Christmas Numero Uno

We had a fabulous Christmas in Abilene, we had lots of time to relax and enjoy each other! I need to change our family picture on my blog to this one we took at the ice skating rink. We went ice skating on Christmas Eve, it was the perfect thing to do to make it feel like Christmas since the weather wasn't cooperating.

Robin ordered all the girls in the family the coolest t-shirts, here we are posing in our new duds. Note that Blake didn't like our idea.




Ryan and Laine in Couples' skating:

The kids in their Christmas Pajamas!

Santa brought Laine and Bowen sleeping bags, an Easy-Bake Oven, and a Batman computer! They were super excited! I loved this Christmas because it was the first one where both kids were excited about the magic of Christmas. It was so much fun to see the wonder and excitement in their eyes when they fed the Reindeer "magic food" and heard sleigh bells in the distance! Surprisingly, we had to wake them up on Christmas Morning to go see what Santa had brought them. I love Christmas! And we're not done! I'm about to turn on Christmas music and wrap presents for Christmas Numero Dos!

Today I'm Celebrating...

* that I'm almost done with Christmas shopping, my list consists of a few little trinket left to get and conferring with Santa about what the kids are going to get in their stockings.





* no school for 2 whole weeks!





* Myrtle has a Christmas outfit

It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Myrtle, and I don't care if you think it dorky! It makes me smile every time I see my car!

* that I'm feeling better... on Tuesday I went to the Doctor because I had been having really bad headaches everyday for about 10 days. I was miserable, two times I got nauseous from the pain. Bright lights hurt my eyes and loud noise made everything worse (not good for a PE teacher). Well, you can probably guess I was having a migraine. I was glad to know what was going on but every time I took the migraine medicine, the headache would be back in a few hours. I worried all week that the pain was going to return and every time it did. Finally, I called my Doctor back and she put me on a preventative medicine. It makes me have brain fog and feel really sleepy but at least I'm not lying in bed in pain. I'm praying that after 30 days on this medicine that I can stop and the migraines won't come back.

* that we have been blessed this year!

* the fact that in a few days we'll be headed to Abilene to celebrate Blake's first birthday, Christmas and just having a good time with family.

Christmas Quiz

I always enjoy hearing the diffrent ways families do Christmas!

1. When does your family open the majority of your presents?

2. Does Santa leave the presents wrapped or unwrapped?

3. Any breakfast traditions?

4. What order do you do things in on Christamas morning?

5. Any Christmas Eve traditions?

6. What is your usual Christmas meal?








My answers:

1. We (Thomesen's) open our presents on Christmas morning. When we were little we got to open one on Christmas Eve.

2. Santa leaves the presents unwrapped.

3. Cinnamon sticky bun stuff in the bundt pan. Bacon.

4. Santa presents, stockings, breakfast, open presents.

5. Again, growing up it was always tamales, beans, etc...

6. My favorite meal of the year! Beef tenderloin and all the yummy stuff that goes with it!

Crazy with a capital C

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Cuteness!

Yes we are now "those People" who buy clothes for thier pets...







Laine's hair before:






Laine after:

Run like Hell Heather!

Last Sunday Julie and I ran in the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon in San Antonio. It was an adventure, it was an adventure just to get to the start line. Since there were over 30,000 people running and the start line was down town everyone had to ride a shuttle to get there. We waited almost an hour to get on the shuttle. We were 40 minutes late to the start line and our corral hadn't even left yet. We had time to potty and find our spot in line and then wait another 10 minutes before we began running. I was almost tired when we started running. The course was great, lots of bands lots of people to look at and lots of cheering crowds. Julie and I usually talk the whole time we run but instead we kept commenting that there was way too many exciting things to look at to talk!! We finished in 2:32, that was the official time, my watch time was less because I stopped it at potty breaks. Here are some pictures of the race and one of my new rock star hair!:

In the Hotel:

Waiting for the shuttle:

Running: Although I can't really see us in the picture, I promise we're there!

Post Race Craziness:

Rock Star Hair: I just realized I have it tamed back, but yes, it's really dark. I almost died in the salon but I never like my hair right away so it's growing on me. Also, I got new mascara...Do I have clumpy lashes?

Gloria Day

When I was growing up Wednesday was known as Gloria Day in our house. You might think it was a day of celebration but to a young person it was a day of torture. You see the night before Gloria Day we had to prepare for Gloria. Who was Gloria you might ask? She was the lady that cleaned our house and the reason I dreaded Tuesday night. We had to clean our rooms and help tidy up around the house all while listening to my parents proclaim that tomorrow was Gloria Day over and over again. I think they said it so many times for two reasons: 1) Meredith and I were probably not doing what we were supposed to and 2) because they were so excited to have a clean house. I understand that now that I have someone come clean my house. Just to think of coming home to a sparkly house makes me look forward to Stephanie Day every other Tuesday. So, I forgive you Mom and Dad for making me clean for the house cleaner, I forgive you for annoying me to no end with your Gloria Day proclamations, because know I do it too!

Gosh I'm boring...

I am in a complete blog rut. I'm going to blame it on the time change, now that it's dark at 5:30 all I want to do is sit around or get in bed. It's terrible.

I took Bowen to get a haircut this afternoon, the stylist did a pretty good job in the damage control department.

We also went to Hobby Lobby to get some Christmas decorations. I know it's totally not time for that yet but if I didn't do it this week, I'm not sure when I would have gotten around to it.

We had to pay big bucks to get Myrtle (the car) working correctly last weekend. I HATE paying for car repairs, I'd rather not bother and just get a new car. I even checked on that possibility, it wasn't possible.

Blake is having a lower GI test run tomorrow at Cook's (which is the most wonderful place, all our experiences there have been stellar). I know it will be hard on Blake but maybe harder on her parents as she won't remember anything about it. So, while you are praying that Blake will be OK, also pray that Mere and Ryan will be OK too.

Just in case you didn't know

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A closer look at the awesomeness:

Be sure to VOTE!

Who will come out on top???

We'll find out tomorrow! No matter who wins, I'm taking my bumper sticker off, I think it's nerdy to drive around with an election sticker on your car after the election!

Struggling...

Here is a list of things I need to blog about. Sometimes the longer the list gets, the less I want to blog:

Justin and Leslie's visit to Fort Worth

Halloween, which is not limited to Trick or Treat on October 31st

Laurie Berkner concert

Election Day

The fact that my race is 2 weeks away


I really tried to start a real live post tonight but I couldn't get my pictures off the camera.

Maybe a short list of Random Thoughts will hold you over:

It's 7:30 and it's pitch black outside, all I want to do is go to bed.

I need a random day off.

My cat kills squirrels, really, we've found 4 in our yard in the past 3 weeks.

I really want Laine to get her hair cut shorter but I won't make her.

Jonathan and I have become addicted to shows like Paranormal State, Ghost Adventures and Scariest Places on Earth. Nerds.

I have a meeting on Tuesday, at 7:30 in the morning, I picked the time, what was I thinking?

High School Musical 3 is the only movie I've seen in quite a while.

Less than stellar

That has been the kind of week we've had here at the Williams' house. I feel like all I've done all week is run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Somehow I became in charge of some things in my district (???how did that happen, maybe I volunteered for one of them???), both of them have meant meetings, aaack. One of my friends had a baby, I want to munch his sweet little feet, and of course we had to visit the hospital and take dinner this week because I need newborn sweetness so my fill is met without having one of my own.

Laine, bless her heart, has had the stye from HELL this week. I can't even explain to you how horrible it looked. I should have taken a picture but really, it was so bad I didn't want to. She has been to the pediatrician and the pediatric opthamologist. She is on an antibiotic and a eye ointment. The stye actually burst last night, much to our relief, and so it looks better and Laine feels better. And I mean by looking better that it's smaller, however no less gross looking. I don't even know how she was seeing around that thing! it's almost in the corner of her eye.

Jonathan is feeling lots of stress with his job right now. Please pray for him, he has done a huge thing for our family by moving jobs and I want him to feel Happy he made the switch. AND let me tell all of you how awesome Jonathan is! He was supposed to be home early today and that was going to be great because he could help with taking supper to the Crowell's and then I could go get my haircut at 8 tonight. Well, things went yucky in Georgetown and he couldn't leave until 5:30 and it takes 3 hours to get home. I was really disappointed about cancelling my haircut so he called and found a high schooler to come over while I go get my hair did! What a guy! I love him so much!

Columbus Day Weekend!

We (the kids and I) made the trip to San Angelo last weekend, we had so much fun. It's great now that the kids are a little older, they entertain each other so that the adults can visit! We spent the weekend eating (Linda, thanks for dinner on Friday night, and lunch and breakfast, OK pretty much all the food all weekend long) making bows, fixing jewelry, and talking. We took a trip to the park on Sunday morning, the kids had a blast!

We headed home on Sunday and then took a trip to the Zoo with Mere, Ryan, and Blake on Monday morning. It was a great day for the zoo, a great day at the zoo for me is a day you don't sweat.

76-100

76. Jonathan gave me jewelry after the birth or each of our children.

77. I am not good at painting, rooms that is.

78. I am a cat person.

79. The older I get the more expensive my make-up becomes.

80. I don't paint my own toenails anymore, even if I don't get a pedicure I still go and have my toenails painted.

81. I am very fearful of being in a bad car wreck.

82. I love riding my bike.

83. Reading is a huge part of my life.

84. My blood pressure goes up every time I go to the dentist. Yuck.

85. I am impatient.

86. I cry when I get really mad.

87. I am so blessed that I know how much my parents love me because it's how much I love Laine and Bowen.

88. Beer makes my throat itch.

89. My younger sister is taller than me.

90. I had Post Partum Depression after I had Bowen, it was the worst time in my life.

91. I wish I could change my hair color every month.

92. At the age of 33 I finally have some worship music I like (like the kind on the radio).

93. My least favorite way to be sick is the stomach bug. I used to obsess about getting it, it's gotten WAY better now that my kids are older.

94. The summer after Bowen was born I got SEVERAL ringworms from a kitten I adopted. It was horrible.

95. I am not organized. I used to be better, but then my brain fell out after I had kids. I must have pushed too hard in the delivery room.

96. Dude. A word I say alot.

97. My feet feel hot, so, so fiery hot.

98. I have never broken a bone.

99. I would rather work for a man than a woman.

100. My hope for myself is that I continue to learn and grow better with age!

51-75

51. Pears are my least favorite fruit.

52. When I found out I was pregnant with Bowen I hoped he was a girl! I'm glad he was a boy.

53. If I were to ever have another baby, I would want another boy.

54. My favorite place to shop is Gap and Target and Marshalls.

55. I love candles that smell good.

56. I like to cook but I want the recipes to be simple.

57. I don't force Bowen to eat stuff he doesn't want to, I don't want the dinner table to be a battleground...and I don't want him to barf.

58. I take thyroid medicine everyday to make my body behave.

59. I hate the fact that I have to take medicine to be "normal", if normal is not sleeping all the time and not having snot pouring out of my nose constantly.

60. Camping is not something I enjoy.

61. I pack really early for trips.

62. When we buy another house, I don't want to have to remodel it.

63. I have never had a nickname, just Heather.

64. I love my teeth, I wish they were white though.

65. I wore a retainer until I was 30.

66. Men rarely intimidate me.

67. I wear a t-shirt and tennis shoes to work everyday, it's great.

68. I am very inflexible.

69. My wedding ring is awesome.

70. My husband is awesome.

71. I have no idea if I've repeated something in this list.

72. I am a snacker, I could munch on stuff all day long.

73. I can sing the "Hurrah for the Taylor Trojans"

74. I have an IUD, I swore after I weaned Bowen I would give my body a break from hormones.

75. Chocolate crispy cookies from Central Market are my very favorite cookies.

26-50

26. I love to run.

27. I have never had long hair.

28. I HAVE had really short hair.

29. I think my family is fun and I like being around them.

30. My kitchen is my favorite room.

31. My favorite time as a student was high school.

32. Speaking of student, I love going to school.

33. I'm really smart and I feel like my brain isn't being used to it's full potential at my current job.

34. That's why I think I'll go back to school.

35. I wonder what social grouping my children will be in in high school.

36. I wear a watch 24-7, I never take it off.

37. I drive over the speed limit most of the time (except in school zones)

38. Spring is my favorite season.

39. I still get sad sometimes when I think about my Grandmother and Great Aunt, maybe not sad, just wistful.

40. I am not a consistently healthy eater.

41. It's embarrassing when I dance.

42. I get up every single night to pee.

43. I wish I could figure out how to do strike through text. Anyone?

44. Diet coke is my very favorite drink.

45. Being late is something I can't stand.

46. Sometimes, I want to have another baby.

47. The older I get the better my life becomes.

48. I can sing the school songs for the following schools: Taylor Elementary, Abilene High, Abilene Christian.

49. I am my mother on the outside and my father on the inside.

50. My face is red even when I don't have a sunburn.

100 things about me.

I've been meaning to start this for a while, I'll do it 25 at a time.

1. I'm left-handed and I love it!

2. I'm a Christian

3. I'm a Democrat

4. I believe you can be both 2 and 3 at the same time.

5. I am inherently an introvert but I can play an extrovert really well. I just get really worn out after putting on a show.

6. I smile a lot probably because I'm happy a lot.

7. I have scoliosis and I worry about what I'm going to look like when I'm old.

8. I worry that I don't have enough friends.

9. I go back and forth between not caring what people think and caring very much what people think, I don't know what makes me feel one way or the other.

10. I don't ever wear lipstick but I wish I could feel good wearing it.

11. I know I have a cute butt.

12. I think my legs are my best feature.

13. My boobs are my least favorite feature.

14. I love my life.

15. I'm not sure if teaching is what I want to do when I grow up.

16. I struggle with wanting lots of material things.

17. I don't have regrets.

18. I pass lots of gas.

19. Hiring a housekeeper is the best decision I have made in a long time.

20. I am becoming something that I don't appreciate in others, a dingbat.

21. I am a laid back parent.

22. I LOVE a good deal, like a sale on top of a sale.

23. I price match at Wal-Mart.

24. I pay the bills in our family, that was the best decision Jonathan has made in a long time.

25. I spend lots of time following this motto: "Fake it till you make it".

FIll in the blank:

It is time for __________________.

Summer to be over already!

A Margarita

Me to get my hair colored and cut

my schedule at school to be set in stone

my half-marathon, I have run myself into the ground. My feet don't' want to run anymore and it's not till the middle of NOVEMBER!

Bowen to eat more types of food, I can list what he will eat consistently on two hands.

us to have a new president!

me to stop putting so much food in my pie hole, I'm totally ruining anything that running is doing for me.

6 Random things...

Wally Hotts tagged me, no, actually threatened me, to post 6 random things about me, Heather Lorien Thomesen Williams. Here's to Randomness:

Before going to bed at night the door to the bedroom and the bathroom have to be completely closed. If they aren't they call to me in my sleep and tell me to wake up. Actually, it scares me to death when my children appear at the side of my bed at night, I swear they float in, I never hear a thing until one of them is either saying my name or poking me so I like the bedroom door closed so I might get a little heads up before they come in. The bathroom door thing, I have no clue, it just has to be closed for me to be able to sleep.

I am obsessed with checking my email, it is especially bad since I got an iphone. Every time I hear it ding for email I have to open my mail to see what it is. I mean, I probably check my email 20 times a day.

I am a Harry Potter nerd and a Twilight nerd. I am constantly listening to one of the HP books on my ipod, I rarely listen to music. I have read each of the books several times. The twilight series is awesome! I now officially wish I could be a vampire!

I do not have a public pooping phobia, I will poop anywhere, anytime. That is very helpful since I have to poop while I'm running sometimes.

If you know Meredith and me you know I am the uptight one, however, when it comes to parenting, we are opposite. I totally let things slide that Meredith worries about, it kind of feels good to be the one who is laid back. Don't mess with my bedtime though, or being late or me packing early for a trip, still type A about that stuff.

Redness is part of who I am and I hate it! I turn red at the silliest things, then I realize I'm turning red, get flustered about turning red and then I get redder! Ahhhhhh! I'm never embarrassed, that's the weird thing. For example this week during lunch I was telling my friends a story about Laine and Bowen and I feel the heat coming on, it's the most helpless feeling that only gets worse the more I think about it. Then I'm completely awkward about it and try to shield my face or turn to the side so it's less obvious when I know I'm only making it more obvious.

Weekend in Abilene!

We had a great weekend in A town! We went to the Grace Museum, the West Texas Fair and Rodeo, and smooshed our faces against Mimi's car windows! The kids were AWESOME on all the rides, Bowen especially since he usually a little timid trying new things. I even purchased some new bedside table lamps from Pier 1, they are too cute. Thanks Mimi and Paco for a stupendous weekend!

Numbers

3- The number of people in this house that have MRSA

1-the number of people who don't but found a sore spot on her body today.

1,000-the number of times I wash my hands a day right now

1,001- the number of times a day I want to wash my children down with anti-bacterial gel or a wipe, or just have them steam cleaned.

10- the rating my house got in cleanliness on a scale from 1-10 since my cleaning lady came today!

9- the number of hours of sleep I need tonight in order to be a good mom tomorrow.

3- the number of allergy medicines I take in order to function in life.

12- the number of minutes I have until I want to be in bed for the night, because dang! having germy kids is hard work.

Wishing for Fall

Candy Corns just say FALL to me! So, I bought some today at Wal-Mart today in hopes of coaxing Fall to come on, already!

Why was I at Wal-Mart?

Oh how nice of you to ask!

I was there to buy all sorts of stuff! Like prescriptions for antibiotics, Children's Motrin, Band-aids of the large type, an XL tube of anti-biotic cream. Add all those things together and what to you think of?

Staph infection? Great guess! We'll find out if you're the winner on Monday!

MRSA? Maybe you'll get bonus points, we'll have the results on Tuesday!

We noticed Bowen had a pretty bad looking bug bite on his leg on Wednesday night. Jonathan, our resident surgeon, popped the head on it and put some antibiotic cream on it. The next day it looked the same but last night I noticed that the red ring surrounding the bite was getting larger. One of our friends who is a CRNA was over so he looked at it and said we needed to take him in to get it checked out. That made me worry because our friend doesn't overreact. I called this morning got an appointment and took him in after school today. Dr. Lewis immediately said it was a skin infection and she would have to lance and culture it. Awesome. I then asked her about Laine having a second stye in two weeks, she said that the bite and the eye were interrelated and Laine would need to be treated to but no lancing for her.

If you remember Bowen's history of barfing in stressful, painful situations you know I was warning the doctor and the nurses about that fact. So, Dr. Lewis and two nurses came in and prepped the table. One nurse held one leg, the other nurse held the other leg. I was in charge of the arms and any resultant barfing. It was terrible, he screamed "LET ME GO" and "OUCH" the whole time and let me tell you the boy is strong. it was a fight to keep his arms held down. I'm a tough cookie when it comes to shots and finger pricks but I almost cried while we were fighting him to get him some relief and getting that all important culture. He sat up after they were done and immediately started the "barf cough". You should have seen everyone back stepping away from the table. But, to his credit, Bowen held his stuff together, he did not barf! I was ecstatic! We made a hasty exit from the office and ran to Wal-Mart to get supplies and prizes for the poor boy.

I need Happy Hour!

First Day of School!

Bowen in his cool uniform and Power Ranger sunglasses eventhough it was still dark when we left!
I can't even believe she is in first grade, I still look for her when I see her K teacher in the hall!
Me ready to sweat all day in my hot gym.
Jonathan, relieved that it wasn't HIS first day of school!

Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets...

absolutely broke my heart today. To tell the truth I can't even think about them without tearing up. Why, you ask, did fused chicken make me weep? Well I'll tell you. When I went to pick up Bowen today his teacher told me he'd been a little upset today when he had eaten his chicken nuggets and no body could give him more, he didn't want his broccoli (duh), he had eaten his peaches but he could only have three (?!) nuggets because that is the rule of portion for his age in the cafeteria. Well. I went down to the directors office, not mad, just wanting to find out why he couldn't have more if he wanted, I mean I pay for his food, give him more! ( A little aside here to explain: I can't bear thinking of people being hungry, kids, poor people, dogs, Jonathan, especially kids, and really especially my kids. I think it stems from Laine as a newborn not getting enough milk at first and having to supplement and pump to get her to gain weight, that girl sucked on her hands and cried and cried and there was nothing I could give her because my boobs were SO full of milk none would come out.) Anyway, I asked what had happened, she said blah blah three nuggets, I said that's not enough for him, and I started crying. She said she was trying to see if things could be changed, I knew I couldn't stop crying, I told her that I was really sad and that I needed to leave and I walked out of the office. Awesomely enough while I was waling to the car, I saw a teacher from my old school and couldn't talk and I saw a student from my new school with her mother and she was asking me questions and all I could say was you've really caught me at a bad time and walk away, tears coming down my face. All I could think of was that my baby was hungry and no one would help him. Is that REALLY what happened, no, those girls love Bowen so much, they gave him everything he wanted except the stupid chicken nuggets. Stupid cafeteria rule. It's so much more that nuggets, it's doubting my working outside the home (I could have given him all the nuggets he wanted if we were at home), it's doubting my decision to buy his lunch instead of making it like 3/4 of the other moms do for their kids in his class. AND, they bring snacks for them too, the learning center provides a snack free of charge, and I'm thinking heck yeah, something I don;t have to pay for! And Bowen is sad because he has to eat apple sauce while the other kids eat their yummy snacks from home, what a beating, at least mentally for me, PEER PRESSURE. I rarely doubt myself, I rarely cry in public, I rarely let myself feel inferior to other moms, but today I did. Today I cried like a baby over three chicken nuggets and I can't seem to shake it.

Later in the afternoon the director called me, I was still crying. She is one of the sweetest people I know. She made me feel better, she told me she was working with Food Services to get things changed. She even cried with me a little while we were taking about how hard it is to worry about your child when they are away from you. I can't decide. Do I start making his lunch? Do I just send some extra food for back-up? Do I just follow up and make sure he's getting enough from the cafeteria?

I'll get some first day of school pictures up soon.

Beach volleyball is the reason I'm blogging

Because I'm tired of watching it, give me Track and Field, Diving, whatever, just no more volleyball! I love having a reason to sit in front of the TV for long periods of time and something that only happens every 4 years is a pretty big reason.

I didn't have the best week last week with the mammogram (which came out OK, I have some calcification in my right breast that they are going to keep an eye on but nothing serious), the cat incident and starting school back I was worn a little thin by the end of the week. The event that topped it all off happened on Saturday morning. I was getting ready to do my 8 mile run at before the crack of dawn o'clock in the morning when I decided I needed to use the potty before we got started. So I make my way over to the port o potty and suddenly wondered why I could see the sky? and a millisecond later I was flat on the ground. I had no idea I was falling until my body collided with the cement, it was terrific. Two people saw me which was two more than the last time I fell in high school while trying to jump over a foot high chain going to a baseball game. I went to the trainer's room to get cleaned up and lied that I had done it on the tennis court, I don't think they believed me since there was gravel all up in my wound and no gravel tennis courts exist that I know of. Well I picked myself up off the ground made sure everything was still attached and could move, got cleaned up with the Luke's first aid kit and then ran 8 miles. You might think I'm pretty tough but with all the whining and sighing and groaning I did the next day I think I might not be a tough as I thought. I mean did you know your muscles get sore when you fall? That abrasions hurt in the middle of the night? That skin hurts even though there isn't a visible scrape or cut? Me neither! And you know if I had a really good story of bravery or heroism to tell to go along with me injury it would totally be OK, all I've got is a fall on the way to the john!

I'm a little sad tonight about school. I don;t like to write a lot about work on my blog but I really need some therapy. I LOVE my new job, the people I work with are fabulous, my school is nice. I guess I miss familiarity, I miss the faces I've seen in the halls for the past few years, I miss the neat things my AP does for in service, I miss Laura one of my best school friends. I know things are only going to get better the longer I work at the FAA, I'm just a little sad tonight remembering all the good parts of my old school.

You know those moments...

in a day when everything up to a point has all gone well and then a series of things happen that make the shit hit the fan? Good. You know when it's about thirty minutes before you need to leave for your doctor's appointment and you decide to get supper started and you season some chicken and notice that your cat is up on the counter? Pumpkin Batman never gets on the counter and then he walks over and licks the chicken? And then you shoo him off and he walks further down the counter and knocks over a cereal box and sits on it? And then you look at him because he's sitting kind of weird and you realize that he's PISSING? And then? Then? You look at the cereal box and he's peed blood?
That is when my day went to Fast Forward mode. I knew that our regular vet would never be able to get him in and I wouldn't be able to get to my appointment on time. So I call the vet office that is about 90 seconds from our house, they will see him, scoop up the cat yell at the kids to get shoes on. All the while they are asking to see the evidence that he's peed blood. We race to the car, get buckled in toss the cat in and speed to the vet. I call Jonathan to tell him not to come home but to meet us at the vet, he's confused but agrees. Now it's 15 minutes before I need to leave for the Dr., we get to the office and everything feels better, if PB tries to die at least we're where they can do something about it. Jonathan arrives i give him the story, I leave. I'm still in panic mode as I'm driving to the Doctor. It turns out that PB has cystitis, it is kind of like crystals in the bladder and now he's on antibiotics and special food and he's not going to die as long as I can find him to give him his medicine.

At the doctor's office the nurse asks me if I've ever has trouble with my blood pressure, I tell her the cat story. The doctor comes in and feels me up and pushes on the sore place way too much. She then puts my mind at ease when she tells me that it feels fibro-cystic and that lumps that are cancerous rarely hurt. She still schedules me an appointment at the Boob Clinic, where they will either do a sonogram or a mammogram just to make sure it's nothing bad. My decision is to not worry until there is something to worry about. The doctor made me feel better, I just wish my boob would stop hurting.

So, here's my advice, if you're worried about something tell your cat to pee blood and you won't feel so worried about yourself.

The times they are a changin'!

It's almost back to school time here at the Williams' house and let me just say, I'm ready. I would have never guessed on June 7th that on August 10th I would be saying those words but there they are. I'm also the type of person that does not languish those last few days of freedom. Once the time gets close at hand, I just want to get it started already. We have Open House on Tuesday night and start in service on Friday. I haven't really been up to school yet because there is furniture and crap in my gym and no one has decided if my office can be set up in the gym yet because of Asbestos, Asbestos Schmasbestos is what I say! Just get me a phone and computer and put it in a room, I need my space, I need to have a home at my school!

The best news I have received all summer long came Friday in the form of an angel! She was heralding and harking and singing that she would come and clean my house for a very reasonable price. I just about did a back flip I was so excited, I'll let you in on a little secret, I HATE cleaning my house, especially once I am in working full time mode. This is one of the best blessings Jonathan's new job has afforded us. She starts August 26th, I'm giddy!

Last but not least, I'm worried about my left boob. It has a sore spot on it that feels "thick", at least that's what Jonathan called it after I made him do a self exam since I couldn't tell with my own self-exam, the funny part was the look on Laine's face when she walked in on the examination, she appropriately called it "Awkward!" Anyway, I don't think it means much from what I've read on some breast cancer websites but I'm going to call the Doctor tomorrow and go in for my peace of mind.

Cage Match 2008

Head vs. Teeth

Who came out on top? Only you can decide!

Six Years Old

The last birthday celebration ending last night, Laine can now officially be 6. She is following in the footsteps of her Aunt and drawing out her birthday for as long as possible. We had a grand weekend starting with a birthday lunch at Mellow Mushroom on Friday and Ice Cream at Central Market on Friday night. That was followed by a rockin' party at McDonald's where the kids had Happy Meals, Ice Cream, Cake and plenty of play time. Then, we had Mere, Ryan, and Blake over for dinner and Laine opened her last present and magically turned 6!

Five was a great year for Laine! She learned to read, swim, ride her bike, and has become a great helper to her mom! She has the sweetest spirit and the kindest heart, she really just wants everyone to be happy. I am so proud to be her mom.

I haven't disappeared, I just went on vacation

WHEW! Today I finally got back home for good and it feels great! 10 days ago I left with the kids and my Mom and went to Ruidoso where Mere, Ryan and Blake met up with us. Then, I came home by myself (9 hour drive, mind you) with the kids so Jonathan and I could go on a couples float trip on the Comal River. Both trips were really fun. I'll focus on Ruidoso in this post. First of all, two very important family members couldn't go and that totally changed the trip, not for the better guys, Dad and Jonathan had to stay put and do adult things, like work. We went to the horse races, I lost money, we went to the Casino, we all lost money, we played in the river and looked for jewels, we shopped, ate, played, laughed, all the things you're supposed to do on a trip. We even went to the Flying J Ranch one evening, that is not something we would normally do as my Dad shys away from anything in Ruidoso that does not include hiking, hiking or hiking and maybe some biking. It was fun, especially for the kids, and the shows before and after dinner were really entertaining. Our friends the Bixby's treated all of us, so thanks a bunch to them for an excellent night!

Horse races, no horse pictures though.

The hike Dad would have hated, don't laugh at my hat, but it was a good one for little legs.The Ware family at the Flying JThis last picture is a snapshot of my sister doing something that made me laugh really hard. She was on a type of bungee apparatus and was attempting to do a flip, she wasn't successful but it wasn't because she didn't try. I'll have to let her give the details from her perspective, I'm sure we'll all be able to laugh right along at her.

Girls and Guns

Yesterday Laine and I got to have a Girls' Day! First, we went to have our toes done. I had a pedicure and Laine was going to have her toes painted with a cute design. She got to do the big girl thing and go off by herself to have them done. I'll have to say I was a little anxious while she was off getting pampered, that kind of surprised me. When she came back to where I was she had her fingers an toes done with designs and the bonus was when I went to pay, hers was only $10!!!! What a great deal, I think I've found my salon. Then we went and had lunch at Jason's Deli, we ate inside and then went out to sit on the patio to eat our ice cream.
After we got home Jonathan and Bowen told us about their Boy Day at the Gun Show! Jonathan said Bowen was in awe of all the cool stuff, especially the binoculars. We all had rest time and then went swimming later in the afternoon. It was a great day!

Hopefully, I will have some excellent pictures to post later today. Some of us are going to try out for a game show. I'll give you a clue: "We surveyed 100 people..."