Subtle Changes

("Queso" takes a drink from the horse trough)
I have been trying very hard to keep "refined sugar" out of the house this summer.
I had a house sitter that told me it looked like we were moving, because the pantry was 1/2 empty! She knows I usually keep lots of treats/snacks ready at hand. I have not had cake mix, cookie mix, or cookie dough in there all summer. With the heat, I still need to work on the ice cream....
My daughter had a friend over today and when we had lunch I realized the only "snack" I could offer them was fresh fruit! WOW! what a change. One of the major areas that will make a BIG difference is activity. I need to come up with things to do in this heat with the kids. We are all about "swimmed" out. What horrible English. LOL
Tonight for dinner I baked Mahi Mahi and white rice. I know I could have done brown rice, but I didn't have any and even if I did, I did not have the time to cook it. It takes forever. That's still better than a burger and fries. I have a few weeks to work with my kids and get them back into the swing of school.
We went to the school and dropped off some paperwork, in order to avoid the horrendous lines at orientation. I am sooo not ready to start that daily 2 hr drive thing! Arrrrrrrr!

Who turned the heat up??

MY GOSH!! What the heck folks?? It's MISERABLE out there! I so dread this time of year. I can't move without sweating. I can't breathe, it's so humid. Why the heck do I live here?? Seriously?? What was I thinking? I want to crawl under a cool rock and just stay there. Someone call me when Fall gets here, and make it PRONTO! (That's fast in Spanish, for you non bilingual peeps) The entire family went to a water park this weekend. It was not the experience any of us thought it would be. It was miserably hot. Of course, no tables were available. The water only felt cool for about the first millisecond and then it felt like bathwater! YUCK! We went there because a church had rented the place out and it was "private" after closing until 9pm. A friend of mine attends the church and we tagged along for the evening. There is only THREE weeks of summer left!! WOW! I'm so sad. The kids are growing so fast. I have been looking for a specific picture of my father and in the process have come across photos of me at their ages. I remember how I saw my mom, and I think, I AM NOT THAT OLD! LOL I would like to think of myself as young at heart. I was playing with the kids in the pool at a friends house the other day. I realized I don't have a memory of my mother playing with me. Strange. I hope my children grow up with fond memories of their laid back summer days with their good 'ol M O M! I know my mother did the best she could, I hope I do better, and I hope Carson does even better than I did! It's what we are suppose to hope for right?

Amarillo by mornin' ..........

Last weekend we went to visit a longtime GF of mine. We met years ago while she worked at Baylor with me. She is now a FT SAHM. We had never been to Amarillo and were pleasantly surprised by all there is to see and do out there. We went to Cadillac Ranch, where the Cadillacs are buried in the ground and you spray paint them. I have pics, but in my other memory card. We also went to a really cool musical called "Texas." It is held in Palo Duro Canyon and the back drop is the canyon. They use live horses and lots of lights and singing and dancing. At the end there was a small fireworks show. It brought back flashbacks for me of a similar production that El Paso does, and it is called "Viva EL PASO!" Pretty much the same thing. We got home pretty late (12:00am) and decided to jump into the pool anyway. Whew! The next morning I was feeling it. I am too old to party like a rock star people! Sunday was great and laid back. We went out to play with the horses and had lunch then hit the road. It was a fast and furious visit, filled with lots of laughs and fun times. Nobody expected it to be a 6 hour drive from here, but it is. No matter how ya slice it. Misty has a beautiful LARGE house. The kids really enjoyed themselves and she was a wonderful hostess! I wish I had been feeling better. On Thursday before we left I had been running a fever and felt horrible. I am so glad we did not stay home.
It took me pretty much all week to recover from the trip and squeeze in working 2 days this past week. I finally feel back on track. We went to church this morning and the sermon was awesome. The title of this series is Experience the Impossible. I have to share a profound part of it. It began with this statement up on the screen:
Attempt something so impossible, that unless God is in it. It is doomed for failure.
What else can I say?

Happy Birthday America!!

I hope everyone had a happy festive 4th. We had a quiet one at home. I came down with a summer cold and was still a bit lethargic. I LOVE fireworks!! I think they are so romantic, and beautiful. I am sad that I did not get to see them this year. Life will go on. I have been so busy, with the kids and I actually got in a few days of work, and I even went to the gym a few times. Our water class is getting soooo full! Uncomfortably full. Since the weather is pretty, well, not exactly pretty. If you call high 90's with tons of humidity pretty, then you know what I'm talking about. I guess I should rephrase that, at certain times of the day, the weather is pretty enough to get some exercise outside. I have been walking the dogs and they are loving it! I was so pleased with myself the other night. I went for a late night walk, and when we got back both dogs, just fell on the cool tile and were panting and panting. The next day they both slept in! That NEVER happens. I took Carson and my neighbor swimming and I got called "Brazilian!" My neighbor said, that cuz I have gotten so tanned and I was wearing my hat (gotta protect the roseca) sitting in the pool, under the umbrella, I had that look. I've been called many things before, but that was a first. I am going to start my "vision" board. I think it will help me stay focused. It took me awhile to find one that I liked and thought would work. Now I need to decide where I am going to put it. I have to set some major goals. I don't think I've made progress, cuz I don't have a goal. I am very goal oriented. I'll take a pic when I get it up and going. That's all for now. Ciao