What I am Thankful for

What I am thankful for

My God and savior Jesus Christ

Driving through New Augusta, MS and seeing a Shetland pony hanging out in a front yard

My kids, who are an interesting mix of Brian and I which is funny since we are opposites

My husband who is unselfish and way better than I deserve

My sisters who made my childhood fun and made it possible for me to get along with any women

My new puppy Annabelle who loves me the best

My church, which is directly and indirectly responsible for 98% of my dear friends

My job, which is so much fun and the children who make me, feel like a rock star everyday

My first crummy job that taught me to love computers when my unscrupulous boss hired me on a Monday and told me I was teaching a computer class to adults on Friday, I had never used a Windows based computer before that Monday

My parents who taught me the importance of being honest, reading, relaxing, good manners and loving others

My dear nieces and nephews

My education at Mississippi State University in the classroom, the KD house and McKee dorm

That Brian was sitting in the Union doing a crossword puzzle and sitting with his little brother when I walked by, he decided to ask me out because I was nice to his brother, by the time he graduated three weeks later we were in love

Growing up in the faux country, with a swimming pool and a barn

My home that can hold a party with friends and out of town guests

That little things make me happy

Wonderful health care in Birmingham AL

The hard things in my life and the lessons they have taught me

My curly low maintenance hair

My friends who make me laugh and love me no matter what

My mattress and memory foam pillow

Sonic Route 44s

My Gold Quest van that has taken us all over the southeast and east with no problems, except for a new battery in Disney

That I don’t have the worry gene

Sports  (those that have know me forever will laugh at this one)

My neighbors who I love

Forgiveness and redemption in my life and others

People in the service industry who take pride in their work and customer service

Hair color

The US military

Euro comfort shoes

Unexpected bargains

That I don’t mind speaking in public

My mother in law and her mother who are great help and the best bakers I know

Laughing until I cry

Reese’s

Facebook and my friends there

My boyfriend Mac (what Brian calls my laptop)

The hills in Birmingham that make the landscape so pretty, since I grew up in flat Mississippi this is a change

Oak Mountain schools

My family’s health and mine

The Internet that really feeds and satisfies my need for knowing random things

The color red

The kid’s school bus and their drivers Mr. Gary and Mr. T, no carpool for me

Music that makes me happy and triggers old memories

My iphone

Fiber

DVD players in vans with headphones

Southern Company/ that gives my husband a job he loves

Magazines

Diet Cokes

Being Southern

You for reading this far in my list

Happy Thanksgiving, Gobble, Gobble!!

My blog has a new home

I switched over to blogspot because of the artistic capabilities.  Some of the code got messed up in the conversion.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!
myfullerjoy.blogspot.com

Where in the the world is Ozark, AL??

One word of warning, do not look on Petfinder.com unless you are seriously considering a pet.  Here is how Annabelle came to be living with us.  We lost our sweet Mary back in February, we knew we weren't getting a pet this summer.  So the kids had been saying they wanted a puppy for Christmas.  I started to work on Brian a little and one night he looked at Petfinder.com with me.  We saw these precious puppies that were located in Ozark, AL.  I mapquested Ozark, because no one seemed to know where it was.  I looked and it was only 2 hours away.  That might work.  I called and the only one not spoken for was Gail the darkest puppy.  They were mixes of Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, and maybe Shar Pei but more about that later.  So I asked Ruth (who runs the shelter) to email me an application.  Then I had to send pictures of our home and yard.  She said if I was approved Gail would be ours.   She emailed later in the day and said we could come get her on Thursday.  The kids were out of school and I figured we could make the day trip.  I looked at Mapquest again and started mapping our course.  That is when I realized it was 2 hours and 59 minutes.  That is what I get for rounding down, Brian says I do this all the time.  I do it a little after a shopping trip.  These puppies were left in the woods by their Mama dog who is a stray.

So the kids and I loaded up in the car and went to Ozark, AL.  The shelter was only open between 8:00am and 12:00pm.  So we got up at 6:00 and left by 7:15.  We get there about 10:30.  This shelter is little, so many volunteers working hard.  We all hurriedly jump out of the car.  Lewis said he needed to go to the bathroom.  So Ruth showed him the bathroom.  We started talking about Gail and then Lewis hollered out, "I can't get out!!"  He was locked in the bathroom.  I told him just turn the knob.  Ruth said, " I don't have a key." We were all laughing so hard we could barely try to help him. Ruth then said, "I guess we are going to have to call the fire department to get him out of the there." So before we resorted to that I passed a note under the door to him showing him how to unlock the door, then she said it was kind of backwards.  Somehow Lewis got the door open and we continued the process of adopting Gail.  The puppy cost $95 which should have included the spaying but she was too young.  So she said we can send her the receipt later.  I told her she could keep the change from the $100 and she said good because she didn't keep change.  Smart lady.  We were leaving with Gail now Annabelle and Ruth said I love your house, I told her come visit anytime!!



[caption id="attachment_470" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="Ruth, Rob, and Gail/Annabelle"][/captio





When we were leaving we ran into a lady from Saint Petersburg FL who had come to adopt Gail's sister.  The litter went all over the Southeast.  Ruth posts all the adoptions on their Facebook.  It is amazing how she uses the internet to get the pets adopted.  Before I left I asked Ruth why Gail was the last one left.  She said well, actually she was the first one adopted, but the family who adopted her had a baby and Ruth said Gail was a crybaby who cried all night long.  Oh well I could handle it.  I will have to say there has been many times over the last week that Annabelle has reminded me of Clara as a toddler.  She was sweet and easygoing unless she really wanted something and then be prepared, she would not give it up.

It was a beautiful day to get a beautiful puppy.  She is sweet, not hyper at all.  She has a problem with her eye and we have been putting drops in her eye.  She has a spotted tongue which is a feature of Shar peis, unfortunately this weird eye condition where their eyelashes turn in and scratch their eyes is also a characteristic.  I guess we will see, she might have to have an eye lift.  Seriously.  We tried to figure out a radio fence for all of Sunday afternoon but I gave up.  Everytime I tested the spot by the road it wouldn't work, and the Mom in me figured that Annabelle is probably like her sister Clara in enspousing the moto, "No Pain No Gain" So I hired Donny to fix our fence.  We have a big backyard that has a run off ditch in it.  It doesn't fill very often but when it does it carries leaves and sticks with it.  Part of our fence fell down and we didn't have to fix it for Mary.  So we are finally fixing it for Annabelle.  Donnie is a great guy that works for me doing jobs around the house, when he first looked at it he said he was really busy and couldn't do it until the 13th of December.  I must have looked disappointed.  So when I called back the next day to say we needed it done sooner and who could he recommend, he said I looked at it again and I can start on Monday or Tuesday.  I was thrilled, then he called back an hour later and said I have a friend that can start tomorrow.  He is a great contractor, he knew that would bother me and worked it out for us.  So hopefully Annabelle will not be a Houdini dog like Mary was.

I went to Rob's first wrestling match last night.  It was wild.  I had tears in my eyes while I watched the first match, and I didn't even know any of the boys, they weren't even members of our team.   It was hard-core, don't know what I expecting.  Rob wrestled once and he lost, but I thought he held his own.  It is really like when you used to see your preschooler getting in a fight on the playground but in this case you stand on the edge of the playground and cheer him on.  I have to admit, it was amazing how strong our boys had become.

My finds at Ross Dress for Less

I found some unexpected treasures at Ross Dress for Less this week.  I found these pants:

I LIKE:

East Side Pant Stretch Poplin by
XCVI

The price listed on Zappos is $108.00. I paid $8.95. Seriously, I got two pairs, one brown and one green. I told a friend who loves these pants and she had paid even more at a local store. I found some for her too, I was really proud of my find. I also found some other jeans from Salt Works ( which I suspect has gone out of business) that were normally $150.00 for between $10.00-$20.00. They were a higher rise (but not mom jeans), with spandex and they run big, so they were perfect!! I love when I find an unexpected treat!!
Rob tried out for the baseball team this week at the Middle School. This was the first cut and the ones who made it will try out again in January. Last night Brian and I were trying to figure out if Rob made it. It was listed by their lunch room number which for most kids is the last five of their social. Someone else has the same last five numbers of Rob's social in the Oak Mountain School so he has another random number. Of course we couldn't remember it. Rob was at the Youth Retreat for the weekend. He called late last night and I asked him for his number. He gave it to me but said he didn't want to know. We saw his number was not on the list. When we picked up the boys today they were completely over it because they had gotten online the night before to see they had not made it. I think the retreat helped them keep it in perspective. Nothing like a cabin full of friends to make you feel better.
I really have a hard time believing I have a child old enough for the youth group. We are so blessed to have the Youth Program at Asbury, I think they had a great weekend.

I watched Rob's wrestling practice for a few minutes the other night. First of all it was so smelly, but there were so many sweaty boys in there. I went into the next room and watched the actual wrestling. It was intense, I could not even wrap my brain around it. I am glad he is tough enough to do it, but I wouldn't be.
Clara and Lewis will be starting basketball soon but we enjoyed an activity free weekend. It was nice. I have been sad though, Nick Bell's family has been on my mind (MSU player who died of cancer) and a dear friend has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Please remember my friend Sheri in your prayers, and Nick Bell's family and friends.

 

Music of the night, the land shark and leg warmers

We had a crazy week and equally crazy weekend. My Mom and Aunt Tina came to visit for a couple of days to get their veins treated by Dr. Kingsley. We had a the Spaghetti Supper for CASA one night they were here and Rob's football banquet the other night. I prefer to just visit when company comes to town but it just worked out that way. Then I got a sub for Wednesday so I could go on Lewis's field trip to Baker's Farm. It got rained out, so after Mom and Aunt Tina left I went back to sleep from 9:00am until 12:00pm. I guess I was tired.

Then on Thursday, I went to Montgomery with Clara's class for the day. We had fun and it was great to get to know Clara's class better. It was a sweet group. I also enjoyed visiting with Clara's teacher. We were late getting back, so we hit the ground running. Clara had a game at 6:00, and our bus pulled in at 5:50. Then I had to go to a wrestling meeting at the middle school. Rob is now wrestling. I learned that he needs to eat a bunch of fruit, and drink chocolate milk after wrestling. He will probably lose weight at first, he is only 90 lbs at 5ft. There are a few kids on the team in the 70's, so he is not the smallest. He has the short genes but not the skinny genes (not that I ever had the skinny ones). The coach seems very nice, I plan on checking out the book "Wrestling for Dummies" to learn about the sport.

Friday I went to get a facial that I had bought back in August, nice treat. We went to see the OM Eagles play Friday night and they won, the kid I bought my coupon card from at the begining of the year made two touchdowns!! Brian and Lewis went to Starkville Saturday and Rob had a baseball camp at the high school. The camp reminded me of Cooperstown. Several professional baseball players came and helped with the camp. It was a neat experience for him and his friends. A local church helped put it on. Clara and I went to the grocery store with everyone else in the 35242. It was crazy. One great thing that came out of that trip is that I learned my favorite helper at Publix (Larry) is my favorite doctor's father in law. I knew he was special!!

We went over to the Reeves Saturday night and watched football. The kids trick or treated too. Todd had set up an extra TV for me to watch the Bulldogs, during the Auburn game. I was so very proud of the Bulldogs!! I know several local radio personalities think we are a sub par team, but they also consider several other top 25 teams that too. So I think we are in good company.

The big kids ran all over Eagle Point and we scooted around in a golf cart during half time.

[caption id="attachment_428" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="This is how we roll"][/caption]



Rob was dressed as the Phantom and Clara was an Eighties Girl.  They have been studying The Phantom of the Opera for a few weeks in Reading.  He told me that the Phantom had a sword, never knew that.  Clara's costume came from Walgreens and Dollar Tree.  The day glo sweatshirt was from Walgreens, and I cut the ends off some Walgreen's socks to make the leg warmers.  I got a headband at dollar tree and she wore some sunglasses with the lenses popped out.  She said the only people who knew who she was were people my age.

We went to trunk or treat at the church and then came home to trick or treat here.  We had some families over and it was a blast.  They literally ran from house to house.  Lewis was the cutest shark ever!!



[caption id="attachment_434" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="The Creatures of the Night"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_430" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="Lewis and the Ladies"][/caption]

Lewis and Ms Jennifer

Clara came home sick from school today and slept for 4 hours.  I don't know what was wrong, probably just exhausted.  Of course I got lost going to the chiropractor today.  If he wasn't the nicest man on the planet and the best chiropractor it wouldn't be worth it.  But he is, so I have just gotten used to exploring the city of Hueytown.