is this one of those war flashbacks?

The other night around 2:30am, I was sleeping soundly and comfortably in my bed. Alas, this was not going to continue for long. I started hearing, "Hey, B! Wake up! Wake up NOW!" in a loud whisper. I pulled myself out of my slumber and awoke to see my husband standing next to my side of the bed holding his gun.

*sigh*

Me: "What the hell are you doing?"

Him: "There's someone out there!"

At this point, I'm really confused and rather startled. I didn't hear any noises or anything, so I asked him to clarify. He said he had gotten up to use the bathroom and saw lights in the window (our bathroom window looks out onto the street). He said it was a loud truck and it was driving really slow. After he got back in bed, he started hearing noises behind our house. He said it sounded like construction equipment.

*Side note: They're building the rest of our neighborhood behind our house, and they have all kinds of equipment back there and they make a ton of noise all day long.*

He was afraid someone was messing with and/or stealing the equipment. Made sense to me because I know those people wouldn't be working at 2:30am on a Friday. So I got up and followed him into the living room.

Him: "Me and Jers are going to go in the backyard and see if we can see anything."

Me: "You're not taking my dog with you."

He mumbled something about me babying her. I ignored him. He had a gun; she didn't. So out he goes to the backyard. I still haven't heard anything. After a bit he comes back in and says he saw lights behind the fence and it looked like flashlights. I cocked an eyebrow.

Me: "Is this one of those war flashbacks?"

Him: "I hate you."

He went to the front door and told me he was going to go down to the construction road and look. Out he went. I waited a bit, got bored, and went out front. I didn't see him, but I hadn't heard any gunfire so I was pretty sure everything was cool. Then a truck with a huge flatbed trailer pulled out of the construction road. Shortly thereafter, my warrior came back down the street with his gun tucked in his basketball shorts.

He said it looked like they weren't able to get anything. He had me Google the sheriff's office phone number. He called. The guy sounded less than concerned. We went back inside. The dog was snoring on the couch. We went back to bed. The end.

That was our big adventure for the other night. Too bad we didn't bust any bad guys. That would have been cool. And I would have taken all the credit :)

Other than that, it's been the same old story. Last night we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch Monday Night Football. It was me and a bunch of guys. I got a margarita and a trivia game pad. After awhile, TJ jacked the game pad from me because he decided I wasn't pushing buttons fast enough. I got out my phone and played Solitaire.

I was then informed by one of the guys that I should be paying attention to the game. The others agreed. I had no clue why they cared. They said I needed to start watching ESPN and learning about all of the teams and stuff. Again, I was baffled. Apparently, they've decided I need to help them pick teams so that they can bet on the games. They told me that "chicks were good at that kind of stuff."

I said that the Bears would always win cause teddy bears were cute. They quit asking me to watch the game.

Well, I have to go take the dog to the gun range. She's gotta learn to shoot so she can accompany TJ on his neighborhood stealth mission next time.

xoxo

the road trip chronicles are coming to a close

Well I've got a whole bunch of pictures for you that I haven't gotten a chance to upload yet. So here they are, in no certain order. I tried to put them in chronological order, but blogger kept sticking them in random places and I don't have the energy to fight anymore.

This is Jers swimming in my cousin's pool in Fort Worth, TX.

Woo hoo!!! Welcome home, where people are at least semi-normal!

I looked at this and just thought, "Well crap." I almost didn't make it to a gas station because I was in BFE, Kansas and the exits with actual stuff at them were like 25-30 miles apart. I was cheering my car on the whole time. When I filled up, I put 15.9 gallons of gas in my car. My tank only holds 16 gallons...Note to self, fill up at about 1/4 tank.

This is Winnie the Schnauzer floating around my aunt and uncle's pool like a princess. It was hysterical. She got on it all by herself when I floated by.

Since you guys don't know my Grandma Ruby I will use a visual to tell her story. The picture pretty much sums it up. She labels everything, so I just thought it was cute. Then my aunt told me that there is a "big boy" dish and a "little boy" dish because the little boy's bites are sliced smaller for their smaller mouths. This is my grandma in a nutshell. Everyone in my family grew up thinking that watermelon came seedless and pre-sliced.

This would be a Dairy Queen Crunch Cone Blizzard; a.k.a. the best dessert known to mankind. They only serve them in Lyons, KS and I have no clue exactly what it is. Crunchy peanut butter things, sprinkles, nuts, and other delectable mysteries.

If my previous story didn't tip you off about Rube, then this one will help fill in the blanks. I love, love, love pumpkin pie!! Except I don't like the crust with it. I eat the crust on other pies, but it just seems to ruin pumpkin. So I usually just use my spoon or fork to scrape the pie off the crust. Usually works really well. Anywho, Grammie always makes me a separate one in a mini-casserole dish so I can have just the pumpkin and not have to deal with the crust :)

This yard and tree are some of my first and best memories. There used to be rope swings on the tree and bunches of kids in the grass. It was quiet this time around, although Jers did enjoy it.

This, my dears, is the bell tower. We call it such because at Christmas they decorate it in red lights and make it into a bell shape. You can always see it as you drive into town. Gotta love the Lyons water tower...

Haha, yay! Amish buggy! I've always wanted to see one in real life. I tried not to slow down and gawk, but I so wanted to see. I only slowed down a little!

Tid bit windy...my car was all over the road.

Welcome to Kansas everyone. Enjoy your stay, but don't stay long.

I was so excited as I watched my temperature gauge go down. It was the bet thing ever!!

Jers is being princess of the car. She has to sit with her paw on the console so she looks like a person.

The Oklahoma hills! It actually is really pretty through most of the state. And I was born in Tulsa, so duh it rocks. We lived in a place called "Broken Arrow". Dad always called it "Busted Stick" and it freaking cracked me up.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. I still have to drive back to Houston later, but only from the Dallas area and it won't take me long! Ready to be home......

xoxo

road trip: day 1

Well, I made the 4 hour drive to the Dallas area today. It went really quick. I guess today was a driving mood day. I took some pictures for ya'll. I was telling hubby about my pictures and he made fun of me because I turned around to take one of them. I think he's scared that I'm going to turn all our future road trips into a big picture fest. He's probably right to be scared. I told him to shut up cause I was having fun.

I'm at my friend Kati's house. Gawd...gorgeous. I'm so jealous! And it is so Kati. She's awesome at decorating and even used orange in her dining room. I love orange!

Holy crap there's a Spam commercial on TV right now. I didn't even know they had Spam commercials.

Angela has requested more details about "you know who". I think I know who "you know who" is...kidding. What do you want to know?? I'll take questions :)

So, this is the one I turned around to take. I was flying down a back road and I happened to look to the left, where a horse was standing on the front porch of this house. It's kind of hard to see, but that's totally what's happening. I don't know why I'm so amused by this, but I am. Enough to flip a U-turn, take the picture, and flip another U-turn.

This is a picture of the big white statue guy that we always pass. It's Sam Houston. I don't know if anyone who's not from Texas even knows who that is, but it's kind of a thing on our trips to Kansas to point out statue dude.

Ok, so this is my Dairy Queen Blizzard. They shut down all the Dairy Queens that are by my house, so when I stopped to get gas and there was a Dairy Queen at the same exit...well, I got one. Clearly. It had Snickers in it.

These would be my chocolate donuts. I so told you I was getting some. Did I get them at the same exit at which I got my Blizzard? Yep. Is that really bad? Yep. Did I still eat them both? Absolutely. Calories don't count when you're in the car. Duh. My husband begs to differ. He was just like, "Holy hell you have got to stay away from that stuff!" I can't. Impossible.

The clouds were pretty. And I was in a good mood because I had been watching the temperature thingy on my rear view mirror drop steadily. I'm only 4 hours north of Houston, but it's so much nicer here! There's like zero humidity. When I left this afternoon, it was 103. When I arrived in Dallas a little under 4 hours later, it was 88. I find myself strangely eager to continue north...

This is my view during the majority of the drive. Where she gets the energy to stand on my console and balance the entire time, I do not know. She likes to scope out the road though. Whenever we pass cows (which is quite often) she almost kills herself in her hurry to get back into the back seat to look at them as they go by.

So, those are today's pics. I'm sleepy now. But I have to wait for husband-o-mine to call. Hopefully that will be soon.

xoxo

favorite person sugar

So I was thinking. There are just some people who make me smile everyday. Angela is one of them. She cracks me up, says things I would so love to say, is always on my side, and is just generally tons of fun. She's decided to be more aggressive in her advertising and stuff, and I want to help. Even if it's just a little. So she's tonight's Spoonful.

Her shop is called CutNGlue. She makes the most gorgeous collages. I do not know how she has the patience. I'd start cutting these intricate little things and get pissed and tear it to shreds while screaming and stomping. These are two of my faves.

The doggie one is my absolute favorite! It looks just like my doggie and it's just so stinking cute. I love how the sky and grass are all different shades and textures. So cool. If I tried that it would end up looking like a 2 year old did it. I can't imagine the time and creativity it takes! Plus I just adore her :) Check out her way cool blog while you're at it. You'll smile, I promise. And believe it or not, I still like her even though she likes pickles on her pizza!

Have a fantastic night!

xoxo

do it now

First installation of my "Green Has Gone to the Dogs" series is posted! Tell me what you think! And leave me thumbs up and comments!!! :)

I'M PUBLISHED!!! :) :) :)

Well, here it is; my very first article. I'm incredibly excited! So go read it now and tell me how much you adore it! :)

http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=1718

sugary recycling

I'm featured in Audrey's blog today! She's so sweet and hers is one of the blogs I never miss! So go see it!

Today was a good day. I submitted my first article to my editor. Now I hope she has mercy on me and approves it. If by some miracle that does occur, I'll let you all know where you can go read it. Until then you can just check out the whole website. I have a bio on there. Go to www.handmadenews.org and click on 'Green Wise' on the right hand side. Then at the top where the columnists are listed, you can click on my name. Yay! Fun!

I'm going to be writing a 'Going Green with Your Dog' series. That's going to be a blast. Me and Jers did our first green experiment tonight. I made her some sock toys. She loooooved them. It was darling though. She shook them around and kept hitting herself in the head. She killed them in less than an hour. *sigh* At least it was free.

So I made like two posts on Twitter about how I had submitted my first green article or whatever, and all the sudden I have like 12 new green people following me. Within a few hours. How do they do that?? Not that I'm complaining. I just wonder.

Mom and Dad had sod delivered today. It came on a pallet. When they got done laying all the sod, there was this nice, spanking new (if somewhat dirty) pallet left. Dad wanted to keep it and Mom was arguing about where in the heck they'd put it. I can't blame him, I'd wanna keep it too. I just do stuff like that. Like one day I'm going to desperately need a pallet and then I'll have one. Anyway, I said something about tiling it and Dad goes, "$5000 on Mastercard. Having the only one of its kind...priceless." I don't know why but that really amused me. It doesn't sound as funny when you type it out. I guess you have to know my dad. The way he says things is just funny. That was rather random and pointless.

Stacy visited from the sticks today. She wanted to go shopping in my store. FYI, my store consists of all my stuff laid out on the floor in my workroom. Anyway, she needed a gift. She picked out my brown oval tiled mirror. I was sad to see it go. I finished my earring holders and posted one of them on Etsy! I'm waiting to post the other one and a new tray. You're supposed to spread them out, apparently. Oh, and I'm going to post it on ArtFire. Because I got a free upgraded seller account because I write for them now. When you look at my page it's looks all fancy with my "verified seller" label on there! Go look! I have to figure out what all the verified seller account includes that I didn't have before. I have a job that has perks! This is way cool :)

In my quest for greenness today, I found this awesome shop that uses recycled aluminum cans to make stuff like jewelry and magnets. The picture caught my eye on ArtFire and I was hooked. It comes from Funky Recycling. There's a shop on Etsy and on ArtFire. They call their stuff "Funky Junq Eco-Art".

Make sure to check out both of the shops cause there's different stuff in them. In the ArtFire shop, I really like the paw print and the chicken. Rock on. I just love the stuff! It's so shiny and good-for-the-environmenty. And yes, environmenty is totally a word.

I'm getting kind of a late start on my stuff tonight, so I'd better go now. I was actually asleep before 1:30am last night though! Baby steps :)

Have a good-for-the-environmenty night!

xoxo

something in which to carry my sugar

I took my puppy swimming today. It was a bone shaped pond. How fun is that?? She had a blast. I totally forgot my camera though, so that was sad. It took her awhile to get comfortable with the water again, but once she did she was swimming all over. She's darling when she swims, in case you were wondering. Then I gave her a bath in the doggie showers outside the park with her oatmeal shampoo. It's for sensitive skin :) She smells divine.

So today my mom was looking for something in the house. I said something about a shake-down and my family all stopped what they were doing and my sister said, "Have you been watching 'Lock-Up' again?" Ok, so I like prison shows. But last night I totally learned how to make prison wine and use an outlet as a cigarette lighter. Who says convicts can't teach you anything? I'm watching it now, and this guy just said, "I can't get along with people too much. Especially when they're evil." How in the heck do you argue with that? I don't get along with evil people either.

I am determined to go to bed at a decent time tonight. Last night I didn't take my sleeping pill till 1:30am. That becomes an issue when I'm trying to get up before noon. So I'm doing all my computer stuff early and I'm really proud of myself. I'm trying not to get distracted.

So in the spirit of expediting my bedtime, I'm going to do my Spoonful and finish up my other nightly stuff. I found the most darling bag. I really like purses and bags. It's yet another manifestation of my shopping disease. It comes from Ika Bags.

It's huge! I love huge bags. I love imagining all the things I can put in this bag. My computer, my Kindle, my wallet, my cell phone (that is really a waste of space because it doesn't work half the time), a bottle of water (which might not be smart with all those electronics). The list goes on and on. I would so have everything I ever needed if I had this bag.

Ok, I have emails to return and I have to browse and comment on blogs. I'll talk to ya'll later!

Sweet dreams!

xoxo

sugar for the fur babies

I forgot to mention earlier that Audrey from Audrey's Country Crafts gave me the "Honest Scrap" award and Maggie from Fresh on the Scene! gave me the "One Lovely Blog" award! Thanks so much ladies! I really appreciate it. Go check out their wonderful blogs too! I'm not gonna play again since I already picked out like 812 people for those two awards. I'm a party pooper, I know. But it takes forever to link everyone! So see my previous posts for my award winners. Keirsten, don't hurt your eyes.

I found the cutest Spoonful tonight! I adore my doggie (in case you didn't catch that...) so I was looking in the pet's category tonight. I found the most gorgeous bed! It comes from Carolina Wicker.

I want it soooooo badly! It matches my living room stuff perfectly! And even if Jers never so much as sniffed the darn thing, it's just darling and I'd want it anyway. It's even got a little drawer underneath for their toys and stuff! I love the dark wood too. It's gorgeous. I need it so everyone will say, "Aww look at that cute doggie bed!" when they come in my house.

I'm off to be lazy in bed. I think I'm not completely well yet and I might have overdone it the past few days cause I'm stinking tired. Have a good night all!

xoxo

p.s. I GOT THE JOB!! :)

p.p.s. I know I already told you.

make you believe, make you forget

I love it when there's a mail holiday and it gets backed up so you get a bunch of things on one day!! I got 3 packages today. Earrings, earrings, and earrings!! My obsession has arrived. They're darling. I went out and a ledge (ok, for me) and wore a pair with my gray v-neck t-shirt today. Normally I would deem that too 'casual' for dangle earrings. I'm clearly getting daring in this new stage of life.

Anyway, I adore them. I'm making Stacy get drinks and maybe do some dancing with me this week so I can wear more! Perhaps the earrings will be the kick start of my new singleness. I'm actually able to say 'single' without tearing up. Go me.

My dog just dropped her slobbery baby onto my keyboard. Guess someone wants to play. It's a beaver that my sister got her the other day. She's chewed all it's feet and one ear off. She sleeps with it at night. Apparently I'm going to have to start going the 'woodland creatures' route on her stuffed toys. I think I'm going to get a squirrel next time and sit it on the stump of this tree in our yard. Maybe she'll think she got one for real. And she just hit me in the face with it. Nasty. She doesn't like being ignored. She's barking at me now. Attention whore. She's so stinking cute.

I went to all the network websites today so I could see what kind of shows they have lined up for the summer. My DVR is getting dismally bare. I've made a list of potential new favorites. Yes, I'm that bad. If there's someone who hasn't watched "In Plain Sight" on USA, check it out. It's one of the best shows ever!

According to the UPS tracking website, my new swimsuits should be here tomorrow. Then I can promptly start getting rid of my tank top and shorts tan. Thank the good Lord. It's getting ridiculous.

I also thought I'd post some doggie pictures. Cause I love my baby! There's a bunch of her being a princess on the bed, couch, and chair. Then the one to the right is her riding in the car with me and falling asleep in the front seat sitting up. Then, of course, when she was a puppy! I can't believe she was ever that tiny!

I don't think this post has a point. I'm just in a happy mood today and felt like writing. Be back later for the Spoonful!

xoxo

lovin' spoonful

It's been a busy few days! Drove up to A&M to see the vet. My Jersey girl got a clean bill of health! No more movement or exercise restrictions. He said I can turn her loose :) That's the first good news I've gotten with her since she broke her femur in October. She had 2 surgeries at her normal vet (in NC where we used to live) and both times the rod or plate failed. The 2nd time it failed, I was already headed to Texas so I took her up to Texas A&M to their veterinary teaching hospital to see an orthopedic specialist. It's the best of the best! They fixed it right and despite the problems that come with a 3rd bone repair (loss of blood supply, stunted bone healing, etc.), they pulled her through.

For the longest time it wasn't healing it all. The doc was worried about bone degeneration if it didn't start making progress. He also thought she might have a torn ACL. So I was expecting at least one more surgery to jump start the bone and maybe a knee surgery for her ACL. Expensive? Yes. Would I sell everything I own to get her what she needs? Oh yeah. That's just how I am. But I don't have to sell anything cause today we had her x-rays (7 months out) and we finally saw some progress on the x-rays! He said it will take time, but she'll heal on her own. He also said her ACL seems to be ok, but I should watch it because she has fluid on her knee. But she gets to be NORMAL again! It was impossible to hold her back. She's so active. When I was working in NC, she went to doggie daycare 3 times a week and played with other doggies all day. On the weekends and the days she didn't have daycare, I always took her for a 30-45 minute bike ride and she would run next to me. She went from that to nothing. In case you couldn't tell, her being ok again made my year.

Anywho, had to share the wonderful news! Now my Spoonful for today. Then I'm going back to the addicting book I started in the waiting room at the vet this morning. I'm going to have to finish it before I go to sleep. The curse of reading...

I adore these bowls, along with almost all of the other pieces in Brooke Millecchia's ceramic pottery shop. She hand-paints her items too! I also like the Breakfast Tumbler a lot. It was hard to decide which picture to use...

I hope everyone has a great night! I'll be MIA till my book is finished.

spoonful of cuteness

I'm in a cute mood today. Cute things make me smile. My doggie is cute. Especially when she's shaking one of her stuffed toys around like a nutso. I read about this video in my People magazine. It's way cute. In fact, if it doesn't make you all warm and fuzzy inside, there's something wrong with you. Really; you should get checked out. Better safe than sorry, right? And I do have a degree in psychology. Trust me! (There's a scary thought...)

My niece is cute. Like the cutest kid ever. She's not really my niece...she's my BFF's baby. But she knows me as Aunt Chelle and short of being my own child, I couldn't possibly love her any more. Her name is Kaitlin Grace. I kind of picked the name. Probably not really, but it was a name I had picked for a baby girl. And of course me and Stace had talked about our baby names. Duh. Anyway, when she found out she was having a girl she asked if it was ok if she used that name. Like I'd say no.

We're trying to teach Miss K to say 'Aunt Chelle'. It's kind of a mouthful though. I might have to think of something else. However, she already points to me and giggles when someone says Aunt Chelle. That is the most heart-melting thing I have ever experienced. So I don't know if I want to undo that progress by confusing her with a new name. One little boy I used to babysit called me Mimi. He named his blanket Mimi. So stinking cute. But I might try Mimi with K. I don't want to scar her with multiple personalities though...I've clearly thought about this a lot. I was soooo glad I got to spend the day with K and Stace yesterday. I'm going to do that more often.

K's favorite words are 'no' and 'mine'. I do realize that these are every child's two favorite words at some point. But no, there isn't a child who has ever sounded more precious than when K says them. She was telling me 'mine' to something last night with her angry face on. So I grabbed her arm and said, "Mine!". She just looked at me all weird at first. I thought she was gonna get pissed. She doesn't like it when people argue with her. Then it was a big fun game. It was her bedtime though, and I got her all riled up. Oops! Sorry Stace!

Anyway, I so need to shower. Two and a half mile walks in Texas heat make that more necessary than usual. And believe you me, you don't want to tell my dog no when she's asking for her walk. No matter how hot it is...So, I have to shower. That means I have to get on with this Spoonful thing...

I got on a tangent about Miss K. She has a tendency to do that to me. But the theme here is cute. So, my Spoonful today is pinch-your-cheeks cute.

These owls are so, so, so precious! I fell in love the first time I saw them. They come from Snug N Luv. She sends you a DIY kit to make your own adorable stuffed owls. She's doing a contest on her blog to name the girl. The boy's name is Osgood. I kinda sorta picked that name. Another lady had chosen it and I seconded it. Hahaha. It was too perfect! She's still doing the contest to name the girl, so check out her blog at http://snug-n-luv.blogspot.com/!

today's sweetness

I totally just realized that I'm going to run of of catchy titles for my Spoonful of Sugar feature real quick. I wonder if you can title more than one post the same thing or if blogger will yell at you. I'm going to have to try pretty soon, I think.

I'm going to try to get this done before I have to go get my doggie's birthday cake. It's way cute. I'll post pics later :)

Anywho, in honor of my doggie's birthday, my sugar fix (literally!) is just for her. These treats are so adorable! They come from Diva Dog Bakery. I picked the sampler because I couldn't decide which were my favorite. Although, the donuts are front runners right now.

Not only are they darling miniatures of "people" food, they're as good for your dog as they can be! Check out their whole shop full of doggie yummies at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6540581