Home at last!

It's always nice to go on vacation, but it is so great to get home. We were gone for a little over 2 weeks this time. This is the longest we've ever been gone. I love going to Amelia Island and visiting with my family, but I really do miss my bed. The kids do too. Joshua was so excited today about getting to sleep in his own bed tonight. I'm sure we will all sleep well!!

Now is the part I HATE..................unpacking. Ugh! I look around my living room and see so much that needs to be done. No doubt it won't get done tonight. I'm exhausted after driving for 9-10 hours. I'll unpack the necessities and leave the rest for tomorrow. I'll need to make a grocery run tomorrow too. There is nothing in the refrigerator. Well, we did stop before we got home and bought stuff for spaghetti and some milk for the kids.

I'll post some pics tomorrow or maybe later tonight depending on how I feel. We didn't get a lot since I forgot to take the camera and Michael didn't take as many as usual. He did get a few good ones though.

More for my dream home!!

Okay, one thing that you can not have a dream home without is a mailbox. Stop laughing, I'm serious! You have to have a mailbox. There has to be someplace for the poor postman/woman to put all those bills that you have acquired since getting that dream home. I never knew that there were so many mailboxes to choose from either. Wow! I mean I thought you just had a regular old mailbox. Nope, there are so many different styles to choose from. Now, how to make a choice. *sigh*

There is a downside to being on vacation in the Sunshine State

The sun and the chlorine is really bad for your skin. My skin gets so dry when I am out in the sun and swimming in the pool so much. Right now my face feels so dry and tight. I don't even want to think about my feet! Ugh!! I need to find some good skin care products to take care of this problem. My regular soap and lotion is not working well enough right now.

My dream home......again

I have mentioned this before, right? I have in mind this dream home on the beach or in the mountains. I've also decided that I wouldn't mind living in Montana either (as long as I didn't have to go outside during bear season. LOL). Now all I need to do is get us out of debt or win the lottery so we can afford my luxury home dream home. *sigh* Ahhh, the power of dreams. ;-)

Oh how I love a vacation!

As y'all know I am on vacation in Florida with my kids. We have had a blast so far. The kids love to go swimming everyday. Lucky for me my aunt has a swimming pool. I'm not a big beach person really. We actually haven't even gone to the beach yet. Yeah, I know I'm weird. It is so much easier just to go to the pool than to drag all the required stuff down to the water only to have to drag it back and most likely carry the kids too a short time later. Not to mention that I HATE sand! I don't really mind going to the beach to walk or even play a game of catch. I'm just lazy and would prefer to go without the kids.

We have had lots of family in town the last couple weekends. We celebrated my aunt's 72nd birthday with some great food, a few drinks, and a little karaoke. We also had a baby shower for my cousin. So, lots of family in for those. It is always great to see my family. The kids have really enjoyed all the attention too.

Joshua took swimming lessons last week. That was not a lot of fun let me just tell you. He cried and cried. The first day he refused to do anything. It got better though. On the second day he cried the entire time, but he at least did what the instructor asked. As we are getting in the car he tells me, "Momma, I love my swimming lessons." Ummm, yeah well you could have fooled me. LOL He even talked about how much fun they were all day, but then told me later that he didn't want to go back. He had to go back. He did great the rest of the time. No more crying. Now we are just practicing everything he learned.

Ari is having a great time. She won't get off the pool steps though. Even with her swimmies on. And when I take her off she clings to me and whimpers. Pretty sad, but I so want her to get comfortable in the water.

They are both getting nice tan lines. I'm putting sunscreen on them, but you can still see the tan lines. They are so cute. LOL I'm just happy that they are not going to be fair skinned like me. Granted they are not going to be really dark skinned either. but at least you can tell when they get sun. You can't tell on me.................at all.

We all miss Michael. We've been gone since June 22 and we miss him a lot. He is flying in on the 4th though. I can't wait. We are putting off Joshua's birthday party until his daddy gets here. Did I forget to mention that Joshua turned 4? Yeah, I can't believe it either. Doesn't seem possible. He is very proud of that fact too. Today he wanted to tell the lady at the drive thru at McDonald's that he was 4 years old. He was quite disappointed when she didn't lean out of the window far enough for him to tell her. LOL

Well, it is midnight here and I'm tired (caught my mom's cold of course) so I will end this book. I forgot the camera so no pics. I'm sure Michael will remember it though so we can at least get some pictures of our vacation. LOL

Do you know the one thing a teacher can never have enough of?

Pens. I have found that as a teacher I can never have enough pens. It is crazy. I swear that I am always looking for one. I misplace them all over my classroom. They walk off my desk never to be seen again. People borrow them and never return them. I am often frantically searching for a pen so I can grade papers or just jot down a reminder. I need to get some with my name printed on them. That way I am sure to get them back or at least find the culprit who took them! LOL

You know that dream home I want?

No? You mean I haven't talked to you about that? Well............there is one. LOL I'm really dreaming when I write this, but I want a nice house on the beach or in the mountains. I don't care where it is. Not really. Anyway, I've been dream decorating it. I have found some really really wonderful chandeliers that I'd like to have in this dream home. I'm not usually into chandeliers, but I've found that they don't have to be the gaudy ones that you see in those huge houses/mansions. There are some really tasteful ones out there that aren't too pretentious. I can definitely go for those. ;-)

I want one

Okay, so I have to have a house first, but I would love to have an outdoor fireplace. My aunt has one at her house in Florida. It is so nice to sit outside on a nice cool night and stay warm. We tend to gather around it until all hours of the night laughing, remembering and singing a little karaoke. We also do a little drinking around it, but I don't recommend that unless the person manning the thing is sober. ;-)

The Great Smoky Mountains

Ever been? Ever wanted to go? It's absolutely beautiful there. I've only been a couple times in my life, but I loved it each time. I want to go back soon. The shopping is great and there is so much to do. It can also be very relaxing. I suggest staying in a cabin while there. The views are spectacular. A great place to rent a cabin is Pigeon Forge cabin rental. They are giving a $50 gas discount right now when you book online. That is a great incentive with gas prices the way they are right now.

Well kids.....

I'm off on vacation tomorrow morning. I'll be gone until July 8 so no more posts until then. Unfortunately I will have no internet access while I'm gone. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without it. I'm addicted ya know. LOL

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2 weeks and don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone. I'll post pics and give you all the relaxing beachy details when I return. ;-)

Whew!!

Well Dawg fans, we will be getting one more year of the great Larry Munson. The AJC (that's the Atlanta Journal Constitution for those who don't know) is reporting that Munson will call home games only this season. I'm afraid that this indicates he will be retiring at the end of the season though. Only those of you who have been listening to him for years can understand the sadness this causes. I am, however, thankful that he will at least give us home games this year. We need to make it a fantastic year for his send off! I hope my boys understand that! ;-)

Struggling students?

Is your child struggling in school? Many children struggle. What some parents don't know is that there is help out there. Sometimes teachers and parents can't do it alone. Some children need the one on one attention that they may not be able to get at school. Don't be afraid or embarrassed to get your child the help he or she needs. Check out the tutors at Innovative Tutor to see what they offer struggling students. It could just be the push that opens up a whole new world of learning for your child.

More Pacman Jones news

Well, according to ESPN, Pacman faces felony charges in the Las Vegas incident. Kinda figured this was going to happen. So now what? Do you think the NFL will kick him out? Will the Titans cut him? I guess only time will tell.

Quiet time....easy enough, right?

Not in my house. I swear Joshua does not know the meaning of the word "quiet." He no longer takes a nap (most days), but he has a quiet time movie in his room while Ari takes her nap. Today he can't seem to remember that he is supposed to be quiet. He is yelling for me, yelling his answers to Dora when she asks questions on the video, playing with his Weeble Wobble Castle which is incredibly loud! I'm about ready to turn off his tv and make him take a nap too. If he wakes his sister from her nap before she is ready it is going to be ugly around here until bedtime. UGH!!!!!

I need a vacation

Being a mom of two very young kids, a wife, and a teacher there are times when all I can think about is getting away. Sometimes I don't have a destination in mind. I just want to get away from my responsibilities for a couple of days. I have learned that it is important to take time out for myself to re-energize in order to be a better mom, wife, and teacher.

As important as it is for me to get that "me" time it is equally important that I get some quality time with my husband. When we want a nice relaxing weekend we like to go to a nice bed and breakfast in the mountains. A place were we can relax, go hiking or horseback riding, and if we are lucky get in some fishing (okay, the fishing is just for me. LOL).

How do I find my oasis of peace? I look online at Cheap Hotels. If I don't have a particular destination in mind already I can go on this site and search for cities by drive time. You can book an entire vacation package on one site. You can book a cruise, flights and rental cars too.

When you click on a particular city/cruise the available packages and their prices come up on the first page. You can compare prices without clicking on each individual one. It's great! You can make your reservations online or by calling an agent, whichever you are most comfortable doing. You can save up to 70% on your get away. They even offer incentives!! They offer up to a $100 rebate for a 12 night vacation and you can get a gas rebate of $30. Can't beat that with gas prices what they are these days.

So, if you are ready for a vacation just click and start relaxing.

I'm impatient. I know this.

I hate waiting on anything. Whether it's waiting on something I ordered to come in or waiting on approval for something. Even waiting on my kids to get dressed by themselves (I know I could get it done faster. LOL) and my classroom kids to finish their work so we can move on. I'm trying to work on it. It's hard to change that though. Anyone have any tips on gaining more patience?

Say it ain't so...............PLEASE!!!

Larry Munson (you know, the guy who calls the UGA games) is 50-50 on whether he is coming back this season!! I can't even begin to imagine listening to a game without him! He brings the games to life for me. When my mom wouldn't let me watch UGA games on tv I turned to radio and that is where I first heard Munson call a game. I was enthralled. After that I would watch on tv and listen to him whenever possible. I've missed listening to him since I moved to TN. Kinda ticks me off that I can't listen to him up here. I can listen in Jacksonville. Last year I got to listen to him call the game against Tech. Christian was with me and got to hear him for the first time. He really enjoyed it. He was amazed at how well Munson pulls the emotion out of the fans. You are listening, but it's almost like you are there. I think that is because Munson loves the Dawgs as much as we do and he feels what we are feeling at any given moment. It will be a sad day for the Dawgs and the Dawg Nation when Larry Munson steps down. He is the best in the business. Please Larry, don't retire yet. My kids haven't had a chance to appreciate what you do yet.

Oh yeah, did y'all know that Larry and I share a birthday? ;-)

This CBS News story made me cry

We don't really hear much about the good things our soldiers are doing in Iraq. I don't get into the politics of it all because it just isn't my personality to talk politics. This story wasn't about the war though. It was about children. Orphaned special needs children being mistreated/neglected by the people who were supposed to be caring for them. A group of soldiers came across the orphanage and at first thought that the small bodes they saw lying around were dead. They soon found out that they were not. Click here to see the rest of the story and what our soldiers did to help these defenseless children. It was incredibly heartbreaking to see this. I don't understand how anyone could treat children this way. I'm so glad that these soldiers found them and then did something about it.

I'm feeling somewhat better today

It's been a good month for tips so we have a little extra and now that I am "taking control" of the money I feel better. We are still struggling, but now that I feel more in control I feel like we can do this. KWIM? It really does make you feel better when you know exactly where your money is going. I'm determined to get us out of this hole and then keep us out! I'm sure I'll have more down days (like yesterday), but it will happen and we will make it. I just have to stick to the budget and keep my eye on the goal. If I'm writing it all down I can see more clearly how we are crawling out. It's a slow process, but as long as I can see it happen then I think I'll be able to keep motivated.

I've done really well with groceries the last 2 weeks. I have been spending $130 and sometimes more, but last week I spent $46 for the entire week and I think Michael only had to pick up another loaf of bread (I'm gonna have to start buying 2 loaves). This week I spent $76 and I had to buy a few extras that I don't normally have to buy weekly. I am going to have to sit down and plan out our menus especially when school starts back and I'm packing lunches for me and the kids. I think I'm going to cut out the SmartOnes meals and such and just go with sandwiches or left overs. It will be cheaper. No eating in the school cafeteria either.

Our power bill was a lot less this month too. Not sure how that happened though. Usually it runs around $130 (I have a problem with this since our house in Murfreesboro didn't go that high except in the coldest and hottest months.........we are in an apartment now and it is consistently that high.). This month it was only $95. So that was more money that I was able to put towards a different bill. I like it when that happens. :-)

Well, here we go again

Looks like Pacman is in trouble (possibly) again. This time in Atlanta. Apparently he was at another strip club and there was another shooting. Right now it is just a possibility, but just the fact that he was there disappoints me. This shows that he isn't even trying to change his image. If he were trying he wouldn't be in these situations. That and I think the guy needs to find a new set of friends. The ones he has, well....................

I know a lot of people wanted him gone. I was one who rode the fence. He is such a talent that I hated to see him go, but then he was trouble with a capital T on and off the field. I've fallen off the fence now to the side that wants to see him go. If he can't straighten his act up and get with the program (so to speak) then he needs to go. The Titans don't need these kinds of distractions. They have a Super Bowl to win! ;-)

UPDATE:
Now they are saying that he wasn't involved with the shooting and wasn't around when it happened, but he "may" know some of his entourage who where involved. Whatever. He still shouldn't have been in that damn strip club. He is supposed to be cleaning up his act. He needs to start visiting different establishments considering that he tends to get into trouble at strip clubs. (I really need a rolly eyed emoticon on this blog.)