So, my best friend is 40 today and as that means a lot for her, it means one thing for me, it means I will be 40 in 30 days. We always thought it was neat our birthdays are exactly one month apart - the only thing that's neat about it now is that she will be 40 before me! I have another wonderful friend (I know - I'm SO blessed!) who also recently turned 40 (last week). Not that her turning 40 depressed me, but her gorgeous photos (of herself) and her gorgeous boyfriend on his to-die-for Harley and her telling me she bought herself a Corvette for her 40th birthday -- just about did me in.
I wouldn't trade my children or my husband (most of the time) for anything but let's just say I had a tad bit of green blood running through my veins for a day (maybe two). I want to be thin and have energy again. Maybe getting rid of this stupid cold and getting four hours of uninterrupted sleep would help - you think? FOUR hours - I didn't even write EIGHT.

So for the past three days I've been looking for the perfect 40th birthday gift to send my far away best friend. We have been friends for ... 30 years. OH MY GOSH, now I feel old. Well, we can't exactly say 30 because she hated me in 6th grade. Then we ended up being best friends before high school ended. We have some amazing and some not-so amazing stories that we share. It's unbelievable to me that we're turning 40. WOW, where does the time go? So in my frenzy to find the perfect gift, I began to wonder what I would want for my birthday - if mine was before hers. I thought... I would want to sit down with a bottle of wine and my best friend and have a girls night out (in). When I told Bob this story he looked at me wide-eyed with mouth open assuming the next sentence out of mouth was going to be, "So I bought a plane ticket and I'm going to Alabama for the weekend - you have the kids". It was pretty darn funny. No, instead of causing my husband heart failure, we took a picture of me with a glass of wine, and I sent Aimee' a gift, wine, my picture and a note to call me. It will have to do for now.

So happy BIG 4-0 (just the sound of that is so tacky) to my bff. I have 30 more days before the ax comes down on me :)

My office is next to the gym inside the church. When it rains (or it's under 40 degrees - yea right) the preschool children play in the gym. Today, they are playing What Time is it Black Cat? which is a variation of What Time is it Mr. Fox? -- Black Cat exchanged for Halloween. So let's just say there is NO insulation in the walls in this church/gym. Every 3 minutes - YES 3 minutes - they yell "What Time is it Black Cat?" at the top of their little lungs. Last year they played Mr. Fox and we emailed each other from our offices around the gym asking Mr. Fox to find his silly watch. I wish you could hear their sweet little voices because they are having so much fun. Thankfully I don't have a major project going on or a deadline staring down at me, so today is a good day for Black Cat - if there is such a thing. I think 3 years old is the most perfect age. You might remind me of this post in two years when Landry is pulling my hair out. 3 year olds are potty-trained, they can tell you what they want or where it hurts, they are eager to learn and explore, they don't talk back, THEY SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT, right!?!? Aww, to be three...

I went to a seminar a few years ago where they had us play children's games like this one. We also had to thank each other and give ourselves credit for the accomplishments we had made. When you are 3 years old, you get so much celebration for the smallest things. I went into the restroom today when a 3 year old happened to be in there with her teacher. She got at least 5 "atta-girls" within a 2 minute period! 5! When is the last time you gave yourself a celebration for an accomplishment? (Not in the bathroom-mind you) Some days just getting all three girls to school on time deserves a big TA-DA -- but I don't give myself one. In the absence of others giving you credit, give yourself the credit. Have a celebration. A pat on the back is not over-rated. We deserve it. And it makes people feel so good to receive recognition. Why is it so difficult to compliment and recognize all the good in the world, but so easy to criticize and berate? Sorry to sound like a self-help book, but jeeze, we live in such a crazy busy world. Getting through each day deserves a TA-DA in itself.

Anyway.... I think I'll go see if Black Cat thinks it's time for lunch :)

Some people (mostly women) think that's weird. I have loved baseball since I was in high school. I don't just love it, I'm consumed with it. Not ALL the time, but when it's World Series week, I can't get enough of it. It doesn't even matter that my team isn't EVER in the running.

This year I'm fascinated with Ivan Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers -- since they use to play for my will-never-make-it-to-the-play-offs team. We thought we had to trade them because 1) they wanted too much money and 2) Kenny had a run-in with a story-hungry photographer. So now all of us die-hard Texas Rangers fans can watch two of our ex-players win the World Series ( I know the Cardinals could actually make it happen - I just doubt it). I hope my girls have a love of sports the way I do. An added bonus, it makes my marriage a happier union on the weekends ;)

So GO Tigers! And until next year Texas Rangers. I will miss Buck, but maybe, just maybe 2007 will be our year!

I never really participated in high school activities when I was younger. I really missed out. I think we always want to make our children's lives better than our own (what kind of parents would we be if we didn't??) I try to be available to my girls 100% of the time - sometimes to a enabling level I suppose. They get really use to mom being just down the street. There have been days I've made numerous runs to different schools with forgotten homework, tennis shoes, lunch money, field trip permission slips, order forms -- the list goes on and on. But I don't mind. #1, because I AM right down the street and #2, if I was a GREAT mom they wouldn't forget those things in the first place, because I would remember before they got out the door. Granted we're all too busy and things will always be forgotten. When they were younger we were WAY to busy participating in too many activities. Those activities have been slimmed down for several years. Now they are replaced with different activities. School itself keeps kids too busy. Projects and homework take up many hours at home each week. Then if they are involved in other activities, say drill team, softball, volleyball and cheerleading for instance, it leaves a lot of room for "forgetfulness". I DO think there is a great need for involvement. Busy kids stay out of trouble. I wasn't much of a busy kid. I went from one activity to another - once it got too difficult I changed -- or just quit. What kind of message does that send? It is difficult to find the happy medium. I think being involved in extra activities keeps their minds active with their activity-- instead of falling into trouble. Also, you have to make good grades to participate - so that helps! Middle school and high school are tough.
We are really enjoying Katy's high school years. She is in drill team (all those years of dance paying off). We go to the games on Friday night -- Friday Night Lights has nothing on us. Landry even enjoys it.

A baby that can take a nap in the middle of a high school football game is a trooper indeed!
This is her in between the bleacher seats - on the ground - sound asleep during the game a couple of weeks ago. When she woke up, she was good-to-go for another four hours! That is a power nap - she gets that from her Daddy :)


It so fun to watch all the kids that Katy has grown up with, some in band, some cheerleading, some quarterback and receiving! Then there are those that I don't see, the ones that aren't participating and I wonder where they are. They are missing out on a terrific part of their growing up. Hopefully, they will be as lucky as me and experience what they missed growing up through their children's eyes when their older. Being a parent has and continues to be a blessing each and every day. Go Mustangs!

Have you had your one-second of fame? I had not... until today. Yesterday I ran an errand to Grapevine Mills Mall to get my babysitter a gift card, for YESTERDAY was her birthday. That was a God-thing in itself, because I had this "feeling" her birthday was in October. I didn't actually know when it was. All last week I had meant to ask her but with mornings as crazy as they are, that never happened. Then Monday night, the "feeling" got stronger and I dug through some papers, which I knew listed her birth date. Wal-ah - at 9:00 PM on Monday night, I had confirmation that Tuesday was her birthday! Of course she would be at my house by 7:45 AM, so there wasn't a lot of time to prepare. At least it wasn't the day-after her birthday, I had a ton of time to prepare! I have a box of cards (yea me!!) so I had the girls sign a card and we decided what type of gift cards I would purchase the next day on my lunch hour. God made lunch hours and fast food for busy working moms to get their errands done.

Which all brings me to my one-second of fame. We actually had RAIN here yesterday. We have been in such a drought that any rain at all is a blessing. Yesterday it stormed for several hours. So knowing I had to run errands I had my umbrella in the car (this is unbelievable in itself).
As I was leaving the Mall a woman takes my photo with this giant camera and says she's from the newspaper and ask for my name. She says she loves my umbrella (smiley faces) and says "Isn't the rain great?!". She says she's been waiting in this location for quiet some time, but everyone is umbrella-less. Great short conversation and I'm on my way. Today my picture is on the FRONT page of the Star Telegram. It's a fun picture because it is at the Rainforest Cafe entrance at the mall.


So that's my one-second of fame. Thanks for sharing. Say a prayer for more rain, more time-appropriate "feelings" (God-things) and thank God for lunch hours and fast food to help us make it through.