Foursons

Letters of Intent

2010-07-29T20:06:00.001-07:00

Do you have a letter you’re just itchin’ to write? Has a company not met your expectations? Has a product not lived up to its promises? Do you take the words “100% guaranteed” at face value? Have teenagers working their summer jobs been rude to you? If you are not a long-time follower of Letters of Intent, then you must know that we have a great track record for making change and receiving compensation for poor customer service, products, food items…you name it, companies have delivered! The internet is a powerful tool and bad advertising is a powerful incentive. An email to a CEO with a link to your blog post can do great things! Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear NY Lawmakers,

I don’t know whose idea it was to make it a law that restaurants are required to post the amount of calories that each item they serve on their menu contains, but I’m here to tell you that it is a terrible idea. I can’t tell you how many times you ruined the dining experience for me while I was deciding which delicious entree and dessert to consume. I much prefer to eat my meals blissfully ignorant of how many calories each bite contains. Maybe this is why San Antonio is one of the fattest cities in the nation, but I’d rather be fat and happy than eating with guilt.

Love,

The girl who loves her carbs washed down with dessert.

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Dear Nolan,

Seriously boy, when are you going to learn to quit the first time you’re told? Repeatedly hearing Jakob scream “STOP!” at you irritates me to no end. I don’t understand why you have to be hurt in order to change your behavior. Jakob knows this little rule too and has taken to slugging you as soon as you start teasing and honestly, I have a very hard time punishing him when you tease mercilessly. If you do this at school when you start Kindergarten next month you are going to have some serious problems. Lets fix this behavior now before I have to be embarrassed by a phone call from the principal, OK?

Love,

Mom

Ra Ra-ah-ah-ah

2010-07-29T08:52:00.001-07:00

Day 3 in NYC found us on the subway headed to Brooklyn.

Our first stop once in Brooklyn was to continue our quest of gaining eleventy hundred pounds. We worked hard at that goal on a daily basis. Lombardi’s knew just how to help us out.

If you are ever near Brooklyn, make a stop here. Their pizza sauce is the perfect combination of light, tangy, and sweet and in combination with the handmade dough and salty toppings… MMMmmmmmm. Make sure you have cash though, they don’t take anything else for payment. Chris ordered a large for just the two of us. We ate every bite.

In an attempt to try and overeat again at dinner (we like to plan ahead), we did some sight-seeing on foot. There’s a big True Story Tuesday post waiting to be written about a celebrity sighting in this lovely town, but I am waiting to hear back from some tabloid magazines about buying my picture. (Yes, I’m that person.) So for now I will refrain from posting the shot.

But I did stop and take these shots with Brian in mind again. I took this one first:

This one came only seconds later. Notice the sudden number of firemen who are seemingly interested in what is going on near me. That would be because the celebrity was standing behind me waiting for their turn to take a picture with the firemen.

Yup, this was big time folks. No it wasn’t George Clooney. Had it been, I might be in jail right now instead of writing this post. We continued on to the Brooklyn Bridge with me singing:

Ra Ra-ah-ah-ah
Roma Roma-ma
GaGa
Oh la-la

We then hopped back on the sVbway (I just laughed and laughed at that. It’s the little things in life, ya know?)

And headed to the Staten Island Ferry. We did this because 1. It was free. 2. I did not want to wait in line for The Statue of Liberty like we did for The Empire State Building. 3. It was free. I got great pictures of Manhatten Island and The Statue of Liberty from the ferry. Well through the smog that is.

We also visited Ground Zero which I am going to save for a post all by itself. I feel it deserves it.

On the way back to Times Square we made a stop at FAO Schwarz.

I took lots of pictures to show the boys everything we didn’t buy them. And we laughed hysterically at the thought of this ‘cause we’re such awesome parents.

We walked through the baby section and I thought about Brandi and her little princess:

Checked out the famous piano from Big:

And then we laughed some more about all the toys our boys would love to have.

Dinner that night was at a chain restaurant, which we normally wouldn’t patron but was excellent regardless.

The food was fabulous and if there was a restaurant near me I’d be frequenting it regularly.

After dinner we walked back through Times Square.

And lived through the makings of another True Story Tuesday while we waited for the rain to pass so we could return to our hotel and prepare ourselves for our final day in the city.

Mr. D Loves the Yankees

2010-07-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is the post Mr. D has been waiting for. He is definitely the biggest Yankees fan that I know of. If you have any memorabilia or pictures be sure to let him know. He’d be happy to discuss purchasing your Yankees stuff! I think his favorite player is Jeter, so if you have any Jeter stuff definitely contact him!

Oh my blue blazes, never again will I scoff at northerners for saying it is hot. This southern girl has been schooled. Big time. It was so freakin’ hot in Boston and NYC and I will be the first to tell you that I did not handle it well. At all. The humidity along with the 90 degree temperatures just about did me in. A particularly bad day in which I was seeking shelter and bags of ice (literally) was at the Rays vs Yankees game where we sat in the sun for 4.5 long hours.

We had fantastic seats for viewing the game:

And even better seats for batting practice. Chris got another ball to go along with the two we got at Fenway Park.

The new Yankee Stadium is beautiful.

But Red Sox games are definitely more enjoyable. The atmosphere and the fans make a Red Sox game an event, not just a game. However, that is not to say that it is not amazing to see athletes like Jeter, A-Rod, Swisher, and even Mariano Rivera play.

The excitement was palatable when Rivera ran out to the mound to throw one pitch to end the game.

And like the true ball fans we are, we stopped and watched a softball game in Central Park on the way back to our hotel after the Yankees game.

Chris decided to show off his tan lines while we walked in the spongy grass. (10 bloggy points to the first person to tell me what movie that references.)

The shade and cool grass was so welcoming that I had a hard time convincing myself that we should get up and get moving so that we wouldn’t be eating dinner at midnight.

It wasn’t quite midnight by the time we made it to the restaurant, but I do think we were eating an enormous BLT and more cheesecake at 10:00 at night. Yup, right on track to gaining that eleventy hundred pounds we were aiming for.

NYC is a lot like Vegas though in that the city never sleeps. We definitely were not the only ones doing our best to gain enough weight that we would need to purchase two seats for the plane ride home. Time Square was filled with gluttons just like us. However, unlike all the people in this shot, we returned to our hotel and called it a night before the day actually turned into tomorrow.

The One In Which You Feign Interest

2010-07-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Many of you said you wanted to feel like you were right there with me in NYC…so here ya’ go. Part 1 of oh I don’t know, 20 maybe? I can just here the squeals of excitement as you anticipate the “slideshow” of my vacation in the Big Apple. You’re welcome. Anything for my fans. What? You don’t hang on every word I say? Humpfh.

My first impression of NYC was… “Wow, it’s so big!”

My second impression, which was much more powerful than the first… “Wow, it stinks.” I mean seriously, the joint stinks something fierce.

I also never realized how blessed I am to be able to fly into the San Antonio airport, walk to my car, and drive home. Flying into NYC had us hopping a subway train, walking through the city streets, hailing a cab, watching our lives flash before our eyes several times as the cab driver turned sidewalks into streets, and finally tumbling out of the cab to our hotel.

The location of our hotel in Times Square was fabulous. Chris’ Priority Club membership allowed us a free upgrade to a room with views of Broadway St.

Chris had our entire vacation planned out and I was just along for the ride. Pretty fabulous if you ask me. Which I totally know you did just ask. I love not having to make decisions and getting to just follow someone blindly while taking everything in and enjoying myself. Our first stop was dinner at Carnegie’s Deli. Oh my gosh, if you ever go to NYC you must stop there.

Lots of famous people eat there although we didn’t see any celebrities, just their pictures. All the restaurant walls were filled like this one:

The food there is AH-mazing. One meal is enough for 2-3 people depending on how hungry you are. We ordered the open-faced Ruben sandwich which is their specialty. Don’t you just love the expression of the woman’s face behind Chris? Bwahahahhahaha.

And since our goal on vacation was to gain eleventy hundred pounds, we ordered this too:

Sorry for the blurry photo. I was shaking with anticipation and only took one shot in my rush to consume 5000 calories. And yes, it was totally worth it.

Chris then planned for us to go to the Empire State Building and watch the sunset from the top. I know, I know, he’s pretty awesome. Only we didn’t know that if you want to see the sunset you need to arrive by noon because you will wait in line after line after line after line after line…. By the time we made it to the top, the sun was long gone.

This picture was taken with Chris’ camera because I forgot how to get my camera to take any decent nightscapes.

We snapped some shots of ourselves trying to get new Facebook profile pictures (why am I glowing in my shot?):

And we had someone take the obligatory “we’re on top of the Empire State Building” shot:

Then we waited in line some more and more and more and more so we could get back down to street level. Day 1 came to a close and I was now looking forward to ~~some good ol’ natured ribbing of Mr. D~~ a Yankee’s game.

Cast Off Day!

2010-07-26T16:55:00.001-07:00

I got my cast off today. No there was not an ant carcass in it. Curses. And honestly, as soon as it was off I almost wanted it back on. Sounds crazy, I know. But have you ever sat/slept in one position for to long and felt stiff? Well imagine staying in that one position for an entire month. Yes, it hurts as much as you imagine it to hurt. I do not have any range of motion in my wrist and maybe a fraction of an inch in my fingers.

The doctor told me I could gently wash my hand when he took the cast off. I almost passed out when I tried to stick my hand under the running water by bending my wrist. The pain was excruciating.

(Sorry for the bad pictures. I was using my point and shoot and was shaking from the pain.)

The purple marker on my finger is from surgery day. The grossest thing was the mushy, white skin between my fingers.

This shot is to show you my tan line on my arm. Pretty, isn’t it?

I am now wearing a brace for 4-6 weeks and start Physical Therapy on Thursday. I am showing my double chin (again) for all for you. You’re welcome. And yes, my expression depicts how I feel perfectly.

So for now I am still chicken pecking my way through blogging. *sigh*

You totally feel sorry for me right?

We’re Not In Kansas Anymore Toto

2010-07-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Our arrival to Boston was by the skin of our teeth. The flight out of San Antonio was 2.5 hours late and we almost missed our connection in Chicago. But we made it as did our luggage. We were welcomed into Boston in grand style as our taxi pulled up to our hotel. The welcome wagon stood on the corner of Friend St in the form of three ladies of the night. One was relieving herself on the sidewalk while illuminated by the street light and the other two were taking pictures (for Facebook I’m sure) with their barely their dresses pulled up to their ribcage and their naked behinds pushed out in what I can only assume is their sexy pose. We’re a loooong way from small town South Texas.

Once daylight showed itself (at 5:30 AM mind you) the creatures of the night went into hiding and we discovered the Little Italy section of Boston. My full-blooded Italian husband felt like he was back in his mother’s kitchen. The sights, smells, and sounds brought back so many memories. We stopped to eat where the locals who strongly resembled the mafia were hanging out. We almost stopped and bowed in their presence seeing as how there was not a single local who did not stop and greet them by name. The food- delicious. The service- intimidating. Perfect.

We stopped by this place twice in one day.

Oh my goodness gracious, I would move to Boston just to have access to this little slice of heaven. We purchased several of these yummy treats.

Once we tired of trying to navigate the city by foot using a GPS,

we allowed the cab drivers to swindle us until Chris was able to figure out the subway system.

Of course we took in some sight-seeing,

and I thought about Brian and his beautiful wife, Julie. Which then made me think of Rachel and Mr. D, which then made me laugh because Mr. D would hate being on my vacation.

Right now we are on a train headed to NYC (which is how I’m getting this post written seeing as how Chris said my blog is on vacation too).

Did you know trains have power outlets? Good thing since I’m still chicken-pecking my way through blogland and I need extra-long battery power. Any bets on if we’ll see the naked cowboy?

Letters of Intent

2010-07-22T19:44:00.001-07:00

Has the letdown after vacation got everyone in a bad mood? Is the thought of summer vacation coming to an end putting a damper on your days? Do you long for one more month of sleeping in? Are the tourists in your town driving you mad? Did you just take a long overdue vacation with your spouse that was amazing? Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where and why of it all. Grab the button from my left sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Jakob and Nolan,

Oh how I missed you while your Dad and I were on vacation. Even your bickering. I’m so happy to be back home with y’all and can’t wait until next Monday when my cast comes off so we can go back to the local waterpark and go on all the rides! I’m glad you had a good time with Grandma while we were gone and behaved most of the time.

Love,

Mom

P.S. No you cannot eat all five pounds of chocolate in one day. Yes, you can sleep in your Yankees hats.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Mom,

Thank you for keeping the boys for an entire week so Chris and I could go on vacation. I know they can be a handful at times. OK, ok…all the time. They had a great time with you. I’m sorry they broke the TV. Let me know how much it costs to repair it, I will pay for it.

Love,

Your thankful daughter

P.S. I think it’s time for a more recent picture of you with the boys

________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Chris,

Thanks for planning our vacation and convincing me to go. 12 years is way to long to wait to go on vacation by ourselves. Maybe we need to start planning date nights so we can feel like we’ve had mini-vacations.

Love,

Your Wife

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Topsy Turvy,

I was so excited to return home from vacation and see these! Yeehaw! I love you Topsy Turvy!

Love,

The Tomato Lover

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Followers/Lurkers/Visitors,

I hope you’re ready for a gazillion vacation photos. I took a billion-gazillion but am only planning on showing you a gazillion. And as always, read the two blogs that linked up before you, and go tell all your friends about me! OK, you don’t have to go tell all of them about me…but one or two would be nice.

Love,

Your oh-so-humble leader

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well Hello… I’ve Missed You!

2010-07-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

We attended another Mission’s game this week.

My niece requested that I take my camera. She really enjoyed the ~~photos~~ ~~informative post~~ ~~up close and personal viewpoint~~ ~~opportunity to see our minor league ballclub~~ post.

Unfortunately, I was without my zoom lens seeing as how it was a casualty in an accident. So I apologize in advance for the disappointment you will feel after reading this.

It’s not like I didn’t try to find Mr. Tall Drink of Water for ~~me to make eye contact with~~ you. I just couldn’t zoom in far enough from our seats.

I looked though. He’s there somewhere! I did find him in the program. And lo and behold, his name is Mitch and not Mr. Tall Drink of Water. Huh, who would have guessed?

Me: “Hey, look at that! He’s almost 26 years old! Oh thank goodness he’s not a teenager!”

Chris: “He’ll never make it to the majors. He’s way too old to be moved up, this is pretty much it for him. In 4 years he’ll be baggin’ groceries.”

Me: “Hey, don’t be hatin’ on him just ‘cause he’s datin’ age.”

Boston- Where Everybody Knows Your Name

2010-07-16T13:57:00.001-07:00

We’ve spent the last two days in Boston. We took in a Red Sock’s game yesterday. They lost to the Rangers. I find that funny, don’t you?

Nevermind, don’t answer that. Before the game we stood outside The Green Monster and waited during batting practice for homerun balls. Chris and I both caught a ball. Well, he caught one. I went into a fenced off area and chased one down while Chris laughed at the way I was running while holding my camera, camera bag and trying not to further damage my hand. Punk.

No, I still can’t fix my hair. And it was humid. Thankyouverymuch. We walked a mile in the wrong direction trying to find Cheers. Thankfully Bostonians are super nice people and a woman told us we could follow her to work because it was on the way to the bar. We talked camera talk and I almost sounded knowledgeable. Almost. I stopped to take this shot. I think I might enlarge it to hang in my house.

What seemed like eleventy hundred miles later we found Cheers. I started singing the theme song. And I didn’t stop. All.day.long.

Tomorrow we take on NYC.

Letters of Intent

2010-07-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Jakob and Nolan,

I know all to well that you are active boys. And sooner or later active boys are going to express an interest in skateboarding. However; when I told y’all that you had to show me you were truly interested by practicing with the tiny skateboards that came attached to backpacks from Kohl’s when you were just little guys, I didn’t realize exactly what I was asking you to do.

I didn’t realize that despite wearing bicycle helmets, that my heart would stop beating when witnessing you doing this:

I never dreamed that you would hop on a board almost the same size as your feet and immediately try to start doing tricks. Nor did I think that y’all would teach each other how to do your fancy tricks that give me visions of trips to the ER.

Because quite frankly, when I see things like this:

It reminds me of this:

And honestly, more than one casted appendage in the family during the summer is more than we can handle.

So our late night trip to Walmart to buy pads and wrist guards was a desperate attempt by me to stop you guys from seriously injuring yourselves while learning your new sport.

You just got lucky that we found $8 boards to replace those ~~pieces of crap~~ boards that cannot possibly be made for real skating.

Just be kind to your dear mother’s heart, OK?

Love,

Your one-armed Mom

P.S. We’ll get you cool helmets soon, but for now you are stuck with the bike helmets. ~~So quit freakin’ begging!~~

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Dear Readers/Followers/Lurkers,

I am in NYC right now and won’t be able to get to your letters today. Please be sure to read the two link-ups before you and spread some comment love!

Love,

Your Oh So Humble Leader

The Big Apple

2010-07-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

For the next seven days I will be spending some time in NYC with my husband sans children! Doesn’t that sound amazing? So while we are here:

I have been told that my blog is on vacation too. *deep breath* I have a few blog posts scheduled to post, so no need to worry that your life is going to be completely without me for the next week. And I’m pretty sure that this hotel in Times Square will have internet service.

Did you catch that? We’re staying in Times Square. For free. As a matter of fact, the flights to and from NYC are free too. Sometimes there are perks to having a husband who travels a lot.

Miss me while I’m gone, OK?

Read It Forward Winner

2010-07-12T15:11:00.001-07:00

My new laptop will not allow me to grab the Random Number Generator so y’all will just have to trust me that the winner of Where The Heart Is, is #3 BJ Mama at For What’s It’s Worth… or not.

Congrats! Email me your address and I’ll get your book in he mail!

Letters of Intent

2010-07-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

Have you told your kids eleventy hundred times that they better STOP or you are going to make them stop? Did your child burst into tears when you told them that you were done for the day and they better go ask their father? Did the rain outside cause you to have a nervous breakdown because you couldn’t send your children outside to play? Did you lose a follower while trying your best to chicken peck your way through blogland with a broken hand? Yeah, me neither…to any of it. Ahem. Guest posting today to save me from some more chicken pecking is the lovely Hyacynth at Undercover Mother. She is the most amazing blogger who encourages me to be a better everything. Better mother, wife, daughter, person. I adore her and I venture to guess that you will too. So be sure to hop on over to her little home in blogland and say hi! After you write your letter, grab the button from my sidebar, and link-up at the bottom of course. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Dr. Seuss,
Thank you so much for writing kids books that are insanely long and beloved by my two year old. Thank you for making those books rhyme in weird ways, helping me to sound like a total and complete idiot while I'm reading them.

And most of all, in your book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,

thank you so much for coming up with "the one hump wump" on which the little boy in the story rides. Really, thank you for this invention because my two year old thinks it's marvelous. In fact, he thinks it's so wonderful he has begun jumping on the dog's back declaring that he is riding his own one-hump wump. But at least that's in the privacy of our own home where we can usher him away from his "wump" and find him something more appropriate to ride like, say, a bike. I suppose you couldn't find anything fun that rhymes with bike? I know; the words hump and wump are insanely hilarious.

But your wump idea doesn't stay contained in our home, dear Dr. Suess. No, no, no. Our dear toddler has an amazing memory and imagination, and he takes both of them with us everywhere we go. In fact, Dr. Seuss, while we were at the chiropractor, I felt a rather large, rather dense and rather heavy body crawl on top of mine while I was face down with my head in hole on the chiropractic table. And Dr. Seuss, I know you have a great imagination yourself, but I doubt you never would have imagined that my two year old would have taken inspiration from your book and announced to our chiropractor, who had momentarily turned her back to me in an attempt to console the baby mid adjustment, that he was riding his new one-wump hump. "Your what?" she asked, apparently confused.
"My one-hump wump," he exclaimed.
"Umm, honey," I said. "Mommy is not a one-hump wump; mommy is a mommy. Please get down."
[Insert awkward silence]
Thank you, Dr. Seuss, for allowing me to educate our chiropractor about one-hump wumps and assuring her that it was found in your beloved book and that my toddler was not growing up in some strange, highly odd household. Really, thanks for that.

Sincerely,
Your number one "wump"

Hyacynth blogs at Undercover Mother. She's happy to guest post for Julie, but she really wishes Julie's hand would heal because chicken pecking her posts must be a total drag.

Thank you very much

2010-07-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of Kmama.

To my doctor who didn’t believe that I have ant in my cast. I know I sound like a big ol’ baby but you are talking to a woman who survives surgery pain with OTC pain medication. I am tougher than I sound. Thank you very much.

To egg donor. I know you broke your wrist once upon a time. I’ve broken my wrist before too. Try breaking your hand in the manner that I have and then try to trash talk to me. Thank you very much.

To patrons of the pool. The pool is B.I.G. Swimming into a woman with a cast on her arm is uncalled for. Watch where you’re going and swim around me for heaven’s sake. Thank you very much.

To my Rheumatologist. You ought to be in jail for swindling. Talking to me for 10 minutes after I have waited to see you for 50 minutes and then charging $150 for an office visit sure seems illegal to me. Really? $150 for 10 minutes of work? Thank goodness for bad medical insurance. Thank you very much.

To my followers/lurkers/visitors. I know that all I have written about for the last 2 weeks is my broken hand. Sorry about that. But I finally have easy blog fodder. You can expect the nature of these posts to continue. Thank you very much. (Said in the most non-sarcastic way of course.)

Read It Forward 7/7/10

2010-07-06T21:17:00.001-07:00

The Rules:

If you'd like to receive the books I have on my blog today, leave a comment. The winner will be selected using Random.org, just like a standard giveaway. If you have a book you'd like to give away on your own blog, please write up a short review, grab our button, and add your name to the Linky.

Once a month, I'll host this blog hop to give you a chance to pass a book you love on to another blogger. All I ask is...
1) If you receive a book from another blogger during this book hop, please promise that you'll ultimately pass it on using this blog hop as well. It can be the next month, or two months, or three months down the road-- not everyone has a whole bunch of time to read, so the timeline is yours to decide!
2) Once you receive a book, make sure to add your blog name and URL to the inside cover. That way, the people who receive that book in the future will know where it's been.
3) You can add a book to the blog hop at any time. So if you don't have a book you'd like to give away this month, don't worry! You can add something next month, or the month after, or the month after!

Now, let's get reading!

I won this book from a previous Read It Forward carnival and am so happy to pass it on to someone else now! Huge thanks to Crystal at Reflections Of A Semi-Crunchy Mama!

Where The Heart Is written by Billie Letts is a dramatic, heart-warming book about a young girl struggling against adversity and learning about life and love from some unusual but instantly likeable characters. A summary from bookbrowse says:

Novalee Nation has always been unlucky with sevens. She's seventeen, seven months pregnant, thirty-seven pounds overweight -- and now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, holding just $7. 77 in change. An hour ago, she was on her way from Tennessee to a new life in Bakersfield, California. Suddenly, with all those sevens staring her in the face, she is forced to accept the scary truth: her no-good boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens has left her with empty pockets and empty dreams.

But Novalee is about to discover treasures hidden in Sequoyah -- a group of disparate and deeply caring people, among them :

Blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband, who hands out advice and photocopied books of the Bible...

Moses Whitecotton, the wise, soft-spoken, elderly black photographer eager to teach Novalee all he knows...

and Forney Hull, the eccentric town librarian who hides his secrets -- and his feelings -- behind his world of books.

Novalee may be homeless and jobless, living secretly in a Wal-Mart, but she's beginning to believe she may have a future. Through all the touching and surprising adventures that lie ahead, she's going in the right direction.

Where the Heart Is puts a human face on the look-alike trailer parks and malls of America's small towns. It will make you believe in the strength of friendship, the goodness of down-to-earth people, and the healing power of love. And it will make you laugh and cry...every step of the way.

My Review:

Star Ratings:

= abysmal - horrific, dull or offensive; avoid
= poor - blue do, disappointing; waste of time
= fair - forgettable but inoffensive
= good - worth checking out
= very fine - well worth your hard earned cash
= could not be better

I give Where The Heart Is:

How to enter Where The Heart Is giveaway:

- Leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win this book. Contest closes at midnight on Sunday, July 10th . I will announce the winner on Monday, July 11th.

That’s it! Good luck!

Do you have a book you want to give away on your blog? Add a link to it here (try to use a picture of the book if you can, and use the title of the book-- not your blog-- in the text portion!). Remember, it doesn't have to be a new book-- it can be an old, dog-eared classic! The point is to read, and then pass your book on to a new owner.

True Story Tuesday

2010-07-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of Rachel and Mr. Daddy at Once Upon a Miracle

Sunday was the 4th of July. My most favorite holiday in large part to the fact that nothing is required of me other than packing snacks, drinks, and outdoor toys for an evening spent in the park. We went to our usual spot on the golf course 3.5 hours before fireworks were scheduled to erupt and played wiffle ball ( I can totally bat with only one arm),

hung out with friends,

and consumed large amounts of sugar.

Good times, good times.

This year we have had an unusual amount of rain. Flooding has already occurred once, but heavy showers have also made their way across our weather radar. Rain is nice (when it doesn’t bring flooding with it) and we have enjoyed a relatively mild summer. And by mild I mean the high temperatures are generally around 95 degrees.

However, rain also creates another problem. An itchy problem as a matter of fact.

Me: “Hey, you know what really sucks?” Said oh so calmly as if we were sitting in a field of daisies.

Chris: “What?” He’s truly interested in the enlightened information I am about to bestow upon him.

Me: “When you’re wearing a cast and it feels like a fire ant is biting you in between your fingers.” Spoken as if the wind is blowing in my hair in that field of daises.

Chris: “ Yeah, that would suck.” In total calm agreement with me.

And I ask you dear readers: Do you know what sucks even more than feeling like a fire ant is in your cast?

Answer: Feeling like there is a fire ant in your cast a full day after you originally felt the little bugger to begin with.

Read It Forward

2010-07-05T21:44:00.001-07:00

Just a reminder that this month’s Read It Forward is tomorrow, Wednesday the 7th. I look forward to your books this month!

Monday Mugs

2010-07-05T10:33:00.001-07:00

I am linking up today with Oswald Cuties for Monday Mugs. She says:

Are you in need of a mindless Monday Blog post? Are you struggling to deal with the weekend being over and can't muster the strength to type a single word? Well, Monday Mugs is for YOU! I may or may not "borrow" ideas from IheartFaces and post my interpretation of their weekly theme. Without submitting my photo for judgment and not being forced to follow the rules.

Mondays are hard! Blogging on Mondays shouldn't be!

Today's theme for Monday Mugs is: Blue

Part of our 4th of July celebration every year is playing wiffle ball on the local golf course while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Chris’ favorite tradition is to stop at the local cigar shop and puff to his heart’s content.

Be sure to check out more interpretations of “blue” at Heather’s place!

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-04T07:50:00.001-07:00

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson

This shot was inspired by one I saw on another blog two years ago. I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw it. If you took a picture similar to this on a porch, please let me know. I would love to acknowledge you. Your shot was/is simply beautiful.

Read It Forward- July 7th

2010-07-03T08:38:00.001-07:00

I am postponing this month’s Read It Forward until Wednesday, July 7th. I have a hunch that after this weekend we may have a hard time getting things done for Monday. I hope everyone has a fabulous 4th of July weekend and that you are able to enjoy your friends and family as we honor our great nation.

Letters of Intent

2010-07-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

Rachel from Once Upon a Miracle (If you don’t know her yet, be sure to visit her today. You will for sure find a new blog you will want to follow!) has so graciously helped me out today with everyone’s favorite Friday carnival. No, you aren’t allowed to argue with a one-armed blogger. Go with it, OK?! Grab the button from my sidebar, type up your letters, link-up at the bottom, and give me something to read while I ~~lounge~~ recover in bed. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

So Julie ~~took me up on my offer that is too late to take back~~ begged me to do a guest post while she’s laid up with a little something I like to call Nikon hand.

See, I have my theories about exactly how this injury occurred and most of them stem from GunDiva’s quite astute observation:

GunDiva said...

Those are some seriously impressive x-rays. Seriously impressive. Did you fall while holding something in your hand or fall on your knuckles? It kinda looks like a Boxer's fracture. Sorry, I like to play the same game Chris does apparently.

And I’m sorry that I snorted. Only because I TOTALLY called it. I knew that you would give up your knuckles before you let your beloved camera touch the ground.

And in Mr. Daddy’s defense, he did say that Canons are hardier than Nikons… just sayin’.

(Julie in: Oh come on… I’m laid up from surgery and you’re bashing my Nikon)

(Rachel back in: BUP! You can’t interrupt me when I’m “guest posting”, it’s Bloggy Rule #247)

So anyway… I’ll just come right out and say it. Those words: GUEST BLOGGER strike a special kind of fear in my heart. You know, where the popular girl invites you to sit at her lunch table and you trip on the way over there and smear chocolate pudding all over your cheek and have fruit cocktail in your hair and then they all pretend they don’t know you? Yeaaah, not like that’s ever happened to me or anything…

So I’ve earned the honor of hosting today’s Letters of Intent!

(Julie in: Actually, you don’t really have to do…)

(Rachel back in: Rule #319, no take-backs, Bwah ha ha ha !)

Here we go!

~~~~~

Dear Seattle/San Antonio hospitals:

On the off chance that Julie and I ever manage to get together in-real-life, may I suggest that you employ additional staffing on those dates?

The immense possible carnage is nearly too much to imagine. I mean, we already even have names, you know:

Nikon Knuckle Lady

Girl Whose Husband Kicks Her In The Face With a Soccer Ball At the Grocery Store

Chick Who Injures Herself on Playground Equipment

Broken Toe Lady Who Tried to Kick Husband’s Butt

(the soccer ball bruise is still there, in case anyone is wondering six days later)

While you’re at it, go ahead and stock the x-ray room with Jolly Ranchers, we’ll be there awhile.

Love,

The Bubble Wrap Chicks

(umm... does anyone else think these chicks are dangerous enough without guns?)

(we promise to be back with BOB soon!)

~~~~~

Dear May-May,

No worries honey… you can have the whole cake to yourself now.

(Smart little bugger, isn’t she?)

Love,

Your Sanitary Auntie

p.s. doesn’t my sis make amazing cakes?!?

~~~~~

Dear Itty Bit,

Lord child, I thought I was going to pee myself as I tried to recount our conversation for your daddy.

Cuz I never thought I’d hear you complain that your pecs were smaller than Daddy’s.

Surely not at four years old.

Love,

The Momma Who Hiccupped For an Hour After the Retelling

~~~~~

Dear Itty Bit,

As we watched a Mini Cooper pull out from a parking spot we were waiting for...

thanks for the unladylike snort you triggered when you waved at them and called,

"THANKS LITTLE BUDDY!"

Love,

Your Hicupping Snorting Momma

~~~~~

Dear Coffee-Loving Friends,

We’ve combined two favorites into one fun giveaway… stop by and enter your favorite Princess Bride quote for a chance to win a Starbucks gift card.

Love,

The Chick Who Prefers Her Lattes Without Iocaine

~~~~~~~

I hafta give the keys back, don’t I?

Well, it’s been uber fun to hijack King Julien’s space for a day… stick around for updates on how her one-handed blogging is going.

Oh, and don’t forget to link up – she’ll love you for it (and she’ll kick my behind if I bomb, so please, for the love of all that is high-carb, link up!)

Love,

Your Oh So Humble Interim Leader

I Survived

2010-06-30T17:37:00.001-07:00

Do I look sufficiently pathetic? More details to come, but I must say that I am very impressed with my small town surgeon. He’s the best. Oh and the anesthesiologist… H.O.T. I so wanted to take a picture of him. I’ll have to check the hospital website and see if I can find one for y’all.

Moment in Time

2010-06-30T07:49:00.001-07:00

UPDATE: HOME. NAUSEOUS AND GROGGY. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS.

Photos taken moments before I decided to spend my summer in a cast recovering from surgery. And no, I was not trying out my skills on any equipment.

* Surgery is at noon today CST.

Guest Post and Update

2010-06-29T07:41:00.001-07:00

I am guest posting today at Fresh Confessions of a Screwed Up Texan. She has published the post that I go back and reread frequently. I’m sure most of you would enjoy a second glance as well. *wink wink nudge nudge* Be sure to check out Allie’s blog while you are there. She’s funny, she’s nice, she’s pretty, and gosh darn it people like her!

FYI: surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at noon. I’m taking the boys swimming today. Oh yes I am!