Yippee Yo Yippee Yay!

Go Texas Day!

Rodeo, BBQ, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, music, livestock show... all the best of Texas comes out this time of year and there's no better time to be a Texan. Unless you're a Utahan who refuses to give in. (Though I'm more cowboy than anyone else in my house - nobody can two-step or loves country music like I do.)

So for now, my true native Texans dressed their part for Go Texas Day:

I'll be enjoying the next three weeks of Rodeo Houston because it's the only time I'm "cool" for liking country music - and I mean the real country music of yesteryear. How can you not love yourself some Alabama, Mel McDaniel, Garth Brooks, The Charlie Daniels Band, Glen Campbell, Clint Black, Johnny Cash, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Denver, and the Highwaymen? Really I could go on, but this gives you a good taste...well, a good taste of my taste.

Now if I could just persuade my family to relish in the coolness of it.

And the trophy goes to...

Last weekend our basketball season ended. It ended with trophies and smiles, and, more importantly, better skilled players. And that's why we do it, right?

Happily, I've regained my Friday nights and Saturday mornings, meaning I get to sleep past 7:00 AM.

Sadly, I wasn't any closer to figuring out my camera at the end of the season than I was at the beginning.

Her last game:

His last game:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some people celebrate Valentine's Day with cards, flowers, gifts, jewelry, etc. I celebrate with chocolate, candy, cookies, and other things I see fit to give myself. It's not that my sweetheart isn't also my Valentine (after all, the man did come through with flowers), but as a rule, we have no expectations of each other (after all, the man got nothin' from me but a lot of love). You see, when there's no expectations, there's no disappointment and we're free to get the gifts we want - which is why I presented myself with chocolate-covered strawberries earlier today. Yum! I'm also eyeing some jewelry, but maybe I can...should save that for another holiday.

Anyway, I love Valentine's because I love my littlest sweethearts and all our activities. We make cards, we make and decorate cookies, I get to sneak in extra hugs and kisses, and we eat a lot of sweets - which I may have to rethink next year, since it's almost 9:00PM and my boy is still bouncing off the walls.

Here are some pictures from our candy-eating, frosting-licking, cookie decorating activity today:

Now the day is almost a distant memory. I've got a belly ache and I'm pretty sure I've gained more than water weight. But the day is anything but a bust. As a good friend put it today, "Love all. Serve all." I hope you got to spend time with the ones you love, as I did. I'm a lucky woman.

January Jumble

It's time for the January roundup. Besides the New Year and resolutions, there was a little bit of this and that, too.

Meaghan did her mishpachah at school. Translation: Jewish Shabbat prayers. I can't really tell you anymore beyond that because I'm no authority on the subject. But I can tell you that she did a great job.

We did some experiments...experiments that my son begged to do for days. Experiments for which I had to go to the store to buy particular ingredients.The one he asked to do the most? Make fake blood. And when we did, he wanted nothing to do with it. So someone had to put that blood to good use.

My boy lost another tooth - his 5th. And what better way to lose it than to have it pop out at Five Guys while eating a hotdog? Thank goodness he didn't swallow it, but we did have to do a little searching. I love the toothless grin.

Meaghan and Craig enjoyed Daddy & Donuts Day together. I love donuts. I'm still figuring out why there isn't a Mom & Donuts Day. If they're looking for alliteration, I'll even accept a Mom and M&Ms Day or a Mom & Milk Chocolate Day; I'm not picky.

Craig attended a dinner for several managers of some random baseball team. Well, maybe not so random - it was only his favorite MLB team of all time: The Houston Astros. The team I've seen him cheer for, lose his voice for, cry over, and curse a few or a thousand times. But love is love, for better or worse.

My super intelligent daughter wrote her first sentence all by herself when her exhausted, mean mom forced her to do so because heaven forbid I spell out another sentence. But look what happened when she asked and I gave her my news of the day. Not too bad for someone who has completely ignored the English alphabet for the first/last five years of her life.

Get your phonetic spelling on: "I am really tired"

My thrilled princess got her makeup and hair done at two birthday parties. Makeup. Makeup. Makeup. Oy!

It rained, it poured, and it flooded. And we all got stuck somewhere. Craig got stuck at the airport trying to fly out. After Meaghan was rescued at school by a friend with a big truck, she was stuck at the friend's house. Camron was stuck at school until rescued by the same friend with the big truck. Though my car is big, it wasn't big enough and after barely escaping the swamped freeway, I sat in the parking lot of a Burger King for an hour before wading my way home on sideroads. I saw a lot of the city I haven't seen before. Of course all Meaghan cared about was that she could splash in the puddles.

Meaghan finally...FINALLY tried driving the little JEEP by herself. She's always insisted her brother drive because she can't, but now we have two drivers. Sadly, we still only have one JEEP, and soon enough it won't fit either of them.

January was about getting back into the swing of things, and we have. School, after-school activities, homework, dinner, errands, and the sad realization for the kids that they won't be deluged with gifts every day for another 11 months. Happily, there's still the threat that they'd better be good for the next 11 months if they want any gifts...

2012 Resolutions

I remember when I was a senior in high school I saw a toddler with a shirt that read, "Graduating Class of 2004".  //Gasp!//  The 21st Century! Surely the world would end by then. And now here we are in 2012...the year, according to the Mayan calendar, when the world is suppose to end. Well if it does, at least I'll die my fiery death with some good resolutions and the best intentions.

So how are your resolutions going? Got almost all of them crossed off your list? Oh goody for you. As for me, I've finally decided on the things I'd like to work on this year... not accomplish, but work toward. If they sound familiar, it's because they are - most of the same ones from my Jewish New Year resolutions. Hey, why mess with a good thing? And this is a great opportunity to reevaluate.

1) Don't stop eating my favorite foods (ie, chocolate, cake, cookies, sugar, carbs - yeah, all the sweet stuff), but do start eating more fruits and vegetables. I totally ate carrots tonight; I rock.

2) Stretch and breathe, stretch and breathe, stretch and breathe. With all the hustle and flow of the day, I think my body needs a break and my brain needs a reality check. So relax, breathe, and then why not eat some chocolate and fruit?

3) Go back to reading more. Rather than get sidetracked with... I don't know... say, Facebook and Words with Friends, go back to the written word. I'm in the middle of the Hunger Game series and enjoying it. Reading does a brain good.

4) And because I wrote it down and it's now hanging in a storefront, I'm gonna have to work on running a faster mile. I'm embarrassed to publish this, but my mile is at a little over 11 minutes. Wouldn't it be great if I could get it down to just over 10? I won't even worry about keeping up with the chick who runs it in 7 minutes... I'd just like not to be lapped by her.

5) Reconnect. I started doing this, and while I'm still nowhere near where I want to be, I'm getting better. So instead of waiting six months for someone to hear back from me (whether via phone, email, etc.), I'm cutting that time in half. If you still haven't heard from me, your name is probably at the end of the alphabet - I bet you hated that in school, too.

6) Love more; live more; laugh more; lounge more. I don't like to play favorites, but #6 is mine.