George

So a few weeks ago, I, Mom and the other kids had just arrived home after picking me up from work when and dog came up to me. The dog was Daisy, our next door neighbor's totally neglected dog. Our neighbors pretty much never give her any attention so as a result, she bonded with me, the girl who actually took the time to lean over the fence and pet her every once in a while. Anyway, somehow Daisy had managed to open the gate of her yard and get out. Seeing me she was over joyed of course and rushed to my side and, just like I had taught her, she sat down and didn't jump up on me. I was very proud. Unfortunately, we had to cut Daisy's freedom short and return her to her own yard because, naturally, her owners were not home. As we were in the middle of trying to get Daisy into her yard (I haven't taught her how to walk with me just yet) a white and gray cat stood on the front awning and meowed at us. We said hello to him when our task was completed and then all went inside. Apparently, this cat had decided that he liked us and made himself at home in our backyard from then up until this last Sunday. Due to the fact that, 1, Dad isn't really a cat person and 2 we had just spent quite a bit of money on the cat we already had, the cat's persistent request for a home amongst us was spurned. Still, we couldn't help but name him George, hence my title. We're not sure why we settled on Greorge, I guess the cat just looked like a George. But last Sunday, we finally gave him up. We e-mailed the Deladurantes and asked them if they would like to have a friendly cat to go along with their two very unfriendly cats. They said yes and picked him up on Sunday and the last thing we saw of George was his paw up against the window of the van. It was kind of a sad picture, but I'm sure he'll come to like his new home just as much or even better than he did ours.

My Blog

So I thought I would inform those of my readers who don't have an account with this site that I've set the site to allow anonymous commentors. At least I'm pretty sure I have, I'll have to check the settings again just to make sure.
I've also put up a poll so if you want, vote on it please!

Stomach problems

I'm having stomach problems. I'm not sure what it's coming from but I have this stomach ache in the evenings and the mornings. But it disappears in the middle of the day. I also haven't been eating well the past couple of days. I think it's time I took Cheyenne's advice and loaded up on some beans. I'll add a bit of Spearmint tea to the regiment as well. I hope I'll make it to church on Sunday.

Funny, funny

So I've always hated the movie Gone With The Wind. I don't know how people can enjoy watching that sniveling, pampered brat known as Scarlet O'Hara make a living out of walking, stomping and spitting on others and trying to make herself look all high and mighty in the process. I do however, absolutely love Carol Burnett's rendition of the famed "masterpiece". Most of my readers have probably already seen it before, but just in case you haven't, here it is.
part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH6TBEbP77Q&feature=related
and part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nt0yi4wbro&feature=related

They're here!

Grandma and Grandpa finally moved down to Texas.
Okay, so this is kind of old news for most of my readers but oh well. This will be the first time in my life that all four of my grandparents are living close by! Now for the cousins...(and the plotting commences). Haha

The other day, I was reading A Light In The Window by Jan Karon, the second installation of the Mitford Series, and I read yet again about one of the character's, Ester Bolick's, famous Orange Marmalade Cake. Well, I was kind of hungry at the time, so I decided to look up the recipe on line. I typed Orange Marmalade Cake into the google search engine and wouldn't you know, the first thing to come up was "Esther Bolick's famous Orange Marmalade Cake" posted by non other than Jan Karon herself! Needless to say I printed out the recipe and the day mom came back with the ingredients I needed I made the cake. That was last night. It wasn't fully completed until around midnight but it looks absolutely fantastic and I got enough cake scraps together to figure out that it tastes absolutely divine. I hope to make it for Bible study one of these days and I also plan to post the recipe and pictures soon. I can't wait to cut into it. Because today is mom's birthday, I used that as an excuse to make the cake. Now I have to wait until everyone is together before I get a slice. Oh well, good things come to those who wait I suppose.

Ahem,

So I kind of need to post on here. So much has happened this week.
On Monday, I got into an accident. I pulled out infront of a lady who was going down Bandera rd. Nobody was injured but both cars were really smashed up. It wasn't a nice experience at all. The next morning I discovered slight muscle soreness in the side of my neck, in my upper right arm and in a muscle over my hip. It wasn't too bad, but the muscle soreness in my neck combined with a sore throat and aching jaw (because of my TMJ) made my head pound for three days straight.

On Wednesday morning I woke up with a low grade fever. Remember that sore throat I mentioned a few lines up? Yeah, it turned into strep and tonsilitis. Fortunately it only took one day for the doctor to call back so I was able to get my antibiotic called in quickly.

Saturday, at about noon, we got a call from Opa letting us know that Oma was on her way to the hospital with chest pains. I, Dad and Opa waited in the ER waiting area for about ten minutes, and then got taken to the Cardiology waiting room and stayed there for about an hour before the doctor came in and told us that she was going to be okay. Apparently, she had suffered a heart attack caused by three blockages in one of the smaller arteries on the right. The doctor put stents in all three areas and then they moved her to CICU where she is right now. Through this ordeal we hope to be finally successful in convincing Oma that the fat is not "the best part"!

This morning, I got to go to church! Mandy and Mom stayed home. I guess Mandy couldn't stay far enough away from me, she has a fever of aproximately 103.2 . She's slept a lot today, and I don't blame her. She's not going to be the easiest patient when the real throat pain starts though. I hope mom will let me help with her. Mom is already very worn out.

Timmy

He's feeling much better now. In fact he was at bible study tonight! Mom took him to the doctor on Monday and found out that he was actually fighting an infected tonsil! Poor kid. But the doctor gave out a perscription (gotta love those guys) and Timmy is all back to normal now. So, we will be at church on Sunday!! See you all there!

Quarantine

Timmy got sick the other day and it seems to be the same bug that's visited the Russells and Krugs. As a result, we are now under quarantine and needless to say, we will not be attending church tomorrow.
On another subject, Mom still hasn't given me any pictures of my graduation party. I do plan on posting them as soon as I get them, but I should warn you, there may not be very many of them.
Collin and I escaped from the quarantine facility this afternoon and saw WALL-E. I totally recommend it to anyone. It was absolutely adorable.

I'm Back!

I came back late Sunday afternoon with Mr. Blair, Nathan and the Braddocks from the Rio Grande Missions trip! It was a lot of fun. I got to babysit some of the little ones during which time, Addy, David, Genevive and Ethan decided that they liked me. Ethan and I were kind of off to a rough start though. He wasn't too happy about being left in the nursury while his mom went off to work. He kept picking up a toy that sort of looked like a hammer and running out the door with it saying, "I need to go help Mom." After he discovered that escaping would be impossible, he pulled one of the little chairs up to the door, looked out the window and called, "Mom, HELP!" After calling for mom three times and discovering that it was useless he tried Celeste's name. After he gave up all hope of being "rescued" he settled down to running all over the room showing me all the cool things he could do with all the toys. Once Genevive woke up from her nap he got even happier 'cause I let him go out into the fenced in playground. By the time Mom came to get him he was actually smiling at me.
Both David and Genevive chose me over their sisters at least once during the day, and Addy just enjoyed the excessive amount of toys.
That was pretty much my day. I didn't really do anything else and to be honest, I don't feel like I was really that useful at all. But it was nice to be with the church family and I REALLY enjoyed singing with Cheyenne for the first time since we've become friends. We really need to do it more often.
Nathan and Josh's skit was hilarious. I hope Shelley or someone video taped it.
Some of the younger kids did their own skits, they did really well. Their Psalty preview was classic.

Since Starting My Job...

I've discovered that really the only pain of it all is leaving in the morning knowing that I will miss every single wonderful thing that happens at home. Sigh. Oh well. I'm earning more money than I've ever earned before, and my boss really likes me! She actually came up to my mom today and told her that I was wonderful. I feel so flattered. She doesn't show nearly as much affection as the other employees; probably because she's the boss, so I was so happy to hear that she likes me. I don't mind her, in fact I really like her, I have no complaints about her, but I've always found that when someone gives a good report about me to my mom, they really mean it! That always makes me feel happier than if that person had actually said it to my face. It makes my mom pretty happy too.
I'm hoping to come on the missions trip this weekend. I need to find out who can take me home on Sunday night though so that I can get back to work on Monday. Haha, I'm gonna be soooooooo wiped out but I am so excited. I've never been on a missions trip before so this is going to be so awesome.
For those of you looking for some really good recipes, go here:

I'm going to try the Mexican Crepes tomorrow.

Haven't Been Here In A Long Time

So on Monday I started my first job! I'm working at Handcock Fabrics off of Bandera Rd. Unfortunately, I didn't discover just how bad my tennis shoes were until then. I'm now experiencing quite a bit of pain. I don't have to work tomorrow, however, so Mom is going to take me to get some new shoes. I was actually surprised at how slow the hours can go when your in so much pain. I was counting down the minutes left till five. I am actually enjoying my job though. It's really nice being able to work with all the fabrics and learn which is which beyond Cotton and Felt. haha.

Here is

a really good laugh (just in case you thought my recent funny story was lame).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0IK7wjC38For

Just the other night...

I lost two years of my life due to a fright. How did this happen you ask? I'll tell you.
I was walking down the stairs grumbling silently to myself about how annoying it is to have to get up at 10:30p.m. to get a drink of water. As I passed the living room and entered the kitchen, I heard a very quiet, "Hi Amy." My still adjusting eyes then reported the sighting of a skinny person, just tall enough to be a very short adult standing other the other side of the island from me. It was obviously a guy's body, there was just enough light for me to be able to tell he had his shirt off. In seeing him and not recognizing him, I then jumped aproximately two feet in the air (and a few inches to the right), only to realize it was only my brother. It seems that poor Collin had suffered the same inconvenience that I had in the thirst department and had silently slipped down the stairs just a few minutes before me. His acknowlegement of my approach was simply his way of letting me know he was there for the purpose of not scaring me. Unfortunately he failed to realize that seeing a dark figure in the downstairs level of the house so late at night can easily result in a scare. Plus the fact that I am actually slightly afraid of the dark. I generally do a pretty good job of keeping my fear under wraps, I almost never scream and even during this incident, not one sound came out of my mouth other than the sound of my breath getting rapidly sucked into my lungs.
After Collin had appologized to me three times for his unintentional yet wicked prank, we started joking around about what, had he wanted to scare me, he should have done to get the maximum shock-value-reaction out of me. One suggestion he made was to have simply put his arm around my shoulders and start a random conversation. His whole idea was that my reaction would have been to faint; but I actually doubt that would have happened. As far as I know, fainting doesn't seem to be a family trait of ours. I don't think it happens nearly as much as it does on TV. I think my reaction would have been more on the order of dropping the empty glass I had already been holding. Either way, it was a really funny thing to go through especially considering the only way to truly scare me is in the dark.

Bit of a catch up

Okay, so I haven't posted in FOREVER!

Since my last post, my Grandparents came and went. It was so awesome to have them here. I can't wait 'till they move down here. Then Grandma will be able to tell me face to face, just how difficult my blog is to read. hahaha.

Yesterday I actually got to sing with the kids during Psalty practice! It was kind of fun being in the performing group. Sophie, my partner, picked everything really fast and we all got to laugh at the ingenious way Caleb and Gage compensated for the extreme difference in their heights. haha. I wish I'd had my camera.

Another interesting thing that happened yesterday. Right before bible study started I was sitting on the couch. Oma was sitting near by and then said something to me that only she would even think of saying.

"You've gained weight!"

Wow Oma. Just what I've always wanted to hear. Thanks.

Yet Another Mandy Story

This morning as we all congregated in the living room after breakfast, Mandy decided to look at at book called The Great Dinosaur Mystery And The Bible. This book is filled with pictures of 'prehistoric' wild life. For several minutes she sat on the couch staring intently at the pictures. Suddenly she turned the page, saw a picture of a Mammoth and shouted, "Look! It's a Possum!"
Now guess what her favorite movie is.

Mandy and Collin

The other day, I was sitting on my bed desperately trying to do my school work and stay awake at the same time when Collin burst out laughing and walked in to tell me what was so funny. Apparently, Mandy had decided she wanted to play with a wooden truck of Collin's. Collin grabbed the opportunity.
"You want this truck?"
"Yes."
"Okay, say 3."
"3."
"Say 4."
"4."
"Say 75."
"75."
"Now say Gastrophyliosophylus." (Yes, he made it up.)
"4?"
I suppose for it to be truly funny you would have had to be there but I just had to post it just for the benfit of seeing those who tell me "You need a life" eat their words.

The fun things we do as a family

Yesterday, Collin came up with a new game. An educational one at that! It's called the rhyming game. It's probably been made up before, but one person starts a round with a sentence. Then that player and everyone else has to come up with more sentences that not only have to do with the topic of the original sentence but the last word also has to rhyme with the last word of the original sentence. The person to come up with the last rhyming sentence wins. The catch is, you can't use the same word more than once unless it's a homonym. (This is a great game to play in the car during a very long road trip.)
Collin started last night's round with "The bible is my guide." Boy did that round last forever! Timmy didn't actually join that round, so it was just me and Collin. I'm pretty sure we used just about all the words that rhyme with guide. Mom and Dad were getting kind of annoyed because it was waaaaaayyy past bedtime and we were still competing. Finally I gave him my last sentence, "My foolishness the bible often implied," and told him that if he could manage to think of another sentence, he would be the winner. I did this for two reasons: 1.) I needed to go to bed too and 2.) I honestly didn't think there was another word left.
Well, five minutes later I lost the game to "With the devil, the bible with never be allied."
What a game.

Finally a new post!

So yesterday Mom and I went to the Majestic Theater and saw Phantom of the Opera! It was so cool. The set was so elaborate and it was really fun to see how they do things on stage as opposed to the movie. I have to admit, I like the voices in the movie better. The stage costumes, however, were definately better than the ones in the movie! They were so beautiful! I wish I could have taken pictures. Not that they would have turned out really well, it was kind of dark.
Mom and I also took a nice long walk along the riverwalk. It was so nice to get some excercise after being cooped up in the house for so long. I also discovered that the bottom of my right heel on my brand spanking new boots has fallen off. No wonder it sounded so different from the other one. It reminded me of what it sounds like when a horse has a loose shoe. (If you don't know what that sounds like, watch Black Beauty.)

I don't think Mom will apreciate me saying this, but for the first time, I actually noticed that she has some gray hairs! I found myself thinking "wow, she really is in her forties!" Up until now I still thought of her as in her mid thirties. Now I think she only looks like it. I don't know if I should look forward to the rap I'm bound to get for that comment or not. Somebody pray for me! haha.

I've finally

started my own blog! I originally tried to start blogging via myspace but after spending an hour typing my first post the site decided to quit on me and I lost everything. Oh well. Myspace is over rated anyway.
So this week didn't start out so hot, I discovered that I had finally succome to the flu bug that had circulated my house only a week before. It was a rather humiliating concept. I will never again boast of having a stronger imune system than my brothers. I've spent the past two and a half days cooped up in bed with nothing to do but hand quilt, crochet and watch movies. The quilting and crocheting needed to be done, I'll admit but it's more fun to do when I know I don't have to. Mandy refused to stay out of my room the entire time. She's always been attracted to my room anyway but she's especially pesky when I'm sick. She constantly comes in and tries to start conversations of complete gibberish. Either that or she just wants to put finger prints all over my mirror again.
Today I actually got out of bed and got dressed! I'm coughing like crazy and have the worst sore throat imaginable but no matter. I can walk around and I don't have to be served hand and foot anymore! I've always felt strange being taken care of like that. Obviously when you're sick it's kind of a necessity but I really don't like being helpless. I hate constantly asking for more water, or another dose of ibuprofen 'cause the last dose wore off an hour ago. Mom kept telling me, "if you need anything just ask." She even gave me the walkee talkee so that I wouldn't have to raise my voice. I used it once. I woke up at five in the morning on Monday and threw up. The only reason mom was there to help me was because I went into her room to look for some antacid tablets (the whole thing started out as heart burn). I hadn't planned on waking her up at all.
Anyway, I'm getting better, and I hope to see everyone at church on Sunday!!