . they also appeared on Dr. Phil (no I don't watch that show but got my info from People magazine.)

Lastly, I have fallen in love again . . . okay maybe not that way . . . oh who am I kidding that way but not what I am talking about . . . did you get that one? Anyway, I have become obsessed with Mad Men. Holy Smokes I LOVE that show . . . season 1 is done after a couple days and now I must move on to another series . . . Freaks and Geeks. I went to see Jenny last Friday and I swear they have every tv show on DVD under the sun so I took me a couple thinking I would never watch them . . . well I have! I need to locate season 2 of Mad Men.

Okay so that about wraps up the last 2 weeks . . . oh and I going to start another blog . . . like I need another one . . . to document our travels for 2010 sort of like I did summer of 2009 . . . big plans for us since the travel bug is a biting again . . . now if money just grew on trees.