Thoughts on the subject....

So, some of you may or may not know that I am a certified teacher who is not teaching. I recently discovered a career opportunity for teaching on military bases overseas that house dependents of military personel. To all of the army experienced family out there what are your thoughts or knowledge of programs like this? I've often considered teaching abroad, but was scared of the lack of organization and knowledge about independent companies. A military base seems like it might be the best of both worlds. Although the idea of leaving Kath for a year is scary I would like to hear some of ya'lls thoughts on the subject. I'm not making any rash decisions just curious. I have no family in the military and wanted to know what this experienced team of bloggers has to say.

Paella

Mario Bateli was on Oprah and made Paella, it looks super simple and yummy!!!
He said this is great for guests. I want to try this one for certain!
Check out the recipe on oprah.com

New blogsite

This morning while checking out my blog favs I clicked on one of their blog favorites and found a new blog I want to keep track of from now on.
http://smittenkitchen.com/
The first thing I saw was fresh baked bread and I have to admit I stole from her shamelessly. Kathy and Crissy are coming for a visit in six days and their oven doesnt work so I thought some freshly baked bread would be a good treat and they could have a doggy bag for the road. She has other recipes I want to check out, but sadly I must get off the computer.

Don't lose your momentum, Mom

Yesterday morning, I called Kathy for a pep talk on getting my yard work done. I notice the older I get the less I like to do the mowing and weeding. She worked her magic and I was gung ho to mow. After I mowed the circle I came in and called her back to brag about my accomplishment. The brat had the audacity to say good mom dont lose your momentum. The nerve! I pondered this idea for a minute and decided she was right. I got on the tractor and mowed the pasture behind the barn, but that wasnt enough I mowed the front yard also, quietly chanting my new catch phrase I mowed the garden also. When I stopped, my butt was numb and I was out of cigs, but my feeling of accomplishment was justified I felt. So the rest of the afternoon I continued to chant, don't lose your momentum and I had a very productive day. This morning I got to thinking how this idea pertained to all sorts of things, like when you wash the dishes, but dont clean off the counter, or you shower and dress up and put on yucky shoes. I dont really have a point, just a thank you to Kathy for reminding me what I can do.

No phone for three days

I think I have talked to most of you, but I thought I would still blog about how cranky it made me not to be able to talk to you all since Saturday. Thank goodness the weather has been beautiful on Monday and Tuesday, so I got to spend a lot of quality time porch sitting. With the cooler weather, I reversed my usual order and sat on the front porch in the morning and the back porch in the afternoon. I have been knitting, but dont have anything done to show yet. I have surfing blogs and ran across an interesting one, that is being done by a college in Michigan, I think. It is a collection of old cookbooks and for those of you lucky enough to have fast computers you might want to check it out. http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/index.html I still dont know how to do that magic thing Kathy does when she says click here even though she tried to explain it to me.

Blog Searches

Did you know that you could use google to do searches just in blogs?
I thought this was really neato: http://blogsearch.google.com/

wildolive ~ blog with printables

I love the wild olive blog. She has so many cute little projects and printables.
As soon as I get my ink cartridges replaced in my printer, I want the pencil toppers!!

Annie Hall

Movie Reviews...
I've watched a few lately, and I know...  I have been bad about getting reveiws posted.
The last movie that I attempted to watch was Annie Hall.  I really like Diane Keaton, but I could not get past of the first 10 minutes where it is nothing but Woody Allen babbling about who knows what. 
So, unfortuneately, I shut it off and sent it straight back to NetFlix w/out a second thought. 
All is not lost though, I reaffirmed my dislike for Woody Allen. 

Tap Shoes

Hey all! I found some really inexpensive tap shoes today at Payless!!
Original price, $22, I got 'em for $11! Now I can go to tap class in these vice my running shoes.
Also, I found some beginner tap lessons on YouTube! I love YouTube!

Tap & Hip Hop

Last night was my first night at Savage Dance Company for the adult tap and hip hop classes.
It went fairly well. I've never done tap before so it is a new movement. I'm sure once I get the balance and weight shifting down, I'll be fine. The hip hop class was just ok. It was fun, we laughed at ourselves, got a little exercise, worked up a sweat, but the moves were so JR High Chearleader... I felt like an idiot doing it:') Overall, I enjoyed it and I plan to go back next Monday.

Quote of the Day

On my way home from work today, I was driving behind a pick up truck that had an interesting sticker in the back window.
It said "I'm not speeding, I have to poop!"

Bag Tutorials and Patterns

I decided that I needed to create a post so I can keep track of all the cool online patterns that I have found.... so here goes:
Margaret Sling Bag from oh fransson
Shoulder Bag from Tiny Happy
Tote from Mama's Pocketbook
Hobo Bag from JCarolineCreative
Boxy Pouch from Three Bears

I'll try to update this post as I come across more free online patterns.
You can quickly find it by clicking on the "Bags" tag.

Tif thinks she is boring

How wrong can a girl be. Tif told me the other day she thinks she is boring and cant think of stuff to put on the porch. Just a little background on Tif, she is working two jobs, just started her masters program, they bought 108 acres and are doing improvements to the property as well as adding an addition to the house they live in now. News flash, Tif, you are not boring. I swear in the picture on the four wheeler she looks just like Gretchen Wilson. You may remember the peach pictures, now their property has a bumper crop of apples and pears getting ready to be picked. In case you are wondering the gorgeous lab is Einstein who is seven months old.

Fire, Fire, Fire

I don't know what it is about a bonfire that is so hypnotizing. Whatever it is I love a good fire on a fall evening. Tif and Jarrod had a bonfire party for their anniversary. Saturday night was a perfect night for the fire.

Brett Goes to 5th Grade

Oh My.. Look at those hairdos!!!
Brett started back to school on August 25th.
I can't believe that he is 10 and is going into the 5th grade.

My favorite photo editing software: Picasa

Picasa is my favorite photo editing software!!
And... it is free from google.
And...  it just got better!  Version 3 is now available.
If you need something to help you organize, edit and share photos, I highly recommend Picasa from Google.  Just in case you did not know... if you post images on the blog, you automatically get a Picasa Web Album. Way cool!
I know I sound like a commercial, but just wanted to share!!

Our second addition!

Well the second addition to our house is complete...from the outside at least. Jerrod started pouring concrete on Friday morning (of course it was pouring down rain!) and had windows and doors in by Friday night. On Sat and Sun we spent out time getting the metal back on the house and lately we have been working on getting it insulated. It really made the room look a lot bigger and added a door to our house. Hopefully I will take some pictures and post it soon. It is going to be so much better than it was before. Last new years eve we had 20 people crammed into that little room. Looks like our new years eve party will be quite a bit more comfortable this year. Oh and we are putting in a bar so that will be cool.

Life on the edge

We're doin' it anyway! In celebration of the 3 week countdown until vacation we booked our rooms this morning at the Omni in the French Quarter. Gotta love Internet specials! The regular rate for our room is $450 and we got it for $180 including parking. If I seem a little excited...well that's because I am. I haven't taken any time off since January, none since I've started my new position, and I'm feeling a bit burnt out. Mom, we'll see you on the 24th!

New Orleans Trip

Brandi, Billy, and the kids made it home fine yesterday. Brandi said they still had power and the only damage was a few limbs down in the yard. I am thinking that by the end of the month, New Orleans will be up and running like nothing ever happened.

Crissy gets an A+

Wow! I love your digitalness. Doesn't it make you fell impowered to post pictures for us porch sitters to see. Kat may have got mad but it will be one of the pictures I come back to all the time. Jarrod is very cute with his Green Thing in his mouth. Keep the good work up, Crissy.

Too much fun...

Okay so maybe I'm having too much fun with this homework assignment. You know that signature look you get from someone you love telling you that there is no forgiveness in sight if you snap that picture. Well here is Kathy's look. I caught it on camera and thought I would share it will all of you. ( Note the direct finger pointing to make sure I know she's serious)

I promised I would do my homework!

Well Ladies,

Miss Candy assigned me a homework project over a week ago and I finally did it. I loaded the software for my digital camera so that I could upload pictures. This is my first attempt. My dog Jared is my pride and joy. He is ten years old and full of personality. I got him these bones called Freshies and he holds on to them for dear life once in his possesion. Here making his first appearance on line is Jared Parker Panici.