Bessie's Bits

dieting sucks

2009-10-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

I hate dieting. I really do.

After Bethany was born, I blew up to over 250 lbs. Lost most of that eventually. After Bryan was born I actually looked fantastic.

And then I got old and complacent and I looked at myself one day in the mirror and stepped on the scales. I was back up to 250 lbs. I couldn't believe it.

I didn't look like myself at all. I looked like a gigantic marshmallow. Just not as yummy.

Then we bought this house. It's two story. I lost 10 lbs in the first month, just from going up and down the stairs. Yay...down to 240.

Six months later the staph infection came to visit. I dropped 20 lbs in a week.

Down to 220.

Staying sick for so long...the next month I lost another 20 lbs.

200

But I still looked like a cow.

So I had this bright idea to start going to the gym and diet.

I go to the gym 3-4 days a week, walk or run a minimum of 4 miles and sometimes up to 8 miles.

The weight is coming off.

I'm at 164 now. Only 34 lbs to go.

OMG this last 34 lbs is going to kill me. I am so HUNGRY!!

But I have a couple of class reunions coming up...lots of faces I haven't seen in too long and I am determined to turn heads. I'm going to be the woman that everybody stops and stares at.

Vain?

yes, yes I am.

so...mostly I have been eating fruit for supper. tomorrow's menu? yogurt and granola for breakfast, probably nothing for lunch...and fruit for supper.

Did I mention that I'm soooo hungry and that I hate dieting?

The New Week

2009-10-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, it's Sunday night and I'm gearing up for another crazy week. 3 nights of football practice, 1 possibly 2 nights of auditions, 3 nights of plays, and a saturday full of football. That's just the kids' stuff!

But what a great month October is turning out to be. October has always been my favorite month, the weather is perfect, the seasons are changing...and this year October has been going even better than ever before.

I promise this week I'll get at least ONE funny story on here. Hopefully more. I might even find some great pics to post. :)

But for now, I'm going to bed. I'm gonna need all my strength for the week to come.

Reunions...

2009-10-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I crashed the 89 reunion. Tracey Bush asked me to come up for it, and Derek Hodges went too, so there was just no way I WASN'T going.

It was so much fun I could hardly believe it! Derek started my night off by getting me drunk as a skunk, which hasn't happened in ages.

And since I was drunk, my brain wasn't firing on all 8 cylinders...I asked Derek if he would take me for a ride in his plane.

When I sobered up, I just prayed he didn't remember that little conversation.

Unfortunately for me, he did. So we made plans to go up yesterday. I was absolutely terrified. Derek called Thursday night to tell me we couldn't go up Friday because the starter was out in the plane.

Talk about dodging a bullet. *whew* But I promised him I'd go up with him next time. Maybe I'll have found my nerve by then.

THEN to compound this week's stupidity...only this time I was sober when I opened my big mouth...Noel Charpentier asked if he could start going to the gym with me.

SURE...that'd be GREAT!!

Did I mention Noel is a fireman and is going to probably have to drag me around the gym, broken and battered? What the heck was I thinking? Oh that's right, I wasn't. *rolls eyes*

but at least it will be fun.

January I am still looking at a mini reunion with Aaron, Brandon and DJ. And then of course the big reunion over the summer. I am sooooooo looking forward to seeing some beautiful, wonderful faces that I haven't seen in far too long.

I've learned that I LOVE reunions. I think I may be gettin' addicted.

Stage debuts and even more football

2009-10-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well, this week my baby girl had her on stage debut as Slightly Soiled in the GISD production of Peter Pan. She was AMAZING.

Even before this show is wrapping up, she has ANOTHER audition for The Case of the Crushed Petunias. Auditions on Monday after school, call backs are Tuesday.

Now if I can just convince her that she needs to start doing community theatre...

Bryan had his weekly football game today. He was fantastic as always. The whole team played much better today. They actually started working together as a unit. And OH MY GAWD they busted out a hurry up offense tonight and they rocked. Too bad they haven't been doing that all along!! But something really clicked tonight for them. I hope they remember it next Saturday!

This has been a great week for getting in touch with old friends. Had a couple of fantastic phone calls that have left me feeling quite giddy. lol

Now more than ever I am looking forward to all the up coming reunions.

Flu and football

2009-10-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

The kids have been sick. The flu has been running rampant in Georgetown and OF COURSE my kids had to get it. And of course they HAD to breathe on Mommy, so for the last couple of days I have been down with it too. But, with an amazingly rapid recovery, I am feeling almost normal (well, normal for me any way...I'm not sure that's the best word to describe me) again. The house went from bad to worse this week. I'm not exactly Little Suzy Homemaker on my best day but with a house full of sick people I am much worse about the housekeeping.

Today, though, is all about football. Bryan has his third game today in Burnet. Now he's not only playing nosetackle, but they have him playing full back too. We are taking his best friend, Juan, to the game with us so I'll even have someone to cheer with me today!

Here's to old friends

2009-09-23T21:09:00.001-07:00

The last couple of weeks I have been on a Facebook Frenzy. :)

It has been so much fun catching up with old friends. Among the most amazing of my old friends is Aaron. I could chat with him for hours!!

I am now starting to organize a large multi-class reunion (at the request of a couple of friends). I'm getting really excited about seeing some old faces! I don't know if I can wait until next summer.

I'm seriously considering a pre-reunion mini reunion.

But who to invite to the mini?? That's the hardest part. So far, I've narrowed it down to about 100 people. lol I think to have a 'mini' anything, the number needs to be less than 100.

But Aaron, if you are reading along...THANKS! YOU ROCK!

2009-09-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time today and sit and blog, but I wanted to make sure I got the pictures of Bryan's first football game on here. :) We lost 40-6, but the boys had a great time! It was perfect football weather; 75 degrees, partly cloudy, slight breeze...awesome day!

Halftime Extravaganza 2009

2009-09-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Bethany's Halftime Extravaganza. The choirs did the national anthem and the Georgetown fight song. The dancers danced, the band banded, and then the Texas Tech band came onto the field.

I'm glad that the Tech Band got some glory tonight, because when Tech plays UT tomorrow they are gonna get crushed. Which means not much playing time for the band. lol

I took a few pictures, most of which were blurry.

San Gabriel Flood, 2009

2009-09-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we were kinda just hanging around the house doing nothing but watching football. Bethany's friend Riley was at the house chillin' with us. Totally blissfully boring Saturday.

But it was raining. It hadn't rained here in months and months and months and everyone was loving it. Well, that was day two of the rain. I got a notification that the weather service had issued a 'flood statement' for the river that runs thru town.

The statement said that the South Fork San Gabriel river was officially flooded at 9 feet and that we were currently at 9.8 feet. So we decided to go check out the river.

Just two days prior, there was NO water in the river. Not even a drop. You could walk across the river bed to the other side and not get anything on your shoes but dust.

When we got to the river, we were amazed. The water was coming up over the banks in some areas and threatening to in others.

We got some great pictures (which I will share with you later when I find the disk).

After getting our first pics, we got back in the van and drove further down the river and got out to take some pictures from that end. When we got there, all the geese that frequent the river were huddled together around the banks, honking.

I wanted to get some pictures of all the geese; there must have been 50 of them. So I tried sneaking up on them so as not to disturb them.

That was a mistake. They turned, as a group, and started chasing me. Well, the ENTIRE gaggle didn't chase me, just about 30 of them.

I was wearing flip flops and it was raining buckets. Not good running conditions. But I tried. when I turned around to run, I discovered that I was all alone. Bill, Bethany and Riley (Bryan stayed home) had abandoned me to the geese!! And they wouldn't come back to help me and the geese were getting dangerously close.

At this point, I decided that the best defense is a good offense and I started chasing the geese. They took off in the other direction and I was safe. *whew*

I looked up and there was Riley.

FINALLY somebody came to rescue me (a little bit late, but better late than never right?)

I pointed out to my "loving" family that I didn't give birth to him and HE came back to help.

and then Riley said (and up to this point he was one of my favorite teenagers...) "I didn't come back to save you. I was going to push you down and sacrifice you to the geese so the rest of us could get away"

Nice, very nice.

Madcow disease

2009-09-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Since I am making a good effort to get this blog up to date...I will start with how madcow disease has impacted our lives.

Last school year (08-09 ) Bryan was in cubscouts. I was the "popcorn kernal" for the pack. The pack committee chair, webelos leader, pack treasurer, and district popcorn kernal(all the same person) decreed that it would be so and so I was the kernal. Dubious honor at best.

But I did my very best, as I always do. I receipted all the popcorn in and out. I receipted all the money in and out. I asked that all families sign popcorn in and out within 24 hours of them having a popcorn booth. The only family that would not comply was the pack committee chair/webelos leader/pack treasurer/ district popcorn kernal.

Red flags started going up for me when she FINALLY brought their money to me and it was 50% pennies. If you've never bought boyscout popcorn before, it ain't cheap. Not very likely that so many people were paying her in pennies. Obviously, she was using the money she raised for her own purposes and when I called her on it, in an effort to not get caught stealing, she rounded up all the pennies in her couch cushions.

She ordered about $7000 worth of popcorn for our tiny little pack to sell. Really?? That's a lot of freakin' popcorn.

We sold about half of it though and I returned the other half to Trail's End. She THEN ordered another several thousand dollars of popcorn for the door to door portion of the sale. We ended up with several THOUSAND dollars worth of popcorn that we did not sell.

Now at this point, the parents are starting to get concerned why we have no money in the account and why we are stuck with so much popcorn.

So while Bill and I were in Georgia for thanksgiving, she told the parents that *I* had over ordered both time. WTF??? I wasn't even in the pack when she made the first order. She ordered the second order too. That was her plan to confuse everyone about where the money was. Well, of course we had to pay for all that extra popcorn that *I* ordered.

In January, Bill got a phone call from the cubscout council wondering why I hadn't turned in the money. Again, WTF? OF COURSE I turned in the money to MADCOW (yes, that is what I call her. I cannot stand to even say her name) and I have the receipts to prove it.

So they finally get some of the money from her and launch an investigation based around my incredibly meticulous receipts. They proved later that she stole approximately $4000 from our little pack. They suspect that she stole about $3000 more, but that can't be proven at this point.

They stripped her of any official positions but they did not press charges. WTF for a third time!!!!

We left the pack. I refused to be a part of that. She is currently attempting to gain her previous power in the pack. And I tell you what, if they let her come back in and start messing things up again they are all idiots and deserve what they get. :(

I'm very glad that Bryan opted to play football this year instead of scouts. Too much of a chance of getting madcow disease again.

2009-09-18T10:10:00.003-07:00

ell check?

2009-09-18T10:10:00.001-07:00

My first official remote post!! I rock!

Haha Bethany haha...I'm not totally computer illiterate...but that spelling looks wrong...does my phone have sp

the technologically challenged meets the 21st century

2009-09-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

I've finally set up my phone so I can blog from wherever I happen to be when the spirit moves me to post.

Ten years ago, I didn't even know how to turn on a computer, much less post something to a webpage while NOT at a computer. lol

crazy times...

2009-09-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well again, it's been WAY too long since I updated the blog.

I'm addicted to facebook. That's the problem. :) There's a whole lot to post. It may take days. Possibly even weeks. We had a crazy busy summer. Well the first two months of summer anyway. Then I got sick. Again.

At least this time it wasn't staph. Looks like that is finally over. This time it was E. Coli. Ended with surgery. I do NOT wish that on anybody.

I've decided that I'm going to get something really exotic next time I get sick. Swine flu? Nah, not weird enough. Radiation sickness? Easy enough since Bill has nuclear gauges in his office. Nah...I'll think of something good and rare. Maybe the Plague.

But facebook has been amazing. I've gotten back in touch with so many dear old friends. I spend a lot of my free time chatting with high school buddies that I haven't seen in 20 years. Turns out a large number of them live very near to me. lol

So if I don't blog as often as I should, don't worry, just look for me on facebook. That's where I'll probably be.

I'm a bad blogger. lol

2009-04-16T10:07:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the God's honest truth is I am just really crappy at keeping up with the blog.

Sorry about that. I'm trying. I swear I am.

There has been lots and lots going on around here. I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I can tell you about my harrowing rabid squirrel experience.

Last weekend, Bethany was supposed to meet her friends at the San Gabriel Park for a couple of hours for typical teenage mischief...I mean fun...

Anyway, we were early (as usual) so we were walking around the river killing time when this crazed squirrel came running up to us. I was stunned and amazed. I have never in my life encountered a squirrel that would approach humans. It MUST be rabid, I decided.

And then he put his little squirrely hands out. He wanted some goodies!! But we didn't have any and I felt like a horrible person.

So the next morning, we decided to take Bryan fishing at the same river but this time I was prepared. I had a lunch bag full of apples and bread and peanuts.

I am destined to be the crazy squirrel lady in the park.

Christmas tree trimming

2009-01-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, I love Christmas. And I totally love my Christmas tree. I just HATE putting it up. It is tedious and I always get a bit cranky. I'm a bit OCD about a lot of things and my decorations are one of my main triggers. lol

Of course, Bill has a magic way of capturing me at my finest.

Don't I just look like I am enjoying myself??

Sadly, this is one of the best pictures Bill has ever taken of me.

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

Bill informed me the other day that I was severely falling behind on my blog posts. lol

So I'll try to catch up this week.

First off--Thanksgiving in Georgia

I'm not sure entirely what we were thinking. We estimated that it would take us only 13 hours to get from Georgetown Texas to Hampton Georgia because that's how long it ALWAYS takes us. And we took a different (supposedly shorter route) this time, so we were SURE we would make good time. And we did. Getting out of Texas is always the longest part of the trip. Being in south central Texas, it's quite a trek to get up to north east Texas (I-20).

We got a late start, but we made great time thru Texas. We THOUGHT we were making good time thru the other states too, but it turns out we were wrong.

We got to Georgia sometime in the early daylight hours. It took us almost 18 hours this year.

The visit itself was good. I finally got to meet some members of Bill's family that I never had before. His Aunt Colleen and Uncle John and his cousin Teri. It was nice to finally meet them after 16 years.

Bethany stayed on the phone with her first boyfriend pretty much the entire week. One night, when Wayne (my father in law) called the house from work to serenade Karen, Bethany held her phone out so Trey could hear and she was dancing around. This was officially their first dance. Aren't they cute??

The rest of the trip was fun and restful and thankfully uneventful. No crazy staph infections attacked me this year and I actually REMEMBER the entire trip.

2008-11-05T09:25:00.001-08:00

Well, Bryan's school election is officially complete.

Thank goodness.

Today the electoral college met and cast their classroom votes for president. By an overwhelming margin (17-7) Obama won.

Jim Mitchell Elementary has officially voted Barrack Obama into office.

Each class had a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2 electoral votes, based on the population of each class. Bryan's class had 2 votes. One elector from the 5th grade didn't show up. Fortunately, the electoral vote didn't come to a tie.

It was a nice lesson for the kids. They all enjoyed being included in the voting process. They also got to vote on a school mascot and school colors. Those votes haven't been counted yet. They expect to have those finished by Friday.

I'm just so glad it's all over. I was able to get the ballot boxes out of my house on Monday. So my dining room is back to normal too.

I'm so proud of Bryan for thinking of and organizing this election. He did a great job.

McCain in 2008!!

2008-11-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

Today was the big day.

I got out and voted!!

Bill said that Obama is going to win. For the last 17 elections, when the Redskins have lost, then the party not currently in power WINS. Since the Redskins lost over the weekend, that surely means that the democrats are winning today. lol

I'm still pulling for McCain though.

Get out and VOTE!!

Enchanted Rock

2008-11-04T05:15:00.001-08:00

We went on a great Cub Scout campout two weekends ago to Enchanted Rock.

Enchanted Rock is a gigantic batholith...basically an enormous rock that formed underground that has been exposed over time by erosion. It is of pink granite (very common in this part of Texas).

When I was in the 5th grade, our class trip was to be to Enchanted Rock, but early that year the state bought the land and they made some renovations and the park was closed for the construction so our trip got cancelled.

I have wanted to go over since.

I finally got my chance. It was wonderful. Well, the hike up the rock wasn't so great...it was over half a mile straight up and it was a very difficult climb, especially with 10 little cubscouts.

I was able to get some great pictures of Texas from high up. These pictures were taken at the top of the rock.

After the hike, we all settled down at the base of the rock to camp. It was a great time!

We saw 2 skunks (they walked right up to our campsite), several squirrels that were the size of large cats, at least 3 feral cats, an entire herd of deer, a big snake sunning himself at the top of the rock, and Bethany woke up one time during the night to see little yellow eyes looking at her through the flap in the tent. We did not get out of the tent to see what it was.

I didn't sleep well. Mostly because I am too old to sleep flat on Texas but also because the rock makes noises.

During the day, the sun heats the rock and it expands. At nighttime, as the granite cools and settles, it makes popping and cracking sounds. I knew this before going to bed, I just had no idea how LOUD the cracking and popping would be. It sounded like gunfire. It was awesome once I figured out that some nutbar wasn't running around shooting.

Bill and I are planning on taking the kids back in the spring without the cubscouts so that we can take our time doing everything and really enjoy the experience.

For now, I'll just have to enjoy my pictures.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

Finally, Halloween is over. It was very stressful for me this year. Bill was sent down to work in Houston and didn't get home until 8:30. So it was just me and the kids.

Bryan was super easy. He was Darth Vader and so had a store bought costume.

Bethany wanted to be a character from a video of one of her favorite groups, My Chemical Romance. The character's name is Helena and she is some kind of dead ballerina. I had to make that costumer. I didn't get it finished until just before we left to go trick or treating.

It turned out quite nice if I do say so myself.

Then trick or treating...me, Bryan and a mob of 12 year old girls. WOW! Next year I may just let them go without me. lol One of the girls talked to me non-stop. I don't even know her. She was the younger sister of a girl in Bethany's choir class.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over. Too much activity for me. I'm getting too old for it. haha

but I got some good pictures of the kids.

Volunteer work

2008-10-07T08:17:00.001-07:00

Here lately I have become a volunteer zombie.

In an attempt to make up for last year (while I was soooo sick) when I wasn't able to help with the kids' schools, I have taken up volunteering for all of their various activities.

I am the volunteer coordinator/vice president of the choir boosters, volunteer coordinator for the theater boosters, chair of the sunshine committee for Bryan's pta, girl scout leader, popcorn kernal for the cubscouts...I just have lots and lots going on.

Did you know that people hate to volunteer? They are really good about saying yes, but they just don't show up. Or when it's time to call in that 'yes' they gave at the beginning of the year, you find out that they lied about their phone numbers and email addresses? How petty is that? If you mean no, just say no to begin with. It is NOT cool to just not show up.

Oh, and if you don't have any suggestions for improvement, please do not complain. Mindless bitching really doesn't help the situation. If you have a suggestion for improvement, by all means, let someone know. If you don't, just keep your mouth shut.

Okay, enough of a rant for today.

Surviving Ike

2008-09-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we are two days out from Ike making landfall. Last week, amid constant radio announcements that Austin was doomed and was surely going to be without clean water and power for weeks, I (some say foolishly) bucked the norm and disregarded all the warnings.

While the rest of the greater Austin area was buying up all the emergency generators, bottled water and gasoline, I bought only some poptarts, tunafish and 2 loaves of bread.

Saturday night was a chaotic mess of flippin' thru the channels getting updates on the real hurricane danger zones. When Ike finally did make it all the way into Austin, he just kinda waved as he passed my house.

Not a single drop of rain fell on my house and the leaves on my trees barely rippled.

Now there are thousands of people in the Austin area that have emergency generators and gallons upon gallons of water that they aren't going to use. There were very few gas cans to be had in Georgetown on Sunday and I am trying desperately to believe that it was evacuees in the area that grabbed up all the gas cans. I am having trouble believing it just because of the hysteria in the area the entire week prior to Ike making landfall.

It all made me think of Y2K again...when everyone I knew was hoarding food and toilet paper.

So for those of you who were worried when you turned on the news and heard that Austin was going to have a terrible time with hurricane Ike, rest assured we weathered the storm just fine. Although my live oak could use a bit of rain.

Preteen girls, stalkers and mothers in denial

2008-09-09T07:17:00.001-07:00

Okay, so everybody knows that preteen girls are pretty much out there in their own little world.

Bethany has been getting some really bizarre voicemails on her cell phone for a couple of weeks now. Well, last night she got three really creepy emails. We didn't recognize the email address, and since this has been somewhat ongoing, I called the police.

Well, as it turned out it was one of Bethany's friends (so called). Once we discovered who it was emailing her, I called the girl's mother. The mother was in total denial (even though her daughter admitted that she sent the emails) and accused Bethany of making the whole thing up.

I was just livid. I still am.

What I want to know today is what on earth made that child think it would be a good idea to send a message to her friend from a strange (to us) email address saying "I know who you are" "I know your email address" and "am I scaring you?"

Sometimes it makes me wonder if preteen girls have a functioning brain at all. Bethany and I talked about this weird child and we decided that it's probably best if she limits her time with this girl. Her mother admitted that this wasn't the first time this has happened "where the accuser was making the whole thing up" and that really sent up some red flags for me.

gggggrrrrrrr

But none of this connected with the emails explains the bizarre voicemail messages. That was definately a boy.

So she's got TWO stalkers???

2008-09-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so after all, my countdown was a bit anticlimactic...oops.

Well, I was counting down to the first day of school when once again mothers across the nation rejoice because their house again is QUIET!

The first week of school was extremely hectic this year, which is why the countdown fell flat. By the time I got the kids off on Monday morning, I was too pooped to get online and post anything!

The first week is over now and things are starting to get back to normal.

Of course, now that school is in full swing that just means that my soon to be teenage daughter is going to require her personal taxi cab...tonight it's auditions for the Shakespeare club, then a Performing Arts Alliance meeting, then a choir meeting.

Today is one of those days that I am glad Bryan is still in elementary school.

My first card for my blog

2008-08-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

With all the excitement from the release of the new Stampin' Up catalog, I decided to also add some halloween excitement of my own. My next stamping class is going to focus on Halloween cards and my favorite is this waterfall card. Today seemed like a good day to post it. :-)

I used Really Rust, Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip cardstock.

Really rust and versamark inks.

And the stamp set is an older one--Trick or Treat.

Sleeping on the beach

2008-08-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

I decided since I told about a bad camping experience, it was only fair to post something about a good experience.

After the Deliverance experience, we headed out for Port Aransas. We weren't really planning on staying over night, but when we learned that we could camp on the beach for a mere $10, we were sold.

I am so glad we did. We pitched the tent and got all of our blankets and pillows situated, decided on a sleeping arrangement and settled down to sleep. Like always, I couldn't fall asleep in such cramped quarters and we put the tent up at the wrong angle, so we didn't get a very good breeze. So I decided to sit outside and watch the ships go thru the channel.

Truly, I think that night may have been once of the best experiences of my life.

After an hour or so, I started to get a little chilled (imagine that, chilled in south Texas in JUNE) and really, really wanted my comforter. The only problem with that was that instead of buying sleeping blankets that we knew would be too hot, we just brought along all the comforters in the house to pad the bottom of the tent so we'd be more comfy.

Bill was still in the tent asleep. On my blanket. About 3 am, I decided to try to 'sneak' the blanket out from under him. It was no use. I finally had to wake him up. So he grabbed two comforters and we kicked back in our canvas chairs. They are slightly reclined and even had footstools. We slept soundly until the alarm on Bill's crackberry went off just before dawn.

When the alarm went off, we woke the kids so they could see the sun rise over the Gulf. The only disappointing part was that there were clouds on the horizon. It was still beautiful and we got some amazing pictures (like the one on the left) and we decided right then that camping on the beach in Port Aransas was going to be a yearly vacation for us.

If you have never camped on the beach, I *highly* recommend it!

2008-08-01T12:34:00.001-07:00

Okay, the Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi. It's enormous. I have a fear of even little bridges. But because the bridge is part of IH 37 and you HAD to cross it to get to the USS Lexington from IH 37 and we were ON IH37, I put on my big girl panties and gave it a whirl. (Actually, the truth is it came up on us so fast, kind of around a corner and we didn't even realize there was nowhere to get off before the bridge). I got about 20 feet onto the bridge at the very very very bottom and PANICKED. I slammed on the brakes, Bill started screaming at me that I can't stop in the middle of traffic on a BRIDGE and he swears there was a semi heading straight up our tailpipe.

I had my meltdown where the pretty orange flower is at on the picture.

As efficiently as I could, I got to the far right. But there was no breakdown lane, so I was still RIGHT SMACK in the middle of traffic.

Well, then I had to change seats with Bill so he could drive. Meanwhile, I'm about to toss my eggs from fear. I couldn't even get out of the van. And the van was loaded to the top with camping gear. I'm climbing over tents and toys and coolers while Bill is waiting outside the van on the busy interstate.

It's pretty funny now. I think Bill may still be a little miffed about the whole thing though.

What's so bad about hotels?

2008-08-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

For our vacation, we thought we could get the most bang for our buck by not staying in hotels, but rather camping everywhere we went. Bryan is a cub scout, Bethany is a girl scout, so we really thought this would be a great opportunity for them.

A few weeks before we were scheduled to leave, we called the lakes in the area we were going to be and made arrangements. Have I mentioned that you should never ever EVER reserve a campsite that you have never seen?

So, Monday morning, we load up the family minivan and head out. A few short hours later, we pulled in to Corpus Christi. (Remind me to tell you about the Harbor Bridge). We figured we would do our thing in downtown Corpus and THEN go make camp at supper time. We had a cooler full of pork chops, hot dogs and hamburger patties, all I needed was a grill.

The Lexington was great--hot but really interesting. The Texas State Aquarium was incredible. Then it was time for supper and so we headed out to Lake Corpus Christi.

Yes, I said Lake CORPUS CHRISTI. That name implies something, don't you think? Well, Lake Corpus Christi is in Mathis, TX. About 38 miles back towards where we came from. WAAAAAAAAAAYY out in the sticks. I swear to you, I could hear the banjos dueling in the background music of my life.

But, we were "roughing it" so what the heck, right?

We get all signed in and they let us know that there is a burn ban and there were to be NO FIRES, even in the bbq pit. So, I guess cooking is out of the question and we didn't pass ANY restaurants on our way in, so where are we going to eat??

We table that and go to put up the tent. No such luck. We had rented a screened shelter, with the understanding that it was a picnic table that was screened in, with an area to pitch a tent nearby. NOPE. We had to sleep in the shelter. That wasn't too bad, except even dirt is more forgiving that concrete. Oh, and the trees were so thick around the campsite that absolutely no breeze got thru.

So, we get settled and head back into town (really, I can't think of another word, but 'town' is just a bit too civilized for what this place was) to try to find someplace to eat. By this time we were all starving. We did find a MickyD's, Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen. We opted for Dairy Queen. Then we decided to try to find a camp stove or something for the next morning.

They didn't have a walmart. They didn't have a Kmart. They didn't have a Target. No Winn's, no Woolsworth, no TG&Y and their only grocery store was an HEB. A very very very small HEB. After a bit of searching, I found a single electric burner. So we were set for breakfast.

Back at camp, it was getting late so we all went down to the bathrooms. Bethany and I headed to the little girls' room on one side and Bill and Bryan headed around to the other side. Well, Bethany and I never made it all the way in as it was dark out and there was NO LIGHT inside the bathroom. Ick.

So Bryan and Bill stood guard while we used the men's room. Icky icky icky. Between the stalls there were half walls (and the stalls had no doors, but who needs them anyway when all you have is half walls between you??) You could actually sit there and have a face to face conversation with your potty mate.

UM, no thanks.

We finish our nightlies and head back to camp. Get the kids all settled down and sleeping and then the locusts and katydids come. I didn't sleep all night. I played brickbreaker on Bill's crackberry all night. Sometime between 3 and 4, I decided that the Texas sized drink from Dairy Queen was a mistake. I needed to make a potty run. Bill and both kids were sleeping, so I was preparing to go alone, until I remembered there was no light in the bathroom and there was no way I was going in there in the dark. (Yes, I am a big chicken).

Now there were some options for me.

I could suck it up and go potty in the girls' potty like the big girl I am.

I could use the men's room and take my chances that nobody scary and male interrupted me.

I could go find a nice bush and hope I didn't get poison ivy on my bum.

I could pray to God to not let me wet myself before first light.

I weighed my options and decided that prayer was my safest bet. So I prayed until first light and didn't even THINK about liquids until I saw the first streaks of dawn.

We left that town as soon as the Lake office opened up.

Lesson learned, never ever reserve a campsite you are unfamiliar with, or "what's so bad about hotels?".

Better Late Than Never

2008-07-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I promised some pictures of Wendy's wedding, I just never got around to posting them, but here they are. I got to dress up in a purdy dress and be a bride's maid, and the kids were ushers.

back for more

2008-07-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

well, it's been a while since I've posted, but hopefully, I'm back on track now. Nothing like being sick and near death experiences to throw a routine off.

Quick recap of the last 9 months...

November 2007--monster staph infection invades my body. Two doctors and 6 rounds of antibiotics later, the infection is still struggling to hang on, but I am definately on the mend.

Thanksgiving was an experience, let me tell you!! I was delirious at best. We were in Georgia visiting my in-laws for the holidays and I guess I remember about half of the trip. That was when the infection was at it's worst, and there were several times, I was sure I wasn't gonna make it.

Fast forward several months...June 2008...during one of my healthier moments, Bill and I took the kids down to Port Aransas. Possibly the most awesome experience of my life!! We slept in chairs on the beach bundled up in blankets and watched the sunrise and the ships go thru the channel. I could have stayed there forever!

So now July is winding down and I have had a relapse with the infection. It just doesn't want to die. After this last round of antibiotics I am much much better, so keep your fingers crossed and the prayers going that this will be the last of the staph.

I'll try to post updates and pics periodically over the next month, and I'll really be able to start keeping up on a more regular basis once the kids are back in school. (yea school!! Come on August 25!!)

I have tons of artwork (cards and scrapbook pages) to post, along with some great pics of our vacation.

Thanks to all of you who have hung in there and kept reading!
Becky

It's finally over!

2008-04-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Wendy's wedding is finally over. Last week blew by in a frantic rush of last minute wedding garbage. You'd think for as much time, effort and money as I put into this, *I* would have been the one getting the ring!

But Bethany and Bryan looked beautiful and as soon as I get the pictures developed I'll add those too. The both look so grown up. Almost makes me want to cry. The next wedding in the family will likely be Bethany's. YIKES! That makes me feel a bit old!

Bethany the Songbird

2008-03-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

The latest on Bethany is that she was recently invited to audition for the TCDA concert in San Antonio this summer. She auditioned via audio recording last month and we are expected to hear back by the middle of April. 160 students from across Texas will be chosen to sing. That will mean a week in San Antonio in July.

Aside from the fact that she is freakishly brilliant, she is very talented too.

Obviously, she gets her smarts from me (haha) but nobody is sure where her voice comes from. Neither I nor Bill could carry a tune in a bucket.

Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers flowing that she makes it!

Getting started

2008-03-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Y'all just hang in there with me while I get going on this blog. lol It's not really my thing, but I'm tryin'!

Since this is my first entry, I'll just do a little history of Bessie...

I'm from Killeen, Texas. I was born there and up until recently I was pretty sure I was gonna die there. I graduated from Killeen High in 1991, left for college (Tarleton State), met Bill and got married, dropped out, went BACK to Killeen (what was I thinking??) and started having babies. Bethany is now 12 and Bryan is 8.

Last year, Bill's job moved him to Austin, so we bought a house in Georgetown and settled down there. (YAY, Becky left Killeen!!!)

I've finally decided that when I grow up (if I grow up) I want to write. I've toyed for years with the idea of being a teacher, but the older I get, the less patience I have with other people's ill-behaved children. So, teaching's probably not the best job for me.

While my book is in the works, I am spending my time being a stay at home mom and selling Stampin' Up. I spend lots of time making greeting cards and scrapbook pages, sewing, gardening, cleaning...I spend LOTS of time cleaning.

Not quite the way I pictured my life 20 years ago. Probably not the way anybody that knew me back then pictured my life either. I'm a sweet little homebody. (Me? Sweet? Whatever...)

I'm sure if you keep reading, I'll eventually post something worth reading. My life is generally full of comedy.