Kicking Off the Season Early

Living on the Gulf Coast of Texas, we keep our eyes on the tropics this time of year. Hurricane season doesn't officially start until tomorrow (June 1), but today Tropical Storm Arthur formed off the coast of Belize.

He'll be no threat to us, but this could be an indicator of another busy hurricane season. We've had our share of hurricanes and tropical storms in this area over the years - I have lived here (about half-way between Houston and Galveston) all my life, and have weathered many a storm. Sometimes it's exciting to have a storm head our way - the media reports on it non-stop, and if it's just a tropical storm - or even a small hurricane - we only expect a lot of rain, probably some flooding, and perhaps some strong winds. It's a good excuse to buy a bunch of canned goods and bottled water and hunker down for a couple of days. But sometimes the excitement turns to worry and fear. A few of the bigger storms I remember the most are:

• Hurricane Alicia in 1983, which we rode out in our house. It was scary.
• Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 flooded the Houston area like we've never seen, turning the Bayou City into one giant bayou.
• Hurricane Rita in 2005, who headed our way close on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, so everyone's guard was up - when she reached a Category 4, then 5, there was widespread panic to evacuate. It was the worst traffic jam in history, and it took my family 19 hours to drive to my Granddaddy's house in Dallas (normally a 4-hour drive). We call it the "Runaway Scrape", and it was a nightmare that I NEVER wish to re-live. I said it then and say it today - I think I'd rather be plucked off my roof by a helicopter than to sit thru another evacuation like that. And then the storm hooked north and didn't even come here. We really didn't have to leave after all. But better safe than sorry, I guess.

So we turn our eyes to the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico for the summer and fall, hoping to escape Mother Nature's wrath for another year. And making sure all our insurance is up to date.

Lost

I watched the season finale of Lost last night, and while I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched it yet, I do have this to say:

Wow.

And OMG!

And Hooray!

And Hmmmm.....

And {GASP!}

It was a good one, to say the least.

A New Look for Bubba's Sis!

***Scroll down for Wordless Wednesday***

It's time for a new look around here - I'm playing around with this one, and it still needs some work, so bear with me. But so far.....what do you think??

**I changed most of the white text to grey - can ya'll read it OK?

Wordless Wednesday - Play Ball!

Tango Nights

Tango is SUCH a good dog! He is adapting to our schedule and lifestyle, doing his potty business outside (he has only had one accident inside!), eating well, having fun playing with Jax, and learning the "rules" (such as what he can and can not chew on!). There's only one teeny tiny problem. He H.A.T.E.S. his crate. He has to be in it when we go out - there's no way I'll leave a 14-week-old puppy loose in the house with no one home. And the plan was for him to sleep in his crate at night. But he cries. Oh, how he cries! And barks. And howls. That was to be expected the first night - but after 1½ hours, we had all had enough, so I got him out and slept on the couch with him (I know - BAD BAD!). The next night I decided to be firm - to not give in. That lasted 3 hours. I could take no more. I slept on the couch with him again. Last night I finally convinced Hubby that this crate thing was NOT working at night, and Tango joined us in our bed (along with Jax, who always sleeps on our bed). He slept like an angel all night long! I'm such a sucker, but oh well. He's happy, I'm sleeping, everybody wins.

Brothers

Camera Critters #7

Introducing Tango - my new baby!!! We got him today - he is a cockapoo, 12 weeks old, and I am in LOVE! Jax has a new baby brother now. We're all thrilled with the new addition to the family!

Doggie 'Do

It's HOT here - mid to upper 90's every day now - so it was time for Jax to get his summer 'do. He had gotten quite shaggy - here he is before he went to the doggie beauty shop this morning:

And here he is after:

Handsome, isn't he? And he smells much better, too. Now he can be "cool" for the summer!

10 Reasons Your Dog's Hair Cut Costs More Than Yours

10. Your hairdresser doesn't wash and clean your rear end.

9. You don't go for 8 weeks without washing or brushing your hair.

8. Your hairdresser doesn't have to give you a sanitary trim.

7. Your hairdresser doesn't have to clean your ears.

6. Your hairdresser doesn't have to clean boogies from your eyes.

5. You sit still for your hairdresser.

4. Your haircut doesn't include a manicure or pedicure.

3. Your hairdresser only washes and cuts the hair on your head.

2. You don't bite or scratch your hairdresser. (I hope not anyway).

And the Number 1 reason your dog's haircut costs more than yours....

1. The likelihood of you pooping or peeing while your hair is being cut is extremely slim.

I'd say it's worth it, wouldn't you? Happy Friday, everyone!

Congratulations, David Cook!!

I am THRILLED that David Cook won American Idol last night! I have loved him since his first audition (he sang a Bon Jovi song - can't go wrong with that!); he is so deserving of the title AMERICAN IDOL! Congratulations, David!

And, in case you missed it, here is the BEST commercial of the night:

Wordless Wednesday - She Sells Seashells

I feel pretty, oh so pretty.....

May has been kinda rough for me so far. I've been suffering from horrible headaches - ones that last for days and make it a struggle to just get thru my daily routine. I have suffered from migraines for years - the result of a broken jaw, courtesy of a mean, drunk ex-husband many years ago. I take medication daily to prevent them, and it usually does a pretty good job. But lately they are breaking thru, and it may be time to go back to the doctor for a new plan....

I'm still grieving the loss of both Misty and Delilah; a lot of people think I'm silly, that they are just animals and I need to get over it. But to me they were my babies, and I miss them (even that dumb cat that I didn't even want!). I love Jax so much - he is still my baby - but I know he misses them, too. I'm still working on Hubby to relent and let me have another puppy. Yes, people think I'm silly for wanting another puppy, too. But hey, I do. So there.

Little Son has been sick the past 5 days - he has the croup. He has always been a croupy kid - we've owned a nebulizer since he was an infant. He's having a tough time right now, too - the coughing is incessant sometimes, and while I feel so bad for him, at the same time I just wish he would STOP. COUGHING. RIGHT. NOW. OR. I. WILL. HAVE. TO. HOLD. A. PILLOW. OVER. YOUR. FACE. (No, no - I wouldn't really do that! But GEEZ! Enough coughing already!)

So anyway, yesterday I had occasion to be out running some errands and decided to do something for myself - something special just for me:

I got my cartilage pierced! It's something I'd been thinking about for a while - something I wanted to do, yet was unsure about. Would it hurt? (It hardly did.) What would people think? (For what it's worth, Hubby and Little Son are OK with it, Daughter was appalled.) But I decided "what the heck??" And I did it. And I love it. And I haven't had a headache in 2 days. Boo ya!

ANOTHER Birthday!

Gosh, we're eating a lot of cake around here! Today is Katie Lady's birthday!!! I love her so much - she's the sister I never had growing up, and a wonderful friend to me. AND she puts up with Bubba - what a woman!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! Have a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUBBA'S MOM!

When I get older losing my hair,

Many years from now,

Will you still be sending me a valentine,

Birthday greetings bottle of wine?

If I'd been out till quarter to three

Would you lock the door,

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four?

You'll be older too,

And if you say the word,

I could stay with you.

I could be handy, mending a fuse

When your lights have gone.

You can knit a sweater by the fireside,

Sunday mornings go for a ride.

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,

Who could ask for more?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four?

Every summer we can rent a cottage,

In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear,

We shall scrimp and save,

Grandchildren on your knee,

Vera, Chuck & Dave.

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,

Stating point of view,

Indicate precisely what you mean to say,

Yours sincerely, wasting away.

Give me your answer, fill in a form,

Mine for evermore,

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four?

We still need you, Mama - we love you! Happy, Happy Day!

Camera Critters #6

Moo?

Kudos

**Scroll down for Friday's Feast!

Congratulations to Navy Son, who graduates from the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island today and accepts his appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland! We are so proud of you, son!

Friday's Feast #44

Appetizer
What is the nearest big city to your home?
Houston, Texas - the fourth largest city in the United States!

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?
I think an 8 - I tend to tell Hubby and Bubba's Mom and D just about everything, so I'll count a couple of points off for that. Otherwise, your secret is safe with me!

Salad
Describe your hair (color, texture, length).
My hair is just plain brown, long (past my shoulders), and thick - not curly, but wavy, and when it's really humid, it's BIG.

Main Course
What kind of driver are you? Courteous? Aggressive? Slow?
I'm a good driver - have only had 1 accident in my life and I was a teenager (and I still say it wasn't my fault!). I am courteous, but I do get frustrated with other drivers and have to say bad words sometimes.

Dessert
When was the last time you had a really bad week?
I sometimes have a bad DAY here and there, but I can't really think of a time (at least recently) that I've had a whole WEEK be bad. Life is just a series of ups and downs, and the best we can do is ride the roller coaster and hope we don't throw up.

The past couple of weeks have been a bit trying for me, tho, because I've had some really bad headaches....but that's a post for another time.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Battle of the Davids

Yep - I picked them both from the beginning!


(My fav is David Cook!)

Wordless Wednesday - Sunset on the Mississippi River

Madam Secretary

Tonight I attended a meeting of the High School Theatre Department Booster Club. Seeing as how Daughter will be in the Theatre Department at the High School next year, I think it's a good idea for Hubby and I, as parents, to be involved and help out in any way that we can. Tonight was a good information-gathering session; I got an overview of the fund-raising efforts of the Booster Club, and how the proceeds were used; we got a good introduction to what the Theatre Department will be doing next year (Daughter is SO excited that their first production will be Little Women, one of her favorites!), and somehow, by the end of the evening, I was elected Secretary of the 2008-2009 Theatre Department Booster Club! Granted, there weren't a whole lot of people knocking down the door to be elected, but wow! Me! I will attend monthly meetings and keep the minutes and other records - stuff I'm really good at. I'm also thinking of publishing a monthly e-newsletter for Booster Club members to keep everyone informed as to what is going on with fundraising, productions, activities, etc. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew, but I'm kinda excited about it! Wish me luck! Or rather, break a leg!

Blogging by the Numbers

I'm skipping Ten on Tuesday yet again, because I can not think of ten things I'm really good at. I can't even think of three things I'm really good at. But in the spirit of Ten on Tuesday, I'm listing Ten Numerical Facts About My Blog:

1. Number of posts on my blog: This is number 464!
2. Number of blogs I read on a regular (most daily) basis: 36 (haven't posted them all in my sidebar)
3. Number of memes I play weekly: 4
4. Number of blogs I read that are written by men: 6
5. Number of blogs I read that are written by people I know personally: 8
6. Number of bloggers I read that are pregnant: 3
7. Number of bloggers I read that have brand new babies: 3
8. Number of blogs I read written by someone named Jenny or Jenni: 5
9. Number of blogs I read from Texas: 11
10. Number of blogs I read from overseas: 2

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Blog on!

The Highs and the Lows

What a weekend. I'm exhausted. There were ups. There were downs. There were more ups. I feel like I've been on a roller coaster!

Friday night was fun - Daughter and Lamb went to the Spring Dance at their school and had a wonderful time; D and I went out to dinner and then had a most successful bathing suit shopping trip (we both came home with two new bathing suits for this summer - for only about $60!). Sorry, no pics of us in our new suits, but trust me, we look FABULOUS in them!

Saturday was rough. My kitty Delilah - the one who adopted us last fall - had been in a fight with another cat recently, and her leg was hurt. It was getting worse and worse, so I took her to the vet Saturday morning. The bite wound on her leg was infected - she couldn't even put her leg down to walk. Because she was bitten by a stray, she was likely infected with something much worse than just the wound infection, as well. AND she was pregnant. The dollar signs started adding up. Quickly. She needed antibiotics, tests, shots, surgery.......I had to make that awful decision that no one should have to make. I took her to the SPCA where they will take care of her medical needs, her kittens, and hopefully find her and them all good homes (if she doesn't already have a fatal disease that is common in stray cats). I was heartbroken. I cried the whole way home, and on and off for the rest of the day (which made me have a horrible headache). I've lost two pets this year. Thank goodness I still have my Jax. I love him so much. And I want another puppy so badly, but Hubby will hear nothing of it. Fuddy duddy.

Saturday was good, tho, because Daughter and Lamb attended the last Drama Festival of the year, and they both did outstanding! They each received three Superior awards and two Excellent awards; Lamb received a 12-Star Award for getting Superior ratings in 12 of the 15 events thru the year, and Daughter received a medal for the 15-Star Award - Superior ratings in ALL 15 events! We are so proud of our drama girls! We took them out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate and a good time was had by all.

And that brings us to today - Mother's Day. It's a bittersweet day for me. Of course I am blessed with my wonderful mother - she is the greatest, I love her so very much, and I admire the awesome woman that she is! And I am blessed as a mother with wonderful, beautiful, smart children. I can't brag on them enough, and they let me sleep late when I wasn't feeling well this morning (still had that headache!), they cleaned the house for me, baked me blueberry muffins, and gave me two new bottles of bubble bath (one of my favorite things to get!). Bubba and Katie Lady and Drew Bear met me and Hubby and our kiddos at Bubba's Mom and Dad's house and we had a great day together (the men did all the cooking and cleaning up - yay!). I didn't get to talk to Navy Son, but he did leave me a message on my answering machine (you could have called me at Nana's house, dude!) We were also a bit sad today, because Bubba's Mom's mom and Bubba's Dad's mom are no longer with us, and I miss my grandmothers so much. They were so much a part of my life, and I can think of so many things about myself that came from them.

Overall, the joys of the weekend outweighed the sadness - despite the downs, I know that I am so blessed in my life. So very blessed. I hope you ALL had a Happy Mother's Day today. We may not all BE mothers, but we all HAVE mothers. Bless them all.

Camera Critters #5

Bath time for Jax! Doesn't he look thrilled? Usually he goes to the doggie beauty shop for his grooming needs, but sometimes when he just stinks I'll pop him in the sink and wash him with the whitening, sweet-smelling doggie shampoo. Afterwards he runs around the house like a freak. Then he gets a cookie for being good.

Friday's Feast #43

Appetizer
When someone smiles at you, do you smile back?
Absolutely! Smiles are contagious!

Soup
Describe the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?
Berber carpet in living room, dining room, hall, and bedrooms; wood in kitchen, breakfast and family room; ceramic tile in bathrooms.

Salad
Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.
Jocose juvenile jockeys joke jovially.

Main Course
Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?
Not personally.

Dessert
Name 2 blue things.
My right eye and my left eye!

Stupidest Person in the History of Survivor

Back to scooping ice-cream for you, Erik!

Just wake up?

I used to have some neighbors who said that to me anytime they saw me without eye makeup. Apparently when I'm not wearing mascara I look like I just crawled out of bed. I always thought that was so....tactful of them! Geez.

In a few minutes I'm headed out with Bubba's Mom for lunch and a pedicure (we pamper ourselves like that sometimes); I've been up for hours - well, not a LOT of hours, but enough to qualify it as a plural word - and I STILL have a pillow crease across my cheek! WTF?? Even makeup won't cover it up - I look like the victim of the Salem Slasher* or something. I just know as soon as I see Bubba's Mom she's going to say, "Did you just get up?!"

I'm not wearing eye makeup today either. So there.

*Name that soap opera!

Confession

I bought a package of cake doughnuts at the bakery in the grocery store today. I ate one when I got home. I ate two more after dinner.

Hi, my name is Bubba's Sis, and I'm a Doughnutoholic.

Wordless Wednesday - I only wish you could smell them!

Seriously.

Enthusiastic. Bubbly. Time to go home.

Ten Places That I'd Love to Travel To (That I Haven't Been to Yet!)

This week's Ten on Tuesday list really got my travel bug itching! Time for a vacation!! Yes, we do tend to travel to places we've been before (coughDisneyWorldcough), but there ARE places I've never been that I do hope to see someday:

1. Louisville, Kentucky (to see the Kentucky Derby and tour the Lousiville Slugger Museum and Factory)







2. Colorado (to see the Rocky Mountains)








3. Charleston, South Carolina





4. Disneyland in California





5. Nashville, Tennessee
   
   
   
   
6. Washington, D.C.





7. Bahamas (on a Disney cruise)





8. Castaway Cay (also on a Disney cruise!)





9. Las Vegas





10. Alaska (an Alaskan cruise would be awesome!)

So, where do YOU want to go??

Camera Critters #4

I finally figured out how to keep that naughty squirrel out of my bird feeder - SAFFLOWER SEEDS! Birds love 'em, squirrels hate 'em! Yay!

Heartbroken

As thrilled as I was today that Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby, I was even more crushed when second place finisher Eight Belles - the only filly in the race - fell after the finish, breaking both her front legs, and had to be put down right there on the track. I bawled. She was beautiful, she was strong, and she ran with the big boys. How tragic that it was literally the race of her life.

Behold, the doughnut.

This is not a nutritional food item. It is a deep-fried ring of dough and sugar. 299 calories. 14 grams of fat. 23 milligrams of cholesterol. 290 milligrams of sodium. 38 grams total carbohydrates (and I'm thinkin' they're not the "good carbs"). This, my friends, will kill you.

But I FREAKIN' LOVE DOUGHNUTS!!!!! Did I make myself clear? I ADORE them. Crave them, even. I love glazed ones, sugared ones, coconut covered ones, jelly-filled ones. Sometimes I dream of doughnuts. In fact, I'm thinking of having doughnuts for dinner tonight.

Is that wrong?

Friday's Feast #42

Appetizer
What was your favorite cartoon when you were a child?

Bugs Bunny; my favorite one is the opera one!

Soup
Pretend you are about to get a new pet. Which animal would you pick, and what would you name it?

I really want a black and white Havanese puppy (like the virtual one I got D.. for her birthday!); his name would be Jon Bon! In fact, that would make an awesome Mother's Day present.......

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy getting all dressed up for a special occasion?

I'd say an 8 or 9 - I'm not much of a fru-fru girl, but occasionally Hubby and I have to go to formal events and I love putting on my "Miss America" dress and looking pretty!

Main Course
What kind of music do you listen to while you drive?
I listen to a pretty wide variety of music, anything from country to rock to 80's tunes! Just depends on my mood.

Dessert
When was the last time you bought a clock? And in which room did you put it?

I bought the kids clock radios for their rooms for Christmas; they also make nature sounds, like rain and the ocean and chirping birds. Daughter listens to rain every night as she goes to sleep.