From the Inside Out

Going for a CENTURY!!!

2010-03-29T11:10:00.003-05:00

I love my bike. She's not the most expensive, the fastest, or the fanciest, but she is mine. We've been through tough hills, backwoods potholes, semi-rabid-unleashed dogs, and more. I think it's time to work towards a Century ride with her. It's just what's right. My goal: The H.O.T. 100 in Murfreesboro this August. I found a loose guideline and am working towards it. There will be heat, hills, and heffers (really, it's in the sticks!) and boy will it be FUN!
Now all I need to do is figure out how to come to a stop and unhook from my clips so I don't fall over. :/

Once a Month Cooking

2010-03-01T20:04:00.002-06:00

OAMC - a marathon day of cooking to save time, energy, and money! Here is my menu, along w/ links to recipes, and at the end you will find several links to the pros who can do OAMC w/ one hand tied behind their back!

Things you should know: *I LOVE The Pioneer Woman's recipes and blog, and she is my bff, only she doesn't have any idea who I am. I use LOTS of her recipes and many from Tasty Kitchen (her other cooking site). Go buy her new cookbook and check her site everyday. She seriously changed the cooking rut I was in and gave me the confidence to try things.*We are a carb loving family - Pasta Night is Monday!... and possibly any or every other night thereafter. *I planned out a theme for each night. Sunday=Sandwiches, Monday=Pasta, Tuesday=Crock pot, Wednesday= Leftovers, Thursday= Mexican, Friday=Homemade Pizza (and family movie / popcorn picnic night!), Saturday=Breakfast (Mommy's day off and dinner out).

1. Spaghetti & Meatballs
2.Salsa Chicken
3. Leftovers or dinner @ church
4. Chicken Chimichangas (w/ chicken from salsa chicken) **
5. Pizza - Make the dough ahead of time. It's easy (I use whole wheat flour for everything) & fun
6. Biscuits & Eggs
7. Small Group
8. Lasagna (I told you, I LOVE the PW! Now, go walk three miles before it finds your hips.)
9. Redbeans & Rice
10. Leftovers or dinner @church
11. Fajitas
12. Pizza
13. Pancakes and bacon
14. Ham & Cheese Paninis w/ roasted veggies
15. Spicey Shrimp & French Bread (This is orgasmic, be careful. I can say that b/c I'm married.)
16. Beef Tips and noodles **
17. Leftovers or dinner @ church
18. Mini Taco Salad
19. Pizza
20 PW's Cinnamon Rolls (Go ahead an double or triple the recipe and freeze 'em. Trust me.)
21. Small Group
22.Buttered Noodles and roasted veggies from Deceptively Delicious. Jessica Seinfeld ROCKS!
23. Potato Soup
24. Leftovers or dinner @ church
25. Taco Soup (I <3 Paula Dean too, y'all!)
26. Pizza
27. French Toast and sausage
28. Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork'wich with bakes sweet potato fries **
29. PW's Chicken Parmigania (I know... I promise to do 5 miles this time.)
30. BBQ chicken sliders w/ Broccoli Slaw **
31. Leftovers or dinner @ church

**New Recipes for me.**

Now, before you ask for my cholesterol and blood pressure levels, let me just say that I sneak veggies into meals that aren't just on the plate. I cook w/ natural or organic ingredients whenever possible, and i LOVE to cook for my family and have meals in the freezer to take to friends who are under the weather or having a rough / super busy week... and then I swim, bike & run (shuffle, really) on a regular basis... And that's my cooking confessional for the day. Amen.

Saving time by cooking it all (not really all, but doing a lot ahead of time) is a wonderful way to get it all done so the rest of the month you can catch up on laundry and facebook. :) This is the first OAMC I am doing all on my own (recipes, shopping list, etc), but I like a challenge! Mainly, I will cook the meats and add sauces then place in a freezer bag to thaw and add remaining ingredients later. (Allow 24 - 48 hours for defrosting).For OAMC gurus check out: FishMama, Money Saving Mom, & Faithful Provisions.

Please let me know if you have questions. I'll add the shopping list soon. Thanks for stopping by!

~ Mae ~

Adventure # 23,235,789,327 may now begin!

2010-01-11T13:38:00.003-06:00

Who reads this? No one? Ok, fine. Here's the scoop, obviously just for my records....

Halloween night I stepped on a remote, heard a crack, almost passed out.... at the time I was getting ready to have a week long consignment sale and just did.not.have.the.time. to go have my foot examined. Pain. RICE treatment. One week later (ish) I'm told I have a stress fracture in my left pinky toe. Congratulations! I am now the owner of a $275 boot. Wear it for 3 weeks and do a follow up. 3 weeks later... PAIN! (Don't ask me if I took it easy. I'll kick you.) Wear another week and here's a referral to a podiatrist. Podi says: Two more weeks. Two weeks later: TWO MORE WEEKS! (What?!?!?!) and FINALLY, this morning I was released from the &(mailto:$*&%5E@#$*&)^% boot. Yea!!!

Now the YEAR OF ADVENTURE may begin. So, what do I have planned????
Here it is (in no certain order):

*Train, stay healthy, injury free, toe the line and FINISH several sprint distance triathlons, two half marathons, and a 70.3 (a.k.a a half ironman).
*Teach English for 10 days in Linda Vista, Guatemala as part of a missionary team.
*Learn conversational Spanish.
*Raise enough money to get to Guatemala by starting a "For the love of Guatemala" line of creations: shirts, dresses, pants, purses, etc.
*Coordinate a 5k & 10k race to help raise money for Guatemala.
*Be a happy, loving, faith living child of God, wife, mother and friend.
*FORGIVE!
*Find little adventures in life each and every day.
*Save money by living well on less, couponing, and seeking deals.
*Make good food from locally grown, organic ingredients.
*Raise and can organic fruits and vegetables.
*Bake bread that looks, smells and tastes like bread.
*Love others more than I love myself.
*Find joy in every situation.

So my friends, there they are; my aspirations to make 2010 an incredible, joyful, adventurous year.

BRB 1/2 Week 2

2009-10-05T16:31:00.002-05:00

The plan:
Monday: 3 miles & Yoga (2 miles in the rain in 43:33 TIRED LEGS! and a rockin' yoga class)
Tuesday: Cross train (bike or swim, depending on the weather) + weights
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday Cross train (bike or swim) + yoga
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: REST!

Goals:

Go from walk 1 / run 1 to walk 1 / run 1:30
Water, water, water, and more water
Get them all in early, b/c once the babies are awake it's probably not going to happen!

Baton Rouge Beach Half Mary Training: Week 1

2009-09-30T09:11:00.003-05:00

Planned:
Mon. 3 miles (Didn't get my lazy bum up early, so it didn't get done. FAIL!)
Tues. off (walked 1 mile)
Wed. 3 miles (in 60:47... it's a start) R 1 min/ W 1 min
Thur. 3 miles (massive leg cramps. 1 1/2 miles in 30 min. on treadmill.OUCH!)
Fri. Yoga and weights (just yoga. I <3 yoga!)
Sat. 4 miles (didn't get up...)
Sun. bike for 1 hour (did my 4 miler in 73:30 - 18:32/mile. IMPROVEMENT, BABY! :))

Nine weeks to go! I have to make every mile count and keep a positive attitude. Self sabotage is not going to get me this time!

Info on BRB 1/2

So, I was thinking...

2009-06-22T08:19:00.004-05:00

I am one to set lofty goals... I can think of many more times that certain goals have not come to fruition than have, but even if something you work for doesn't happen the way you see it happening, the journey there is usually worth it. With that completely non-descript rambling, here are my latest goals in regards to swim/bike/run:

Aug. Mountain Lakes Triathlon
Sept. Star Physical Therapy Triathlon
Oct. Cedars of Lebanon Sprint Triathlon

I want to run a half marathon each month between the months of October 2009 and March 2010, leading up to the big kahuna: the FULL Country Music Marathon in April 2010. As of now, these are the half marys I am looking at:

Oct. Murfreesboro
Nov. The Outter Banks
Dec. St. Jude's
Jan. Callaway Gardens
Feb. Mercedes Marathon
Mar. The Disney Princess
April: CMM

With the exception of the Disney Princess Half and the Outter Banks, each race is w/in 4 hours of the house and an overnight stay w/ friends or a comped room using Brandon's fabulous hotel points. I can do it. I will do it. I owe it to myself to work towards each race; logging the miles, blisters, sweat, aches, pains, joy, satisfaction, and PRIDE that will come with the miles. I will be a marathoner and triathlete.

Now, who's with me?

Bonnaroo "Training"

2009-06-15T08:39:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was my first Bonnaroo experience. For those of you who may not know what the Roo is... well, it's a festival that more than triples this small town's population for 4 days and brings huge music groups to the middle of nowhere. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the entire 4 days. My personal favorite was Buffet. This country girl is a beach bum at heart and he has a gift for making me feel as if sand is between my toes and an ocean breeze is on my face. He played a "surprise" gig, in that he wasn't on the schedule and they announced his performance a week or so ago. Seriously, the absolute highlight of my Roo weekend. Other acts I saw and enjoyed were Snoop Dog (seriously, a great show... what I could see through the haze ;)), Wilco (I didn't know any of their songs, but really liked what they played. In fact, that's who Pandora is playing for me right now.), Public Enemy (Flave-a-Flave!), Merle Haggard, Phish, Bela Fleck, Springsteen, & the Beastie Boys.

My friend and neighbor, Michelle, and I worked in a lemonade & pretzel stand for our tickets. We had so much fun people watching and talking to our customers. Our stand was in the middle of the Other Tent's field. The main acts there were African and Bluegrass. It was great listening to such different music and jamming along to the steel drums. We definitely met some interesting people with interesting "accessories" and stories! We had offers for things other than to pay $4 for a lemonade and learned a lot about people from all over the world; even as far away as Japan. It took that guy 70 hours to get here!

One funny story about a customer: this guy asked for extra sugar in his lemonade. It's already mixed and comes from a huge barrel. All we did was squeeze a lemon and add ice to make it look pretty. So I squeezed and mixed his up, he takes a sip and hands it back to me to "add some more sugar". Sure, buddy, whatever you want... @ the same time I am making change for someone else I take his cup, put it down under the counter, pick it back up and swirl it around and hand it back to him w/ his "extra" sugar. He takes another sip, his eyes get really big and he says, "Yeah, just like I like it!" Then throws a tip in the jar and bee-bops off. Hilarious! Perception is reality, huh? :)

The Roo was an absolute BLAST; I can't believe I waited so long to go, but am SOOOO glad I did! Thanks, Andy, Sheryl and the CHS Soccer booth for our ticket in. We will SO be there next year. Til then, this chic is back to reality... Kisses, hugs, dirty feet and playing hard w/ my babies, tri training and trying to organize this house. Loving life and looking forward to our next adventure!

Truckin' Along

2009-06-09T15:44:00.002-05:00

Week one of triathlon training is solidly behind me and I'm holding strong(ish) in week two. Well, that could be a lie... I'm surviving and thoroughly enjoying my workouts. I've even become an early bird (GASP!)! It's SOOO much easier to set my alarm for 5:45, get up, and get out the door before anyone turns over than it is to try to get something done later in the day. I know that chances of me getting in an afternoon or evening workout are slim to none. Going to bed by 9:30 isn't hard, especially when I can barely hold my eyes open!

Things I've learned while training:
1. Multiple showers a day are good... and fast!
2. Gears on a bicycle exist for a reason; to make life easier. Learn to use them and love the bike.
3. Body Glide is my new BFF.
4. G2 Gatorade makes me so sick, it's ridonkulous!
5. Cliff Bars keep me full from post workout until lunch.
6. Rednecks in big trucks swerving towards me are @#$#@%#$^ not funny.
7. Dog chase = all out sprint.

This past Saturday I volunteered at a local tri, the Mach Tenn. It was SO great to be able to tell everyone "Good luck & have fun!" after body marking them. And such a blast to cheer on my tri pals coming out of T2 and heading out for their run. The not so fun part? Who knew my quads would be SO SORE from doing squats to write on legs??!?! (And what's the point of men shaving their legs?) Holy hale, I'm still working out the soreness! :P

In non-tri news, my first Bonnaroo Festival is coming up in a couple of days. I am STOKED!!! I'm working in a lemonade / pretzel booth Thursday and Friday from 11-6 and then have the rest of the weekend to see: JIMMY BUFFET, The Beastie Boys, Phish, Merle Haggard, and Snoop Dog!!! Yee Hawwww, baby!

Our summer is in full swing. We are finally settling down into a good routine as far as playing outside, working in the garden, playing in the sprinkler, NOT watching tv, and enjoying down time. Nice, quiet, peaceful, fun, full of giggles, long naps, and love. What more can a mom ask for?

Workouts for the week:
M - 53 bike / 1 hr swim (almost died, called Brandon to bring my inhaler, AND got lapped by the guy who uses a floaty. Nice.)
T - 24 run (w/ babies in jogging stroller = HOT!)
W - 70 bike / 1 hr swim (goal: not coming close to death or getting passed by floaty friend)
T - 32 run + BONNAROO
F - 44 swim / 88 bike + BONNAROO
S - BUFFET @ BONNAROO
S - 44 run

My run is definitely my weakest aspect. Right now I'm doing a run 1 / walk 2 routine. next week I'm going to up it to 2/2 and see how that goes. HOPEFULLY I'll find my muscles helping me out and chop lots of time off as I truck along.

Till next time,
The Parrot Head

Cheat Day & Run, Mae Run

2009-05-31T09:36:00.004-05:00

I've found that my "cheat day" (when I relax a bit on the eating and enjoy a glass of wine w/ dinner) is a good day... it's the next morning that I have to pay for it! Ugh! Yesterday we got lunch from Jiffy Burger (a local greasy-yummy-mom-and-pops place) and I enjoyed a cheeseburger, seasoned fries and a Dr. Pepper... plus a butterfinger and NO water what-so-ever. Not a good decision at all! I made it through my back-to-running run this AM2 miles w/ run 1 / walk 2 combo) but now am feeling each greasy bite. YUCK! Lesson learned; don't over do the cheat day and certainly don't have it the day before my long run.

Today marks the official day of my training ~ YEAH! I love having a plan and working the plan. It really leads to small and consistent results, which lead to HUGE results. So the plan, well plans, really are a mixture of http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/ 's Novice Oly Tri Three x Three plan and http://www.runnersworld.com/ Beginner's Run, leading to the Novice Half Marathon plan. My goal is to FINISH two sprint triathlons by the end of the season (late Oct)&do three half marathons by my 31st birthday (Oct, Nov, and Dec). I also want to do the Jack and Back for MS which goes from Franklin to Lynchburg (to the Jack Daniel's distillery). I have an aunt (not technically, but close enough) who has had MS for close to 20 years and a couple friends from church who are living w/ it, too. Plus, it's going to be so great to bike through the back roads of TN for two days just chatting and enjoying the peak fall week. GOOD STUFF!

Lofty goals? Heck yes! Possibly too much? We'll see how it goes, barring injury I'll make it through, get much more fit than I am now, and have a WHOLE LOTTA fun doing it!

Tomorrow is Hadlee's surgery date. She's going to have tubes and have her adenoids removed. Lord willing this will put an end to all the ear infections that have plagued her life for the past two years. I think she's averaged an ear infection every 5 weeks since she was 18 months old. My poor baby. So, if you could say a little prayer for her (and mommy, too!) that'd be great! We have to be at the surgical center at 8:30 and will hopefully be out by lunch. Her surgeon said she should feel back to normal in about 24 hours and that we'll have to make sure she wears ear plugs anytime she's near or in water. I'm nervous and anxious about the surgery, but so happy to know that her main source of pain will be GONE.

This week's plan is as follows:
Monday: 24 swim / 48 bike
Tuesday: Run 1 / Walk 2 x 10 + Zumba (if HAH is feeling up to going anywhere)
Wednesday: 32 swim / 53 bike (Master's Swim will be an hour long)
Thursday: Run 1 / Walk 2 x 10 + Zumba or weights
Friday: 40 swim / 80 bike
Saturday: REST!!!! (Enjoy cheering on and volunteering @ the Mach Tenn Tri.)
Sunday: Run 1 / Walk 2 x 10

Good Lawd. It looks intimidating all laid out like that, but each morning my phone alarm goes off and tells me what to do... you eat an elephant one bite at a time, right? :)

Here's to healthy babies, fabulous surgeons, lots of water, and safe training.

Happy Sunday Peeps.

A New Beginning

2009-05-28T07:10:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking the blog and it's purpose over for quite a while now. I knew that I wanted to share certain parts of my life that would hold me accountable for things: saving money, spending less, simplifying, focusing on bettering myself, tri training, and embracing each day as a gift. Thus, the change in the title. While being a mom is definitely the greatest gift I have ever been handed, it doesn't define me completely. Sure, there will be cute little stories and memories about our everyday life, but that won't be only topic I write about for my ever dwindling audience of 1.4 readers. :)

So, what's been happening lately? Well, I was given the option of staying at home with the babies (read "not tenured") and boy-howdy did I jump on it. Now, the reality of having one income is really starting to set in. I've found myself thinking out and planning every little detail when it comes to spending money: can I go to town less than 5 times this week? do we really need to have the air set to 70 when 74 is doable? yes, gymboree is having a sale, but do the babies need anything? sure, we'd all like to have new bathing suits, but can last year's suits work? how many ways can i cook one meat that's on sale to keep it fresh and save money on NOT eating out? ... so many different details that I have NEVER taken into consideration before. My "job" now is to make sure that things are flowing well at home and I am taking that role very seriously. There is a complete paradigm shift that I had no idea would come. People tell you, but like going from a couple to parents, it's definitely something you must experience in order to truly understand! So, the journey begins...

I had my gall bladder removed a little over two months ago, which put all exercising (other than walking) to a complete halt. Which led to me eating. A lot. Which, in turn, led to some weight gain. (Durh.) So, in working on myself, I am committing to exercising regularly (5 days a week, hopefully - more on that later this week) and focusing on food as fuel, instead of comfort. Again, a complete paradigm shift. Food has been my solace for 20 years... it all started when my mother was diagnosed with cancer and our church stepped in to help... food was more than abundant and I was more than happy to eat it, leading to an ever-growing waist line and mentality that eating = peace. Who knew it'd take me 20 years to learn that lesson?!?!?!!

Putting others first. Let me just say it: I am a self-centered person. So, putting even my children, and at times, especially my husband, before myself isn't something that I do naturally or well. This, along w/ going through my guideline from the Great Healer, is truly my main goal: To study, grow, love, laugh and learn that self fulfillment comes in loving my God and my family, in that order, and all else will fall into it's place. Remind me of that, will ya reader?

That, my friends, is it. The newly defined focus of this blog that started so many years ago. Feel free to comment on things, encourage, make fun of and laugh (or cry) along with me. I look forward to our new beginning.

Til next time,
Mae

Total shout out to T! and total non-descript ramblings

2009-01-19T10:39:00.002-06:00

Thank you my dear friend for prettying up the ol' blog. She's all nice, shiney and new!

It feels so odd to not just log in and type: "sitting on the couch drinking coffee out of fave mug while watching my husband kick A at Lego: Star Wars the Complete Saga on the Wii". Facebook, total crack on the keyboard, y'all.

We've been home for day number 4... Friday it was, according to the director of schools, too cold to come in to work. I'm not one to disagree w/ sensibility so at home we stayed! I think our official low temp was 4. Um, yeah, burr.

Hadlee and Jack are, well to be completely honest, they are me and my younger brother, Jonathan, respectively. It's all my dad can do to not laugh himself to tears every time he's with us. I'm totally payin' for my raisin'. And truth be told, it's almost all GOOD. Sure we have days that are tough (schedules that don't completely coincide w/ life, runny noses, cutting teeth, sleepy parents who bite each others' heads off for little things like playing Wii too friggin' much or not getting off the facecrack to do something), but each day is a gift and I'm proud of the two little turkeys who are currently standing on stools "helping" cook brunch.

Last night Hadlee and I were having deep, life conversations: she's volleying for some new dolls, ya know, cuz the 98,000 she has up in the playroom aren't in the Barbie movies she's so into right now. We've come to the agreement that when she sleeps in her bed all night long she'll earn a sticker and once seven stickers are on her chart, she can choose ANY doll she wants. I was completely willing to go the American Girl route, but as of yesterday, Hadlee's decided that two Barbies from either The Diamond Castle or Mermaidia will do. SCORE! This then lead to our twice daily discussion of what we'll each be "when we're all growed up." I'm not allowed to be a mommy, teacher or runner "buhcuz you awlweady do that!" so we're going to each be mermaids, princesses and swimmers, in that order.

Jack's a little comedian. He loves hard, he fights hard, and he's a little ham all in between. Right now he's trying to peddle Hadlee's Vespa around while jamming to the Beach Boys-esque music that's playing on the little radio. Earlier he was the princess' dragon and was banished to the dungeon, and in a few minutes when he's ready for nap he'll ask for milk and cuddle up in my lap to unwind before I carry him to bed and whisper "Mommy loves you. Daddy loves you. Issy loves you. God and Jesus loved you, and thank you for being my "super fries" (super fries is Hadlee's way of saying "super special surprise") from God."

Tomorrow as we mark a new beginning on America's political calendar, I'll be thankful for the MANY blessings that have been poured on my head, excited for change, hopeful that the financial situation our world is in will take an up swing, and proud to be called Mom, Babe, Mrs. Hale, and Mae.

Thanks for stopping by my friends. Til next time,

The Running Mom

Blogger Buzz: Show off your Followers

2008-12-29T09:13:00.000-06:00

Blogger Buzz: Show off your Followers

Tuned In & Turned On

2008-12-21T22:56:00.003-06:00

You've not read about any of my workouts for the past few weeks b/c they have been few and far between... I am sure, like many of you, life just happened and I let my goals slip to the back burner. I didn't complete the B-fit-b-day challenge or our Lose to Win competition. My weight has increased, my diet has gone to pot, and I can't tell you the last day I actually consumed more water than any other beverage. BUT. NO. MORE...

I've found a different training program (not really so incredibly different from the Hal Higdon program I was following, this one just has more details) at Runner's World and here is what my week will look like.

12/2212/28
Mon: Rest/ XT (Kettle bell workout and bike)
Tues: Easy RunDist: 2mi@17:59
Wed: Rest/ XT (Yoga or Pilates)
Thurs: Rest / XT (Merry Christmas!)
Fri: Tempo RunDist: 5mi, inc Warm; 3mi@16:10; Cool
Sat: Rest/ XT (We'll be on the road to Perdido Bay, AL for a family beach trip!)
Long RunDist: 6mi@17:59
Total: 13 miles

I'm really excited about getting back into a workout routine... and running in the same atmosphere and on the same road as my upcoming half marathon. Ex.cite.ing.

The week of Thanksgiving I re-injured my shoulder and have had MAJOR pain since then... so much so that my good doc sent me for an MRI (a great story in and of itself! Hello little blue pill friend. {:) and the results came back that I'm good to go and if I have any more serious pain he'll give me a perscription for some PT. We'll see how I'm feeling when we get back from the beach.

Must rest... I have to be back home from my workout at 7:15 so I REALLY need to get in bed. Caio.

Christmas @ Casa de Hale

2008-12-20T18:04:00.003-06:00

Among the surprises that Jack regularly leaves around the house, this is without a doubt my favoite... who knew the spider truck could double as an ornament?!

The Rudolf bag houses a mixture of oats and glitter to scatter on our yard Christmas Eve to guide Santa and his reindeer to our home... according to Hadlee, Santa will tip toe in through the garage and deliver ONE gift for her and ONE gift for Jack!

Our stockings, bought last year the day after Christmas when Pottery Barn Kids put them on sale. Who could resist?

My sweet, mischeivous boy washing his hands (a favorite past time of his) after consuming a snowman cookie. Can you see the blue icing on his mouth and the water on the wall? :)

Hadlee making "pupcakes" last Sunday when we were all too sick to go to cousin Alexis' surprise b-day party. My little decorator!

Mery Christmas bloggies. May you find the grace, peace and love of our Savior.

Carpe diem...

2008-12-03T22:04:00.002-06:00

It's my thrid day of being 30, and I'm handling things pretty well. Actually, in the whole scheme of things, this was, by far, one of the best birthdays I can remember. Cards, messages, love, hugs, songs, good food, homemade bundt cake w/ icing made by my sweet daughter, dinner from Outback w/ the fam, an AWESOME surprise classroom decoration done by one of my students, his parents, and sister... the list goes on and on. Thus far, life has been tremendous!

There is a challenge on some of the blogs I read called bfitbday. I have accepted the challenge and my plans for the week include:

3,000 yds of swimming
30 miles of biking
10 miles of running (I'll end up w/ a few more than that.)

I've knocked out 6.5 miles of the bike and nothing else. I have until next Monday to finish up and I'm confident I'll get it all in except the swimming. I just can't find the motivation to get in the pool. BUT, you only get to claim the prize if you do the time, right? So, I'll suck it up and jump in w/ both feet (and a little whining on the side!). :)

This Saturday is my first 6 miler at Tim's Ford... I'm excited about doing it and getting the race schwag too! IT's not a VERA, but still, it's a HUGE accomplishment for me! That's almost half way to the 13.1 mile mark!!! Yeah, baby!

My son has begun to turn towards the dark side... this week he's 1. bitten his Gabba and litterally taken a chunk of her arm 2. gotten in trouble at school for pitching a fit over a toy 3. been put in TIME OUT at school for FIGHTING OVER A CHAIR! Good Lord, have mercy! I can hear it now... "You know how those teacher's kids are!" He's just 19 months old, we've got a l-o-n-g way to go. Bless his little mischevious heart.

This just in... BOTH of my children are SLEEPING IN THEIR OWN BEDS!!! Thank you sweet little naked baby Jesus! Miracle of miracles! We've been rearranging furniture and ended up converting Jack's crib to a toddler bed. When Hadlee saw "what the cool kids were doing" (she's SUCH a sucker for that now, I'm willing to milk it for all it's worth!) she decided she wanted her "little cherry bed" (toddler bed that was beside our bed and acted as cute decor b/c she only slept in it while playing house) beside Jack's. Low and behold, they have fallen asleep w/ very few tears, lots of books (I Love You, Stinky Face being the Hale family fave) and a few swats on the behind. BUT it's all good, my peeps. I've gotten to wake up next to my husband for TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW! YEE HAW!

K, it's time for me to head to bed... I have an observation tomorrow and need to be all perky and happy. Rah.

G'night all.

Hmmm...

2008-11-24T00:05:00.003-06:00

Today I met a friend from church to do a five mile out and back through some nearby neighborhoods. I knew going into it that my heart just wasn't there, but just like rough days of marriage, mothering, and teaching, I knew I could suck it up and push through. My nutrition over the past few days has been less than ideal... I think I may have even been dehydrated most of the afternoon and evening Saturday. Heavy legs that don't seem to bend at the ankle will usually work out and push on right past mile two, but not today. We walked / jogged for three miles and then called it quits. :( Dang it.

At this point in my training I'm supposed to continue to add mileage, but I'm ready for a recovery week! I'm going to build them in every four weeks until it's time to taper for the half mary. For this week I'll take the planned mileage and cut it in half so my longest run will be 3 miles (which I'm going to do on Turkey Day morn w/ Bethany).

This week's plan is:

Mon: Stretch and Strengthen
Tues: 2 m
Wed: 40 min. of Cross
Thurs: 3m
Fri: Rest
Sat: 40 min. of Cross
Sun: 3m

I found a challenge issued by Trisaratops that I'm VERY interested in trying... I'll have to look at other people's plans and figure out if it's doable before I hit it head on.

I'm off of work all week (HOORAH!) and tomorrow I get to take the babies to school AND pick them up for the FIRST TIME!!! I'm finally going to feel like a real mom in their school. I'm SO excited!

Saturday I picked up Heli and Josie for the Kelly's Kids warehouse sale and lunch... While we didn't really find much to get excited about at the sale, lunch and the trip were super fabulous! I'm looking forward to more play dates and lunches soon girls!

I'm praying that once Hadlee ends her current round of antibiotics we'll all be healthy for a while... three weeks in a row w/ sick babies is definitely wearing us all out!

negative...

2008-11-16T21:39:00.002-06:00

However, it's the best negative there is... in LBS! I'm down 15 pounds from the beginning of "Mae Anne's on the Move". Sweet. (The down side of that is that I'm almost postitive it's all come from the girls. Sigh.)

This just in... 15 weeks from today I will have completed my first half marathon. Good. Lawd. Have. Mercy.

My goal for Seaside is a lofty one for now... I'll have to do just under 14 minute miles. This morning on my long "run" w/ Lana we averaged 17 min/mile for a total of 5 miles in 1:25, in spitting snow, and among TONS of GR8 conversation! That's really just a brisk walking pace, but it's SOMETHING! If I hadn't had someone there talking w/ me and taking my mind off of how flippin' cold it was and how much I'd have preferred to be in bed, I wouldn't have made it. Thank you so much, Lana!

Goals for this week:

1. Speed work... cuz, seriously. Geriatric snails were passing me at one point today.
2. Breathing. Exercise induced asthma is not my friend. I need to carry my inhaler to help take care of that little hiccup.
3. Make every mile count. Several times (esp. on the treadmill) I'm just watching my dot make its way around the track instead of working on form, speed, breathing, etc. I HaVe to make each moment count so I can pound my goals into the ground!
4. Getting the workouts in before work... that's going to be a large challenge, but one that can be obtained by NOT hitting snooze.
5. Get cold weather gear ASAP! It was 35 degrees when I got back home at 8:00 this morning, brrrr!

The training plans for the next two weeks are:
11/18
Mon: Stretch &Strengthen (Yoga / Pilates at home)
Tues: 3.5 m run
Wed:2 m run or cross (Zumba)
Thur: 3.5 m run + strength
Fri: Rest
Sat: 40 min cross (Bike / Swim / Zumba)
Sun: 5 m run

11/23
Mon: Stretch & Strengthen (Yoga / Pilates @ home)
Tues: 4 m run
Wed: 2 m run or cross (Brandon's 34th b-day!)
Thur: 4 m run + strength (Turkey Day, Gobble Gobble!)
Fri: Rest (I.e. Shop w/ the other crazies out there!)
Sat: 40 min cross (Bike / Swim / Zumba)
Sun: 6 m run (My last day as a 29 year old, sniff.)

I've got the opportunity to participate in a couple of local 5ks in December and January. I'm looking forward to seeing how my speed improves from the first one I did back in September w/ our running club.

Did I just say "running club?" Who has taken over my body? Age makes a gal do some funny things, huh? I'm SO glad I've started down that path, tho. It's a new week, take a walk w/ a friend.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Mrs. Negative

The Dragon and Flower Princess

2008-11-02T13:23:00.002-06:00

The flower princess was more than happy to find out that people gave out candy for just being cute. I had a couple errands to run before the kids were dressed and at both stops she scored BIG TIME! This little one has such a sweet tooth; we'll be good to go w/out cavities until kindergarten!

Jack was less than thrilled with his dragon costume. I knew when I ordered their outfits that, depending on the weather, one child would either burn up or the other would freeze. . . and that's just what happened! When we out to trick-or-treat it was right around 70 and a heavy fleece outfit for my little fire ball was just a bit much. Bless!

Since having babies, the Hale's have completely forgone pumpkin carving. Does that make me a bad mom? :)

I'll also go ahead and confess that these are rules in our family:

1. Only children who live in other states and are at least 7 years old are allowed to go inside a fast food restaurant and play on it's playground.

2. There is no such thing as a child's meal toy.

3. Children only go trick-or-treating to their grandparents' houses.

4. Poop is everywhere, so do not touch anything!

5. Santa only brings one gift.

I know, my friends make SO MUCH fun of me for all the "little white lies" but ya know, a mom's gotta do ... :) I hear though, that payback's a #$*(@&.

In other, non baby related news:

LANA SAIN ROCKED IT at Ironman FL yesterday. I am SOOOO PROUD! Way to go, Lana!

And, I totally backed out of our local 5K. One glass of wine on Halloween had me down for the count on Saturday. DaNg It! Oh well.

I'm participating in my first half marathon in just 4 months!!! EGAD! I've got a LOT of training to do. No more wine for the Mae Anne, huh? The Seaside Half is March 1, 2009 and then I'll be doing the Music City Half in late April. Yep, two half marys in 7 weeks! O.M.G.

My ultimate goal is to build up to a full mary and at least olympic triathlons. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll hear, "Mae Anne McCullough Hale, You are an IRONMAN!"

Til next time,

the wino

Take 2

2008-10-19T21:00:00.003-05:00

Last week's training wasn't a complete bust, but since I wasn't successful in getting in the mileage in one workout each day (most of them I had to split b/t morning and night) I'm going to repeat week one. Today was a "Mae day of rest" for reasons that will not be posted on here b/c my parents and some of their friends read it! :O Just suffice it to say that I'm not as young as I used to be!

Here's the plan:

Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: Stretch and Strengthen (Yoga)
Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday: Cross ~ Bike ~ 30 Minutes
Friday: ReSt or if I'm REALLY feeling groovy ~ upper and lower weights
Saturday: Cross ~ Swimming or Rowing ~ 30 minutes
Sunday: 4 miles

I'm hoping to be able to sign up for our local Lose to Win competition. Our pharmacy puts this on a couple times each year. An 8 week challenge w/ meetings, weigh ins, encouragement, etc. I participated in their 5K last year as a fill in for some girls at work. We'll see how it goes! I'm excited aobut things... of course, I've not weighed-in, measured, or seen my BMI... sigh.

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Last night was the much awaited Halloween Party. Bran and I went as Fergie and Will-I-Am of the Black Eyed Peas w/ a twist. Blogger's not happy w/ me right now so you can see pics on my facebook page or visit later in the week.

Tomorrow's a comin' and we've gotta get ready!

Good night moon.
Good night light and the red balloon.

Plans for the week, facebook and eye candy

2008-10-12T22:43:00.005-05:00

The eye candy...

Butterflies... she drags me all this way to get excited over stinkin' butterflies??!?!!?
Look Mom, isn't he a cute little thing?
Jack, I think she wants us to smile... just make sure you do it after the light flashes! Wink, wink. :)

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THE GOALS:
Monday:Stretch &Strengthen (30 min. of yoga)
Tuesday:3 m run
Wednesday:2 m run or cross
Thursday:3 m run + strength
Friday:Rest
Saturday:30 min cross
Sunday:4 m run

I'm a big dork... thought this was Hal Higdon's 16 week program, turns out that it's only a 12 weeker... I'm gonna hit it hard! I hopped on the scale Friday and am down 8.5 pounds ~ YAY!

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This weekend is the much anticipated Bell Buckle Craft Fair!!! I can't wait! We're also planning on heading to a costume party as... nah, I'm not giving out the info. Thanks to Vette for the gr8 idea! I'll post pics next weekend as we recuperate.

I'm going to order the kids' Halloween costumes this week from PB... I've convinced myself that they'll be totally worth the price tag (PLUS THEY"RE ON SALE!) when the kids play dress up in them for the next five years. Tee he he. Hadlee's going as the peacock and Jack's going to be a puppy. I really wanted them to coordinate, but H saw the peacock and wouldn't budge on her decision. Hm, must get the whole "strong willed" thing from her daddy. ;P

I'm now on facebook... it's totally addictive. Just another thing to distract me from the daily life! It's probably a good thing I can't access FB at work!

Headed to sleepytown... Yoga's at 5:00 in the morning.

(Fall) Breakin' It...

2008-10-08T22:41:00.003-05:00

Only on a break from school would we let Hadlee stay up until 11:00 watching "The Muppets Wizards of Oz." Note: It doesn't hold a candle to Muppets Take Manhattan.... the voices are different, it totally threw me off.

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Tomorrow we leave for our Fall Break Family Spectacular. We'll be staying at the Choo-Choo, visiting the Aquarium, spinning on the carousel, and touching stuff at the Children's Museum. FUN~NESS!!!! Also, if the kids behave, we MAY EVEN head down to Market Row for a little high end shopping! :)

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Training has been non-existent this week... Bleh... Good intentions and all... where is it that they lead again? :/ My life has been non-scheduled and GR8! I'm changing things up a bit and hitting things hard when we get back from Chattanooga. I found a 16 week half marathon training guide so I'll be focusing almost solely on running and doing swimming and biking on cross training days. For more info look here. Fo' real, doe!

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The mother of one of my co-workers passed away earlier this week. This afternoon was the visitation (Is that the same as a wake, or are they different?). I was going to drop the babies by my parents while I ran in to offer my condolences, but the timing didn't work out, so they ended up coming with me. I'm not one who takes surprises well and Hadlee Anne is just like me, so on our way in I was trying to explain things. I said, "Hadlee, when we get in you will see a lady who looks like she's sleeping and you may even see some people crying. I want you to know that they are ok, they're just sad." She looked very sympathetic and replied, 'But Mommy, why will they be crying? What makes them so sad?" I told her, "Because Mrs. Vina's mommy had gone to be with God." "But Mom," she said, "What's sad about being with God?!" Hmmm, I guess we're doing almost ok at this whole parenting thing after all. Bless her sweet, precious, innocent heart.

Meatloaf

2008-09-28T14:20:00.004-05:00

On Thursday we had ladies night at church. One of our Shepard's wives was the keynote speaker; her subject was hospitality. Our super fabulous gift from her was a small cookbook of her favorite comfort foods to prepare for showing your own hospitality. (Is it only in the south when that means asking people over for dinner? Or is it all over? :)) Now, I'm not a huge fan of meatloaf, but we just so happen to have had all the ingredients to make it (with the exception of dried mustard). So today we ate meatloaf... and I felt all hospitable, and now am happy and full and watching my Titans beat up on the Vikings. Sunday afternoons ~ they're good stuff.

This pic of Jack was taken yesterday while we were cheering on our poor Volunteers. Is this THE epitome of a TN fan or what?!?!!?!??!?!

On the training front this week things were OK. I missed a swim on Wednesday... I'm going to have to tweak the swim schedule to keep from missing every Wed. afternoon swim! My "running" is making gains that I'm actually proud of. Thursday morning at 5:00 I definitely was not feeling gainful in any way what-so-ever! I headed out for a short 13 min trot through the neighborhood and boy was it awful! Negative self talk was coming at me from every angle. It was just a bad workout all around, but I did the time, stretched and went on with my day.

I really suck at swimming... not that I can't swim, it's the breathing part that screws things up for me. One of the ladies I work with used to life guard so she agreed to help me on Monday afternoons until I find my rhythm and balance and feel more comfortable trying different strokes.

In other news, Friday after work a couple friends and I are heading WAY up north to Fort Wayne, Indiana to the Vera Bradley Fall Outlet Sale. I am SOOOOO friggin' stoked! They recently announced the Spring patterns on their facebook site... I can't wait!

Yesterday Hadlee and I, along with several friends from work, took part in the Memory Walk for the Alzheimer's Association. They had a girl doing face painting for the kiddos so I went from having a three year old to having the HadleeCat for the day. Fun stuff! If I get any more pictures from the other girls I'll try to post them.

I double dog dare you to check out my friend, Andrea's new blog. GO ANDREA!!

Off to do my long run for the week.

Peace.

Putting in the time...

2008-09-20T14:32:00.002-05:00

Week one of officially training for the triathlon season is over. First, the stats:

Swimming: 28 minutes, 550 yards

Biking: 62 minutes, 15.7 miles

Running/Jogging/Walking: 76 minutes, 4.5 miles

Core: 2 short workouts w/ lots of stretching

Reflection over the week:

I actually ended up missing three days in a row of conditioning due to scheduling conflicts, the fair being in town, and parent-teacher conferences. BUT, this morning I doubled up on my swim and long bike so I really only ended up missing a run. Last Sunday night I did a 5k route w/ Mach Tenn, the local run club, so the time actually came out like it was supposed to originally.

What I knew mentally preparing for this: I'm a BIG girl who is incredibly out of shape. What I know at the end of week one: I'm a BIG girl who's working towards a lofty goal and healthier life style.I have SO MUCH WORK TO DO, but I'm closer now than I was one week ago. It really makes a difference in my self image. I have a clearer mind and have needed to work out MANY frustrating events from this week. It's amazing what sweating out the emotions has done for my outlook!

Each week I'll be adding 10% to the previous week's time. I'll be interested to see how much of a difference that makes in the distance department.

This is fair week in Coffee County... that means tired students, tired teachers, conferences, and NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY! :) Man, did I enjoy having a short week! I needed some extra rest yesterday so Bran let me enjoy a long nap with the babies and then we took them to the fair for fattening foods, freaks, fun rides and the mule races. We enjoyed seeing lots of acquaintances and friends and wandering from ride to ride. This is the first year we've let Hadlee get on anything. I really expected her to be timid and not get very excited about things. Once we got off of the carousel she was ready for every tea cup, roller coaster, tilt-a-whirl, and soaring elephant in the fairgrounds. Honestly, my pride was damaged... what the heck's up with this independent little girl?!??! Who's been raising her? :)

Later tonight we're heading to the Boro to see how much the damage on finishing out our living room and hallway in hardwood will be, getting some shelves for the laundry room and visiting MOAB to check out their road bike selection. Fun stuff!

Happy weekending everyone... and GO VOLS!

No laughing, please!

2008-09-12T21:02:00.004-05:00

Lately I've been having some crazy thoughts, thoughts that haven't ever really come into fruition. . . thoughts of... training for triathlons and the Country Music Half Marathon. So, I talked w/ a pro (thanks for your encouragement and enthusiasm, Lana!) checked out some sites, and GOT BUSY!

I have an addictive personality... all or nothing, hot or cold, sweet or sour (as in my attitude/personality). This has been fabulous. I technically started a couple weeks ago to begin learning to run (really, you have to build, kind of like Rome) and it has turned into training for Sprint Triathlons with a focus on running for the CMM1/2 (on April 25, '09).

There, the cat's out of the bag. Now, you can ask how I'm doing when you don't see sessions and results logged. Hold me responsible, heckle me, tell me I can do it! :)

The whole medical scare w/ the baby last week got me off a bit so I'm starting a 16 week training for a sprint tri (.5 swim, 13 mile bike, 5K run) when the season picks back up early next year. Sixteen weeks from now just so happens to be New Year's Eve, go figure... I'll be hitting my goal of finishing up the training when most of the world sets new goals (and just a few weeks into being the bid 3-0!). Kind of ironic to me.

Anyway, my training guide is from http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/. It's a super cool site w/ so much info anyone (even me!) could get excited about the thought of getting physical! :P

Here are the stats for the week:

Sunday: 30 min walk/run (2.5miles)
Monday: off
Tuesday:2 mile bike (8 min.)
Wednesday & Thursday: off (not by schedule, but b/c Bran was in Memphis)
Friday: 40 min bike (8.7 miles)
Saturday: off
Sunday: Planned 5k run/walk w/ our running club, Mach Tenn.

Next week begins the cross training that includes all three components, plus weight training once or twice a week. Once I get the schedule figured out it'll be easier... b/t when the lap pool is open,Bran being out of town, and having the babies picked up by 4:30 it'll be a bit of a challenge, but nothing I can't handle.

That's it really... on the medical front babies, mommy, daddy and Gabba are all doing just dandy.

Ride in an ambulance $1,839
Yearly membership to the local REC: $300/year
Healthy life w/ healthy babies and husband: Priceless

Black, Blue & Vandy, Too

2008-09-05T21:00:00.002-05:00

We've had a week from Hell. Isn't that a pleasant opening statement?

Last Thursday my dear pal, Vette, and I went down to the 30-A Section of Florida for a girls' getaway... we had two incredibly fabulous, sun filled days... and then stinkin' Gustav moved in. Gustav sucks.

Saturday Jack and Hadlee started getting runny noses, but we'd had rain so the hay needed to be cut, seemingly not a big deal.

Sunday Vette and I woke up to cloudy skies and by the time we got back from church, ate a sandwich and got out on the beach the water had changed from a beautiful turquoise with crabs, fish and dolphins playing to a dark green, ferocious beast. We decided it was time to head home.

Monday Jack was running a slight fever and just not acting like himself. Hadlee was having some allergy symptoms, but nothing of much concern. Monday afternoon we went to my grandparents' house for a cookout. While outside, Hadlee missed a step, fell and hurt the concrete patio. In return the patio left her with a nasty bump and her first black eye.

Tuesday morning was supposed to be the babies first day of MDO, but the first two weeks are phase-in half days and neither baby was up to par so they stayed with Gabba all day instead. Jack hadn't slept much the night before and was running more of a temp so I called and made an appointment to see Dr. B for both babies Wednesday morning, just to be on the safe side.

By 1:00 Jack's fever went from 99 to 102 in under 8 minutes, triggering a seizure. He stopped breathing and didn't have a pulse. He turned blue and after his Gabba started CPR he began breathing again. She had already called 911 and had an ambulance on the way. They were there in 5 minutes and couldn't wait on me to get there to ride with him to the hospital. 14 minutes from the time the 911 call was made the ambulance had Jack in our local ER. He captured the attention of everyone, including the main physician, Dr. Sunburn. Doc decided he needed to be admitted so after some phone calls to his pedi we chose to head to Vandy Children's... well, because that's the place to go. Another ambulance ride to Vandy (@ a measly 85 MPH, what the???) and another ER... a few hours later after getting his temp from 104.9 down to 100.7 and seeing him start to talk, interact, eat and drink the doctors say it was a febrile seizure (It's genetic, from their DADDY! Not mommy's fault!!! We went through the same thing w/ Hadlee just a couple weeks before Jack was born.)and send us home.

Wednesday morning we head to the pedi. As it turns out Jack has a nasty virus that is going around school #1 (not MDO, long story) and an ear infection. Hadlee has a nasty double ear infection as well. The are both on antibiotics and beginning to mend. Jack's fevers are down to 103 and under and continue to decline and Hadlee seems to be feeling better, but a bit jealous of the extra attention Jack's getting.

Thursday... apparently it happened because now it's Friday night.

I finally went back to work today (because my sick days are gone until October) and now we're trying to relax and not bite each other's heads off.

Never, do I ever want to revisit another week such as this.

RaNdOmNeSs

2008-07-14T16:14:00.002-05:00

If you are among those who need proof that humankind is definitely odd, just hit the "Next Blog" link at the top of this screen. Seriously, weird stuff is out there. It's just a click away.

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A short interview with Hadlee "It's awmost my biwfday" Hale

Q. Hadlee, what did you do at the beach?
A. Kissed a boy.
Q. Oh, really? Who did you kiss?
A. Kaleb
Q. Why did you kiss him?
A. We got married.
Q. Oh, well what do married people do?
A. They go home and take a nap.

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Ten more days until my school year starts. I thought, many moons ago, that I'd be able to retire after last year... and then Brandon showed me the exact number of dollars that we owe. After I cleaned up the floor I just looked at him and said, "So I guess I'll have to put retirement off for a few years, huh?" Oh well!

I'm moving from eighth grade reading to sixth grade language arts, reading and history. We'll see how things compare.

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Hadlee and I were discussing her big 3 year birthday party that's one month from today (GASP!!!! Where did the time go?!??!?!). She's trying to decide between Mermaid and "Cwab" or Care Bears. I'll go w/ the Mermaid theme, just to hear her say "cwab".

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This just in... I'm ready to go back to the beach. My dear friend, Vette, and I are going down on a girls only trip over Labor Day weekend... Come on September!

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Word to the painting wise... when they tell you that if you get an eggshell finish to your paint that you'll have to paint the entire wall instead of only doing touch ups, they really mean it. We're buying a 5 gallon tub of paint for the painters who will take care of all the nail pops and settling cracks that have happened over the past two years. Fun. I asked if they'd consider painting in all new colors, but he said it wasn't' in the contract. Dang it. :)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-07T22:05:00.003-05:00

Earlier this afternoon Hadlee came into the kitchen at full speed yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, look at what your son is doing!" and pointing to their little table in the dining room. Well, here's what "my son" was doing... the little monkey! :)

Isn't his fro stinkin' awesome?!?!?! His hair is REALLY long, but until people start referring to my little sneaky, mischievous boy as a girl, I don't plan on taking shears to his little bunkin' head.

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MAJOR EXCITEMENT!!!! I just received an e-mail from our photographer in Seagrove Beach, Dede Edwards. Her talent behind the camera is AMAZING!!!! Anywho, she's put a few snapshots of our family portrait up on her blog... the last picture pretty much sums up Hadlee and Kaleb's future, don't ya think?:)

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Back from the beach

2008-07-07T05:56:00.002-05:00

We were honored to take part in one of my best friend's weddings in Seagrove, FL last week. While at the beach for a wedding, why not add a week to your stay and enjoy the sand, surf, and food? So, that's exactly what we did! Vette and Paul's wedding was PERFECTION! Hadlee made her debut as a flower girl... and I must say she did a bang up job of it! As soon as the cd of pics is sent to me I'll post a smattering on here, stopping just shy of Hadlee and Jack cuteness overload. :) To get your fix on pics for now you can visit the photographer's blog.

We were able to spend most of the week with my favorite college roomie and her family. Netta, J, Kaleb and Kolton joined us at "Aunt Mae's beach house". The children took up with each other immediately. Hadlee and Kaleb married each other and sealed the deal with a kiss, so I guess that's all taken care of. They fought like newlyweds and, I would say they made up like newly weds, but that's just wrong to say about a 2 1/2 and 5 year old! :) Also, Kaleb dropped trow and did his thing while we were enjoying an afternoon on the beach so she DEFINITELY has to marry him now that she's seen it "all".

As you can see, the old blog has taken on a refreshed look which means I lost any current links that may have been here. So, if you stop by PLEASE leave me a comment so that I can re-link to my blog peeps.

I need coffee.

Out.

Summer time!!!

2008-06-13T16:20:00.003-05:00

Ahhh, glorious, beautiful, lazy, hazy days of summer, how we love thee!

The babies and I are thoroughly enjoying every milli-second of our time at home. We've been "swimming" at "thuh poo" several times each week (my goal is to go at least twice, but some days that's easier said than done). We're also loving our play dates, sleeping in (you know, until like 7:30 :)) and playing outside when it's nice.

We planted a real garden for the first time this year... it's flourishing nicely. We're going to have squash and tomatoes coming out of our ears in a couple of days ~ Yeee Haw!

Hadlee and Jack are growing, personalities are blossoming and at times even storming! Jackson is as boyish as a boy can be... climbing, exploring, opening, closing, turning on and off, banging, climbing more. He cracks me up. I SWEAR he's my little brother made over. He just decided to walk last weekend... at 13 1/2 months. I was ready to send him to physical therapy! It seemed like he took forever, but now is chasing "Iss" everywhere and enjoying the freedom that comes with being baby #2.

Hadlee Anne is... charming, witty, motherly, serious, silly, observant, a bit selfish, a leader, teacher, protector... she's a little bit of everything rolled into one super cute package! The things she says just crack me up. We were driving home from church the other night and she began sniffling from the back seat when I asked her what was wrong hr reply was, "Mommy, I'm just so sad. I can't sing my La La song anymore because I just don't have the time to practice." Sniff sniff, hang head for emphasis. I just laughed...

Brandon has been working like a mad man. He's been away quite a bit but we are soaking up every moment he's at home.

In a couple of weeks we are heading down to our favorite beach to participate in one of my best friend's weddings. I'll be the maid of honor and Hadlee will make her debut as the flower girl... Super exciting!

The babies need some attention and I must set the table for our every-other-Friday night sushi. YummiYummi, Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken Terrioky~ YUMMO!

Progression is...

2008-02-07T21:37:00.000-06:00

Hadlee going to her bed to "just sit on it" and falling asleep!!!!!!! WHOO~HOOO!!!! I must add that I did bribe her with a "Super Special Surprise Ballerina and popcorn from Target". Hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

The past few days have been What in the name of all that is holy was I thinking by going into education? days. The way my students are acting you'd think it was the last week of May. I've paddled more times in the past three weeks that in my entire career.... and I'll contine to as long as it continues to work. Sorry to step on any toes ~ I do what works in my classroom... and what lowers my blood pressure!

Brandon had to go into work at 1:00 Wednesday morning. He had to drive through the tornadoes that ripped our mid-state apart... and I chose to stay with the babies at our house instead of going to my parents. I went to get Jack out of his crib and made a pallet for him beside my bed. This thought crossed my mind, "What do I do if I only have time to get one baby into the closet?" I can't tell you how gut-wrenching that was to me. Sleep was not had at all. Do any of you have fleeting thoughts similar to that? Is it just a stressed out, non-rested game your mind does in moments of panic?

It's consignment sale time in Coffee County. I just went through Jack's dresser for the first time last weekend. I had many moments of tearing up looking at preemie outfits and some of my favorites that were so cute. For some reason I thought it would be easier to go through his things... not so.

Have any of you ever bought from Kelly's Kids or ChezAmi? I have been invited to parties for both. From the looks of things I'm more attracted to the Kelly's Kids outfits... any suggestions on price v/s wear and tear?

Brandon has worked 40 of the last 48 hours. He's away from home (way up north near KY) for the next few nights. We're getting used to him being away during the week, but it's still no fun. I've noticed that Hadlee and I jive better; I guess she knows she can't give her Daddy her sad eyes and get every little thing under the sun... just about half of the things under the sun! :)

I'm attempting to pay attention to Lipstick Jungle, but not having much success so I'll go now. Happy Friday!

Please Help!

2008-01-06T21:57:00.000-06:00

How in the world do you get an incredibly stubborn, hard headed, two year old to sleep in her own bed through the night? Hadlee Anne hasn't slept through the night more than twice since we brought Jack home from the hospital nearly nine months ago. She's getting to be a bit of a drama queen and is rather manipulative (hm, not sure from where in her genetic makeup that may have arisen). Tonight we (being I) tried to get her to lay down and go to sleep on her own... for an hour we battled, played her aquarium, tickled her back and played with her hair, and when all was said and done and I got up to leave her while she was on the brink of sleep she got so upset that she threw up in her bed. Yuck. Suggestions would be fabulous for this stressed out, sleep deprived, exhausted mom. Thanks.

It's official...

2007-12-15T12:52:00.000-06:00

Two days before Jack turns 8 months old he's crawling with a vengeance. Sigh... Sniff... Sadness...

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Selling Arbonne at half off this month! (You too can help me take my family to Cancun next October!!!) Call or e-mail me for your FABULOSO deal of the CENTURY!!!!

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I've been at home the past few days with a nasty virus (think flu like). It's been nice to sleep, drink my detox tea and catch a snippet of Regis and Kelly. I also realized that The View is one of the most useless wastes of time EVER. Seriously, it's super bad, vulgar, ridiculous... Need I go on?

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Hadlee is very much into potty training. It's not so bad now... as long as we get her ON the potty before she lets go. :) She's all about showing her "big girl-ness" and distinguishing herself as the older sibling. Now... if only I can get her to unload the dishwasher and put the clean clothes away. Any suggestions? :)

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This just in... 5 months, 3 days and 1 hour until retirement officially begins! Whoo~hoo!!

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Jack and Hadlee's Christmas pictures are in. To see them all go to Dana's Website, at the bottom go to the Christmas 2007 link and look for Mae Anne Hale. It was a rough 30 minutes, but she does a great job and is fabulous w/ photoshoping!

Seriously!

2007-11-28T21:26:00.001-06:00

In a memo from our principal: "If you are receiving unwanted pornographic pictures or texts on your cell phones from students take your phone immediately to administration."

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One of my students proudly brought a picture to me today of him at 8 years old and his older brother, 10 at the time. They are ecstatically standing on the hearth bearing AK47's; one's a semi-automatic and the other is an automatic. I promise.

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Brandon and I are coaching Upward Basketball at our church. We've been blessed with 7 rambunctious 1st and 2nd grade boys. One, who's name is Pete, is going to be my heap of learning to be more like Job. He was roughly 3 inches from my face jumping straight up and down saying, "Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo!" I was saying, "Pete, join the other boys who are waiting their turn to shoot the ball." "Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo! Look, I'm a kangaroo!" "Pete, kangaroo's don't play Upwards basketball. Go sit with your mother." "Look, I'm a basketball player! Look, I'm not a kangaroo!"

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Hadlee at Brandon's birthday dinner the other night: "Happy Biwfday, Daddy! Mommy, Daddy's OWD!"

This just in....

2007-11-25T13:43:00.000-06:00

Potty training sux.

Also in the news, I now am among the 50 billion other people who have a myspace.

And, only 18 days and 1 hour left until Christmas Break! Whooo~hoo!!!!!!!!

Putting up holiday decor w/ an eager two year old when you are a bit on the OCD side is very trying to the OCDedness. However, when that little two year old stops, listens to the Christmas carols playing and says, "Dance with me my mommy!" and then squeals with glee when her mommy scoops her up and twirls around the living room it makes the trying moments very precious memories.

Pictures just for you, SG!

2007-11-21T16:16:00.001-06:00

Mickey and Minnie Mouse playing before heading out to visit the grandparents on Halloween.

Does she really need a caption? :) My Little Ms. Personality, My way or no way, look at me I'm so cute, can I give you kisses? Let me see that, Here my mommy, Play with me, Carry me, Carry me! Cute as a button little curly haired carbon copy of her mommy. Love her. Don't know what I'd do with out her.

Jack on the beach over Fall Break. We went to one of my favorite places in the world, Santa Rosa, FL! Poor Jack had an upper respiratory infection so he was on meds and slept most of the time. Laid back Jack, let me just watch and laugh, coo with me, sing to me and I'm a happy little boy who loves everyone, especially my big sister.

Late September at a local pumpkin farm... It was really cute, but there was a rather frightening dude there w/ his family carrying a staff w/ a snake head on top and trying to hypnotize the chickens. I WISH I was kidding!

Minnie trying to find "Bobby Joe" her favorite cat at Tita and Papi's house... Just for your viewing pleassure. I had no idea our accent was so thick, is that sad?!?!?!?

It's Turkey Time in Tennessee!

2007-11-19T11:52:00.000-06:00

Seriously, it's been 6 months since I posted something? Man, just call me a slacker w/a capital S!

Hmm, things happening in Hale... Hadlee is 2, and VERY much like her momma, and well, I guess that just about explains that. The other day she was lying on the couch, looked at me and said, "Mommy, I need to wash my hands with soap and watah. They have geuhms." Really, at 2 she's concerned about germs. Then a day or so later we were getting dressed to leave for the day and she said, "My Mommy I can't weauh vees pants. They don't match my shurt." She cracks me up. Right now she's in the play room talking to her puzzles and babies and telling each one where it can sit and who is next in line. Too funny!

Jack is 7 months old and growing incredibly too fast. Really, I cry about it on a near regular basis. In the last 2 weeks he's cut his two lower front teeth, sat up and begun crawling backwards. I REALLY do not like it at all! Brandon keeps laughing about my very delicate feelings towards this and finally asked why I was so upset about it. When I told him that as long as we had a baby in the house I wouldn't have baby fever he suddenly got it. Man, if I could have had a picture of his face at that moment!

I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving week! We have the entire week off from school, so I get to be at home with the babies and play, organize and relax for several days, LOVE IT!

I recently discovered the absolute JOY of Super Suppers. It's INCREDIBLE!!!

Many of you who I've "known" for a while received an e-mail about getting holiday shopping discounts for Arbonne products. I am so in love with the products this company puts out and will be able to stay at home with my precious babies after this school year because of everything Arbonne has done and is doing for our family. Help me stay at home, get great products at a fabulous discount and allow me to shop, wrap and deliver (or Fed Ex) your gifts to you. Contact me via e-mail to take advantage of this great offer!

End of commercial. It's time to enjoy lunch with my very entertaining two year old girl. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Tootles blog world!

Baby mine

2007-05-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Today my sweet Jack-Jack (as his sister so lovingly has dubbed him) is one month old. How quickly the time has flown by! It seems like the first month of Hadlee's life I just sat around, held her and studied every tiny move she made. With Jack I usually only sit to feed him and if his sister is awake I'm usually reading a book to her or trying to keep her from drowning him b/c she's so excited to "help out". Ah, life w/ a toddler and a new born... what have we learned in the past 30 days?

1. Cover the stuff at all times.

2. Keep your mouth closed and be as quick as possible when changing diapers.

3. She's daddy's little girl and he's momma's boy.

4. He can't run from my kisses... yet!

5. God knew we needed a mellow child and BOY did He deliver!

6. If you need to feel loved and needed cuddle a sleeping baby.

7. His sister LOVES him!

8. We can survive. We can survive. We can survive!

9. All things are possible to those who believe.

Jackson McCullough Hale,

You, my sweet son, are such an incredible blessing from God. Mommy, Daddy, Hadlee and everyone who loves you are so excited that you are a part of our lives. I know that you are meant to be an awesome son, brother and eventually a man and that God has planned out a life for you that will bless so many. My prayer for you is that Daddy and I will be able to show you His plan, guide you in His ways, allow you to be who you naturally are and love you with all of our hearts. I cannot express enough how blessed we are to have you in our lives. You and your sister are the most precious gifts Daddy and I have ever been given. I hope you know this and allow it to penetrate your soul... especially during tough times and those angry adolescent days. Thank you for being my baby.

Always,

Mommy

Sometimes life is sad.

2007-05-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

One of my students decided to skip football practice Tuesday afternoon and take a ride on his dirt bike. He was going down the street and a car pulled out in front of him. He lost his life at 15 years old. His parents lost their youngest son and our community lost a very sweet, funny young man. Life is just sad at times. I don't understand things. Tonight I will go to the funeral home w/ my colleagues and let his parents know that he was a cherished student (who didn't necessarily enjoy reading... but not everyone does!).

I pray that you didn't suffer Cody and that you are now sitting w/ our King and can safely ride, hunt and play all that your heart desires. Hugs, Mrs. Hale

Sweet Jack is finally here...

2007-04-22T16:32:00.000-05:00

Jackson McCullough Hale

Born: Monday, April 16, 2007

@ 9:52 am

Weight: 6 lbs. 7 oz.

Length: 19 inches

Thank you for you well wishes! We're adjusting to life, small spurts of sleep, setting boundaries w/ a VERY eager big sister who is MORE than willing to help out, and learning what life is like as a family of 4. Life is good, Jack is healthy, Hadlee is ecstatic, Mommy is enjoying life via perscriptions and Daddy is mowing the yard while both babies nap.

T minus 44 hours and counting...

2007-04-14T13:53:00.000-05:00

We check in to the hospital on Monday morning around 7:00. Dr. M said that Jackson would be out, cleaned and ready to love on by 10:00. Funny, on Thursday that was a comforting thought. Today, it's a bit overwhelming! I'm trying to spend as much one-on-one, quality time w/ Hadlee as is humanly possible before I'm away and she's being schlepped around by "Amma" and "Tita" while her Daddy and I try to get over a surgery and welcome our son. Heavy, heavy thoughts...

Sooooo, in other news... Brandon closed on his first property Thursday afternoon! Yea, honey!!! We're so proud of you and the family you represented ~ it was great getting to live vicariously through them as they purchased their first home. You are an incredible, caring and honest man and we are all blessed to have you in our lives. I love you.

My hands are shaking and my palms are sweating... I'm really nervous about things. Having time to think about them during the baby's nap time isn't really fun. So I'm gonna end here and look at your lives and try to forget the whole "life changing thing" for a few minutes. Please keep us in your prayers! I'll attempt to post pictures late next week, not sure how long we'll be in the hospital (hoping to leave Wed. and counting on it Thur.).

Tootles and blessings,
Signed: Overwhelmed (very incredibly near) future mother of two under two.

Bring on the old wives' tails (tales? I know it's not tells....)! Can you tell my brain cells are incredibly depleted?

2007-04-09T22:36:00.000-05:00

I am SOOOO stinkin' ready to have Jack here in person. TWICE we've been to the hospital and TWICE they've sent us home (at 4:30 and 5:00 in the AM. Seriously, you can't let us sleep until 7:00?). I'm researching ways to induce labor, but have yet to find any new info. Tomorrow B and I are going to Carabba's to eat egg plant parmesan. Today I've had a boat load of chocolate and caffeine and well... I really have zero desire to drink caster oil. Come on fellow bloggies ~ share your ideas and let me know what's worked for you, other wise I'm miserable unitl 7:00 next Monday morning!

In Hadlee medical news.... all is clear and she's doing well. She's finally sleeping and eating regular meals. Hearing her ask for specific foods is wonderful. Unfortunately the antibiotics are having an awful effect on her tummy which is causing a horrid diaper rash, but we can deal w/ that any day over seizures and a catatonic baby! The doc called today and said her urine culture was completely clear. We don't know what the source of the infection was, but thank the good Lord above it is completely gone!

Terrified beyond belief

2007-04-04T17:22:00.000-05:00

Last night was a horrowing experience that I pray we never have to live through ever again. Hadlee has been teething for going on three weeks. When she teeths she cuts a minimum of 4 teeth, sometimes gets an ear infection and always runs a fever, and it lasts for what seems to be ever! I was in the Boro at an Arbonne training and got a text from B asking me to call him. HAH wasn't feeling well when I left, slight fever, but doing ok. When I talked to him he was concerned and on his way to my parents w/ her ~ temp 99, snoring w/ eyes open, in and out of it and then sleeping very soundly. I told him not to worry, everything sounded normal, she'd had a rough day, etc. Fast forward to 12:41am. We're all sleeping after the tornadic winds and storms came through (all's well 'cept for one little magnolia). I'm in bed w/ all of my pillows (6 to be exact) and B and HAH are in the living room on the couch and big chair / ottoman. I hear Hadlee making a choking type noise and ask B if she's ok. We both race to her and she's having a febrile seizure ~ complete convulsions, eyes rolled back into head, no color, non responsive, fever (102.7) ~ SCARRY. It's litterally the most freightening thing we've ever seen in our short time as a family. I call 911 while he dresses to see what we should do. The operator is doing her best to calm me down and get me to make the decision to either wait for an ambulance or for us to take her to the hospital... HELLO! I'm 28 years old, 37 weeks pregnant and my 19 month old is having seizures, white as a ghost, and completely unresponsive ~ can you PLEASE make the decision for me???? We get in the Expedition and head off, closest hospital is 5 miles away... not the best care, but still, it's a hospital. B is actually DOING THE SPEED LIMIT!! GO FASTER! I call my parents (did I tell you I'd been having regular contractions for several hours and that Jack's bag is packed? They finally stopped around 4:30 this morning.) who come and pray, sing, and help pacify Hadlee.
We are all there for a little less than 3 hours. It takes Hadlee a while to respond to anything... finally they do a Tylenol enema and that makes her cry.... THANK YOU LORD!!! MY BABY IS CRYING! They do numerous tests, x-rays, poking, prodding, and give an overall thorough exam. Doc says it's an ear infection and gives her a shot and anitbiotic and we go home. Follow up w/ pediatrition this morning who does much more testing... including a cathetor ~ not Hadlee's favorite thing and gives us more statistics than we ever imagined. He was great. HAH does NOT have an ear infection, but white counts are high, must follow up on Friday morning. Give us a NEW antibiotic and tells us to throw the other one away and to keep a close eye on her and to treat fever immediately w/ meds. (I'm just not sure I could do the Tyelnol enem thing. )Turns out B and his mom both had seizures as well and it's definitely an inherited gene. She has a 33% chance of having another one. They are not know to cause any brain damage or affect children in any developmental way and will stop sometime b/t the ages of 5 and 7.
All the clothes an objects that entered the hospital have been through the washer or diswasher and HAH is playing downstairs w/ her Daddy. We've all had a rough day and are trying to re-coup. Keep us in your prayers!

ThE eNd Is NeAr!

2007-04-03T11:40:00.000-05:00

Jackson will be here is just under 13 days. Monday, April 16 around 7:45 a.m. I will NO LONGER BE PREGNANT... just a mother of two children under 20 months. Ain't no thang... right??!??!!!

The emotional roller coaster (along w/ losing brains cells everytime I blink) is alive and well. If I can actually go for more than 12 hours w/out crying it's fabulous!

My daughter is so stinkin' funny. Last week B was in some other state, oh wait, just Memphis (which for those of you who are not aware is directly above the geographical center point of Hell), and HAH slept through the night in her own big girl bed for the first time EVER!!!! (She's been in it since the week of Christmas). Mommy decided that sleeping was more than worthy of a strawberry sundae from Sonic and a trip to the park. My friend Tricia pulled up in front of us and decided to join in on the celebration. We were happily playing in Toddler Town when Hadlee looked over at the zip line where a few big kids were playing and of course asked "THE" question, "Momma, z'at?" My ever lowering braind cells could not put together the words "zip line" so I said, "I don't know Hadlee, it's just a play thing." and waved my hands at it. At this precise moment Hadlee gave me a Mae Anne look (chin down, eyebrows together, mouth in a slight pout, hands on hips, head cocked at a slight angle) and then ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!!!! What the heck??!?!?!?! This child is 19 months old ~ SERIOUSLY???? Tricia was just rolling. That CAN NOT be a learned behavior, it's definitely a genetically predisposed tick of some sort... at least that's what I'm telling myself, just to feel better. :)

Ok, nap time is coming to and end and my blatter is being used as a trampoline so I'll end here. Keep us in your prayers! I am supposed to stop taking my Terbuteline (the med that stops labour) on Thursday so JMH could be here earlier than expected... but that just isn't going to happen. Mommy has plans! :)

Have you hugged your ribs today?

2007-03-08T22:38:00.000-06:00

Appreciate your body people!

Wednesday morning I was getting ready for work. Everything was going according to schedule. I was drying my hair and as any woman w/ fine hair can tell you, I had my head turned upside down to try to add body. When I sat up I heard "crack, crack" and thought I was going to pass out and die from pain. My ears started ringing, I was sweating profusely and had tunnel vision. I called for B to help (like 5 times b/c I have larengitis, he was sleeping and I was in INCREDIBLE pain!) and after dropping HAH off at Gramma and BooPaPa's went to the closest ER... note to self. Don't do that again, go further down the road and try not to get there at shift change. After filling out the paperwork and sitting for what seemed to be years we were finally granted an ultrasound of the rib cage (cuz pregnant women can't have x-rays). I have a hairline fracture in one of my ribs and it is crazy how much pain that causes! The ER "doctor" wouldn't do anything for me other than tell me to follow up w/ my OB. She gave me Tylenol w/ Codine. I love her. Codine is my new BFF! I've also got a "highly contageous virus" so I get to go through a z pack and take cough medicine w/ something in it that makes me very sleepy.

Functioning in life has taken on a whole new meaning. I've only worked one day this week and plan on going back next week to finish up the quarter and get grades posted. Then I believe my maternity leave will officially begin a couple of weeks early!

Please, hug your ribs and enjoy being able to go to the bathroom w/ out having to take pain medicine before hand!

Love,
Your broken and bandaged bloggin buddy.

43 days and counting...

2007-03-03T20:59:00.000-06:00

Until Jackson McCullough Hale arrives. Yup, we're near the finish line!

Earlier this evening B, Hadlee and I went to Target and registered for "duh behba" as HAH says. So, feel free to buy my son and little sumthin' if you wanna. :)

We were out of school Monday and Tuesday for the flu so I took advantage of the days off and painted Jack's room. Well, technically, just the bottom third of the walls, but it's beautiful if I do say so myself. We still have to get chair rail to put up but it's coming along! I'll post pictures... maybe one day.

I am nearly positive that I have either a broken or severly bruised rib. I've had a horrid cough for the past 2 1/2 weeks and can constantly feel one rib in particular. What the heck??!?!!??!!? It's bad when you can injure yourself w/ out rhyme or reason!

This week my principal and I found someone to take over my position during my maternity leave. I couldn't be happier w/ the decision. Holly did her student teaching w/ us back in the fall and I asked her then if she was interested but she was planning on being in grad school full time. Her aunt is the lead reading teacher and we were talking the other day when I found out that her plans had changed. I'm SO glad she's going to be in my classroom while I'm out. My goal is to make it until Spring Break (the first week of April) and be off until next "fall" (July 30). Keep your fingers crossed for us, huh?

B and I are in the market for a full sized 4 door truck. Got a favorite? I think he's leaning more towards the Dodge Ram than any other. I don't really have an opinion, I'm just ready for the purchase to be made and over with.

I was looking through a test prep book at work the other day and one section is actually entitled "Fixing Punctuation". Is TN the only state where "fixing" would be in a grammar and reading test prep book put out by the state testing agency? :)

Ok, my feet are hurting cuz I'm standing at B's laptop in the kitchen on tile floors so I'm gonna end for now.

Happy weekend.

So, like, there's a "new" blogger?

2007-02-11T21:22:00.000-06:00

Ok, it's really been a while since I posted. Things are flowing here in the Hale house hold. Hadlee will be 18 months on Wednesday and we have 9 weeks and counting (or maybe even less) until Jack makes his appearance into this world.

This pregnancy has been less than ideal... I was on bus duty a few weeks ago w/ contractions that were 3 minutes apart. Two doc's visits, tests and a couple of days of bed rest later and pre-term labor was ruled out. So I just have to get through the Braxton Hicks (Hix?) and live w/ the constant pressure, pain and uncomfortable state of things for 63 more days. Have any of you had to live through the FFN test(the test which determines if I'll go into labor in the next two weeks)? I've had it twice and get to endure it for the next two or three visits. Frankly, I'm miserable and on the verge of asking to go part time at work... Lord willing the wallet will allow for such a luxury!

Enough complainaniting. Got any advice on getting your nearly 18 month old to sleep through the night in her own bed? She was doing a fabulous job until a few weeks ago when we encountered her first ear infection (first time on antibiotics and the whole shebang). Since then she's good to go until about 2:00 and then one of us sleeps w/ her (usually B, b/c I just can't do it during the week). We haven't a clue as to what to do to get back into that beatiful 9:00 to 7:00 routine. Believe me, we're wide open to suggestions!

Jack's room is coming along. I got a beautiful steal on his bedding when Pottery Barn Kids put last year's designs on clearance. I got everything for $125!!!! Happiness exudes!

I reckon that's 'bout it for now. I'll try to go less than 2 months b/t updates. Happy Valentine's Day bloggies! (And just for your viewing pleasure... Hadlee's first major hair milestone ~ pigtails!!!!!)

Seriously?

2006-12-21T23:47:00.000-06:00

A few days ago we went to see the good lady who runs the ultrasound machine at Dr. M's office. I was, of course, expecting for her to say, "It's a girl"... in my family that's all that my generation seems to be capable of having. BUT, much to our surprise there were boy parts showing. loud and proud! I made her show me several different times, just to make sure. Completely shocked, I was! So the week of April 16 we'll have a son. His name will be Jackson Somthing or Other Hale and he'll be cuter than c-r-a-p. (I try not to say that word on a regular basis anymore since I'm a mom and all, but I'm sooo not above spelling it!)

Hmmm, in Hadlee land all is running, talking, laughing, putting together sentences ("I see Chico. What is that? I want that.) and taking apart anything that looks remotely put together. She is a force to reckon with! Anything red and white is "Danta". I thought she was a genius in her Santa sightings until she pointed to my dixie cup and said, "Danta, Danta, Danta." Then I picked up my seriously deflated mommy-ego and said, "Good job, Pud! Way to correlate red and white with an internationally adored symbol!" No, that's a lie. I couldn't say anything at all. I just stared and shook my head. She is incredibly into animals, esp. cows, ducks, dogs and horses... which just so happen to surround us in our rural life. When the cattle across the street come by to peek in our kitchen windows HAH just about goes into DT's mooing at them. It's super funny! When I ask the Pud if she's ready to be a big sister to baby Jack the answer is always the same. "NO!" At least she's not indecisive?

"Danta" is bringing big girl bedding to Hadlee. Which means an incredibly large amount of moving furniture and boxes for B and me. We're moving the nursery furniture into the current guest room and giving HAH what was my grandparents' first bedroom set as a married couple. Hadlee's big girl room and Jackson's nursery are going to exude Pottery Barn Kids. I also plan on adding some incredibly cute paint details to both rooms, but it'll have to wait for a few weeks. Christmas break is only 2 weeks long! Pictures may or may not be posted in the next millenium.

B is really enjoying being a real estate agent... anyone need a referral? We can hook you up in a millisecond! I'm doing well w/ my Arbonne business and am hoping, praying, and crossing every joint possible that I'll be able to stay at home or only teach part time next school year. I REALLY enjoy teaching, esp. 8th graders ~ we work well together on most occasions, but I can't imagine a greater gift than to be able to stay at home w/ my babies and soak up as many moments as possible.

My digits aren't exactly keeping up w/ my brain signals right now so I'm going to stop. Hopefully I'll be able to post again before next year. If not, Happy Holidays and many blessings to you all.

Life

2006-11-13T20:11:00.000-06:00

Who knew that being an adult would require so many decisions... many of which are not fun in any way?

Brandon and I have been faced w/ so many life altering decisions in the past 5 months. When we went on the vacation from Hell in July to Pawley's Island (we'll never again go to SC by choice, bad things happen to us there) he was laid off ~ on a business trip! We've been through many different emotions since then and once again are faced w/ big decisions which will affect our lives and the babies for a very long time. Please keep us in your prayers. I'll update when we know what's going on for sure.

In baby land things are progressing. To be completly honest, I've not been at all excited about this pregnancy in any way... until last Monday. We went to my new OB for a regular check up. I had to see the nurse practioner (sp?) and she couldn't find the baby's heartbeat. I didn't get worried b/c I can feel her (yeah, I really think it's another her) moving around. After about 15 minutes she went to get another doctor, who in turn couldn't find a heartbeat either. We went to the ultrasound room and she turned on the machine and we really got to see the baby's features for the first time. No gender check, simply making sure there was a heartbeat. Her profile is identical to Hadlee's. It was really neat, and uplifting to finally get over feeling guilty about not being excited about the new baby.

WOW! Confession IS good for the soul!

I've been having horrible headaches over the past few days. So bad that they move down into my jaws and are nearly debilitating (can you tell I'm teaching vocabulary?). So today I called and scheduled a consultation w/ the local chiropractor in order to get in to see the massage therapist. My insurance pays for an hour massage a week. Can you imagine setting that much time aside for yourself?!?!?! Holy Moses ~ what an idea!

Just four more days until Thanksgiving Break ~ an entire week to be w/ HAH, sleep until 7:00 (hopefully), and try to get bedrooms ready to rearrange. We're putting HAH in a full sized bed and setting up the nursery around Christmas for #2.

I'l leave you w/ pictures of our ladybug. She was too cute!

Happy Pumkining

2006-10-25T17:43:00.000-05:00

We've been quite busy lately... And it looks as if, w/ the holidays rolling in, it's only going to get busier. I just don't know where people get the energy to do so much!

Tomorrow night is the much awaited 8th grade Halloween Costume Dance. I'm going as Mrs. Goth America. Pink bridesmaid dress, black hair, lips, nails and eyes, tiarra (borrowed from a student who loves me!), and a sash to boot. Hadlee gets to join me as a chaperone (or however you spell that word). She'll be the cutest little ladybug on the dancefloor! I'll post pictures sometime before her wedding day.

The pregnancy is going ok. I was going to a doctor that I was less than thrilled w/. If only my wonderful Dr. Bullard wasn't two hours away... sigh. So I get to change doctors and am joining a group where I'll see someone different at every visit. I just hope that my doc is all about scheduling the c-section a week or two earlier than my due date. I think I'm 14 weeks along at thins point.

I guess that's all the ever-so-exciting news for now. Thank you for stopping by, all 3 1/2 of you who read this from time to time. L8r.

Music to my ears...

2006-10-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

Two words: FALL BREAK!

Thank the good Lord above for time off to spend at home relaxing, cleaning, organizing and visiting w/ friends. The weather is beginning to change, as well as the leaves. I ordered HAH's Halloween costume (Thanks SG!) and it'll be here in a few days. We're heading to the local pumpkin patch, corn maize, and petting zoo on Friday w/ friends from our core group ~ it's going to be wonderful. I hope you get to enjoy time off soon too!

In the news: Brandon is now officially an affiliate real estate broker for Keller Williams in Murfreesboro!!! Yea Honey, we're so proud of you!!!

Baby Update

2006-09-07T18:34:00.000-05:00

It's officially due April 26, and I'm 7 weeks along instead of 15 (YEA! I'm not one of THOSE women who didn't know that she was pregnant until the delivery!!!) We saw the little buuterbean, heard the heartbeat (which was 138 ~ my sister is already saying it's a boy.) and saw that all looks good. The timing is just wonderful. I'll teach up until mid April, right after TCAP testing is over and say GOODBYE! Hopefully finances will work out so that if I return to teaching it will only be on a part time basis. God is good, life is great, Hadlee is screaming.... gotta jet.

In the news...

2006-09-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

Finally!

We had Hadlee's first birthday party this past Saturday. It was so much fun! Just a small gathering of close friends and family for a cookout, splish-splashing fun, a super cool butterfly pinata and a great ladybug and butterfly cake. HAH got some really neat gifts. One inparticular that her daddy and I are quite excited about....

Her last gift was a t-shirt that read: "FUTURE BIG SISTER, FEB. 2007!"

How 'bout them buscuits??!?!?!?! :)

Happy 1st Birthday Hadlee!!!

2006-08-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to my sweet little beach bunny!!! It's so odd to know that an entire year has gone by; each day bringing with it numerous joys, laughs, and even a few tears along the way. You are such a blessing to Daddy and me. We love you sweet Pud. You are my sunshine, my angel of the morning and my special gift.

Here.

2006-08-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

Here, a word I heard a minimum of 56 times today. Our two hour registration day was this morning. I'm beat. Sitting in inservice meetings, anticipating an entirely new (THANK YOU GOD!) job, getting to know the little in's and out's of a different school, system, subject, prinicpal and fellow teachers. It's all a lot to take in... As well as trying to get my Arbonne clientelle and business builders up and running. (Seriously, anyone want some samples? I can SOOOO get them to you ASAP!!!)

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Things on the personal/ family end are looking up. We're adjusting to the new swing of things and waiting, hoping, praying, praying praying, hoping. It'll all come out in the wash I guess. Whatever is meant to happen will and we'll adjust and move on. Thank you for your prayers.

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My little Punkin Doodle is going to be one in exactly 11 days. I'm just not ready to saddle that horse yet. She's cutting teeth like crazy, 6 at a time for now. Poor baby. In between the pain she's as happy as can be. I'm so thankful that there is very little remembrance of life pre-kindergarten, esp. at times like this.

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I'll leave you w/ this last thought....

It's almost FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!!!!

2006-07-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

We're back, safe and sound from Pawleys Island, SC. It was both a wonderful and absolutely horrid trip. Hadlee LOVED the beach. We have fabulous pictures and video of her taking the sea by storm. After 3 days of sun I had to get some shade so we went to Myrtle Beach to the aquarium (which is identical to the one in Gatlinburg, but HAH loved seeing the fish) and Margaritaville. I let Hadlee choose anything in the gift shop as a souvineer... she's extatic over her beer coozie ~ I kid you not.
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We had a lllooonnnnngggg 13 hour drive back home. HAH faired better than B and I in many ways. As long as a movie was playing and one of us was sitting beside her all was well. We watched Finding Nemo, Madagascar and Annie 4 times each. Yeah, it's a little much. We're going to have to extend the dvd library.

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I recently became an Independent Consultant for Arbonne International. So if you want to help my family be debt free, have fabulous vacations, and for me to drive a Mercedes please let me know what I can hook you up w/ and if you'd like to join the Arbonne family! :)

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I have 10 more days until the school year officially begins. MAN, the past 2 months have flown by! While we were gone to cursed SC, my mom-in-law worked in my classroom gettting it ready for me ~ isn't that so sweet? Now all I have to do is get my bulletin boards ready and get my first couple of weeks of lessons planned!

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Isn't it crazy how one moment in time can completely change your life course? Sometimes it's absolutely wonderful ~ finding out you're expecting, the birth of your child, graduation... and other times it's just completely deflating. We're in the latter part right now. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers ~ nothing life threatening, but nothing life lifting either. Maybe I'll give more info later. Please, just lift us up if you get the chance.

I'm addicted, addicted, addicted tooo....

2006-06-29T11:20:00.000-05:00

Moolatte's from the DQ. True confession. There isn't a DQ in our little town (though we ARE getting a Starbucks which should be opening SOOON) so I drive 25 minutes ONE WAY just to grab a caramel Moolatte. Yeah, it's pretty sad.

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We've had a super busy week so far...

Shopping and brunch w/ the Gramma and Abuelita on Monday.
Cleaning / Organizing my classroom (w/ Abuelita) and more shopping (w/ Gramma) on Tuesday.
Huntsville for lunch w/ the Cox clan (It was GREAT to see you all!!!) and even MORE shopping on Wednesday, followed by VBS (HAH's 1st!) at our old church.
Today we were supposed to do more classroom cleaning and organizing but HAH is once again teething, so she's coughing and dripping from her little nose. I decicded that since we were gone for 12 hours straight yesterday we'd just take a real "stay at home" day and relax. I called my favorite (& to be completely honest, only) sister who works at the peditrition's (did I spell that right?) office and called in more Zyrtec for the Pud.
We may be heading back to Huntsville tomorrow to visit w/ my dear friedn Vette and her nieces ~ depending on the coughing and nasal drippidge.
My friend Krysta had Carson on Tuesday ~ he was 5' 13", just like HAH!

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Brandon's been in Memphis on business and he's on his way home (hence, all the shopping).

I have "Failure to Launch" downstairs to watch.

My dear friend Tricia is coming home for a visit from the anti-daylight-savings-time-state. We've not seen her since Christmas ~ FRIGGIN' MOVE BACK ALREADY!!!!!

Vacation is only a WEEK AWAY!!!!! I cannot wait ~ we're more excited about this trip than any other we've been on... Hmmm, could it be in part b/c of the Pud????

I have MANY new updates for the links. Maybe I'll get them done before Christmas.

Happy Stay-At-Home Day!!!!

Pictures of the Pud...

2006-06-22T12:07:00.000-05:00

Hadlee's 9 month pictures. Probably my favorites thus far. I'm sure that if you click on them to enlarge they'll be grainy ~ oh well. Hope you're having a blast (maybe even an oreo blast from Sonic, mmmmmm!)
Speaking of Sonic... we're hungry! Toodles.

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P.S. For the "passive no more" Gramma.... Hadlee can actually say "Amma" when referring to her Gramma. I was simply making a point that a 10 month old whose native tongue is English was speaking a very loooonnng Spanish word before she said "Momma". We love you, no matter the degree of passivity!

Signs of toddlerhood

2006-06-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

We now have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. It's actually a good baby sitter. The walls of it are made of plexiglass so HAH can see herself in it as she stands there beating and talking in Swahili (or Ferangi, depending on her language choice of the day).

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Today HAH discovered the tiolet... need I say more?

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She's now begun sleeping through the night (well, we're going on 2 nights in a row) and waking up and playing in her crib for up to half and hour (that's long enough to shower and shave!).

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This just in... paying back the student loan mafia sucks.

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I got in my classroom today. This is so going to be a great job! I'll only have five classes, all on the same level, reading the same material, studying the same things... that equals ONLY ONE LESSON PLAN PER DAY!!!!!

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We got a couch for the bonus room last week. Microfiber suade, chocolate, along w/ a cherry end table for $10 (it has some damage on a corner that isn't visible under picutres of my oh-so-precious nieces). With those two additions the bonus room suddenly has a meaning and is one of my favorite places to hang out w/ Hadlee. The couch is like a bed of Godiva strait out of a very nicely wrapped box w/ a pretty bow in top ~ delicious!

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HAH's 9 month pictures are downstairs and I'm much too lazy to go down and come back up to load them into the computer. As soon as I get over the laziness I'll give you the gift of peeking on my little baby doll... You're welcome. :)

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Why is it that she can say "Abuelita" (which to the untrained ear may sound a bit more like "Abba bibba"), but refuses to say "Mama"?

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Neighbor Barb's son (we'll call him Barb, Jr.) is obsessed w/ Hadlee. He's around 2 years old, constantly has more dirt showing on his face than skin, rarely wears more than a diaper and has a 1,000 watt smile. The other day we were outside watering plants, I was turned around for a minute or two and when I looked back at the baby she was oohing and gooing at him WHILE HE WAS STANDING AT HER STROLLER!!! EEEEKKKKKKK!!! I kind of jumped asked him how he was doing, he answered in what I must only assume was Barbarian and took off running towards his house... Hadlee started whining when he left. I'm just not prepared to deal w/ such issues!

YEAH BABY!!!!

2006-06-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

I'm in... the newest reading teacher at Coffee County Middle School! Woo~hoo!!!

When the principal called to offer me the job (while I was shopping in Nine West at Opry Mills) he said, "BUT you have to promise me that you'll be loud. We're concerned about you being too soft spoken." SERIOUSLY???? I just lauged and said, "I promise that I'm loud, just not in interviews." Too funny!

Did I ever tell you that B and I took our honeymoon to Prince Edward Island, Canada??? I fell in love w/ the place in a book... do you know which series I'm referring to?

Interview

2006-06-11T23:19:00.000-05:00

I have an interview at 8:30 in the morning on my old stomping grounds. It's for a middle school Language Arts position. The prinicpal was my 8th grade history teacher ~ I have found that it seriously pays to be a good student (or what some may call a "teacher's pet")! So, wish me luck, say a prayer, find a penny, pick it up and then send it to me... whatever.

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Single mom-ing it this week while B makes his rounds to GA, SC, and NC. HAH and I will probably spend a lot of time at my parents' house "helping" Gramma recover from her surgery...

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I'm looking into getting bonus room furniture... probably microfiber suade. Any suggestions? I really want a sleeper sofa so that HAH has a great place to hang out and have sleepovers w/ her cousins and friends. That'll definitely be a delivery / set up for the store!

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We finished the patio... but I think the pictures are still on the other camera. They'll be posted soon, I know you're haniging on anxiously to see them!

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It's waaaaayyyy past my bedtime. Remember me in the morning!

Cheese!

2006-06-05T11:33:00.000-05:00

< Standing at her noisy pulley-upey thingy and sending air zerberts.
< Doing what Mommy does't' do best... "cooking". We're (her gramma and I) are SOOOO excited we can finally get a bow in her hair!!! If you look very closely you can see her first curl abover her left ear!
< One of my favorite pictures EVER!!! Practicing her princess wave (wash the window, screw in the lightbulb, wash the window, screw in the light bulb...).
< HAH LOVES bath time. Her favorite toy is the red cup, which is the tower's top on the castle behind her.
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HAH is successfully crawling, pulling up, saying things [Today's term was "BABY, BABY, Baby, baby" when playing w/ her American girl doll from her great grandmother.] (not that I can understand them all...) and SHE HAS CURLS!!!!! They are so sweet and precious and cute and I think they are even going to be boingy curls!!! I'm just plum extatic over the whole thing!
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Note to self: When filling out an application to be an ENGLISH teacher, white out all grammatical errors!
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This past week B and I (but mostly just B) spent time, money and lots of sweat equity in putting down 3,000 pounds of flat rock for a patio off of the back porch. We lack about 5 rocks, a few bags of top soil and some grass seed before being finished (not to mention the adarondack chairs, bench, fire pit, and flowers that I want to add... and maybe a pergola too!) I'll post pictures in the next 10 - 20 years for you.
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I have tried 17 million times to post pics of HAH. hate blogger today... am removing the l and a g, adding an o, and calling it booger!!!

Mommy's girl...

2006-05-16T19:42:00.000-05:00

This picture is from late March, right before we moved into the new house; it's probably one of my favorite snapshots of The Pud.

We had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. The highlight was going on a shopping expedition at Green Hills Mall in West Nashville. We did a bit of damage at Janie & Jack, Restoration Hardware (where I was able to get my gift, new bedding), Davis Kidd and the Cheesecake Factory... it was WONDERFUL!!! It was our first trip to all of the above store, but most definitely not our last!

Only 5 1/2 days and one hour left and all will be FANTASTIC!!!!

HAH is working on crawling in a forward motion. She's go scooting, rolling and crawling backwards down pat... and this just in ~ tooth #3. Poor baby, they're coming in at the rate of one per week. I know she's got to be a bit on the miserable side ~ but she's a trooper, only a little grumpy at bedtime.

Speaking of bedtime... we're off for a night-night bah, songs and sweet dreams kisses.

Crazy ol' Loon

2006-05-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

I've reached that point... the one that my father warned me about... the point where I am dangerously close to BEING HIM. Really, it's almost too funny for words. The past couple of weeks have been more than stressful around here. I decided that instead of being passive, I'd turn into a more aggressive type. In other words, I'm being a McCullough through and through. Read on for a few examples.

1. Have I told you that my students call me Mrs. Mayhem? (A side note from our friends at dictionary.com "The offense of willfully maiming or crippling a person. Infliction of violent injury on a person or thing; wanton destruction: A state of violent disorder or riotous confusion; havoc.") (I have a t-shirt and everything. If I can remember, I'll take a picture of it and post it for you.) You have to say it in a very gruff, wrestler announcer voice ~ that's how they do it. Sometimes I perform on demand for them and strike a pose. It's just a quirky little thing b/t my misfits and me... word has gotten out that I'm a crazy woman who'll pounce unexpectdly on a weakling. The kids are looking at me in a different light... and I kind of like it.

2. I've joined the Dark Side at work... it's a group of teacher's who've been wronged by the same man (see last post, btw... he lied). Tomorrow I'll be wearing black.

3. My neighbor is scary... she has barbed wire tatoos on BOTH arms and isn't a southerner (This is "Barb", not Hezekiah and Jedediah's mom, the rabid possum family). Monday as B, HAH and I were taking our usual evening stroll, two of the four neighbor children were playing in the road as we walked by. One of the girls (who I'd guess to be around 3) picked a flowering weed, took a wiff, looked at me and said, "Aren't the flowers just lovely?" I agreed and asked how she was doing when her older sister said, "Jayden, we aren't supposed to talk to the mean lady." [Enter high pitched sound of shock here!] WHAT??? MEAN LADY, HUH??? As we get up the drive way (and while I'm still recovering from the "mean lady" comment) B asks me if I'd heard what Barb said as we walked by. Um, no her kids just referred to me as Mean Lady, what did she say? Apparently in a booming, sarcastic tone to her mother she said, "Boy I sure wish I'd read the restrictions on this neighborhood before we moved in. Gotta have a 6 foot privacy fence around an above ground pool!" (Did I tell you that I not only have the road named after me, but that I also wrote the restrictions? I'm looking out for my property value and my daughter's life ~ call me a snob if you want to but don't bring in your PWT junk...) The great thing about this is... I don't have to worry about her four children coming over to play! Maybe they'll move soon.

4. When I talked to the CPA woman last week (her name is actually Melba, like the toast, no fitting nick name needed for this story) I was very proud of the fact that I 1. Did not threaten to kill anyone working for the company or close family members. 2. Didn't utter even the first curse word under my breath. I DID contemplate pulling the Expedition sideways in the road to block in all of the subcontractors who were at Barb's house, getting B's 357, pointing it in their general direction and asking them nicely to just finish up the work at my house before heading on home. However, due to the niceness with which I have handled the no-work-on-the-house-conflict my back steps are getting bricked. Now... if only I can figure out a way to get them to pay for HAH's diapers for the next year and a half...

5.I was talking to my co-teacher, mentor, man translator, Kenny last week and commented on the fact that I had made a metamorphosis of sorts lately. He just smiled and agreed with me... and then added, "It's great. This look of death comes on your face and people react. It makes life kind of exciting around here. I like it."

Happy day of darkness from the crazy loon in room 8.

harASSment

2006-05-03T21:34:00.000-05:00

This is an e-mail I received today from a parent... and I must let you know that it's one of the nicest ones he's sent. I've never met this person face to face, but I can tell you that I'd rather share dinner w/ Charles Manson than him. He makes me want to hurt something and say not nice things...

I see very little improvement on his grade report. I saw it this morning5/3. Science, still an F. History no change. Math, too low. Language,I don't remember it. I am starting to think that this flight school was only to maintain state payments to the school system for the boys attendance.

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My principal called me today and said the Director of Schools hadn't received a letter of resignation from me and asked that I turn one in. I thought it was kind of odd, but I did as I was asked. I gave Mr. C the letter. He said, "Thanks, I'm going over to see him in a few mintues and I'll deliver this." Not five minutes later he's hollering (literally) for me down the hallway. (I must tell you that he has a way of talking to me like my dad does when he thinks I should do things "his" way... and I hate when they do that. Like I'm a four year old who's incapable of making decisions... but I digress...) He tells me that "In the business world" when you say something it's not set in stone, but when you put that something to paper it becomes irreversible. By turning in my letter I was saying that I would no longer be an employee at the end of the school year (Yep, we're all on the same page here.) He goes into his spill (have I told you that he's a former Navy man who always has an agenda and you MUST see things his way?) and I smile and nod as I learned to do years ago (Believe me, I've had lots of practice.) He preaches his sermon and I say, "I'd rather work at Starbucks than be in that room." (Still w/ me?) So he pulls out his ace... "Didn't I tell you that it was going to be different next year? No more zero tolerance, only behavior problems like [stundent]." No, you didn't tell me that Mr. C, Mrs. B (the SPED director) told me she was going to try to do that, but Dr. P (Director of Schools) said no, as of earlier this week. Did I tell you I'd rather work at Starbucks?

I'll spare you the rest of the conversation, basically what he said was hold on to the letter until you are absolutely sure that you will not take the job. You only have to give 30 days resignation and don't burn any bridges (meaning, if you quit we won't let you back in as a regular ed teacher).

So, WHY DID YOU ASK ME TO WRITE THE FRIGGIN' LETTER IN THE FIRST PLACE?????????!?!?!?!?!!

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Have I told you that I hate my job?

Bad Blogger

2006-05-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

I'm just not motivated right now. It seems as if decades ago many of you out there (and myself included) changed urls... I'm going to other blogs in order to read the handful of posts that I do. Sad... I know.

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Still waiting on our house to get finished. It's really beginning to piss me off. And I don't mean that jokingly. I told the CPA of the company that from our end it seems that they are only out to get our $$$ and not finish the job as they should. As of Friday what is unfinished becomes warfare and I'm a general... I'll let the world know that this company doesn't finish what they begin. Six weeks is WAAAYYY to long to go w/out the house being finished.

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HAH officially has a tooth (bottom right) and is beginning to crawl. She's just too cute! We had to take her to the doctor yesterday. She's on Zyrtec for allergies ~ isn't that just sad???

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I told my bosses last week that I wouldn't return next year in my current teaching postition. Apparently both of them were shocked... but no one else in the entire world. Seriously, when I tell you that my job is HELL and I HATE IT, should you be surprised that I'm not returning???

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B has begun his travelling stint. For the next month he'll be on the road at least one night each week. This summer we'll get to join in on some mini vacations but until then it's just HAH and me.

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I've got some work to get done so I'll end. Just wanted to let my 3 faithful readers know the little tidbits. Ciao baby.

Here

2006-04-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

(HAH in her car seat on the lllooonnnggggggg drive back home... after poop #2, but before poop #3,496.)

Here.
Tired.
Glad Friday is just a night's sleep away.
New Orleasn was Fab-u-lous!
Still hunting for things in and around the house.
Ready to plant.
Yard not complete.
HAH is so funny.
She laughs at almost anything.
It makes me smile.
TCAP and End of course tests this week and the following two.
Then I can actually have fun w/ my lessons.
Pictures are on camera... wires are... uh, somewhere.
Will post pics when wires are retrieved (the pic above is from phone ~ ohh at my technological genius).
Til then ~ Tah tah.

We've moved!!!

2006-04-11T22:11:00.000-05:00

Finally... blog access, internet at home, and television... all the comforts of home! We've been in the house since 4/1. Just got internet today (via our friends the satelite people from Mars) and are getting into a nice routine again. I have pictures of things in their "furniture is arranged but I can't put holes in those oh-so-pretty-walls yet, so nothing is hanging up" state. We love it, it feels like home, and has a good bit of room for our family to grow.

We now live on the road named May Anne. I love living in a small town and knowing so many people! We're on "the old May farm" and originally it was going to be called May Lane ~ which I thought was really cute. Then someone at 911 was having a crotchety day and decided it couldn't be that b/c some road in town had a similar name. So it was going to be Earl May Road. (Can you hear the disgust in my typing???) I told my realtor that was horrid ~ I'm proud to be a Tennessean, but seriously, EARL MAY??? Hello, it sounds like we don't have shoes, teeth, or houses with permenant foundations!!! She asked what it should be, but that the word "May" had to be included, so my step mother said, "Why not May Anne?" Thus I live on my own lane. :)

More cattle live near and around us then humans. Our nearest neighbors have 7 children who are all home schooled. Last week they shot a rabid possum and brought us cookies. Interesting to say the least!

Summer is just around the corner. Only 31 1/2 days and 1 hour of school left. During that time I'll be busy trying to find another position. I WILL NOT do behavior mod again!!!! Give me a regular ed classroom where I can plan a regular day and be involved in regular activities ~ I'll be a very happy woman! {During Spring Break only 4 of my 11 students were in lock up ~ I'm so proud.}

Thrusday we leave for the Big Easy. Can't wait for the time away ~ our first trip since HAH was born... I'm sure it'll be fantastic. Happy Easter all!

2006-03-29T10:06:00.000-06:00

My heart is breaking... as I am sorting, organizing and packing for the big move (ONLY 2 MORE DAYS!!!) and looking over HAH's clothes as I pack them to go in the attic. It's killing me. She'll never wear these items again. It feels like just yesterday that I was going from shower to shower opening these precious items, getting excited about washing and putting them away, wondering what this little girl would look like, what her personality traits would be... And now here I sit w/ tears on my face putting them in a box that will collect dust until another little soul is ready to wear them. It hurts... Just thought I'd let you know.

Found me, huh?

2006-03-23T21:28:00.000-06:00

I'm glad you're here... as long as you are NOT one of my students!!! One of my little jr. high guys googled me today and asked if I had a webiste. I did what every self-respecting teacher would do... I lied and made him get off of the computer ~ and then headed home to change what I could to get my name off of google. I hope this works!

Must get ready for the last day before my busiest spring break ever! We're closing on the house next Firday morning and the movers are coming Friday afternoon. Lord willing everything will work well and the timing will be perfect. If not, then I guess I'll be doing more lifting than originally planned.

Toodles.

Still Kickin'

2006-03-20T22:19:00.000-06:00

Just a note to say hi and that I'm still here. We're supposed to close on the house on the 31st. Thankfully Spring Break is from the 27th until April 9 so I'll have some extra time to pack, unpack and decorate a bit before heading back for the last six weeks before summer break.

Things are so hectic and busy right now. I'm tutoring in the afternoons for some extra decorating $$$ and not getting home until after 5:00. By the time we sit down to eat, talk a bit and bathe HAH it's 9:00 and time to hit the sack. No wonder moms are so tired!

We'll be spending Easter weekend in New Orleans with my college family for Kaleb's third birthday ~ I think we've spent all but 2 Easter's in N.O. since B and I have been married. It's a great tradition! We're going to have a crawfish boil, train party and eat at some mega cool place for Easter dinner. What a great way to spend q time w/ some of my dearest friends!!

When we get back from LA it TCAP testing for two weeks. So much pressure is put on us to teach to this stinkin' test... I'm ready for it to be over and done with! Then it's end of course testing for my freshmen... tests that must be passed in order to go on to the 10th grade ~ even more pressure.. and sometime in there I'm supposed to take my kids on a field trip to see a brain disection (and probably to the Spaghetti Factory just to be cruel and super gross!), laser tag and to Joe's Crab Shack. Yeah, summer couldn't come quickly enough.

B, HAH and I are planning a summer vacation to Santa Rosa, FL ~ one of our favorite spots to relax, and possibly a fall trip to Arizona to visit one of my best friends and her husband before they head off to China for a year... and THEN an Alaskan cruise for just the two of us in the summer of '07.

Plans, plans, plans... where would we be without them?

This may be my last post for a while. Busy packing, closing and moving... our new house is WAAAYY out in the c ountry where no cable, nor dsl lines exist so dial up it will be for a good while. Maybe I'll see you around. Til next time...

The pictures are in...

2006-03-08T21:32:00.000-06:00

Hadlee Anne ~ 6 months old

Sorry that the pictures are so grainy. {For some unknow reason, the photographer puts them on a paper to make it difficult to get high quality reprints.} :)

Couldn't you just suck her little face off???

Ya heard???

2006-03-07T20:28:00.000-06:00

I heard that the local school board members' perception of my class is that I have parties all the time and take my students on weekly field trips for pizza. In actuality, we've had one party (Christmas) and taken 4 field trips (which I don't consider to be many since we have a classroom van for such purposes!), two of which have been to our local retirement home (and Manchester's tallest building, coming in at a whopping 5 stories tall). I asked the person who told me this information why the board members just didn't call and ask ~ his reply was, "Mae Anne, that's not how things are done." (I could hear him adding "Rookie." to the end of that sentence in his head.) I just don't understand. I'm a very detail oriented person. I enjoy having the facts of a specific situation. While I love the small town atmosphere ~ I DETEST the small town politics!!!

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We should have HAH's six month pictures by early next week. I'll post them for you to oohh and ahhh over.

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One of my students got upset today. We went on a walk to help calm down. (And also had to go over the fact that all 7th graders are temporary idiots who learn by example, not by being told.) On our way back into the classroom I told him he had to make his classmates think that I'd just paddled him and that it hurt like the dickens... he pulled it off. They weren't too happy with me. Yep, just like it should be! I think he deserves at least a few points of extra credit on his third quarter science final, how 'bout you?

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13 days 'til our TWO WEEK spring break...

Attempted, but failed...

2006-03-05T22:11:00.000-06:00

I have tried on more than one occasion to turn off word recognition. It didn't work. If you know how to do so let me know and sometime in the next 10 years when I have a spare moment I'll do my best to turn it off.

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Lights are up, walls are painted, cabinets are installed.... but things are in all the wrong places. Crap.

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This week and next week I'll be getting more students. At most 8 more... made up of eighth and ninth graders. I'll be teaching every subject in the entire school, including Spanish. Among the legal things I know is how to say, "Where is the bathroom?" Again, crap.

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B's heading out of town for a few days. HAH and I will be living it up while he's gone. We may do more than one load of laundry, even put it away and pack a box or two for the upcoming move. Yeah, I know ~ you wish you were here.

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Buffett's summer tour is coming as close as Hotlanta. The concert will take place on my 5th wedding anniversary. I'll have to take 1/2 day off of work in order to get tickets. You better believe I'll do it!

2006-02-27T21:05:00.000-06:00

Can you read what my pj's say? Just for you Ms. Terri!!!

Throwing what is known as a "McCullough Fit." {I'm just not quite sure where in the world her lil' temper comes from.}

In my bouncey chair w/ my favorite doll ~ we call her "Squeaky Baby".

Spending time at home on Mommy's day off.

FYI

2006-02-22T19:44:00.000-06:00

Subject: Harvard University

Harvard University announced over the weekend that from now onundergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition. In making the announcement, Harvard's president Lawrence H. Summers said,"When only 10 percent of the students in Elite higher education comefrom families in lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough. We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education tothe lower half of the income distribution." If you know of a family earning less than $40,000 a year with an honorstudent graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants topay the tuition. The prestigious university recently announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families can go to Harvard for free...no tuition and no student loans! To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $40,000 ayear visit Harvard's financial aid website at:http://adm-is.fas.harvard.edu/FAO/index.htm or call the school's financial aid office at (617) 495-1581.

Dream crushing...

2006-02-21T19:26:00.000-06:00

Your Career Type: Social

You are helpful, friendly, and trustworthy.Your talents lie in teaching, nursing, giving information, and solving social problems.
You would make an excellent:
Counselor - Dental Hygienist - LibrarianNurse - Parole Officer - Personal TrainerPhysical Therapist - Social Worker - Teacher
The worst career options for your are realistic careers, like truck driver or farmer.

What's" Your Ideal Career?

{Dang it... I always secretly wanted to be a truck driver.}

You're a true Tennessean if...

2006-02-16T20:31:00.000-06:00

1. You can properly pronounce Ooltewah, La Vergne, Etowah and Maryville.
2. You think people who complain about the heat in their states are sissies.
3. A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.
4. You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door, but by the availability of shade.
5. Stores don't have bags or shopping carts, they have sacks and buggys.
6. You've seen people wear bib overalls at weddings and funerals.
7. You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
8. You measure distance in minutes.
9. You go to the lake because you think it is like going to the ocean.
10. You listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit.
11. You know cowpies are not made of beef.
12. Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.
13. You know someone who has a belt buckle bigger than your fist.
14. You aren't surprised to find movie rental, ammunition, beer, and bait all in the same store.
15. A Mercedes Benz isn't a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado Extended Bed Crew Cab is.
16. You know everything goes better with Ranch.
17. You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply.
18. You actually get these jokes and are "fixin'" to send them to your friends.
And finally: 19. You are 100% Tennessean if you have ever had this conversation: "You wanna coke?" "Yeah." "What kind?" "Dr Pepper."

Need to lose a few minutes of your life that you'll never regain?

2006-02-13T21:29:00.000-06:00

Then take this quiz...

You are a
Social Liberal
(60% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(21% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Democrat

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

2006-02-11T11:09:00.000-06:00

Living at work.
Stressed out.
Missing time w/ HAH and B.
Stressed out.
Ready for spring break.
Stressed out.
Papers due for school.
Stressed out.
Slow progress on the house.
Stressed out.
Constant tension headaches.
Stressed out.
Glad that the teaching calendar is only 180 days.
Stressed out.
Needing to head to the beach.
Stressed out.
Wish I had a drink w/ salt on the rim...
Stressed out.
... And a cute pink umbrella.

How well do you know these lyrics???

2006-02-06T13:29:00.000-06:00

Where's the church, who took the steeple
Religion's in the hands of some crazy a$$ people
Television preachers with bad hair and dimples
The God's honest truth is it's not that simple

It's the Buddhist in you, it's the pagan in me
It's the Muslim in him, she's Catholic ain't she?
It's that born again look, it's the wasp and the Jew
Tell me what's goin on, I ain't got a clue

...Tell me who wrote 'em, the title and album and I'll promise not to send you the funk that sent me home from work at 8:30 this morning.

Tidbits...

2006-02-04T00:33:00.000-06:00

HAH is officially sitting up and rolling from her tummy to her back.

I am now "highly qualified" to teach LANGUAGE ARTS grades 7 - 12... isn't it ironic, don't ya think?

Question from one of my students (who may have violated a zero tolerance policy), "Mrs. Mae Anne, do you do drugs?" I'm not sure that he was worried about my health...

After he completed my summative report for my evaluations, my principal gave me a hug and said, "Welcome to the family." ~ He likes me! He really, really likes me!

My Christmas tree is still up... and decorated.

I have yet to begin a research paper which is due by 11:55 p.m. tonight.

I'm still buried under a mountain of paperwork... being in the SPED dept. will do that to a gal. After Feb. 17 a majority of it will be over and done with and (hopefully) I'll be able to relax a bit.

I'm going to be an "Aunt Mave" again!!! Congrats to my New Orleans sister and family for baby #2 ~ she'll be with us in September!!!!

There is nothing like talking out life's problems with a dear friend over the comfort of Cracker Barrel food... & looking around at the fullets (female mullets) and thanking God that our problems really aren't as bad as they seem.

It's bed time... Nighty nite.

All at once...

2006-01-26T20:59:00.000-06:00

I guess it's just that time of year... when absolutely everything is up for renewal. At work I am preping for my evaluations (paper work out the bootwha), the grant monitoring and renewal (more paper work out the bootwha), my studnets' IEPs (yet even more paper work), court dates, probation violations, recommendations for high school, ACT prep, the list goes on and on.

At school I'm still working on papers.

At home we're still filling out paperwork for taxes and house stuff.

And not to be left out, Hadlee ~ well, she's not really all that into paper. She IS into sitting up, rolling over, reaching for people and standing ~ IT'S SO GREAT!!!

B and I are going this weekend to pick out paint colors and light fixtures, hitting the Gymboree clearance sale, and hopefully finding time to rest in there as well.

It's finally FRIDAY!!!

Humor me, would ya?

2006-01-19T21:23:00.000-06:00

Simply b/c I have no other blogable thoughts in my head... I ask you to tell me who you are, where you are and how you found me. Due to statcounter, I know where many of you are located, just not exactly what you are reading or looking for.

Have a great weekend. I'm planning on working late tomorrow, doing a paper on Freud (yes, we must always begin w/ Siggy), and very much looking forward to B's homecoming.

SNOW DAY!!!!

2006-01-18T07:28:00.000-06:00

I can not even begin to tell you all how wonderful this treat is to me!!! My school district doesn't have a busing system (except for the CDC students) so it is incredibly rare for us to have a snow day. Hadlee and I plan on enjoying it to the fullest! The only thing that could make our day better is having B here. Hope you are off too!

Going where I've never gone before...

2006-01-16T21:13:00.000-06:00

I guess I knew the time would come, I just didn't really prepare myself for it ~ this week I'm single moming it. Brandon is in Cancun for the yearly world gathering of patting each other on the back and doing whatever the heck it is that these guys do ~ steaks, sun and golfing usually, with a little business thrown in for good measure. Thankfully it's a short week at work with lots to keep me busy... and there's always the cutest child in the world to keep me company!

My Christmas tree is still sitting in the living room, though the lights have been unplugged for a week or so. It's just kind of become a fixture in it's own little corner next to Artie, Jr. (our rubber treee that just refuses to die).

Once again classes have begun. I've got a 4 page paper due by midnight of each Saturday night throughout the semester... Mrs. Procrastination may have to turn and find another occupant! I took this class at FHU, but b/c I'm in a graduate program they only transferred 9 of the umpteen million hours I had. I've got notes on theorists coming out of my wazoo. I don't think 4 pages a week will take too much of my brain power to produce... I just need to make sure that I can find the notes from a year and a half ago!

I have the latest pictures of the house on my cell phone, I just don't have the know-how to get them from the cell to here. I may go by and take pictures w/ one of the other cameras so I can post them here. It's so exciting to see the progress... and frightening to know that mortgage payment is right around the corner!

Earlier today B, HAH and I were in Target. I was paroozing the Baby Einstien section b/c apparently I'm the world's worst mother who is taking away from my daughter's intelligence by not showing here these videos on a daily basis. What the heck??!?!?! I was so overwhelmed by the fact that she could be Einstien, Van Gough, Motzart, and Rimbaldi that I didn't get her any of them ~ help a sista out here! (I'm sure that I totally butchered the above names, obviously it's b/c my mother didn't show me the videos as an infant too. Oh well.)

I just finished reading Jennifer Weiner's latest book, Goodnight Nobody. It's her fourth novel and a great, fast paced read. She's one of my favorite authors, though the content is a bit racey at times. It's a nice escape from reality for a few minutes at a time!

Sleep is calling ~ have a great week. B is under strict orders to find exquisit gifts for his girls ~ I'll let you know the results when he returns Saturday. Til then, toodles.

Busy, busy, busy

2006-01-12T23:03:00.000-06:00

I've been back at work for two weeks now. Things are getting into full swing w/ my four new students. Anger at life... Oh how I wish they could see far enough into their future to realize that it will improve!

The house is coming along at a great pace. If the weather stays spring-like we may get in a bit sooner than planned... We're not counting our chickens yet, though!

Yesterday my cousin's husband passed away. He fell asleep w/ chewing tobacco in his mouth, choked on it and couldn't be resuscitated. Pleas keep Erin and the girls in your prayers. Jeremy was only 26 ~ his wife 23 and his girls 6 and 2.

Hug the ones you love and don't sweat the small stuff.

2006-01-03T22:00:00.000-06:00

Thank you for the awesome hat Ms. Terri! Momma says I look "stinkin' cute" in it ~ I can't argue w/ such an intelligent person!!!

Monday I am getting four new students... one of which is the former student council predsident... interesting days ahead, I'm sure.

B and I will be in the new house by April 1 or sooner. This week we are picking out light fixtures, cabinets, counter tops, pulls, carpet, tile and hardwood ~ I think that's it... then come the paint colors! Did I mention that we're actually going to have to budget to be able to live comfortably and credit card debt free in the new place??? Not something we're used to, but it'll be worth the effort and self-discipline. They are almost finished w/ the brick on the front of the house. I'll try to post pictures sometime next week.

We're looking forward to a relaxing, stay-at-home, no plans except house stuff weekend ~ hope you are too!

A momma's sentiments

2005-12-28T11:16:00.000-06:00

While many mothers I know went out and got the day's local, state or national newspaper to commerate the day their child was brought into this world, I choose to go a more picturesque, less political and much more "now" route. To really mark what was going on in our culture the year that HAH was born, I chose to get her The Best (and Worst) of 2005 Special Double Issue of People.

Today marked the day in my daughter's life that she first tasted food. Gerber's baby peaches (which I must say aren't too shabby in the taste department) were her first meal, along w/ massively watered down apple juice and some formula for desert.

Yesterday I also bought her high chair from Target ~ not only is it stinkin' cute and matches her stroller and car seat (b/c that's the rule now a days), but it was half off!

Now, my little pooter dooter is asking for attention. The monkey hanging from her jungle gym just isnt' talking back...

Our precious baby is growing and changing at the speed of light ~ scary, exciting and full of the unkno... caution ~ Tu Tu Chew can be a choking hazard.

Ahh...

2005-12-26T22:22:00.000-06:00

Isn't she THE cutest thing you've ever seen??? (Thanks for the cool stuff Aunt Net!!!)

'Twas a wonderful holiday filled w/ laughter, love, great gifts (esp. for the baby!) and more food than one can imagine. Such blessings! Earlier today Jenni, TL, DJG, HAH and I all enjoyed a fantastic meal in Huntsville. It was great to see you all again ladies!

Brandon and I held off on small gifts for each other for our birthdays and Christmas. Instead we are planning on getting each other this. We're MEGA excited and are getting blessings from the financial gods later this week and then meeting w/ the builder and our realtor to go over the tiny, yet oh-so-important details. We should be in our new home by mid to late March!!! Woo~hoo!!!!

Recent dicsovery in Hadleeville

2005-12-22T10:35:00.000-06:00

Baby Orajel rubbed on the gums = long nap time = mommy getting to shower & shave both legs!!!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good nap.

Tell me what you notice about this...

2005-12-20T16:05:00.000-06:00

Our own trauma in the ER...

2005-12-19T08:30:00.000-06:00

See the boo-boo on my nose? (I sat up on my own 12/15/05.)

(I held my bottle all by myself! 12/15/05)

So, last Wednesday Brandon, Hadlee and I went to visit Abuelita at Vanderbilt Hospital b/c she was recovering from surgery. All went well; Hadlee performed and smiled on command for everyone we saw. It was a great visit. On the way out I was carrying the baby (b/c that carrier is so heavy and we didn't have the stroller w/ us). We were walking along and going in and out of elevators and switching buildings to get back to the parking garage when I stepped in a small drainage hole, twisted my ankle and fell. Hadlee's head hit the (incredibly nasty) concrete and I PANICKED!!!! I immediately began screaming at Bran to get a doctor. He said he didn't know where they were (Remember we were AT VANDERBILT HOSPITAL!!) and some women were asking if we were ok and trying to check out our very injured, screaming, and crying baby. Bran took HAH from my arms, I grabbed the bags and we flew at mock 90 to the ER... The adult ER which is incredibly smelly, nasty and very full of thuggish looking people ~ YUCK!!! We smelled like we'd been smoked in about 2 seconds flat. Anyway, they took the baby back immediately while Brandon tried to give them our info... Did any of you have your child's social security number memorized at 4 months? Cuz we flunked that part. Two nurses attempted to get Hadlee's stats... She was so upset that they basically just made sure she wasn't' leaking brain fluid and had a heartbeat (check, check). Then they sent us back out to wait until someone from the Children's Hospital could come to transport us back (roughly a mile and a half treck from one ER to the other). It took about 30 minutes of waiting in "if you want lung cancer in the near future just hang out here and you can get it via the second hand smoke from these oh so frightening people" central to get a transporter to wheel HAH and I up to Children's.
We finally get to Children's (after I call my sister and let here know what's going on ~ we both broke down, again), which is a much happier looking, nicer smelling, non-future-lung-cancer-inducing-from-second-hand-smoke-filled area and are asked to wait. While we are there Hadlee turns back into here old smiling, laughing, chewing on everything in site self... In comes a tiny two week old who is vomiting non-stop from her nose, a two year old who had cut off one of his own toes, a 12 year old w/ a concussion and an 8 year old w/ fluid on his heart. They took us back in front of all the others (HELLO, GUILT CITY!!!). The doctor who came to see us was very nice, gentle, and thorough... Though to my sister's disgust didn't do a brain scan to make sure Hadlee was still a genius. She examined HAH, pressed on her face (and told us if there were any broken bones we'd hear a crunching sound ~ I almost buicked on her) and had HAH laughing. (Note that when I tried to clean the dirt off her nose Hadlee almost bit my hand off and here this stranger was pressing on the injury and she LAUGHED!!!) We were given a clean bill of health and told to give HAH tylenol of she acted fussy and "Merry Christmas" from the cool doctor who had a Christmas tree light necklace.
Thus ended our first (and hopefully LAST) ER trip.
I took a sick day on Thursday (more for my emotional health than Hadlee's physical) and she held her bottle by herself and sat up on her own... Much more than I really needed to see at one time! But I did get it all on camera!!!
Thursday Hadlee had her 4 month immunizations. So once again I felt like the worst mother in the world. I did promise to pay for all the therapy needed and then some due to the 24 hours of trauma. Now I'm on a two week break and enjoying spending precious time w/ my girl. I officially hate Christmas decorations or anything associated w/ them and wish that I had a magic wand to get this all done... Where is that fairy god-mother when she's really needed???

2005-12-15T00:14:00.000-06:00

I think you need to introduce nap time today. Let them manipulate a pillow.

i got the above e-mail today from my roommate at work... he teaches the alternative school students. we are all ready for a B-R-E-A-K!!! long story to tell later about the baby's first er trip. til then, nighty night.

I haven't...

2005-12-11T22:22:00.000-06:00

*put up any seasonal decor.
*wrapped a singal gift.
*finished shopping.
*thought about what I'm doing beyond Saturday.
*stopped laughing at Hadlee ~ her personality is really beginning to show, the little comedianne.
*had a good day at work in a l-o-n-g t-i-m-e.
*stopped wishing, hoping, and praying for a snow day.
*been more excited to see a vacation come (just 4 days and one hour... and possibly a personal day tucked in as well!).
*organized anything
*sent out a single card
*had a lot of sleep

So, how 'bout you???

We've got one Christmas dinner down and 7 more to go ~ somehow I think there should be a rule against that. Did anyone see Gray's Anatomy tonight? I'm definitely NOT an Izzy!

Happy Monday... only 12 shopping days left.

2005-12-06T06:41:00.000-06:00

Grammar Lessons Gone Wrong...

2005-11-30T18:23:00.000-06:00

This is a letter I recieved from one of my students today. Obviously I need to up the time we spend doing grammar... If only he could exist in a world void of rules & consequences!

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-27T20:28:00.000-06:00

Lots of turkey. Lots of family. Lots of shopping. But most of all... lots of thanksgiving.

Not so green...

2005-11-17T21:13:00.000-06:00

I have such a rough life...
Daddy likes to put things on my head and see how long they will last... my paci lasted a little less than 3 minutes... Daddy was impressed and I was just giddy!

Don't you just love my cow jammies??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today I released a TON of aggression... that happened to end up on one of my student's behinds. Let me just tell you, it was a near zen experience.

I don't know how any of you feel about corporal punishment. Obviously I'm not against it in any way, shape, form or fashion. Being in the south, I do think it's quite common... and working in a junior high school I also think it's quite necessary... especially when we are having to step in to the role that so many "parents" aren't fulfilling. (NOT to say that paddling is the answer, but that at times it definitely makes a positive difference when used correctly ~ go off on a tangent if you feel the need to do so.)

Just so you know, he received 3 licks while my principal and assistant principal looked on... and I received tips, guidance, a pat on the back, chocolate and a friend to cry w/ when it was over. Yes, I cried... well my eyes got a little watery and then five minutes later when I was correcting him for the eighteenmillionth time I was sorry about that watering.

I love the team of people that I work with. Supportive, funny, encouraging and fun... sure we're not perfect, but we stick together and show a common front.

BTW... remember to stand back in the box, keep a straight wrist, and position them well.

_______________________

I guess is was inevitable...

2005-11-13T22:55:00.000-06:00

This is what I come home to each day... snuggles, love, laughter, giggles, food, fellowship, bath time, King of the Hill, Gilmore Girls, and numerous other gifts. (She really does look just like her father, huh? Not even a LITTLE bit like me???)
__________________________________

I knew that one day I too would have to resort to the veritable creamed corn silence. Sigh. Work stuff...

Tag, I'm It.

2005-11-08T20:55:00.000-06:00

DJG tagged me a few days ago... or for all I know it could have been last year, so here are the results of the tagging...

The rules:
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas
5. Tag five people to do the same.

My fifth sentence in my 23rd blog was, "YES, the dishwasher!!!" I know what you're thinking... deep stuff here people ~ it's about time to put on those boots.

Not much in the meaning, subtext or hidden agenda area, though B did do two loads of laundry and the dishes earlier tonight w/out me asking him to do so. Ahh, having a rough day has it's advantages!

My brain is fried... only going to tag a few people

SG
Elizabeth
Jetty Betty (if any of you haven't already participated)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Say it w/ me, "Tomorrow is a new day w/ no mistakes in it yet." Maybe it will go better. Did anyone laugh when I decided to take the job where they put all of the students w/ almost uncontrollable emotional and behavioral problems in one classroom? Seriously, did I really think it was a good idea????

Excerpts from conversations today...
Ku Klux Klan
Big Pimpin'
The advantages of being a felon and a truck driver.
How often one should shower and use soap, not just water.
Marijuana in Mexico (it's part of their culture according to my freshmen).
Bustin' somebody up.
Bustin' up the police for taking someone to jail for bustin' somebody up... the list goes on and on. Thank God we only have a day like this every couple of weeks or so, otherwise I'm not sure I could do whatever the heck it is that I'm doing.