Everyone is soo sad....

1) Kari is sad because her computer decided to NOT be wireless today....so it is having to make a visit to the Geek Squad.

2) Warren is sad because his family (Mom, Allison & Olivia) had to leave and go home after their weekend visit...and he's got to go buy new dress pants that will fit to wear to work tomorrow (work being his scheduled rotation)....and he's sad that he didn't get to buy an iphone at the store because they weren't taking anymore customers for the day.

3) Lori is sad because when she was riding her bike around the lake yesterday, a cop (in a car) pulled her over and gave her a "moving violation" ticket....because she'd not stopped at a stop sign!!! Then after giving her the ticket, she asks where Lori works and Lori tells her, "The city of Dallas." and then the copy lady says, "Why didn't you tell me that to begin with?" Naturally, Lori didn't have her driver's license on her person, so she had to call Lisa at home to get her #....and, of course, Lisa is like, "You've GOT to be kidding me!!! Does the cop not have anything better to do??"

4) Lynn is sad because her 3 yr. old washing machine has not worked, literally, for a month!!!! The part is in, but the repairman couldn't schedule the repair until tomorrow!

5) The kids are sad because their faithful black lab dog, Missy, died from heartworms.

6) Gram is sad because she isn't going to get to see the end of the Tour de France (Bonham cable doesn't carry it...she's spent the past 3 wks. at Lisa's watching it, but had to come home due to appts. she has).

7) ....and me??? I'm thrilled I was FINALLY able to find a jar of tahini paste in this town!! Now I can make my own fresh hummus (the grocery store is constantly running out!). I'm not sad about anything.

Naked Ladies in the Garden!!

it takes talent...although, I'm not sure what kind of talent it takes to grow this!! It has been on the vine for about 6 wks....and since it was supposed to be a red bell pepper, I refrained from picking it while it was green....it has literally taken weeks for it to turn red! So....last week it decided to turn a nice red....and upon inspection, it had also decided to start growing this green projectile shape off in another direction!! I finally couldn't stand it any longer and picked it this morning....




I'm also growing this wild tangle of mini pumpkins, nasturtiums, and morning glories.....I literally just threw the flower seeds out, but deliberately planted 2 hills of pumpkins (I had 4, but upon transplanting 2 of them, they just fell over in a faint by the next day and never recovered). I've been keeping this watered well...it's entertaining me (ok...so it doesn't take much to entertain me these days!) Lisa and Lori gave me a funny garden "peacock" for my birthday...can you see him in the pumpkin patch? If not, I took a close-up below.

I've also been trying to grow a bushel of tomatoes for weeks....'cause I just can't live without tomatoes!! and is there anything better than a tomato right off the vine? I've watered it every day....it has grown to this ginormous size....it has been covered in little yellow flowers....but no tomatoes...until FINALLY...this past week it decided to put forth a bit of effort and produce a tomato...and then I found two more...so I've got a whopping total of 3 tomatoes growing so far.

Oh...did I mention the naked ladies in the garden? For those of you hoping to get a glimpse of something a big more risque, I'm so sorry to disappoint you! Tricia gave me these flower bulbs five years ago....they always produce a lush bunch of greenery in the spring and then die off. Then at some point during the summer to early fall, some of them may or may not decide to appear. It is some type of delicate-colored pink lily, but I have no idea what their "real" name is...Tricia just said they are naked ladies....and I thought that was really funny and had to have some growing in my yard! Thanks, Tricia! I think of you everytime I look at them!

Happy Birthday to Me! (and Lisa)!

ok....so...yesterday was my birthday...and Lisa's, too. She was my 3rd birthday gift! And, of course, we've always thought that made us special! lol She went to Galveston Friday and is spending four days with Kari & Warren. I should have gone. Instead I stayed home and mowed the lawn (and am getting calluses on my delicate fingers from it!!), watered the plants, worked on a doll for Averie (who is scheduled to arrive Thursday unless she decides to arrive on her daddy's birthday tomorrow--that would be special), read a book, cooked myself a special birthday breakfast, did laundry, and napped...I had birthday calls from Lori and Lisa at 7 AM! (they were on the beach---just wanted me to know! ha), Kari, Mother, Lindsey, Tricia & Ray and e-mail from Natalie.

Saturday I rec'd cards in the mail from 2 cats, Mother, Lisa and Lori....and a special package....it had a specially made tiara just for me!!!! It was made by Kris Hurst in Georgia (http://krislhurst.blogspot.com/ and http://www.shurst.etsy.com/). I granted her rights to use some photos from my Flickr account and she felt the need to not only send me three image CDs, but to also make me my very own tiara! Now you know that I've always thought I was born to wear one! LOL (and, btw, it is not easy to take a picture of yourself wearing a crown!)

Yes, I had to shower and put on make up (even mascara!) and get dressed just for this picture! (Ok...the truth is that I finished mowing the lawn and I needed a shower...and I was thinking I might go out to school and start weeding---yes, this requires make-up, too--SR staff are so much more clothes and personal appearance conscience than staff at Carver that it is like night and day! I never put forth the effort for Carver---my effort went in to enduring a 45 min. drive one way every flippin' day for two years! Don't get me wrong--I was very grateful for the job--I just hated the drive.)

Did I say which birthday...ok 51...because if I don't tell you then Lindsey will certainly make sure it is known! I'd planned to throw myself a 50th birthday party this year....but I haven't lost all the weight I want to lose....so the party is postponed until then....could be next year...could be the year after....but it will still be a 50th birthday party...no matter how old Lindsey says I am!

And I want to say Happy Birthday to my dear friend James today! July is THE month as far as birthdays....our dearest German friend, Alexandra Biederbeck's is the 7th (it has been 10 yrs. since we've seen her, but we keep in touch and hope to see each other again someday), Rickey's is the 14th, Warren's the 17th, mine and Lisa's the 20th, James' the 21st, Brent's the 22nd, newly arrived Averie McGinnis is the 24th, Lindsey's the 25th, Vickie's the 26th, and my sweet departed friend Victor's was the 30th....and I could name a dozen more people I know who were born in July.

July people are special....and some of us like to wear tiaras!

Fill 'er up!

I've scheduled another lapband fill for Aug. 5th......

When I had my last fill (in late January), I became concerned because Dr. Green had to remove some of the saline that he'd just injected because the liquid I swallowed wasn't going through.....it made me really nervous about having another fill!

However, it's gotten to the point that I don't feel filled up anymore....like I'm always hungry or wanting to snack...and I was finding way too many things to snack on! Granted, they've been low-cal, BUT they've almost all been carbs. So I didn't buy anymore when I bought groceries this week....

...it's so hard to be good!!! ;)