I want to stay here.

Forever.

Shocked to hear that come out of my mouth (er, keyboard)?

Yeah, me too!

In all honesty, I do love it here. And I REALLY don’t want to go home…

but Tim is loading up, so I guess I must…

wonder when we can come back?

Until next time…

Heather

I fully believe that certain people shouldn’t use tools. It’s a danger to themselves and others. I do not believe that I should be categorized among these people. Others feel differently.

So why am I bringing this up now?

Over at the Outpost there was an entry about Scott and how he shorted wires when attempting to hang a clock. Not only is this man allowed to use a hammer, he’s allowed to use power tools. This bothers me. Not because he uses them, but because I can’t.

Through the comments on the thread, beginning with mine asking why he was allowed to use a hammer and I was not, it was requested that I explain why I’m not allowed to.

Picture it…Richmond…2003

My first Christmas on my own with out a man to put up the Christmas tree. This is important. There was always someone to pick out the tree and put it in the stand and hang the lights before I began decorating. I grew up believing that this was a man’s duty. While he put up the tree, I was to be going through the Christmas decorations pulling out the ornaments and placing the other knick knacks throughout the house making it festive. It’s how it was done for 26 years of my life.

However, I had made up my mind that we were going to get a Christmas tree and that *I* was going to put it in the stand. I was independant after all. I had moved across the state to a city where I knew no one. I had made these choices. It was time for me to start doing these things for myself and not calling Daddy to come and save me. I had learned how to take the car to the shop for an oil change, after all, surely I could put up a Christmas tree.

I call my dad and ask him about putting up a tree. How do I get it home? Where do I get a tree stand? Dad’s response…”Go to the tree lot, show a little leg, and they’ll take care of you.” That was Dad’s response to everything. He was convinced that all I had to do to get “my way” was flirt. I’m not really for that. I’m not a good flirter with strangers, but I was desparate. The kids and I headed to the tree lot (and really, what good does flirting do when you have two kids in tow?)

We pulled in. I’m ready to play “poor little Heather” and there stand two women. So I guess that I’m not going to be able to play the “oh help me you big burly man” game. Part of me was relieved. The other part was screaming “oh s#$&! How are the kids and I going to get this tree home?”

The women helped us select a tree. I asked them about sawing off the bottom. I knew Dad did that when he got it home, but I didn’t have a saw at home, so after looking at me like I was retarded, she sawed the bottom of the stump off for me a little and she helped me strap it to the car.

Off we went. We headed to Lowe’s. I headed straight to the tree stand section. I looked at the man and said, “I need a tree stand that an idiot can put a tree in.” He looked at me as if I were the only person that had ever looked for an idiot proof stand. He handed me one. My father NEVER paid $25 for a tree stand, but he wasn’t an idiot and could get by with the stands that were cheaper. The man told me “it’s so simple. You just stand it in there and turn the screws”.

We headed back to the house and I told the kids that they needed to clean up first thinking I could buy some time and put the tree in the stand outside (because that’s what dad always did) before I took it in the house. I had a large tree; it didn’t look that big when I was buying it and I did manage to get it in the stand and the screws screwed.

I told Matthew to come out and look at it to tell me if it was straight. He said “a little to the left mom” and I said “your left or my left?” He doesn’t know there are two lefts and we all got confused but we FINALLY got that tree in and straight.

I took it in the house. We had the perfect corner of the living room picked out and there it sat.

I put the lights on, trying very hard to remember how Dad did it. We didn’t use the big bulbs though, we used the twinkling ones; the little ones. I got the lights on and the star (it was connected to the lights) and then I let the kids decorate!

Matthew was standing on top of the coffee table so that he could reach the top of the tree and Samara — well I don’t know what she was doing…I’m sure it was unproductive… Matthew had all the breakable ornaments laid off to the side. He was going to put those up top so we didn’t knock them over.

He had two ornaments left to put on the tree and the stupid thing fell over.

The WHOLE TREE!!! Right onto Matthew and the coffee table.

We picked the tree up and started over as most of the ornaments had fallen off. The tree was relatively straight this time and Matthew again started placing the ornaments on the tree. As he placed the last ornamnet, the damned thing fell again.

By this point in time I was livid over this whole stupid tree thing. If I didn’t have two kids who thought that Santa wouldn’t come if we didn’t have a tree, it would’ve gone out on the curb and I would’ve been done with it!

I remembered Dad bolting the tree to the ceiling one year because Sam kept knocking it over. (This would be Sam, my dog as a kid, not my daughter).

Dad, upon his first visit to my house, purchased several little kits of screws, nails, and picture hangers. I found the picture hanging kit with an eye hook (I think that’s what it’s called) and some precut fishing wire. I hammered the little eye thing in the wall and then took my fishing wire around the tree but it wouldn’t reach. So I yanked the eye out of the wall and hammered it elsewhere.

This went on until I had about 6 holes in the wall and the fishing wire finally fit around the tree and in to the little eye hook. And then I looked at the tree. It was VERY crooked.

I left it like that and the kids decorated it and I said to my father, “unless I have a man to put the tree up next year, I’m getting a fake one.”

He said, “Like hell you will”

I said, “What are you doing the 2nd weekend in December?”

As it turns out, I wasn’t in Richmond, I was here in Roanoke again and Tim’s been my tree putter upper ever since…and that’s why I’m no longer allowed to use a hammer.

Until next time…

Heather

I spent some time yesterday emailing back and forth with Scott, Tim’s friend and new blogging partner. Tim works on the real Outpost and I work on the online version. Scott’s got it all covered! But I was telling Scott about how we want to go away for Memorial Day but we have no reservations and Tim won’t tell me where he wants to go. (It has to be remote…no tourist-y places.)

Then, a friend asked me to take her boys to karate practice. I don’t mind doing it at all. Lord knows, she’s rescued me more times than I care to count. The issue was the PTA meeting started at 7, I had to have Samara there by 6:30, Tim was supposed to be cooking dinner and wouldn’t be home until 5, and I had to leave at 6 to go get her boys.

Well, Tim got home and started dinner. We had trout and not the kind that you buy in the store. These were ones that someone (someone we know) caught. At dinner he said, I’ll call Lahr and have him come and get Samara and take her since he’s going too. So there were two of the items on the list that needed to be accomplished. That meant Matthew and I could go get Evan and Noah and run them across town to practice.

Matthew and I accomplished our mission and were to the school by 6:45. We even got a parking space and a seat! That in itself was quite an accomplishment.

But here’s Samara singing in her school play. (She’s on the far right in the pink shirt).

So I get home and get the kids in bed — the school had a GREAT idea to serve cookies and juice after the PTA meeting at 7:45pm…grrr….

but they are in bed and I sit down to finish up a few things and Tim turns to me and says, “Scott called and said his wife is flying to Orlando over Memorial Day and…”

Scott’s wife is a pilot so my immediate response (yell really) was “We’re going to Orlando for Memorial Day?” I’m excited. I have the pictures of me and Winnie the Pooh already taken in my head! I’m very excited.

He says, “Yeah…NO. Scott said that he would go with her and we could go up and stay at his place. We’d have full run of the place and access to the Rhino.”

If you’re picturing a big rhinocerous, don’t feel dumb. I did too, but a Rhino is like a 4 wheeler I think.

So it looks like we’re going to the Outpost for a few days. It’s in the middle of nowhere.

Then he says to me that we could camp out in the meadow. Why would one do this where there’s this house right there with indoor plumbing? But I agreed. I can do it for at least one night and when I asked about the facilities he simply said I could ride the Rhino back to the house. So I’m okay with that. It will be an adventure!

I am excited about going. I’ve seen the pictures and it’s gorgeous up there. In the middle of nowhere, really, and I like that occassionally. But at least I can stop fretting about that. We have plans!

Until next time…

Heather

PS. Tim posted on the blog yesterday….Scroll down….isn’t it great? Now he just needs to do it more often!!!!

I was walking up the driveway at my Mom’s house this evening and came to a dead stop. There on one of the dozens of birdfeeders Mom tends, was a Downy Woodpecker….or a Red Bellied Woodpecker…..or maybe even a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker……I’m not certain. They look the same to me.

Anyway (which should give you a clue as to who is writing this because I didn’t say “Anywho” thankyouverymuch), I began to creep like I was stalking the poor critter. I was just trying to get a closer look. That’s when it dawned on me. I could only imagine what the neighbors must think if they just happened to glance out their window. Then again, if they’re at all familiar with my family, they wouldn’t give it a second thought. I got within 20 feet of him (or her, I wasn’t close enough for sex determination). And, of course, as always, it flew off. Which led me to this question….Why is it that all the pretty, interesting, and/or colorful birds are so elusive? Have you looked at a starling latlely? Looks like a Crow on crack. Every once in awhile I would like to see a flock of Gold finches come through. But then again, they wouldn’t have anywhere to land because the feeders would be full of Doves, Finches, Sparrows, and Wrens. It was then that I remebered the Orange rubberband bracelet I always wear. It simply says, “I am part of the Change.” If I can’t accept Doves, Finches, Sparrows, and Wrens as a gift too precious for words; I’m not being “part of the Change.” I’m knee deep in the “Problem.”

So, after I received this apparent divine enlightenment, I stopped in the yard to just take in scenery and pay a little gratitude to the Big Guy. Feels good sometimes just to get out of me and shake off the dust.

Now that you’ve had a taste of “why Tim shouldn’t post”, I hope you will all urge Heather to lock me out of the blog and never let me post again.

There Honey, I did it! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!…..now may I go back out and play? LOL

Til next time……yeah right….

T

I really think that it needs to be invented. You know, just like the witness protection program, only for mothers. It wouldn’t be for mothers that were being protected from abused husbands and the like and the whole family wouldn’t be protected, just the mother. And it wouldn’t be forever, just for a little while.

But mother’s should have some form of protection. I mean think about it…where do mother’s go to get alone? Not the kitchen…everyone is in and out drinking from the open carton of milk or juice or coming in to get yet another glass out of the cabinet even though they’ve used at least one other during the day.

It’s certainly not the bathroom and I don’t think I’ve peed in peace since I was 20 years old and gave birth to Matthew. Even now when they are at school, Napolean feels the need to escort me in there.

The bedroom? No…that’s where Tim escapes to when the kids are in the living room watching TV. I can’t go in the shed. That’s Tim’s and sacred. Plus I would be too tempted to play with something and could end up hurting myself.

I don’t have a laundry room since that’s in the kitchen. If I went in Samara’s room, I’d either kill myself getting in or out and Matthew’s room is off limits because everything has a place (whether I think it should be there or not) and there’s too big of a chance for me to disturb something.

So where does that leave me to go? To escape? Everyone else has a place of solitude but me…so I think that the Mother’s Protection Program should be implemented…

oh wait…that’s Sondra calling…apparently it has been. It’s a place called Rancho Viejo…no kids, no significant others and all the margaritas you can drink….

Until next time…

Heather

Well my daughter is going to do one of two things in the next year…she’s going either (a) learn to eat what I put on the table or (b) die of starvation. She probably won’t die of starvation, she’ll just continue to buy breakfast and extra goodies at school with her lunch money even though she’s been told repeatedly not to do so.

I’m hoping she’ll learn to eat what I put on the table…it’s really getting old and I don’t ask for much, but a nice family dinner would be nice. I guess I’ll keep dreaming…I seem to be the only one who gives a crap…. But I still want it.

I’ve been going to the chiropractor for a little over a week and I’m feeling better. I have to tell you, I’m really enjoying telling people that my head’s not on straight. He said he can fix that but I’m not sure that I want him to. Well, I do if it makes me feel a little better. He did say that he can’t get the curve back in my neck. That kind of blows because I would like to have curves where I’m supposed to (my neck) and no curves where there shouldn’t be any (like, I don’t know…my hips?) But we’ll see. The neck pain is going away and it’s more of an annoyance now than anything else. He did tell me that I needed to go and get a massage so that’s not so bad right? That might be a nice mother’s day present from my kids!

Matthew is preparing for his First Communion and going through SOLs at school. That stands for Standards of Learning by the way. I really think they should re-evalutate that whole name thing. SOL means something else to me.

I don’t know what else to tell you about what’s going on here. I will tell you that if you’re looking for some very entertaining reading you should go over to Outpost 19b and enjoy the banter back and forth. Scott is a friend of Tim’s and just a great, funny guy. He just needs to post more and then Tim needs to come over here and post here but he says that I’m the album holder. We’ll see…

Until next time…

Heather

Oy….

Matthew comes home with a butterfly that has a broken wing. Samara wants to let it out of the box to fly around so it won’t be cooped up while the dogs are outside.

Matthew tries to explain to her that it can’t fly; that it has a broken wing. She’s not happy with this answer…she screams “I WANT A NEW BROTHER!”

So he returns fire “I WANT A NEW SISTER” and I have a war over a broken winged butterfly. Who knew?

The butterfly’s name is Lucky. Lucky needs a new home so says Matthew. Samara wants to take an old pail and have Tim drills holes in it. Matthew thinks that’s stupid and wants to get a jar. Why the bug box that Lucky is currently in isn’t suitable, I don’t know. I spent enough money on it.

But Lucky has caused a war at our house…I keep trying to explain that Lucky isn’t really “lucky” and that eventually he’s (she’s?) going to die…and that neither one of them can have a new brother or sister. I don’t think they understand any of it.

I want a new head…a sane life…i’m not going to have either and I’m dealing with it…why can’t they?

Until next time…
H

Ok, so I’m rolling about this one too….

Santa? No! It’s Naked Chimney Guy!

Can you imagine????????/

H

I was just browsing the news…and I had to laugh when I came across this story…

Apparently, since women in China are eating better and working out, there is now a demand for bigger bras. This was also an issue not too long ago for the height requirement for free bus rides….

I don’t know why I think this is so funny, but I do.

H

Ok, so more people are overly interested in what’s going on in our lives than I thought….

So here goes….a long over due update on what’s been going on with us….

Tim:

Well Tim’s pretty much been gone every weekend. He’s either been in West Virginia helping Scott with his house (you can see some pics here at the blog that Tim installed for him www.outpost19b.com) or he’s been in North Carolina visiting Regan since she’s had soccer games. Which means I’ve been left to my own devices way more than I should be! But he’s been busy.

He’s also been working on the house here and there as time permits and last weekend he replanted my sunflowers and my tomatoes outside.

Let’s see…oh! in March, he bought an ‘02 Dodge Durango. He’s in love with it and I will admit, it’s a nice ride…I got to take it to Tennessee the last 2 weekends. But it’s nice. Now we can take all of us (and the dogs) camping in one vehicle. It’s sweet…gotta DVD player and everything in it! Much fancier than I’m used to!

Me

Well, I’ve been busy. Work, work, and more work! But I have taken some time out for myself. I’ve been to get a manicure and pedicure, and I’ve gone out with the girls and with Tim.

Last week, I joined the gym. I don’t know why. I did. It seemed like the thing to do at that time. I’m enjoying it though. I have a little routine, kinda. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday is Jazzercise. That’s the only class that I really like that I’m not dying when it’s over and I’m bummed when it ends. I like it. There are other jazzercise classes but not ones that I can get to. So I’ll have to stick with them. Sondra joined too and so we’ve gone together. I went to the step class on Friday night by myself and I thought I would DIE by the time it was over.

I think that they should post a warning outside the step class that alerts people who lack coordination that they should proceed with caution. I don’t think that I could keep up because I didn’t know where that step thing was when I was jumping all around. Either that or I was tripping over my own two feet!

But that’s the gym. The kids like going as well. They have a pretty nifty set up for the kids and each of them are in their own room and have some space, so that’s good.

What else have I been up to?

Um….I think that’s about it. Work, work and more work, but now that it’s summer (or at least getting a little warmer) I’m starting to scale back a bit. There’s just no point in sitting inside when it’s so nice outside. In fact, 3 times in the last month, we’ve gone to the park to eat. Twice we picked up a bucket of chicken and then this past Sunday, we took the kids and grilled out…and that was very nice. I have Tim to thank for this. he’s the one who’s very into being outside. I like it. Maybe when I get older, I’ll like it too…

Matthew

Matthew participated in his first Destination Imagination competition the end of March and I think he did really well, but he’s my kid. They didn’t win anything, but they had a good time and I think he’s going to participate again next year.

He spent a week with Mamaw, Nana, and Papaw over Easter Spring Break and he’s come home a “man” complete with a belt, hankerchief, and knows what all the pockets of his jeans should hold. He’s also decided that he’s going to play football this fall and is rather excited about it. And since I’ve joined the gym, he’s very excited about losing some of his gut as well.

He’s taking his first communion at church sometime soon. He’s shooting for Pentacost and he has his books and his notebook to jot down the questions and he’s excited about that as well. He’s also goingto be an acolyte starting in June. He’ll start out as a torch bearer and then work his wa up. I just hope he doesn’t get wax in his hair like I did when I was a torch bearer.

He’s been having some trouble with spelling but we’re working on that now. Of course, I’ve threatened him within an inch of his life to get the grade up and he wants to go to Camp Bethel this summer. He wants to go for at least a week, maybe two…so we’ll see.

I think that’s all that Matthew’s been up to!

Samara

Sam is still Sam. She also participated in Destination Imagination this year and wants to do it again next year. She also started cheerleading but between being sick for 7 days, getting in trouble, and then spring break, she’s not been in 3 weeks. We’ll try again this week…

She was sick for 7 days and missed 5 days of school. She just had a fever that wouldn’t go away and now she’s fighting allergies…poor kid. We just went and stocked up on the Claritin for her. It seems to help and not make her as hyper as the Benedryl.

She’s going to cheer for Hidden Valley this fall and shes excited about that, but in all honesty, Sam’s still Sam. Still doing the same stuff. She did get enough money at Easter to pay for 1/2 of her ticket to see Kenny Chesney this summer. Now she says she just needs $5 more so that she can buy a key chain….

Regan

We haven’t seen a whole lot of Regan since she’s had soccer and Tim’s been going to NC. She was here last week for spring break but stayed with her grandma. She spent Thursday with me and we had a great day at the mall and she helped me pick out 2 new pairs of flip flops…she’s doing well in school and seems to like it. We’re looking forward to getting back to normal with the kid schedule… I’ve missed her!

I think that’s about it…to catch you up over the past 6 weeks…I’ve got some pictures that I will put up soon and I promise (Julie) that I will try to post a little more often!!!

Until next time…

Heather

Well today I was surfing some blogs and came across a post about the West Wing blogs and how they suck and so I went to look at them (and they do) and saw a banner ad for the new episodes of Deal or No Deal coming back (see banner ads DO work!)

Anywho…they have an interactive Deal or No Deal and so guess who got sucked in?

Yup!

That would be me!

The first time my case had $750,000 in it (and I “no dealed” all the way!) and the second time my case had $300,000 in it…

Wish I really had that money…

But if you have nothing else to do… play here

Until next time…

Heather

Anywho, the paper was talking about Valentine’s Day and how men spend more than women because they are guilted into it and that women express their love all year round and this is the one day that men have to.

One woman went so far as to say that she didn’t have to buy her Valentine anything because it was “her” holiday.

I’ve been thinking about this alot since I read that article, and yes, I even read it to Tim. I didn’t do it to guilt him into it rather because I thought it was comical.

See, I don’t see Valentine’s Day as my holiday. However, I am a woman and I do like to be wooed from time to time. I just happened to fall in love with a man who isn’t a wooer. And that’s fine by me.

Let me tell you why.

He may not shower me with gifts and call me by a pet name. (That’s sickening anyway…)

However, have you seen my house? Have you seen my new doors? Did you tell you about the new office that he’s building me? Did you see the new bedroom? Did you notice how my car still runs? Have I told you about the girls’ nights out that I’ve been able to participate in?

See…

None of those things would happen, look as nice, etc if it weren’t for him.

I’ve been posting pictures of his latest remodeling project and my friends are jealous because their husbands can’t do it or won’t do it unless they are nagged about it. I don’t have to nag. (Shoot, half the time I just come home and walls are gone!)

No, I don’t see today as my holiday.

I was very tickled with the sappy card that was on my desk this morning when I got up. Did he do it because he was guilted into it? Maybe…I don’t know. I hope I didn’t guilt him into anything.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes love is more than gifts and words.

And I’m the luckiest woman in the world.

Until next time…

Heather

PS. Tim…if you’re reading this, our anniversary is on the 28th of this month and I will guilt you in to at least a card for that… Love ya!

I have NEVER in my life laughed so hard. I’m no doctor and I could’ve told you everything in this article except that fathers are also depressed. But after thinking about it…I knew that too.

Here’s the opening sentance….

Kids just aren’t good for parents’ mental health, sociologists find.

Laugh….go ahead…

Then read some more….

There are lots of great reasons to be a parent. But in and of itself, parenthood won’t improve your mental health — or your relationship with your spouse, says psychologist (and parent) Susan Jeffers, PhD.

“Society tries to tell us parenthood is the greatest fulfillment of all times,” Jeffers tells WebMD. “That is not true for a majority of people. One can find wonderful things about having children. But people are not talking about the negative effect it has on your life. And it is very hard on relationships.”

Come on Jeffers…tell me something I don’t know.

“You lose your peace of mind, your extra money, your privacy, and on and on and on,” Jeffers says. “The worst part of it all is how much you love them, because you worry a lot and you have to keep learning to let go and let go and let go.”

And here’s my favorite quote….

Jeffers says her son is responsible for her advanced education, because he drove her to seek fulfillment outside the home.

Can you see this kid physically pushing her out the door?

This article just cracked me up…

Wonder how many of my hard earned tax dollar went into this???

Until next time…

Heather

IF I DIDN’T HAVE DOGS:

I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety.

My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated.

All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of dog hair.

When the doorbell rings, it wouldn’t sound like the kennels.

When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without wading through dog bodies who beat me there.

I could sit on the couch the way I wanted, without taking into consideration how much space several fur bodies would need to get comfortable.

I would not have strange presents under my Christmas tree — dog bones, stuffed animals – nor would I have to answer to people why I wrap them.

I would not be on a first-name basis with three veterinarians.

The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: “out,” “sit,” “down,” “come,” “no,” “stay,” and “lea! ve him/her/it ALONE.”

My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers.

My pockets would not contain things like po-op bags, dog treats and an extra leash.

I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L-, F-R-I-S-B-E-E, C-A-R, L-E-A-S-H, R-I-D-E, or W-A-L-K.

I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside.

I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog ties them down too much.

I would not have to answer the question “Why do you have so many dogs?” from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by something as close to an angel as they will ever get.

How very empty my life would be.

Well, wait! Let me back up and tell you why I had to run to the store to buy butter.

Yesterday, Becki and I went to Wal-Mart and out to lunch. When we came home, Napolean, the sweet lovable pup that he is, decided to tear the house apart. This included “reading” the magazines, chewing up the brand new placemats that I just bought last week and getting the butter tub off the table. I can only assime that he ate all the butter because it was clean and the butter tub was full of holes about the size of his teeth.

So tonight, I go to make chicken hats and I need butter. No butter. So I say, “i’m going to run to the store to get butter”

Before you know it, I have a list. I need beer, wings, spinich dip, and chips.

So off I head to the store.

I get the beer, wings, and spinich dip and head for the chips, and then I get a phone call. “Get ice cream” so I get ice cream. But before I could go and get the ice cream I have to find the chips. I swear to you I’ve never seen the chip aisle as bare as it was tonight. It looked like the bread shelves when they’re calling for snow. I got the last of 3 bags of tortilla chips and they were the bite sized Kroger brand…not what I was sent for, but it had to do.

Then I see the ketchup is on sale and I know I don’t have any so I pick it up. I see ropes and Napolean had just chewed the old one to pieces so I pick one up. Then I decide to get another one so each dog has one.

Coke is on sale, so I pick up 4 12-packs.

I see a full cart. It’s time to check out.

I get up there and the lady says “Looks like you’re having a Super Bowl party” and I said “I just came to get –”

You guessed it!

I forgot the butter.

So I had to run back and get the butter and come back and check out.

So here’s you’re notice, warning, what ever you want to call it.

If you need butter to make your dinner on Super Bowl Sunday, just find something else to make.

Until next time…

Heather

I have to tell you about The WC —

It’s different…

It’s unique…

And it’s got a brand new style.

So, what is The WC? The WC is a mini magazine for moms in business. Each month it’s delivered to your MAILBOX! (No, not your inbox, not via eMail, not online…..it comes through the United States Postal Service!)

Here’s why it’s so great…

(a) It’s in your mailbox (that’s the box that’s outside of you house that normally only contains junk and bills…)
(b) you can hold it in your hands and read at your leisure…AWAY from the computer
(c) it’s written by moms, for moms…all who are working at home.
(d) it contains articles that you won’t find ANYWHERE else…at least not within the month that the WC comes out…
(e) advertising rates are very affordable…so if you’re targeting moms, or moms in business, I highly recommend looking into it.
(f) they make GREAT gifts for moms that you know who are currently working from home or for those that WANT to work from home…
(g) did I mention that you don’t have to be online to read it?

Let’s face it! We’re working from home. Our life line is in this box and many of us (most all that I know) are tied to this computer day in and day out. I used to read the newspaper, but I don’t know because I can get my news online. I used to read people, but why bother…they have a website.

The WC is a mini-magazine for moms (complete with recipes and kids puzzles!) that you can’t get online…so you’ll never know what it says unless you subscribe!

What are you waiting for? The February issue is about to be published! CLICK HERE for more information!

Until next time…

Heather

My baby bro got married!

It was supposed to happen in Jamaica around Valentine’s Day before he left for Iraq in March but the Air Force decided last Friday to ship him out this Sunday so they talked about it, headed to the Justice of the Peace and tied the knot!

I couldn’t have asked for a better sister in law!!!

Congrats John and Liz!!!

We’ll be there this fall when you get back from Iraq to celebrate!!!

Until next time…

Heather

If you were looking for the site earlier and couldn’t get to it, I apologize. I switched hosts today so that I could begin hosting my own pictures.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with web hosting or WordPress, I had a cheapy host and wasn’t able to host my own pictures. So I was hosting them at Photo Bucket. Basically I had to resize all the images, upload them to Photo Bucket and then paste the html code into WordPress for them to show up. And, you know how I am with pictures….I take many of them and the pages just seemed to go on and on and on.

So I’ve come up with a nifty new way to share pictures. I’ll put the best ones, or the highlights here still, however…you can see all of our images in our new photo gallery. There are numerous albums there and I’m just about done naming the pictures to something other than their “camera” name and putting in some comments.

I’ve also uploaded some older pictures so you can see how much the kids have grown!

With the new host, I have tons of room. I no longer have to resize them and it’s a one click process to get them from the camera to the website and it going to save me a boat load of time!

I simply installed Gallery2 on my server and off we go!

I hope you enjoy perusing the pictures. I’ve had fun looking back at them and there will be more to come!!!

Now, I’ve had entirely too much coffee tonight…Tim’s out doing some free lance shoveling and made the coffee for him and I indulged as well….BIG MISTAKE!!!! But I made a huge dent in the pictures!!!!

Enjoy!

Until next time…

Heather

This is the 3 snow day of the season for us…very unusual for us to get this much snow/ice this early in the season. I wonder what the rest of the winter will bring?

Last Monday we were supposed to get 4-10 inches, but ended up getting 2 at most. Then Thursday nigth we got hit with an ice storm…and that ice was still left over when this system moved in early this morning. There was nothing at 4am when I got up for the gazillionth time to separate the dogs (thay have GOT to learn that we play from the hours of 7am to 11pm) and at 6:15 when I got up to start my day it was white.

The kids are out of school…again. It’s a catch 22 with how I feel about that. On one hand, it’s very hard for me to work when they are here, however, if I was still working outside of the home, I had all of 30 minutes to find some place to take them, or pay through the nose at the drop in day care center and THEN have to worry about braving the roads with all the nuts out there! I think I’ll take having them home with me.

Today will prove to be interesting…Napolean and Rhoda are still in the getting to know you phase. Every time you tell Napolean to “go lay down” he jumps on the couch and lays down. This is humorous for 2 reasons…the first being that he didn’t get on the furniture at his previous owner’s home…didn’t take him long to break that habit…

the second being that Samara is laying on the couch, and Napolean just jumps up there and lays on her!

I was somewhat worried about Samara and Napolean. She doesn’t do much with Rhoda because Rhoda is bigger than her and continues to knock her over where as Matthew has formed a bond with Rhoda and plays with her and wrestles with her, but so far, Samara seems to love the addition of Napolean and doesn’t mind being knocked over by him. We’ll see how that all goes…

So, I guess I’ll begin my day. It will prove to be interesting with all I have going on…but I’m just greatful that I don’t have to go out and drive and I can sit here in my nice warm home and work…

Until next time…

Heather

Meet Napolean!

Napolean is a 7 month old great dane and he’s ours…all 90 pounds of him! Yes, 90 lbs. Tim says he will get to be about 150lbs. We’re nuts! Yes, I know!

Here’s another picture of him…

Now on to other things…I’m way late in posting some of these pictures, so here goes…enjoy!!

This would be me working…Weezer got a hold of the camera…as you can tell from the next few pictures…

Samara and the block Santa she made…yes, she took this of herself!

Rhoda…who absolutely LOVES her new brother!

Here is our tree…don’t mind the missing wall in the back…it was either that or a big confederate flag (that was Tim’s idea) and now that Napolean is here, there are no ornaments on the bottom half. The tail just makes them fly!

The girls preparing the ornaments for the tree last weekend…

Samara in her uniform…

Samara’s squad…

That’s all for now from the crew…I have dogs to referee…

Until next time…
Heather