Some Lessons are Never Learned

If you've read my blog our know us, you know that we have a chocolate lab named Sugar.  We love her very much!  She has turned us into "weird dog people."  John Allen selected the parents Sugar would come from and we patiently waited for her to be born.  I will never forget the day John Allen brought her home.  She was such a sweet little bundle of brown fur.  We knew from the first day that she was special.  It wasn't long until the hunting plans he had for her turned into plans to snuggle with her on the couch!  We have spoiled and babied that dog!  I know I sound like I am talking about a human child, but for now, she's all we have (except for Lucy, which is a whole other subject).

Well, we have always wanted to take very good care of our Sugar!  We never wanted her to eat people food!  Apparently, this doesn't suit our furry baby, because in the five years we have had her, she has eaten everything she possibly could!  I could write a book.  Each time, we worry until we know she's going to survive her binge.  I have decided that ignorance is bliss, because now that John Allen has some veterinary knowledge, we are more aware of the risks each time she does it.  She always does it again. . .

Tonight,  we went to dinner and then I rode with John Allen to the school so that he could take care of some patients.  While I was waiting, I was talking to someone about all of the things Sugar has eaten.  Low and behold, when we return home, I see the food tub in the middle of the kitchen floor with the lid off.  SHE HAD EATEN TONS OF FOOD!!!  Her food has been in this Rubbermaid tub for years and she's never been able to get into it.  She finally succeeded.  She's waddling around like a blimp with legs.  It hurts my heart!  I hope she feels better tomorrow.  When will she ever learn? 

I am turning 34. . .there, I said it!

This picture was taken a little more than a month ago. I have posted it for a couple of reasons: first, I don't have many recent pictures of myself since I am apparently the only one in this household who knows how to operate a camera, and second, the race number on my shirt says it all. . .I will be 34 in a few days!

I just got home from spending time with some sweet friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. She turned 23! Now, I knew these ladies were slightly younger than me, but when I heard that, I felt a little like Rip Van Winkle must have felt when he awoke from his looooong nap! Did I sleep through something? When did I get older?

I currently happen to feel that I am in the best shape of my life. I feel healthy, energetic, and well, sortof young! I still feel young enough to shop at the cool stores, although my swimsuit has a little extra fabric on the bottom half this year! Obviously I am "hip" enough to "hang" with the younger ladies, but see, I just said "hip" and "hang" which totally puts me in a crowd with geezers! I still love to learn the latest dances (my students taught me how to Dougie), but when I spontaneously break into dance, I do the Cabbage Patch! My youth is fading and I think I'm on my way up that hill that I will eventually "go over!"

I am truly struggling with the actuality of my age this year. 34 just sounds old to me! I remember when my mother was 34! It all hit home today as I was listening to the iPod that I share with my husband. A familiar tune began to play. . .one that I have heard so many times but never really listened to the lyrics. . .

He turned 35 (which is just one year away from 34) last Sunday,

in his hair he found some gray. .

He's got young friends into new wave,

but he's just too friggin old. . .

He's and old hippie and he don't know what to do,

should he hang on to the old,

should he grab on to the new,

He's and old hippie, his new life is just a bust,

He ain't trying to change nobody,

He's just trying real hard to adjust.

How depressing! The rest is about Vietnam and stuff so it doesn't really apply to me. Anyway, I'm going to go count my wrinkles, pluck a few gray hairs, but THEN I am going to get a good night's rest (it does take more hours than it used to), because this OLD HIPPIE doesn't plan on being too friggin old for anything yet! I have too many miles to run and experiences to experience! Fo shizzle my manizzle. . .just speaking the language of my youth!

I'm Back Again!!

If you count the MONTHS since my last post, you will notice that it has been almost a year since I posted last! I have had difficulty getting motivated to blog post! It could be because we are so busy that any down time I have is used for breathing, or maybe that between my school, my other school, and John Allen's school (which is much harder than my two schools put together), we just don't have much going on that I can write an entertaining post about. So, I am gonna give it another go!

We had a little bit of snow at the beginning of January. It wasn't enough to make a big snowman (so I settled for a snowyorkie), but it was enough to get us out of school for a day! Yippee!! That is me walking my snowdog.

Since my last blog post, we've had a four-legged addition to a family! Meet Lucy. . .the dog who found us! She is such a sweetie and has a fantastic personality. We thought she was a Suma (sum a this, sum a that), but we now believe she is a Vizsla!

This is take one of our Christmas card photo. I have to pick my times carefully for the annual photo. It has to be a day when I think I can talk John Allen into it, and I have to already have it planned out, because he's not much on dilly-dallying while I decided on a location and pose ;) So, I decided we should take our picture with Bully on campus! Why not? We live here in Starkville, and I had the perfect family photo envisioned! I had decided that it would be too cute for each of the dogs to be "kissing" Bully! My game plan was to put peanut butter on each Bully's cheeks so that the pups would lick it off and we could get a cute photo! For those of you who know Sugar, our chocolate lab, you know that she has never turned down ANYTHING edible! She will even eat hand lotion if it smells yummy! I should also add that she is a diva and spoiled rotten. From the photo, you can see that she was not planning to cooperate with my plan, while Lucy was more than happy to oblige! It was windy and freezing, and Sugar weighs pretty close to 100 pounds, so this picture didn't work out for us :( Made for a funny memory though! Oh, I took a wipe to clean of any peanut butter reside (don't want to be fined for defacing school property)!

I'm Back!

It has been a year since my last post and I'm so ashamed! I guess I was taking a blog-break! John Allen is getting closer to the end of his second year of vet school and is busier than ever with studying. I am having a great year at school and have been busy "keeping the home fires burning." I have been cooking more often in an attempt for both of us to eat healthier, which led me to create an additional blog - Bonafide Biscuits! Biscuits aren't on the healthy food list, but they sure make home-cooked meals better! Now I have to keep up with two blogs. We'll see how it goes! Take a look - www.bonafidebiscuits.blogspot.com

Do you speak MY language?

Happy V Day! This may not be funny to anyone else, and it is as much my fault as it is the student's. Today we researched how to say "I love you" in various languages. Because I am a tiny bit OCD, I have a hard time letting the kids have total freedom when I am trying to do something like decorate my door. (I know you're laughing, Leah)

Their instructions were to write the phrase on the heart and write the language underneath. Then, they could decorate their hearts. I was specific to say DO NOT USE MUCH GLITTER GLUE! It doesn't dry quickly and I am putting them on the door today! Everyone followed instructions well . . . except for one. Isn't there always one?This looks like an angry, bleeding heart. I should have waited for it to dry, but I wanted to prove my point!

Hiram and Julia

Sunday morning, we went to Shiloh National Park to see Hiram and Julia the Bald Eagles! I don't think I have ever seen an Eagle this close before, and I'm not even really sure I've seen one at all! Hiram was guarding the nest as Julia was doing some housekeeping! You can't see her in the pictures, but we kept seeing her flop around in there! Really cool!

I just liked this picture of the flag :)

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Happy Birthday to you;

Happy Birthday to you;

Happy Birthday dear Mama,

Happy Birthday to you!

I love you and hope you have a WONDERFUL 29th birthday!

. . .and a Merry Christmas to you!

Warning. . .this post may appear to be lacking in Christmas cheeriness, but please note that it is the last day of school and the kids just left! If you're a teacher (especially of middle schoolers) you understand the expression on my face above!

My grades are posted, my room is clean, my bags are packed, and I'm waiting on "the announcement". I keep this poster on the wall behind my desk, because it sums up how I feel most of the time (and I might even look like that most of the time). As hard as I try to be cheerful on the last days of school before a holiday, it is difficult to not get frustrated with the students' exuberant behavior!

On a good note, I did receive several sweet hugs, and gifts (the sweatshirt I'm wearing was a gift from one of my students). Christmas break, here I come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was a different sort of Thanksgiving for us this year! John Allen has semester exams beginning Monday, so he wasn't able to go out of town to visit family. He studied while we feasted. Bless his heart!

Sugar looked very Thanksgiving-ish!

I returned home today so that I could have Thanksgiving dinner with John Allen (thanks to our mothers' cooking and a microwave)! We were going outside to walk with Sugar, when John Allen stepped off the porch and turned his ankle. It looked like it hurt and it started swelling immediately. It looks even worse now. . all black and blue!

We had our own little Thanksgiving swollen ankle and all!

Diet Blues

Sugar has been on a diet for the past two months and has lost a little weight (a lb. or two). Ever since we switched her food to diet food, she has been eating anything she can get her paws on! I don't normally leave food out, but I don't always think about not leaving wrapped items on the counter. A couple of weeks ago, she ate a NutriGrain bar, a caramel apple (see earlier post), and countless scraps from the garbage.

John Allen and I left for about thirty minutes last night, and I had planned to cook chicken parmesan. I left a new package of pasta and a new can of Italian bread crumbs sitting on the counter. When I returned, the living room was dusted with bread crumbs and smelled like and Italian restaraunt. The pasta was strewn across the kitchen floor! It get better. . .

Today, I rushed home from school and tossed my school bag in the door so that I could hop in the car with my neighbor to go to the Holiday Bizarre on campus. I didn't even think about the GIANT box of Gobstoppers (I like candy) or the package of oatmeal in my bag. Guess who found them, and enjoyed them both? What are we going to do with her? Bless her heart!

Veteran's Day

You were thought of and appreciated today, as you are everyday! We love you and admire the qualities in you that make you brave and strong! John Allen and I are proud of your service to our wonderful country and we will always reflect upon the unselfish way you gave of yourselves! Thank you for giving us something to be proud of and for an awesome story to pass down!

Want to guess?

Just when you think you have all wifely duties figured out, you're thrown a curve ball! As most wives do, I have a laundry routine - sort, remove any stains, wash, dry, reload the wash, iron. . . . It's no surprise to see the usual stains - ink, mustard, mud, coffee - but I now have surprises in my laundry basket and I haven't figured out how to handle it yet. I have three categories now - whites, darks, and EWWW GROSS, WHAT IS THAT? Is this what I'm going to have to get used to? Anyone want to guess what left this stain?

This little kitty showed up on our doorstep on Halloween night! What a cutie pie! She belongs to our friends Daniel and Carla.

John Allen and Daniel reluctantly posed for this picture. I thought they looked cute in their matching hats and shirts. They didn't really think it was that cute.

One of my students made me a caramel and chocolate apple for Halloween. When I left school Friday, I put it in my teacher bag and never gave it another thought until. . . we came home from church Sunday and Sugar had pulled my bag into the floor, emptied it, unwrapped the apple and ate the good part! Please notice the icky dog hair stuck to it!

Oh yeah, our classroom door won the contest!

Happy Halloween!

This was Red Ribbon Week (anti-drug campaign) at my school.

Tuesday - crazy sock day (I was absent Monday and didn't know about it, so no crazy socks for me)

Wednesday - Door Decoration Contest (still don't know the winner)

Thursday - head band day

Friday - wear red

I decided that since I was wearing red on Friday, which is Halloween, that I would wear my "crazy socks" today with my head band! I got a few giggles and "ooh, I like your tights" from the girls, and a bunch of strange stares and funny faces from the boys.

John Allen's Project

John Allen, along with the help of our neighbor and friend, Daniel, built additional steps on the back side of our porch. They go into the fenced in back yard (or it could be the front depending on how you look at it) so that Little Sug is safe when she's outside (which isn't very often). He did a fantastic job!

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!

Tonight Sugar and I were taking our evening walk and she started growling and barking and pulling my arm out of socket. This is what was bothering her.

I went to get the camera and let her off of her leash. She went after the witch. . .our little coon dog!

Big enough?

John Allen ordered Sugar a new bed! She tore up her old one when she was still a puppy and we just hadn't bought her a new one. . .until now! John Allen asked what size he should order and I said, "get the big one!" But I didn't know that there was a REALLY big one. He got the REALLY big one!

Although it takes up a little bit too much space (and we don't have much of that to spare these days) I think we'll keep it because she loves it!

I'm back!

I haven't really been anywhere. . .just haven't had much to blog about lately! I've been busy with school and John Allen has been even busier! He is loving vet school and doing great! He studies all the time, but never complains!

Now that Leah has posted her baby pics (she was waiting on a camera cord to post), I can post the precious pictures that I took when I went to meet "Baby Joseph"! He is such a cutie and a REALLY good baby! Leah looks awesome, of course, and is doing such a good job! She's a natural Mama! I think Joseph looks alot like Joey, but has Leah's nose!

This is Little Joseph's over-the-shoulder pose! Isn't he adorable?

The baby has a better tan than we do. . .

This is my baby. She likes to hold my hand when we ride in the car. . .really!

This is also very dangerous. You really shouldn't drive, take pictures, and hold your dog's paw at the same time!

Also, I have just discovered that I am apparently no longer young. I'm not sure if I'm "old", but I think I might have arrived at the "she thinks she can dance" age. You know the one our mothers were in for a long time where they would embarrass us in front of our friends. There have been a series of things that have taken place to hint at this occurance:

1. I can't remember to turn the dishwasher on. Ever. I load it but never turn it on.

2. I've been accidentally putting foot cream in my hair, thus explaining the out-of-the-ordinary greasiness. Isn't that something elderly people would do?

3. Tonight at dinner (Thursday night at The Grill in Starkville), I noticed an outfit, if that's what you call it, that a girl was wearing and I actually said, "I can't believe the styles that girls are wearing now!" What? I might as well go sign up for BINGO.

4. Today at school, I asked the students, "What is a political party?" Some of them actually thought that it was a real party! I tried to make a joke and said, "No, not the kind of party where there's music and dancing," and I did a little dance move. . . the kids (who were sweet eight weeks ago) laughed under their breath and said, "Yea, that dance was popular like 40 years ago!" Then, they said something about the "olden days when I was a kid." Whoa, big blow to the ego! I did the dance for John Allen and asked him what he thought.

He took pictures. . .you be the judge.Is that so bad?

Sweet Brantley!

Brantley Elizabeth Green

We had so much fun meeting Brantley! Somehow, Jill always ends up holding the baby in the pictures!?! See my December 31st post!

Oliver has grown so much! He is such a cutie! It's always good to see 'the girls'!

Can't Wait to Meet Joseph!

Little Joseph's baby shower was so nice! I was so glad to see Leah, and really enjoyed seeing everyone I haven't seen in a while, and meeting my "blog friends" (people you feel you are already friends with because you read their blog all the time)!

Leah looks great! (So does that apple dip!)
I had to post this picture of Libby! She was doing such a good job of loading the car! These are just a few of Joseph's gifts!
I'm so happy for you, Leah!