CAUTION: Woman In Progress

I can't settle my brain down long enough to pick an actual topic to write on so I'll just do bullet point rambles. Cool? *So my mind got blown last night. I was so blown away by the big "A" reveal on Pretty Little Liars that I couldn't care less that Annie and Auggie (on Covert Affairs ) broke up an hour later. And I'm an Annie and Auggie fan. So you know the big "A" reveal was HUGE. But if you don't watch either of these shows, this tid-bit of information won't mean anything to you. But whao! I don't think my mind has been blown this badly in...EVER. I was less surprised to learn that Santa doesn't exist. *I'm really struggling to behave in a Christian manner today. Not because of who "A" is. But because of the whole sitch with my OWN A.  (Confused much?) ("A" is the super secret villain whose shocking reveal last night totally blew my mind on Pretty Little Liars. My A is my friend at work who has been te...

It's been a rough few days in our family. Sis1's beloved family dog, Miss Scarlett got really, really sick earlier this week and after a lot of prayer and discussion and tears, they decided to put her to rest. Poor kid was 16-years-old and hadn't been in the best shape for a while. She was almost completely deaf and blind, couldn't stand for any length of time and had a number of fatty tumors covering her body.  But she still had the heart of a puppy. Every now and then she'd perk up and chase a leaf and bounced around like a young dog. But those moments had gotten few and far between. When she finally got really really sick, stopped eating and drinking, they knew. It was time to let her go.   They had a family friend come over and take the above photo on Tuesday evening when they realized that she was more than likely about to leave them. Whether or not they put her to rest or she died on her own, they knew the end was near and they wanted one last family p...

Um...What the...? 1st day of 7th grade, 13 yrs old She's officially a 7th grader. I don't...I can't even... Whatever happened to THIS little girl? First day of 1st grade, I think. Excuse me while I go sob into a book now.

This has been a long and strange week. While I've been uber busy, I can't quite pinpoint any one exact thing I did to stay that way. Well, meetings. Of course. Funny how just the act of sitting and listening to other people talk can be so exhausting. I did hire a new student assistant Monday. I think she's going to work out great. Seems really sweet, quiet. I love the sweet and quiet students. I usually have less to fuss at them about. Usually. Other than that, I really can't say what, exactly, has kept me so busy. Just planning for  the upcoming semester and continuing the day to day stuff. I DREAD the upcoming semester. Well, not so much the whole semester as much as the first couple of weeks. Summer and the reduced numbers of bodies on campus always spoils me. All the extra bodies in fall are a total shock to my system. Anyway, I haven't done much around the house lately, either. Except for my epic two day kitchen cleaning project. I hate to admit it, but, ...

Well, ya'll, as of today, the second little princess to enter my life is now, officially six years old. At her Princess Sophia Party Saturday. photo courtesy Sis1's iPhone. Where does the time go? She had a pretty terrific party, though I must admit I am too old for kid parties, I do believe. I no longer have the patience for other people's kids. BUT, Lyssa had a terrific time, seemed very happy with it all and enjoyed having her friends there so that's all that really matters. She's finally old enough to extend "thank you's" after opening each present, something she made a point to do to each individual. Not many kids know the word "thanks" without prompting from their parents (if then!) but she does and it was very sweet how she sought out to make eye contact with the giver before imparting her thanks. I was also impressed with her willingness to allow her friends to basically take over her gifts and play with them before she...

So I watch a lot of Food Network. I know. You're shocked. Try to get a hold of yourselves. So, yeah. Food Network and I are BFF's. Saturday and Sunday mornings always find me visiting with The Pioneer Woman, Trisha Yearwood, Bobby Flay, Bobby Deen and Giada. And over the years I've had my fascinations with various other celebrity chefs. Anyone recall my infatuation with Dave Lieberman ? Whatever happened to him, btw? Gosh I miss him. *swoony sigh* Ahem...where was I? Right. Food Network. So yeah, I watch a lot of the "in the kitchen" shows on there. Not so much on the competition shows. But anyway... You may also know that read a lot of food blogs. The Pioneer Woman, How Sweet Eats, and Joy the Baker, just to name a few. What does that have to do with the Food Network? Well, watching and reading all that homestyle gormet-ish cooking can lead one to believe that cooking from a box is a BAD. Not to mention that all the nutritionists out there will tell...

Bleh. Hopefully this will be the last Saturday I have to work for a while. At least until September.  Yesterday I took off early and had one last play date with them before Lyssa returns to school next week. Yes. School here begins next week. Fortunately, we still have a couple of weeks before the university begins the fall semester. But poor Lyssa! We had fun yesterday. I had dropped Libby off on my way to work because the kids requested her presence. I really  hesitated because sometimes the kids are a little too stressful for her but I took her smaller crate in case she needed an escape and Sis2 said she used it quite a bit before I got there around 10:30. She even used it a few times after I got there. She is a lot like her mama in the sense that she needs quiet and alone time. haha Anyway, the kids, Sis2 and I had a rousing game of extreme balloon toss. Lyssa proclaimed it "the best balloon day EVER!" And it was pretty fun. We laughed a lot. We also played Barbies ...