Much Ado About Nothing

Basically this is a post to say we're still alive and kicking. It finally looks like the 100 degree weather is finished after 43 or so days of 100 + weather. Football season is here and well both of our alma maters are taking it on the chin at 0-3. Gloom, despair, and agony on me...at least we have the Cowboys!

Stacey finally got over her bout with strep throat and is back to normal. Still has to have the tonsils out, but probably will wait a while if we can. As the first six weeks nears its conclusion, the ever mindful Stacey is trying to ensure all her grading is done for preparations for report cards have been underway all week. We spent the first two weekends in September helping Stacey's sister move into their new (rental) house in Frisco, so we haven't spent much time at home.

As for me, I've been fighting a cold that seems to be going around my workplace. I've also been hitting the treadmill pretty hard (except for this week) and seems like my clothes have started getting baggier. Still enjoying work, just easy to say love it tons better than my old job. Last weekend, we had a company picnic at the Fort Worth Zoo and it was lots of fun. Nice to be appricated! I must say that it is awesome when the Lord can calm your fears about changing careers/jobs and leaving the one thing you've always wanted to do behind.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???

Yes that's right, I can talk once again! Yeah!! I think I had the worst case of strep throat ever!! My tonsils were literally swollen together and completely white. I couldn't talk, eat, or drink. Praise the Lord I'm feeling back to normal again. Needless to say, I have to have my tonsils taken out. But first things first, I have once again decided to have my foot surgery on December 1st. It is getting harder and harder for me to walk. It's time to do something and SOON! I will take off from work until at least after New Year's. I will be on crutches and I won't be able to drive for 6-8 weeks. I'm not looking forward to having to miss work, but you have to do what you have to do!

Nothing much is going on other than that. I wish we could have 3 day weekends every weekend. I think I would have a much better outlook in life!! :-) I hate Mondays!!

Can you speak up, Stacey?

Obviously, a poor attempt at humor at my wife's expense.

Stacey has been sick since Tuesday night when she started complaining of a sore throat. So, we first thought it was sore throat or tonsilitis. Nope! Strep Throat. So, she goes to the clinic on Wednesday morning and they give her a shot and some medicine. By Thursday night, she is no better, but worse. Friday, she returns to the clinic and they first think it's mono, but not sure. So they send her to an Ears, Nose, & Throat doctor. Long story made short, no mono, but an abcessed tonsil and severe case of strep throat. Another shot and a new prescription later, she finally starts getting some relief. By the time I get to Nacogdoches, her tonsils are pretty much swollen together and they are solid white, not the rosy pink you'd normally expect. Stacey had not eaten hardly any solid food since this started.

Currently, they are discussing whether to remove her tonsils because this episode of strep was so bad, but the tonsils are so bad that they'll have to wait on the infection to go down before performing surgery. Keep us in your prayers....Thanks!

Friday at last!!!

This was perhaps the longest week of my life!!!!! I kept looking for Friday...it took forever to get to it!!! :) My first week of school was great. I have some awesome children in my classroom!!! I really don't have any problem children this year. That may all change, but for right now I'm loving it! As always, I have been so busy. I can't get everything done during the day, so I have to bring work home at night. Hopefully that will subside soon.

The only thing that will make school better is for my AC to get fixed!! It has been over 80 degrees in my classroom. Well, when it is over 100 degrees outside, you need some air!!! COLD AIR!!! I get very grumpy when I'm hot!!

I drove to DFW this weekend to be with Stephen. He was a welcome sight!!

That's all for now!

An interesting ride home

As you probably know, I spent the weekend in East Texas helping Stacey get ready for the start of the school year. On Sunday night, I was returning back to DFW and saw something on fire on the eastbound lane of the interstate near Kilgore, TX. As I got closer, I saw that there was an 18 wheeler rig on fire. Following the crowd, I pulled over to the shoulder in the westbound lane to make room for emergency personnel approaching. As I came to a stop, there was a concussion from an explosion - the truck's gas tanks and the fireball spanned across the eastbound lane and into the median. Amazingly, no one was injured, just a charred mess. Fortunately, I got out before the freeway was shut down. Here's the story of the event from the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Photo courtesy the Tyler Morning Telegraph website.

Who's that Dawg?

Now that it is football season and you all know how I love the Bulldogs, I thought I would throw in this tidbit from today's practice.

Lookie who decided to join the boys in pads...




The person in the photo is Sylvester Croom and he's poking fun at some of his players who stay hurt all the time. Now, can we imagine Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells suiting up and surprising Terrell Owens who can't seem to get off the stationary bike with his hamstring injury?









Photo courtesy Scout.com

Now I'm gone again....

I survived my first day at work, BARELY!! I am so tired...I forgot I could be so tired!!! I hurt in places I didn't know existed!!

On my way home today, I had a flat tire. Thank the Lord for Onstar...they sent someone within 30 minutes to change my flat. Awesome!

Not much else to report......I can't wait for Friday!!

I'm home!

I had to be in Nacogdoches for a workshop on Monday and Thursday, so I stayed in between and worked on my classroom. I can't believe there is always SOOOO much work to do at the start of a new school year. Where do I get all of this stuff?????????? I drove home yesterday afternoon. The countdown has begun. I have to be back by August 9th, but I'll probably go the 8th. A new batch of kiddos......it makes me a little nervous. I hope I have a good group.

Nothing much is going on other than that. Just trying to enjoy my last few days here in Lewisville with Stephen.

Hacker, be gone!!

Ok, so our computer is fixed, for now, thanks to my brother-in-law. It was wormy. You never realize how much you rely on your computer until you don't have it. We were having to use the computer in the business center of our apartment complex. It was pretty bad having to fight the "myspace.com" addicts.

We had a cold front come through here. It didn't get in the 100's today. First time in 12 days it didn't break 100. Thank the Lord for miracles.

Bye for now.

It's 107 outside

Can we import some ice cubes?

Funny sign on the traffic report this afternoon:
Bellaire Rd (Lewisville) closed. Pavement buckled due to the heat.


Never thought I would see that one.

Heat wave, computer hackers, and other annoyances

Well, in case you haven't heard, it's been over 100 degrees the past week. Not that we didn't expect it, it was one of those things that's just mind boggling that it's still 101 at 8:30 pm and 86 at 6AM. It was 105 today and supposed to be 107 tomorrow, can't wait for winter at this point. Yet, I'm thankful the humidity has been low or we'd really been miserable.

Stacey and I went away for the weekend to sell more of my stuff (isn't that the way it always works out???) in a yard sale with her family. When we came home our computer wasn't working. Obviously, the work of a hacker, and they have locked up our logon, so who knows what it will take to get working. For now, we're using the computer center at our apt. complex. We had trouble a couple of weeks ago with a hacker putting pop ups trying to get us to buy some software and my brother in law (a bona fide computer genius) put a stop to that, but the hacker decided to pay us back. Oh the joys of internet security with DSL...

We have finally gotten a new road opened up in our area. We thought it would be a blessing, but it has been a nuisance with the increased traffic and the heat seemingly making everyone just want to do the craziest things...

Yet, I have had some fun the past couple of weeks, the inner nerd came out and we found a park by DFW to watch the planes take off and land. Oh what fun and cheap entertainment. Even my 10 year old nephew couldn't get enough of it...

That's all for now.

Here I am again...

It's been a long time since I have had time to post. We've had family for 3 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have traded it for the world!! I love company!! 3 weeks ago, like you read below, my sister, niece, nephew, mom and dad were here. The day they left, Stephen's parents and Aunt Ann and Uncle Roland came from Alabama for a visit. We showed them around the "Big D" and then we took them to San Antonio. It was fun. We got a REALLY good tour around the city, much more than any of us really wanted!! Let me explain. There are trollies that go around the city. We paid for a day pass. We never really caught on to the concept. That night when we were trying to get back to our hotel, it took us 1 1/2 hours. We circled the city for what seemed like 24 hours!!! It was dark and we couldn't tell where we were. It got to the point that EVERYBODY on the trolly felt sorry for us and was trying to help us. Pretty embarrasing. I'm just glad we weren't paying by the mile. It would have cost us a fortune!! :)

A few days after they left, my sister, her husband and 2 children came back. We have been so busy!! We went to 6 Flags, Dallas World Aquarium, Go Carts, Shopping, shopping, and more shopping!!! They just left today but my nephew stayed with us. He will be here until Friday. We are going to Nacogdoches to have a garage sale. We are trying to get rid of some clutter. Watch out Stephen!! :) It will be like that commercial. The wife brings the stuff out to sale and the husband brings his things back into the house!! :)

I haven't heard anything about a job yet. I'm just assuming I'll keep the same job in Alto. I'll drive back and forth during the weekends. One more year. I don't want to get out of teaching again.

I hope you all have a good week!!

Would you like fries with that?!?!?

It is very disheartening when you see people being dishonest. That is my #1 pet peeve I do have to say. The other day Stephen and I went to McDonalds for dinner, along with my sister and her 2 children. A lady forgot her cell phone on the table and Stephen saw the guy that cleans off the tables swipe it. She came back in and of course he lied about it. We told her that he had taken it. Very sad. What kind of example is that for children????

Anyways, my dad had a commissioner's conference here in Dallas, so my mom, sister, and her 2 kids came with him. We had so much fun. As always, I hated to see them leave.

My in-laws along with Stephen's aunt and uncle are driving in from Alabama today. We're excited about seeing them. We haven't seen them since me moved. We are strolling down to San Antonio this weekend. None of them have ever been. It will be fun.

We spent 2 hours in the pool yesterday. I forgot one important little thing....SUNSCREEN!! I am scorched!! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess no luck with the job interview. I haven't heard. But I know that it wasn't meant to be. There must be something better down the road. We'll wait and see what the Lord has in store.

some things never stop amazing me.....

WHO would do this??? Only in Frisco....

that's all i'm going to say about that.....

more pics

the full moon allowed us to see the water at night....

Gulf of Mexico....Galveston Island

This is the view of the gulf from our hotel room.

More Astros pics...

Fireworks show after the Astros game....pretty awesome!!!

my favorite baseball player in the world!!!

LANCE BERKMAN!
Astros vs. Braves
I am the Astros fan, Stephen is the Braves fan. Not a pretty site...especially since my Astros beat up on the Braves!! :) This picture was taken during batting practice.

Go Dallas Mavs!!

Dallas has officially gone crazy with its fanaticism!! Everywhere you turn, there is tons of Maverick items.....but that's ok. It's kinda cool to be a part of it! I have to admit, we've even become fair weathered fans. We have been watching the games just as everyone else....we have to have something to talk about with these people you know!! We are actually going over to our friends' house tonight to watch the game. They have a really nice media room. It will be pretty cool!

how refreshing.....

Stephen and I just got back from a mini-vacation. We strolled down to the Texas Gulf Coast. We stayed on Galveston Island. It was so fun. Our hotel was on the water. Lots of fun! We left on Thursday when Stephen got off of work. We ended up getting to Galveston around 11:30 pm. On Friday we headed back north to Houston. Stephen has always wanted to see the Johnson Space Museum (NASA)...go figure!! :-) Then, we went to the Astros-Braves game. Believe it or not, I convinced Stephen to wear his Astros stuff! We got there in time to see the Astros batting practice. We got some really close up pics of some really cool people. Then, we headed up to our seats. Seaction 419 Row NB (nosebleed). For those not familiar with the Juice Box (Minute Maid Park), that is the very TOP section of the stadium. YIKES! Do I need to mention here that I am scared of heights???? I mean, I won't even get on an escalator. I had an anxiety attack. Meanwhile, Stephen goes down to accommodations and buys seats on the bottom, so I eventually recover!!! I had fun after that....

Saturday.....we went down to the beach for a while. Then, we ate at this place that was OUT OF THIS WORLD! It was called Fish Tales. YUM! They had the best shrimp! Then, we went to Moody Gardens and rode the Colonel Paddlewheel Boat. This was definitely the wrong name of this boat. It needs to be renamed Yard heathen mobile!! It was covered up!! Stephen did get to meet a new little buddy though. I should have taken a picture of the two of them, they got to be quite close throughout the trip. It was like they were opposite ends of magnets!! Awww....NOT! The kid parked his little booty right in front of us. At one point, Stephen put his foot up on the rail and the kid said, excuse me so Stephen let him by!! It was hilarious!!! Come to find out, it was a school trip for the gifted kids!! :-) No wonder he and Stephen were so compatible!! After the boat experience, we went to the Strand, a downtown little shopping district. Pretty cool. For dinner, we went to Gaidos, the best restaurant on Galveston Island, in my opinion!

Sunday.....we didn't do a whole lot. We ate at a place called salsa's, not very good. We rode the ferry to Bolivar Peninsula, got to see the Bolivar Point Light. Then, we drove the island from the eastern tip to the western tip. Yes we are nerds! :-) For dinner, we ate a Boudreaux's on the Bayou. Another great place to eat. Then we went back to the beach.

Monday.....we actually went to the Kemah boardwalk. It's a fun little touristy area. We ate at the aquarium restaurant. very pricy but good. Then, we went to Nacogdoches to surprise my family.

today is Tuesday and we are really tired! Tomorrow is our 3rd year anniversary and I have an interview at 2 pm. Pray for me! Pictures are to come as soon as I download them to the computer.