Happy 89th birthday, Sweet Mammy!

My dad's mom - Edna Beth Tye - aka Mammy is celebrating 89 years today! I love this picture we took at Hog Fest in Rotan - mostly for that fact that she os wearing a Coors Light arm band. Too funny! The top picture of of my Dad's side of the family. She has 2 children - my dad and my Aunt Jane, 5 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. I love that she follows Tech sports and Ranger baseball. She calls me for scores sometimes and I feel guilty that I am not paying as much attention to my beloved Raiders as she is.

Patrick's Ark?

After spending an hour in our bathroom cuddling on Patrick's crib mattress during the 98th & University tornado scare, we braved the flood waters to have dinner with my folks, like we usually do on Sunday afternoons. After SEVERAL hours of the rain and too many satellite interruptions on the TV, Paul decided we needed to build a "boat" since there was a river on 93rd Street. He fashioned the USGC CODD out of some cardboard he found in the garage, some packing tape, wax paper and skewers. He braved the rain with Mom's green polka-dot umbrella to put the boat in street by the neighbors house. Mom tried to take pictures of the boat en float but the camera focused on the rain falling off the roof instead. All in all, it was a good adventure for a rainy Sunday evening. The USCG CODD is now docking in Mom and Dad's backyard by a chaise lounge. I imagine it's in shambles now since it was made out of cardboard and tape.

Hope everyone stays safe during all this crazy spring weather.

Our Little Helper

We had a busy day today and Patrick was a big helper! He LOVES to use the kitchen sweeper. My mom gave this to us for Christmas and it ROCKS! It makes cleaning tile or linoleum floors soooo much easier! Especially when Patrick insists that its HIS job.

Patrick also helped Paul in the yard. Paul was re-doing one of our flower beds and found a worm. Patrick thought it was pretty neat. We are also super psyched becasue Archie, our turtle, came out of hibernation today!
Patrick and his worm.

Fredericksburg - my "I'd go back again" vacation spot

I have never been to Vegas. I think it might be sensory - and sin - overload for me.

I have been to Fredericksburg with Paul, my dear friend Katie, my Dude of Honor Steve, my parents and cousin Russell, and my Red Raider Camp students, and it never gets old. Paul I have “relaxed,” as opposed to “vacation,” in Fredericksburg several times. And we’re going back again this May to celebrate his 30th birthday. It’s such a relaxing little place with everything you could need – varieties of beers & Texas wines, comfy cottages, live music and just enough shopping to keep me and Paul happy. We never really make it off Main St. in Fredericksburg, but we usually come home with a jar or two of picked garlic to use in cooking, some new jewelry for me, and some good smelling candles from this store I can remember the name of.

http://www.altdorfbiergarten.com Altdorf Biergarten
Great place to relax and have a beer between shops. They also have great breakfast menu items. I’ve had Eggs Benedict and Paul had Weiner Schnitzel and apples. Mmmm!

http://www.yourbrewery.com Fredericksburg Brewing Company
Great burgers! Paul likes the shepherd’s pie. Pizzas, too. And the beer of course. They will sell you a plastic cup of beer to go so you can drink and shop. I LOVE THIS PLACE!

http://www.herb-farm.com Fredericksburg Herb Farm
Quaint dining room. And when I say quaint, I mean like 8 tables. Extraordinary menu! I think Paul got some kind of game here and it was fabulous! Desserts are homemade every day, too.

There is a place on Main Street that is a beer & wine store. I think it’s Texas Vineyards & beyond, but not sure. Their website wasn’t working. You can create your own 6-packs and buy all the Texas wines. This is where Paul & I discovered St. Arnold’s Lawnmower wine.

http://www.fredericksburg-lodging.com Bed & Breakfast reservation site.
This is THE BEST Fredericksburg website. You can sort the bed & breakfasts by # of people, amenities, children allowed, full kitchens, bed size – you name it – and you can see pictures of the places. Then you can even look to see if the one you like is available when you want it. Paul & I have used this each time we have gotten a cottage in Fredericksburg. Our favorite is http://www.fredericksburg-lodging.com/aarons-cottage Aaron’s Cottage. Nothing fancy, but it has a jacuziz bathtub and hot tub, anda great front porch. It’s also on a small ranch with exotic animals like axis and zebras. It’s located on the same road as Luckenbach so it’s easy to find you way home. Wink wink

http://www.luckenbachtexas.com And if you are that close, you might as well go to Luckenbach. We love to go and just sit and listen to the locals play. We’ve never really been there on a concert weekend. We like the "relaxing Luckenbach." I also like to hunt for the rooster in the trees. I have done this every time I have been to Luckenbach. Maybe that was a Shiner-induced idea. . .

I can’t WAIT until May 18th!

Happy (late) Vernal Eqinox!

Yesterday was the first day of Spring! YAY! I LOVE Spring at Tech! All the tulips and pansies all over the place! The south side of the College of Education is gorgeous! They have planted some ornamental cabbage with tulips growing up through the middle. GORGEOUS! I just wish the trees would green up soon. Maybe this rain will help the trees green up.

I'm gonna miss Derek

Was anyone else watching GREASE: You're the one that I want? I have watched them ALL! They are great to work out to! Derek was my favorite Danny from the auditions and he kept getting better every week. Who can resist that smile? Much less those tight jeans? Not to mention his voice. He was not voted to stay on to the final 2 Danny's. I am sad.

Now my favorite Danny is Max. Austin is too much of a pretty boy and knows he is hot. Laura bugs me, too. She is too goody goody. I really liked Allie more than Ashley S. but I like Ashley S mo rethan Laura. I bet Laura wins, though. She did do a good rendition of "Fever."

more Paddy pics

Lance & Sabrina Lewis. Lance was a fan of the red hair.
And the Snead Clan. Snead was all about the red-haired golf cap.

St. Paddy's Blessings to ya!

Kisses from the little Paddy.
Silly Jim and Marsha. I didn't give him a choice which hat to wear.
Champ & Stacy. Champ wouldn't wear the golf hat with the bad red hair again.
Steve & Lisa Brewer. That hat made him like 6'6".

I love my paperwhites!

I don't have that green of a thumb, but I LOVE forcing paperwhites.
All you do is put the bulbs in a vase or bowl or whatever, then put them in the fridge for a week or so, until the roots start growing.
Then you out them in a window sill and watch them grow and grow!
This is my 3rd set of bulbs since Christmas.
The flowers are so dainty and clean-smelling.
I enjoy watching how much they grow and blossom from day to do.
If you have a window with lots of light, I suggest trying some paperwhites.
Mine make me smile!

5 favorite websites

www.techhecklers.com Tech Heckler Website
There are lots of funny Heckler stories that remind me of "the old days." And my ABT. . . guess you'll have to check it out to see. . . wink wink

www.bhg.com Better Homes & Gardens
I get lots of recipe ideas from here. They also have fun kiddo ideas for the holidays.

www.theparagon.com The Paragon
This is a great gift website. They have random stuff that no one really needs, so it's fun to shop.

www.oldnavy.com Old Navy
I like looking at the sales for Patrick's clothes especially when I am bored at work. I don't always buy, but it's still fun to look.

www.coloringbookfun.com Free Coloring Pages
I don't buy Patrick coloring books, I just print them off this website. He gets into a groove where he only wants to color Buzz Lightyear or Bob the Builder or Dora. We also print off seasonal pages to color and send to family as cards.

Spring Break in Victoria part III

Much to Mom's chagrin, we stopped on the side of the road to get some BIG SUPER JUMBO shrimp. I hear that's a technical term. She questioned their freezing techniques. Josh sauteed them in balsamic vinegar and they were pretty tasty.

Monday we went to Port O'Connor to see Paul's old Coast Guard station. Patrick thought the big boats were pretty cool.
The Coastie taking the picture didn't get much of the boat, though.

Here are Patrick and Uncle Josh showing their muscles the night my mom made his birthday dinner of chile rellenos and we ate on the back porch. Like uncle, like nephew.

It was a fun, whirlwind trip to South Texas. One super scary thing happened while were traveling back. It rained HARD from Shiner to Junction. Dad was driving and Paul was riding shotgun. Mom and Patrick were in the middle seats, and Guinness and I were asleep in the third seat. Somewhere south of Junction, Dad's car hydroplaned and we did a 180 in the road. I woke up to us sliding off the road and doing a 360. Mom was grabbing Patirck in his car seat, and Paul and Dad were just looking at each other. We had slid off the road and into a big, grassy,rocky part of the shoulder. We slid about 300 yards. Miraculously, there were no other cars on the road, there was no mud or water collected where we were and we slid into grass. The other side of the road was a pretty steep drop off. No doubt our guardian angels were working over-time. Patrick never said a word or freaked out. I think the rest of us were just in shock that we were okay and safe. It was the most scared I have ever been in a car. It was a good thing I was asleep. I think seeing it actually happen would have really freaked me out. Times like that definitely makes me aware of my guardian angels.

Spring Break in Victoria part II

After we left The Boiling Pot, we went to a small beach around the way. The water was shallow several hundread feet out. Patrick liked this ocean much better than the last one he was at. He played and played and played!! And Papa J napped.

This is Paul, Patrick & Josh. They made up a game where they would each throw in the same direction and then go look for it. When you don't plan on going to a beach, you gotta improvise, but Patrick LOVED this game. And was very good at it.

We hadn't really packed to play in the water so we just let him play in his pull-up - that's why it's so saggy. We were pretty white trash. Some nice Red Raiders gave us a real swim diaper. And then we sent Uncle Josh to the store to get more pull-ups and more beer, of coures.
This is me and mom with our rolled up pants. We weren't prepared for the ocean either. We just liked oozing our toes into the sand.

Spring Break in Victoria

We took a short family vacation with my folks to see Josh and his girlfriend in Victoria. Josh knew Mom and Dad were coming but it was a late birthday surprise that Paul, Patrick & I were coming down.

Paul was stationed in Port O'Connor back in 1999, so he knew some places to go down there. The one thing he really wanted to do was to go eat at The Boiling Pot in Rockport. We CHOWED on crab, crawfish, shrimp, potatoes and corn. Patrick liked the mallets. He was collecting them from ALL the tables - not just ours.

Here's the carnage from our table.
This was Patrick and Papa J building a sand dune off the patio at The Boilng Pot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENN!

We cannot tell the precise moment when a friendship is formed. As in filling a vessell drop by drop, there is at last one drop which makes it run over. So in a series of memories there is at last one which makes the heart run over.
~James Boswell

Cheers, my dear friend. Thanks for all the memories and the ones we've yet to make. Not that we will "remember" our memories, but they will surely be made.

5 things I want to do in my lifetime

Katie, this DANNY the MANNY pic is for you! And relates to #3

1. Bake a cake without it caving in. I consider myself to be an above average cook, but a pretty terrible baker. I think it’s because I don’t follow recipes to the tee. Katie Marshall is the best baker I know! She makes the best strawberry and hummingbird cakes!
2. Get back in single-digit sized pants. Just when I think I can’t eat another bowl of Special K, I look back at old pictures of myself.
3. Be in the stadium when Tech wins a Bowl game. Could have been there this year. But someday Paul & I will be there!
4. See Patrick as Raider Red. This would be a huge rush for both me and Paul to know that Patrick was in the Red costume. Let’s just hope no more Tech folks stick their nose in Saddle Tramp bidness and that the Tramps stay out of trouble!
5. Rock my grandchildren to sleep. I have seen how my parents have loved being grandparents and I want to have the same bond with my grandchildren. And I want to feed them coffee brownies and send them home to my kids! Wink wink, Doodah!
6. Work on a PhD - although I don't know what field I would pursue. . . Public Administration? And the thought of dissertation research petrifies me! This will probably be a mid-life crisis pursuit. I don’t want to sacrifice potential tee ball games, weekends in the blow-up pool and RED RAIDER football to work on a PhD.

Happy Birthday, STACY!
You're so pretty with a fro!

Cheers to recent happy times and many more memories to come!
Paul said he's pick your nose for your present!

Happy 29th Birthday, Josh!

HAPPY BIRHTDAY JOSH!
Enjoy the next 366 days (2008 is a leap year) before you turn 30!!!

There were too many FUNNY & memorable pictures to choose from to commemorate Josh's 29th birthday!
The first one is Josh's famous "monkey dance" - only this time he added Patrick's little cowboy hat. Funny thing is, I think he was pretty sober when he posed for this.
Middle one was one of the only pictures where I might have looked a little less dorky than Josh. Looks like he has a thing for cowboy hats. This was one picture Paul & I put in our wedding slide show.
The last one was from December at my Dad's 60th birthday party with beers in tow.
I love my brother and miss hanging out with him since he is lives in Victoria! He is by far one of the best dancers I have ever danced with. And a pretty mean cook - if you like sauteed onions.
I love ya, Bud. CHEERS! Drink one for me!