Guess what I got????

Nope, I don't think you could guess so I'll tell ya. CROCS!!! Yup, hard to believe. I've been opposed to these crazy shoes since they first came out. But I got some in the flip flop style and let me tell ya....they are amazing.

I really like them and they are so comfy. I don't know if I'll bow to the ugly version yet, but for now I HEART these.

and now for 2 more random photos:

This is my Pooch - Rocky. He's such a sweet doggy. Very scary if you are a stranger walking up to the back door though (or so I've been told). We had a friend come over who is over 6 feet. When he walked in the door, he was eye-to-eye with Rock, who was sitting on our back steps. Moving right along...here he is at our back door where he will greet you should you come visit.

.....aaaaaaand, my hunny bunch....I HEART him too.

Yeah, I know it's lame, but my life isn't really worth talking about....actually my *life* probably is, but the things I'm involved in right now aren't really blog worthy...KWIM?

~ Adios

*more randomness*

I will say that I'm excited for tomorrow. I get to go scrapping with my buddy, Lisa. We're going to Archivers and I'm soooo looking forward to it. *doin' the happy dance* Gotta get my stuff together tonight so I can go pretty much straight from work.

I have so much to do this weekend that I probably shouldn't go scrapping but it's too late, Lisa's already signed me up.

laundry;
clean the house;
go to grocery store (it's getting kinda desperate with NO food in the house);work on September's youth service;
final school supply shopping;
pay bills;
get scrap stuff together;
choir practice;
I’m sure there’s more, but I just can’t remember them now. Great, just think what won’t get accomplished this weekend. *sigh*

Oh, & I wanna put this out there: I really, really, really want a CRICUT!

Another day of blah. I wish I had something fun to post here but I'm fresh out of ideas. Sorry readers.

Boring Blog

You would think with "The Jazz" being down right now I would have gobs of time for blogger....well, I do have the time, just no topic to blog about. I have been hitting all the blogs lately, that's my only link to the Jazz girls. So, I apologize to those of you who have been bored and looking for something to read this week.

I guess I could tell you about my oldest DS. He started his first year in public school yesterday. He's a freshman this year but he's gone to a private Christian school for K-8. Of course it's too soon to tell if he is going to like it, since they only went a half day yesterday but I hope and pray he excells this year and takes responsibility for himself. We shall see.

Tonight we have parent orientation for the twins. I would skip except that they are determining bus routes tonight. Not everyone uses the bus (lots of SAHM at this Christian school) so I need to make sure I get a good stop for my kiddos.

I can't wait till all this school prep stuff is done. I hate getting into this new routine and going to all the meetings and stuff. BLAH!!!

My boss is taking his son to college in Chicago tomorrow so he'll be gone the next 2 days, so the boredom will continue. Hopefully SJ gets back on schedule by tomorrow.

Well, not a lot going on, so I don't really have anything else to post about.

Have a great Day!!!!!

Have your ever found a dead body?

As I was listening to the radio this morning and getting ready for work, the morning DJ’s were asking if anyone had ever encountered a dead body. I must admit that after CSI took off, I have been on the lookout for one, especially on my way to work. I ride our local public transportation (kinda like an above ground subway) to work through East St. Louis (ESL), IL, which has a very high crime rate. I watch the ditches, fields and abandon areas for bodies.

I did encounter a body once, but not in ESL. I was driving the family home from visiting my FIL, it was between 10–11:00 p.m. A truck ran a stop sign and was coasting into my lane. I looked over at the driver to give him a dirty look as I passed by and his head was leaning back against the headrest and I could see a bullet hole in his temple. Mike and I were freaked out cause we didn’t know if he did it himself or if there was a person on the loose with a gun in the area. He was still alive and we called the police. By the time they got him to the hospital, he had died.
He was a young guy – in his late 20’s – and an entrepreneur and if I remember correctly he had gotten in an argument with his girlfriend and then shot himself.

That was a really wild experience. Very sad for the young man and his family too.


Here's a Quiz (stolen from Beth who stole it from Lori):

1. WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP THIS MORNING? 6:20 a.m.
2. DIAMONDS OR PEARLS? Diamonds
3. WHAT WAS THE LAST FILM YOU SAW AT THE THEATER? Monsters, Inc. (yup, don’t go much)
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? 24, CSI: Los Vegas and NY
5. WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? Raspberry Yogurt
6. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Eileen (after my Granny)

8. WHAT FOODS DO YOU DISLIKE? Brussel sprouts and asparagus
9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHIP FLAVOR? I love chips and dip…plain ruffles with French Onion Dip or Nachos with cheese dip
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CD AT THE MOMENT? Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs by Donnie McClurkin
11. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Chrysler Mini-Van
12. FAVORITE SANDWICH? Dill Chicken Salad on Cracked Wheat Bread from Edible Difference (it has grapes in it)
13. CHARACTERISTIC THAT YOU DESPISE? Stupidity (is that a characteristic?)
14. FAVORITE ITEM(s) OF CLOTHING? Sweatpants
15. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Paris, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, some Islands (shoot, I'll go wherever - LOL)
16. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM? White (boring)
17. FAVORITE BRAND OF CLOTHING? Whatever is on sale, usually. I don’t really have a favorite.
18. TO WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE? Somewhere warm – Arizona maybe, New Mexico, Cali…don’t really know.
19. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? I guess my 16th – had a weird Chinese party at a Greek restaurant (long story)
20. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? None…I refuse to watch.
21. GOAL YOU HAVE FOR YOURSELF? Lose some weight!!!! Be a better mommy and wife
22. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? December 12
23. WHEN IS YOUR ANNIVERSARY? September 26
24. WHAT IS YOUR SHOE SIZE? 8.5
25. PETS: One Dog – Rocky & One Cat – Maime
26. ANY NEW AND/OR EXCITING NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? Not really
27. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? A bank teller
28. HOW ARE YOU TODAY? I have a stiff neck and I’m a little sleepy but other than that, I’m ok.
29. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Alstroemeria or peruvian lilly (not sure which one - feel free to correct me) These flowers last F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!!!
31. WHAT DAY ON THE CALENDAR ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO? I guess 9/4 (it’s a holiday, which means a day off of work)
32. WHERE IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE EVER BEEN FROM HOME? Jamaica

Have a great day. One more day till the weekend WOO HOO

A Few Pictures...

I just realized that I haven't uploaded any Mystery Dinner pictures, so here are some of DH & I and our kids.




I had a blast on the canoe trip. I only tipped the canoe over one time. Not too shabby for my first time out. We did 6 miles and I was ready to quit - my arms were aching. Also, by the tiime we were nearing the 6 mile mark, there were so many drunk (like passing out drunk) people on the river. I don't know how these peeps keep from drowning. It's amazing. We had one scare though. There were 2 guys (maybe mid to late teens) and a little girl (maybe 8 or so) in a canoe by themselves and they tipped over. NONE of them could swim and the little girl was hollering for help. We kept thinking that the guys she was with would help her but they just stared at her. They were holding on to a tree limb on the side of the water. She went under several times and it was taking her longer to get back up. Several people were trying to get over to the side so we could help her out. The guy we were with jumped in and pulled her out. He said it was pretty deep where she was - he couldn't even touch bottom. This is exactly what scares me. I'm not a really good swimmer and really the only way I can swim is if I'm wearing goggles - got some issues with not being able to see where I am. Thankfully everything tured out ok, but it was very distrubing...why would you go canoing and no one in your group know how to swim????

Anyway it was fun and I wanna go again. But next time maybe during the week when there aren't so many party-rs there (it was getting really old) and it's not as busy. I also would like the river to be a little fuller. We scrapped the bottom so many times and Mike even had to get out and push the canoe a few times. All-in-all though, good fun.
I don't have any pictures yet of the canoe trip. I took an old waterproof camera with me so I didn't pay for one-hour cause I don't know if any of them will even turn out. We'll see.

summerjazz CJ's

Don't freak out...2 posts in one day has to be a record for me. Don't come to expect it very often LOL.

Here's my CJ pages for Michelle's book about Favorite Restaurants.






The tag pic is blurry, sorry.

Here's my journaling for it too. It; kinda hard to read, even on the actual LO but I couldn't redo it.

+++++++++++++++++++

I love all kinds of food, but it wasn’t too difficult to choose my favorite restaurant. Every birthday, I get to pick where I want to eat. My family really don’t have to ask where I want to go, they already know –
Zapata’s Mexican Restaurant.

If I order off of the menu, I order the Chicken Chimichanga smothered in that amazing white cheese sauce. Mmmmmmmmmm. Sometimes we’ll eat lunch there on Sunday’s and order the buffet. For dessert you can get all the cinnamon, sugar & honey chips you can eat. Delicious!!!

I just wonder if it’s required that all Mexican restaurants have the ginormous cheesy paintings on the wall.

+++++++++++++++++++++

My printer at home needs some new ink. I procrastinated on the CJ and it came down to me having to print and finish the LO at work today. So once the bosses took off for lunch, out came the scrapping supplies. I had the idea laid out in my head, I just needed the journaling part printed. Once that happened it was finished in about 30 minutes. The CS is textured and I didn't even think about it not printing well, but that's all the paper I had with me for journaling so....that's the way it's gotta be.

Gracie...

The Amazingly Beautiful Gracie...













and her super funny and handsome big brother






(and then there's mom and dad too)

It's Friday...

THE WEEKEND:

I am going on my first canoe trip tomorrow.
I have to get water shoes tonight.
I want to scrap, but don't want to work on the things that I NEED to do. I just wanna scrap for fun.
I haven't been to the gallery in months and really don't feel like going yet.
My dream car....











That's all
have a great weekend

Postsecret

I was walking outside at lunch today.

When it suddenly hit me that I had passed several females.

After thinking about it, I realized that the thought passed through my head whether I was larger or smaller than each one of them.

I wonder if anyone else does this...

Yeah, I'm obsessed with the fact that I'm overweight.

GGGRRRRR.......BLOGGER

Ok, this is the third time I’ve typed this. GRRRRRR…..blogger is killing me today. I wanted to post about Florida

Thoughts On Florida:

1. They have more than their fair share of Hummers. I think it should be the state vehicle.
   
2. They have more than their fair share of rude people too. Seems like all the clerks at the stores and stuff would rather not have me there. Now, some of these places were little Mom-&-Pop places. You would think they would want my business.
   
3. HUMIDITY – the temperature was probably in the mid to upper 90’s the entire time but the heat index was well over 100. The humidity is very different than in Illinois – much, much worse. I was speaking to one of the locals and she was totally shocked that we have temperatures in the low 100’s too.
   
4. Too many Toll roads. I saved every piece of change I could get my hands on. I think it would cost about $3-4 to get to Orlando from Cocoa Beach, then you gotta go back for $3-4.
   
5. I don’t understand the cars on side of the road. Everywhere you look there are random cars in the ditch. It looks like they might have swerved to avoid an accident or were hit into the ditch or something. The thing is, I don’t see how so many can happen. We never once had an occasion to think we were headed for an accident. What are these people thinking?
   
6. License plate variety – exactly how many different plates can one state have?
   
7. Ocean – need I say more? It’s simply gorgeous. When I stand on the beach and look out as far as I can, it amazes me. I can’t comprehend how huge it must be. Makes me think of the song "How Great Is Our God."
   
8. The plants and trees are so different than the ones in Illinois. I know it’s to be expected but it’s strange to drive along the road and see palm trees and Spanish Moss growing.

Every time we’ve gone to Florida, which is now the grand total of twice, our return flight has been delayed. Last year it was delayed due to the tropical storms that were blowing in. This year, the plane was held up in St. Louis due to mechanical problems. To make matters worse prior to lift-off, every time the Captain or one of the flight attendants would make an announcement the air and lights would go off. Let me tell you, you can be sure I prayed before that plane lifted off the ground. Yup, we were really taking a chance on that flight. But once we were in the air, there were no problems. THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!

I left 2 complaints on the comment card for the resort: 1) they don’t have internet access in the rooms. You have to leave your room and go to the lobby for wireless access. WTHeck is that all about!?!?!?!??! It’s the year 2006 people, set it up already. 2) Get new mattresses. Mike slept so bad that he ended up on the floor one night and slept better there than on the bed. Now that is just wrong!

When we were getting ready to leave, the guy that sold us our timeshare last year, Luigi, came up to our room to see how we were and how our vacation was going. When we told him our complaints, he said they were currently getting ready to wire the place so all the rooms had internet access. So next year should be better. Whew, I was sweating that one. Now the mattresses, who knows about that.

Luigi is such a nice guy. He ran into Nick in the hall and told him that he has a lump on the back of his head and the doctors have been treating it with Chemo. He’s a young guy too, probably our age, so it’s very disturbing. He never mentioned it to Mike and I though, so I want to send him a card or something.

I was not ready to come back to work, but I was ready to get home to my "stuff" and my doggy. Speaking of Rocky, Chelle house/pet sat for us and she said he moped around like he missed us.
I think he lost some weight while we were gone too, poor little guy.

Here’s a couple more photos taken at our resort. I’ll use either the one of the boys or the family one for our next Christmas card (probably the boys, it's the best). I have to try and get the haze out of the family one. Mom took the pic and had some sun in the corner, she also didn't make sure you could see Austen real good, oh well. Guess it's not as great as I thought. If you have any editing suggestions, I would really appreciate them.















And this one I really like and think it would be a cool school picture. Just need to lighten it up a bit and we'll have to see what a wallet looks like. K, that's all for today. I told ya the photos were sad.

Not so great photos this time around...

I am either just not in the mood or there are very few photo op's. Don't know. So here is one decent photo of my mom and the kiddos. (I tried uploading but blogger wouldn't let me so a week later, here I am.)

This was at Sea World. I rented my mom this nifty little cart and she was able to carry around our cooler bag with drinks and stuff. Turned out to be real handy.









I just wanna say that the Female Sea Dragon's got it goin on....

I tried really hard to get a decent pic of them but it was dark and they were floating and wouldn't hold still *sigh* I am just curious when seaweed washes up on the beach if it ever includes a sea horse, it looks just like it.....Anyway, this is the best I could do:

and finally....even though I cut off the poor birds head at the bottom (duh, wish I could go back and do it over), my favorite......

I'll upload more from the rest of the week on another post.