update on us

i am feeling very brain dead so i figured i would just start writing and see where this goes.

last night, maddax and i had dinner with a very good friend of mine. i haven't seen her in a couple of years it seems. we both have children around the same age and she is currently pregnant with TWINS!!! we had conversation about people from the past and what they were up to now and what we had been doing over the past couple of years. it was great to see her. thank you for dinner and you are well missed.

i saw the rascal flats in concert last weekend...not the best i have seen. you couldn't understand what they were saying and they had no screens. disappointing.

maddax is dressing himself from head to toe now. i am so impressed with everything he does. from singing abc's to being a smart alec. they learn so fast. he's understanding yesterday, today, tomorrow, this weekend, etc. for instance, "i wanna go to donald's" "tomorrow" "k" you bet your ass when tomorrow rolls around that kid has not forgotten you said you would take him to McDonald's "tomorrow" & it is tomorrow & you better be taking him.

i am finally headed back to grad. school. yep. made that decision. every friday night, saturday & sunday all year round will be consumed of lecture and listening. oh, the joy. so i guess, beginning in august i will see you guys next year. i am not the least bit excited about this, but we must do what we must to get where we want to go in life. strive ahead. whoop! whoop!

mad and i get to go home this weekend. yeah. really, i am looking forward to it. although, i know it won't be as relaxing as i wish, we will still have a pleasureable time. i have to move furniture. YUCK!!! hopefully, saturday we can do our visiting rounds.

oh and we have a new house. i guess i could post some pics but i forget. i will try to later. we love our new house. there is so much more room. i love the hardwood floors. so far not any real complaints, except the driveway is very steep. it has lots of opening windows which is wonderful and lots more closet space and a basement for all my extra junk. it also has an extra room where i can paint!!! no more window unit air conditioners or exposed washer & dryer. we finally have all we need. i can't wait to get to work in the yard. we have a deck, which means we need a grill i think. at least that's what everyone says. "oh, cool deck. you need a grill." "nice deck, you gotta get a grill." "blah blah blah, where's the grill?" i think they are inviting themselves over for a cookout, but i'm not sure. i can't grill. so not sure about that either. they may have to settle for an invitation to a cook-in, eat-out instead. so that just means byob and a lawn chair.

$20.00

$20.00

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill.

In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this .
He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"
And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now, who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.
My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.
You are special - Don't EVER forget it."
Count your blessings, not your problems.
And remember: amateurs built the ark ...
professionals built the Titanic.
If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

courtesy of Lakrea. THANKS!!!

"the thinker"

Amber took this picture of maddax over the weekend. We went down to celebrate Nindy's birthday and visit with Mom before her first chemo treatment. It was great to see my aunties' and cuz and grandma and daddy fred. oh and all the dogs. maddax, of course, had a blast. his reinactment of the four-wheeler wreck was absolutely priceless. i think he could definitely make it in hollywood. the picture above is just precious. i know i am partial, but really, how could you not love that face and those eyes like the sky. he will be four in four months. FOUR!!!! he can count in spanish, draw people, knows his numbers and has an extraordinary vocabulary. he can write some letters, which "double-u" (W) is his favorite. when asked why? he says because "that's the president...we luv him," unfortunately, our political views are not the same and he also takes way too much pride in his first amendment rights, such as free speech because he will say what he pleases, just ask him. better yet, tell him not to. then he will proclaim 1) not to be your friend anymore 2) let you know he is no longer talking to you 3) wasn't talking to you in the first place 4) you hurt his feelings 5) if you give him a popcicle y'all might could reconcile the differences, at least until you try to voice your opinion again. So yes, I am raising a little man. A very cute and strong willed one and honestly i wouldn't have it any other way. He is so special. Just a very special little kid. I am so blessed that he is mine.

HELP WANTED!!!

I am currently taking applications for a personal secretary/home duty/chore helper outer person. If you know someone or are interested yourself please contact me as soon as possible. It would be helpful if this person was not in need of much financial assistance. I will however provide on a daily basis free meals, entertainment and no dull moments. This person will also be enlightened to the unknown world in which we (maddax, stella & i) call our own (this may substitute for some of the entertainment).

Qualifications include: must be able to complete tasks that i have no time including but not limited to: removing clothes from dryer, folding them and putting them in correct place, remove washed dishes from dish rack and put them in the cabinet, take trash can out to the road on tuesday mornings, remove dog hair from everything including bed, couch and floor (i just purchased a Swiffer...you can use it, should help), put Swiffer together and figure out how it works, call cable company and have it transferred from the house i am no long living in to the house i am currently occupying, fixed tumped over mailbox, do something w/ the meat i have thawed out in the fridge...preferrably cook it, clean out my car, (whoooo...probably lost all propects on that one), teach dog new tricks...like quit following me everywhere i go and knocking me down in the door w/ seventeen bags of groceries and a three year old in my hand, find me a hair dresser that makes house calls, keep the place in one piece so that i may shave my legs at least once a week.....this list subject to change or addition at any moment.

To Do List:
hair cut - me
hair cut - maddax
book fair
mad's school auction
bring craft to mad's school
book hotel room
place order at Community Bakery for Thursday morning
don't forget to pick up stuff at Community Bakery
get shoes reheeled
send letter to landlord
start on commissioned painting
finish brynn's painting
oil change in car
go by Simmon's Bank to handle mother's finances
pickup paperwork at JP Fitness
organize my house
pickup outside furniture from old house
check on grandmother
take unfitting clothes back to store
get check from jess
look for new kitchen table
look for new coffee table
buy plane ticket to san fransisco soon
open savings account
get easter outfits
easter get hunt at part
sign up to help with easter egg hunt
sign up to help with auction
turn in summer school form
get internet connected at house
hook up computer

the list goes on and on and on and on..........................................................................................

the painting

finally got it to work. shots from my cell so they are not great quality, but you get the jist of it.

Please join us at Empty Bowls on Saturday, March 11th at the Robinson Center Exhibition Hall. Tickets are $38 per person which can provide up to 228 meals for hungry Arkansans! Tickets are available online at www.arkansasfoodbank.org. Empty Bowls is presented by Regions Bank, Remington College, Alltel, and The Tenenbaum Family.

I have a painting that is being auctioned. I am trying to upload a picture of it but it is not working.

Will have to try again later.

Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.

Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864)

FUNNY LITTLE TALE FROM MY DAY

i saw this license plate on the back of someone's truck while sitting at a redlight. this is what the letters were:

BRN2FIS

BROWN TOOFIES?? omg!!!! WTF? I ALMOST PEED MY PANTS AND LAUGHED OUT LOUD SO HARD...YES, ALONE IN MY CAR AT THE REDLIGHT. WHAT ARE PEOPLE THINKING?

oh...jokes on me, BORN TO FISH!?

WALK THE LINE

What a wonderful weekend!!! I really enjoyed my visit with Chris and Jimmieanne. Not only did I get to see my precious nieces, but I got to baby-sit my "new little niece," Brynn, while her parents and grandpa went out to eat. She is a doll. I have more pics to post soon.

walk the line...great movie. JA, Ali, Abbi, Maddax and I went and saw this on saturday. yeah, i took my three year old to see a movie about a man that went to prison that had a drug & alcohol problem and he said cuss words too!!! *gasp* stop freaking readers that believe in raising children in the "anti-real life".

now he wants to be johnny cash. this is the cutest picture. he looks so serious.


Ok, shout out to STELLA!!! She hasn't made the blog scene in a while. This was sunday afternoon at the river. She, Maddax and I went out there for some relaxing and reflecting time. It was great. That water was so cold and she just swam and swam. Crazy dog. We love her, though. Even though she sneaks in my bed at night and hairs it all up and I have to vaccuum and wash the comforter every damn day. LUV to you STELLA!!!!


this is maddax at the river playing w/ scoop, lofty, muck and benny. you gotta love the sand in your toes and socks and shoes and hair and car and everywhere else i think we might have touched after leaving "the beach."