Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Happy birthday to me!

Well, tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my birthday. No, I'm not going to tell you how old I am and it's not polite to ask! ;-)

Dancing With the Stars

Okay, I'll be the first to say that I absolutely HATE reality TV. But, I also have to admit that I have found ONE that I am addicted to. I LOVE Dancing With the Stars. This is the first season I've watched and I started watching it because Emmitt Smith was one of the contestants. Emmitt is my absolute favorite football player (yeah, I realize that it's weird that a huge UGA fan's favorite football player used to play for the hated Gators). A lot of people thought that he wouldn't be any good, but I knew he would. Have you ever seen him run a ball on the football field? I also used to watch him do the "Emmitt Shuffle" when he was in college! LOL He's got the moves!! Emmit is doing great and I do my part by voting each week.

I do like some of the others too. Vivica A. Fox is a wonderful dancer and I love her attitude. Sara Evans is looking more comfortable as the weeks go on and she put on a heck of a performance this week.

The show brings back a lot of great memories from college too. Instead of taking a regular PE class I opted to take ballroom dancing. I had the best time and learned a lot. I even took the class after I had satisfied my PE credits. We didn't have enough guys in the class (imagine that!) so a couple of the guys in the Ballroom Dance Society would come in to help. I was paired with one guy every time. He taught me 2 very important things: 1. If a man can lead I can dance. 2. It is always the man's fault. [Now he said that it only applied in dancing, but I prefer to apply it to everyday life! ;-) ] He used to drive me nuts though. If I even thought about looking at my feet when we were dancing he would immediately stop. He would make me look him in the eyes the whole time. This isn't usually a problem, but I was attracted to him (I had a thing for men who could dance or sing) and being the shy person that I am I had a very hard time doing that. LOL I just knew that he would be able to tell. Anyway, I had so much fun dancing and I miss it. Watching the show makes me wish I could get back into it. I was never and will never be good enough to compete, but it is great fun, not to mention good exercise.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

I thought we made a breakthrough tonight.

I was wrong. Joshua is potty trained...............almost. He stays dry all day in underwear. Our problem lies in the pooping on the potty thing. He absolutely refuses to do it. I'm not sure what his hang up is at this point. He has done it a couple times, but not in a very long time. Tonight we talked about how all his friends do it and that only babies wear diapers. He said that he didn't want to be a baby, he wanted to be a big boy. I even bribed him with stickers! He was all excited to do it. We went to the potty and he sat there..........................and sat there. We were in the bathroom for about half an hour. He kept saying that he wanted to poop and he didn't want to get off the potty. Finally, I just had to give up. I put a diaper on him and within minutes I had to change him. I'm not sure what to do to get him to go on the potty. Any been there done that advice? Please share!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

What are you listening to right now?

At this very moment I am sitting in my recliner watching SEC football (Florida and Kentucky) and my English Bulldog is sleeping behind me. I can hear her snoring above the sounds of football. LOL

This is a very common sound in our house. What are the most common sounds in your house?

Did I really say that I love football?

I hate football!! LOL Well not exactly, but I sure don't like close games. Today my Dawgs (ranked # 9) played Colorado (unranked). It had to be the most horrible game I've seen Georgia play in a very long time. The first 3 quarters were a disgrace. Stafford was 8 of 16 for 76 yards (I can forgive this somewhat considering he is a freshman, but this is the SEC and he needs to be ready!). We couldn't run the ball. We had 27 rushes for only 54 yards. We fumbled 3 times and lost 2 of them. Only 3 of 11 on third down? You cannot win like that. I certainly hope that they fix this before we get into the heart of our SEC schedule. We cannot expect to beat the big boys playing like we did today. Heck, we almost lost to an unranked team who had lost their last 7 games (if I remember correctly). I have to say though that we looked much better in the 4th quarter. Joe Cox came in and threw for 154 yards completing 10 of 13 passes. Our defense forced and recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass to secure the victory. Our final touchdown came with 46 seconds on the clock. Only 46 seconds people!! Do you know what that does to a heart? We only won by 1 measly point and the winning score came with 46 freakin' seconds on the clock!! I HATE games like that. Way too stressful!! At least I wasn't watching on tv. I don't know where my foam brick is and throwing anything else might break my new tv!! Michael would have been rolling his eyes too since I would have been on my knees with my head on the floor there at the end. LOL

Big sigh of relief for now. I'm sure Coach Richt will correct what went wrong today and we will come back strong next week against Ol' Miss.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

2 weeks from tomorrow!

Only 14 more days and I am off on my girls' weekend. I can't wait. I need some nice, quiet, relaxing time with my best friends. My mom flies in at 7:40 am on Friday and I drive out around 9am. I'll be gone for 4 days. I've got my books all ready to go. I'm going to take some movies and I have my grocery shopping list in my head. I hope that it's cold so that the leaves will be nice. The hot tub at this cabin is actually on the screened in porch that I think is on the second level. That will be nice. It has a wood burning fireplace right beside it. *SIGH* I can't wait. If I remember to take the camera I will post pictures of the view.

Monday, September 18, 2006

New pics of the rugrats!

Is this the face of a little girl having fun or what?


Her serious face.


Joshua playing in the rocks with one of Bob the Builder's backhoes. Ari looking on wishing her brother would share.


Joshua playing with my Dad's dog, Bell. Bell loves to chase sticks and she is pretty big compared to my little guy. He wasn't scared though.


He looks so much older than 3 in this picture. My little man.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

I LOVE college football!

Well, let me rephrase that. I love SEC football. I just watched a very entertaining defensive struggle between Auburn and LSU. It was very exciting and I'm just glad I'm not a fan of either team. LOL Too much stress there at the end. Now I get to watch another tough SEC match up between UT (that's Tennesse for those who don't know) and Florida. Now this is a game that I hate to watch every season just because I haven't found a way for both teams to LOSE!! Either way it is going to be a fun and exciting game to watch. SEC match ups usually are. Especially between the powerhouses of the SEC.

My Dawgs had a pretty easy game this week. We beat UAB 34-0. The game wasn't on tv, but I had the computer on watching play by play. It's not the same, but it will do. I'll watch them on CSS on Tuesday night or on Comcast On Demand if possible. We won last week too. Now that was a very sweet win. We beat the Gamecocks who are coached by the most hated coach in football, Steve Spurrier. It is always fun to beat him. He whines so badly when he loses! LOL I won't give the "I Hate Steve Spurrier and This Is Why" speech, but just know that it puts a very big smile on my face every single time he loses a football game.

Ahhhhh, football season. My favorite time of year!

GOOOOOOOO DAWGS! SIC 'EM!! WOOF WOOF WOOF (BTW~Ari and Joshua can do this cheer...............shouldn't surprise those of you who know me!)

Friday, September 15, 2006

Personality test

Okay, I was bored so I did a personality test that I found on Stefanie's blog. It is pretty accurate.

You are introverted, reserved, and quiet with a preference for solitude and solitary activities. Your socializing tends to be restricted to a few close friends. You are generally calm and composed, reacting moderately well to situations that most people would describe as stressful. A desire for tradition does not prevent you from trying new things. Your thinking is neither simple nor complex. To others you appear to be a well-educated person but not an intellectual. You have a strong interest in others' needs and well-being. You are pleasant, sympathetic, and cooperative. You are reasonably reliable, organized, and self-controlled.


My Personality
Neuroticism
28
Extraversion
7
Openness To Experience
49
Agreeableness
79
Conscientiousness
66
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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Counting down!

One of my fellow teachers told me today that we only have 12 more school days until our fall break!! WOOHOO!! It's hard to believe that our first 9 weeks is almost over. I'm excited though. We will have 2 weeks off and during that 2 weeks I have my girls' weekend with my 2 best friends. We rent a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. What do we do in Blue Ridge you ask? Absolutely nothing!! And, that's the way we like it. We get there on Friday afternoon and usually meet at the grocery store. We buy everything we will need for the weekend and drive to the cabin. Once there we change into nice comfy clothes, bring out the books/movies/gossip, sit around and do nothing. We will cook chili on Saturday and watch our Dawgs play Tennessee. Well, Nat and I watch, but we make Nicol stay away from the tv. She is bad luck! LOL We usually make good use of the hot tub on Saturday night and of course the wine or whatever. On Sunday we will get dressed to go to one of the apple orchards for candy and carmel apples. When we leave there we go to the wonderful ice cream shop downtown for some of the best ice cream I've ever had. Then it's back to the cabin. We get up on Monday morning to go back to reality. This is a yearly thing for us. This will be the 3rd year we have gone to Blue Ridge. It's nice to get away for a few days with no responsibilities and to visit with my best friends. We don't get to see each other often now that we live in 3 different states. This is usually the only time we get to see each other and we all look forward to it. Only 22 days until I get to relax!! I can't wait!!

Monday, September 11, 2006

Memories

September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget. It was my first year teaching. I was teaching 3rd grade at Roswell North Elementary in Atlanta. Our principal came over the intercom and told us that we needed to check out email immediately. This was definitely a clue that something major was going on. They never interrupted our classes to have us check our email. I remember being shocked that an airplane would be so off course that it would hit a building such at the World Trade Center. It saddened me, but I didn't think much more of it. A few minutes later she came back on and instructed us to check our email again. About the time I finished the email about the second plane other teachers were gathering in the hallway. I remember we began to understand the magnitude of what was happening. We were getting scared. All we wanted to do was go home and call our families. We couldn't do that. We had children in our classrooms who needed us. We were to keep things as normal as possible. We were not to say anything. This was a difficult thing to do. They knew something was going on with us having to check email so often and then with us gathering in the hallway. After I took my kids to their support class (P.E.) I went into the library to watch the news and find out what was happening. The first time I saw the footage of the plane hitting the second tower I thought I was watching a computer reenactment. I could not believe I was actually watching the real thing. I remember the devastation I felt when I realized it was real. The tears began. Going back to class was incredibly difficult. I just wanted to talk to my mom, dad, and brother. The rest of the day was a blur. When we were finally able to go home I cried the whole way. I remember getting home and calling my dad. He didn't really know the extent of what was going on. He worked outside without tv or radio. He had gotten a call from his wife, but having not seen it he didn't really know. He thought it was weird that the airplanes had stopped flying over his head since he was working close to the airport. He was at a loss as to how to comfort me though. I tried to call my mom, but couldn't get in touch with her which freaked me out. Come to find out my grandfather had fallen and broken his hip. I called everyone I cared about that day. I began thinking more and more about Michael as well. I had to talk to him. He was the man I loved and I had to let him know that. I watched coverage the rest of the night. When I went to bed I remember the eerie feeling of not hearing the planes flying overhead, but hearing the military jets fly over. I didn't sleep. The next morning we were back at school. I can remember the scared looks of my students that morning. I had one student come in and ask me if I saw the plane hit that building and wasn't it cool. My gut reaction was to yell, but I had to remember that he was just a young child and didn't understand what that meant. I did let him know that there was nothing cool about what happened. I made the decision right then that we were going to sit down and discuss the events of the previous day. They were so scared. I was scared. We sat around our reading corner and talked about our feelings. One of my kids said that a lot of people survived because he saw them jumping from the building to get out. I let him believe. I remember thinking how badly I wished that were true. I'm still not sure how I was able to function that day.

The emotions are as raw today as they were on that horrible day. I'm not sure if it will ever get better. As much as it changed my life it changed the lives of the families who lost loved ones even more. My thoughts and prayers go out to them on this 5th anniversary and I hope they have been able to find peace.

I'm sorry for rambling. I've never written down my thoughts from that day so I'm sure they don't flow as they should.

Friday, September 08, 2006

In Respectful Memory of Battalion Chief Richard Prunty

A 9/11 Tribute~Please visit 2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11 to read other tributes.


Husband............Father.............Friend

Battalion Chief Richard Prunty was all of the above. He was married to his wife, Susan, for 33 years. He was the father of 2 children, Lisa and Christopher. They were his first family. Chief Prunty had another family. His firefighting family. He was Battalion Chief in the Second Battalion of the New York City Fire Department. He was a firefighter for 33 years. He lived for both of his families. BC Prunty was a soft spoken man who was a real "teddy bear." He once spent a week sleeping on his daughter's floor when she was sick in college.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 he was called to duty. He entered 1 World Trade Center with his fellow firefighters. His goal was to help as many people as possible while keeping his men safe. It takes amazing people to do what they do. Brave......unselfish. He went into that building knowing the dangers, but also knowing that there were people who needed his help. This was what he did. He gave no thought to his own safety. He went in with only thoughts of helping others. When the building collapsed BC Prunty was trapped in the lobby, pinned under an I-beam. He was losing consciousness, but his last thoughts were of his family saying into his walkie-talkie, "Tell my wife and kids I love them." Battalion Chief Richard Prunty lost his life on that horrible day.

Husband.............Father............Friend................HERO

There were many heroes on September 11, 2001 and those of us left behind will never forget. I am honored to pay tribute to one of them. I hope his family has found peace.

Thank you dear Richard for your sacrifice. Rest in peace.

I'm nervous

I few weeks ago I signed up with 2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11 and I am nervous that I'm not a good enough writer to do justice to the life lost. I've been thinking about it for awhile now and I just hope that I can get my thoughts across eloquently. This is not a strength of mine. Please just know that everything I write is from the heart.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Just call us "Bug Bite Central"

My poor kids. Last week Ari had a bite on the corner of her eye. I didn't think much of it when I first saw it, but the next day it was incredibly red and much bigger. I decided to just keep an eye on it. The following day it was less red, but it was swollen on her eyelid and under her eye. Her eye was almost swollen shut. I called the doctor and Michael took her in. They tell us to put Neosporin on it. Now on Monday she got about 10 or so mosquito bites all over her. Someone please tell me how she can be outside for 3 solid days and nights and not have a single bite, but we come home and take a 15 minute walk and she is covered with them!! Crazy! She has 2 bites behind her knee and yesterday they were hard, red, knots. Today they look like bruises. I'm guessing that my sweet little girl has allergic reactions to mosquitoes. That's just great!

Not to be outdone, yesterday Joshua wakes up and comes to my room and says, "Mommy, my arm hurts." I look at it and see a small red place around his elbow that I figure is a mosquito bite so I give him some Benadryl and forget about it. We get up today and it is no longer a small place. It is HUGE!! His arm is swollen almost all the way around. It has little blisters in the center and it is hot to the touch. Now I figure it's a spider bite. I call the doctor and take him in. She says it's either a spider bite, but thankfully not a brown recluse, or the beginnings of an abscess. Ummm, okay. Now what? So, we have antibiotics and I'm supposed to watch it to make sure it doesn't get bigger or he doesn't run a fever. If those things happen I have to take him back to the doctor.

I'm sure our new doctor is thinking that I am one of those moms who takes her kids in at the slightest little thing. I swear I'm not one of those moms, but I've had both my kids in her office in the past 2 weeks for bug bites for crying out loud!! LOL I hope we are done for awhile.


Tuesday, September 05, 2006

New look,. Whatcha think?

So, I decided to upgrade my blog with beta. I couldn't resist the ability to customize my blog colors. The red and black represents my love for the Georgia Bulldogs. You never would have guessed that, huh?

The Crocodile Hunter gone.

It really hurt my heart when I heard about Steve Irwin's death. I remember the first time I saw him on Animal Planet. I sat with my mouth hanging open at his antics with those ferocious animals he so loved. I was hooked immediately. I watched at every opportunity. I loved his enthusiasm and his devotion to wildlife. He helped me to understand a little more about those animals that are feared by so many. He taught me things I would have never known otherwise. I will miss his unique approach to teaching. He loved all animals and it showed with everything that he did.

My heart goes out to his family. My prayers go out to Terri, Bindi, and Bob. As we go back to our lives, theirs' are forever changed.

Rest in peace dear Steve. You will be sorely missed.

Ahhh, it was good to be back in Athens!

Christian and I were able to go to the UGA v. Western Kentucky game on Saturday. We scalped the tickets. It was his first UGA game. We won 48-12. Christian is ready to go to another game already. We really did have a great time.

Joshua wanted to go with us. He kept saying that he wanted to go to the football game. I don't think I'm ready to take him yet though. Most of the games fall right in the middle of naptime and I'm scared he will get bored and want to go. I may take him next year, but more likely the year after. He would be five then and I think more able to stay focused on the game.