Photohunt - Thankful

I am thankful for my wonderful family.


^Click the graphic to see what the other Photo Hunters are thankful for.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

Happy Dance Time

My new Bloggy friend Bibi totally made my day today! She gave me two awards. Can you believe that? TWO? How cool is that? I know you are so jealous. But don't worry, I have to share them, so you won't be jealous for too long.

My first award:

This award acknowledges the values
that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural,
ethical, literary and personal values every day.


1) Accept the award, post it on your blog
together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his
or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to
another 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to
contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this
award.

I would like to give this award to the following:

1. Sarah
2. Frankie & Bella
3. Painted Maypole
4. Kelsey
5. Cold Spaghetti
6. Lelly
7. Gemmerzz
8. Lucy
9. Janna
10. The Obnoxious SAHM
11. Katie
12. Janiece
13. tnchick.com

Ok I am lame, I don't have 15 people to give this award to. Looks like I need some new blogs to follow. If you have any good ones that I need to read, please let me know!

My second award from Bibi is the friendship award:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find
and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our
hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more
friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these
writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight
more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their
award.”

What a great treat to get from my new bloggy friend! I would like to share the happiness that I felt from this award with the following people:

1. Lelly
2. Gemmerzz
3. Lucy
4. Janna
5. The Obnoxious SAHM
6. Katie
7. Janiece
8. tnchick.com
   

Brooks & Dunn - You will be missed.

No, I am not talking about the country duo Brooks & Dunn, I am talking about Derrick Brooks & Warrick Dunn  formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs released both of these star players on Wednesday, along with Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, & Cato June.

"We want to give our younger guys a chance to play,'' general manager Mark Dominik said.

"This was not a money issue, this was not an age issue, a youth movement, it was a direction change,'' head coach Raheem Morris said.

So what is the reason that they were let go? According to the GM it is because these guys were getting too old, but according to the HC it had nothing to do with age or money. So why is it that these amazing football players and outstanding members of our community were tossed out like old garbage? I have been a Bucs fan for a long time now, but it is hard to be a fan of a team that does not stand behind their players. I understand that the younger guys need a chance to make a name for themselves, but does that mean you have to get rid of the whole damn team to do this? No, I don't think it does.... What really gets me is that we will now probably lose both of these amazing men in our community which is a complete shame.

Both Brooks & Dunn have received the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for their volunteer and charity work, along with numerous other awards. Dunn founded a charity which helps single parents purchase homes. As of 2009, he has already helped 84 parents provide a home for their children. Brooks is also the founder of a charity and youth scholarship program in the Tampa Bay area.

Whatever team ends up with these men will be truly blessed as will their surrounding community. Damn it.

Signed,
One pissed off Bucs fan.

Tina needs.......

This is another facebook meme that is floating around, and I figured I should find out what I need. If I don't know, how am I ever going to get it?

This is fun, and hilarious. Google your name plus "needs" and write the top 10 results. Tag me and your friends so we can see what you "need"! Here are mine:

01. Tina needs a slower pace. (I can't say that I agree with this at all)
02. Tina needs to narrow her shoulders and create a waist with fitted jackets and fishtail skirts (I don't think so)
03. Tina needs to loose weight (Gee thanks Google. I already knew this)
04. Tina needs some luvin (Duh! My hubby has been gone over a week)
05. Tina needs a boy (already have 1.5 of those)
06. Tina needs your help. (I don't know if anyone can help me)
07. Tina needs prayers. (Ain't that the truth!)
08. Tina needs clothes.
09. Tina needs a new home. (No I just bought one!)
10. Tina needs help moving. (Again, I just bought a house so I will not be moving)

Google your name and see what it is that you need. Let me know where you post so I can check it out.

SPT - I am saying "I love you" when I...

When I send you text messages all day at work.

How do you say "I Love You"?
Head on over to Lelly's Blog to join in the fun!

Not Feelin' It!

Keith left for KY last Monday, and I have been in a slump ever since. I honestly don't know what to do with myself without Keith around. This is really strange, because I am the type of person that normally enjoys being alone and having quiet time. I guess it's just because I know he is so far away and that he won't be home anytime soon. We aren't even sure when he will be coming home. They said that there was enough work to last between 2 and 4 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for 2!

There was absolutely nothing interesting that happened during the last work week. I got to leave the house an hour earlier than usual so that I could get Amber to the sitters and then I arrived home an hour later since I had to pick her up. (Keith normally does this) By the time I did get home I didn't feel like doing anything at all, so the kids ate crap food all week and the house is trashed. How does a house get trashed when no one is even there? I'm still trying to figure that out, but boy did it happen!

I woke up on Friday feeling like complete crap but I went to work anyway. I don't think that helped at all. By Saturday I thought I was dying. My slightly sore throat had turned into a massive head cold. I couldn't breathe, my eyes were watery, my throat was on fire, AND I was supposed to travel an hour south (with 2 kids and a dog) to help my mom set up for my Step-Father's 67th birthday party. Needless to say, I didn't make it down to Mom's until about 2PM, and I really didn't help do much to set up the party. In all my "smartness" I decided that it would be a good idea to go out drinking on Saturday night, so off I went with my friend Dough to Chili's, a party, and then the bar. I have learned that I still can't drink Crown Royal (bad experience with this when I was 17) I don't like Hennessy, and if you drink both of those with Kahlua & Cream you will end up praying to the toilet god's.

Sunday I made my Freddy Krueger Casserole and got ready for the birthday party. It was a nice relaxing day. The best part was seeing my Great Aunt. I haven't seen her since my wedding 3.5 years ago and it was nice to spend some time with her. She is in her 80's so I want to make every moment count. With that I leave you with a few pics of the party....

If it's free, it's for me!

My awesome Bloggy friend Janna has decided to do a giveaway to celebrate her 200th post. Janna's blog is one of my favorites to read because she has a great sense of humor and is extremely witty. Now, go on over and check out her blog. I promise, you will not be disappointed. Don't forget to leave her a comment and let her know that I sent you.

I Like New Stuff

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I had just downloaded this plugin for Firefox. It is one of my favorite plugins by far. Now I can just click a little icon and blog to my hearts content without having to go to my actual blog and mess around with all that login nonsense.

What I like about this plugin:

• Blog directly from Firefox no matter what website you are on.
• Supports multiple blogs
• Edit old posts
  
• Add tags (categories) to each post
• Rich Text Editing
  
• Source Editing
• Easily add photos and videos to post
• Lots more options...............
  

What I dislike about this plugin:

• Everytime I post there is a little blue box that I have to go back and delete. (I will leave the annoying little f'er there for you to see)
• If I find anything else, I will add it here.
  

SPT - The first thing that attracted me to you was......

Your relationship with your son.


The summer that we met was going to be your first summer with AJ since your divorce. You were able to visit him in CO, but this would be the first year that you could actually bring him down to Florida to visit with the rest of your family.  So, every morning when you came in to get your coffee, you would tell me all of these great stories about your little boy and how excited you were to finally get to spend some time with him. These little moments that you shared with me is what did me in. I am a sucker for men that love kids!

<<< See what the other SPTers are attracted to.

Testing ScribeFire

I just downloaded this plugin for Firefox, and I am just checking it out to see if I like it.

According to the website, ScribeFire is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog.

Once I use it a bit I will let you know what I think.

Isn't this a cute picture that my sister took of my kids and nephew?

Photohunt - Nautical

The subject for this weeks Photohunt is Nautical. Check out the other nautical pictures by clicking on the graphic.

With us trying to buy a house for the last few years, money has been a little tighter than normal and we haven't done much as far as vacations go. So, for this weeks Photohunt I am resorting back to this camping trip for my photo.

Keith and I aren't real big on celebrating Valentine's Day, so we decided to just hang out around the house and relax. We planted a bunch of flowers and cleaned up some of the ones that got hit by the cold weather. I also spent about 3 hours just laying in the sun and reading a book. Today has been a good day. Now, on to grill up some steaks and relax for the rest of the night. Who knows, I may even get some scrapping done.

“I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food” - Erma Bombeck

Nothing special to say today, so I am going to answer a prompt that I found here.

You have to bring some food to a party. What's it going to be?

Freddy Krueger Casserole of course! I found this recipe a couple of years ago for a Halloween party, and I now get requests for this everytime we are invited somewhere. I swear they invite me just because of the food because I am such a great person.


***Tip - I do not use tortillas, I make the casserole and then serve with tortilla chips.

What food would bring to the party?

Facebook Meme

For all you married people out there! Tag your married friends that you want to know about!

1. When was your "engagement" anniversary: I have no idea when we got "engaged", but we got together on 7/14/2002

2. When is your wedding anniversary: 7/17/2005

3. How long have you known your spouse: almost 7 years

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: We never "dated", we moved in together immediately. We were together for 3 years before getting married.

6. What is your spouse's full name: James Keith A

7. Do you have any children yet: Yes.

8. How many: 3 - His - AJ (13), Mine - Andrew (13), Ours - Amber (4)

9. Do you have any house pets: Yes - Sasha our black lab

10. Do you own a house or rent: Own - We just bought it at the end of last year

11. Do you live in the country or town/city: Country

12. What is one of your favorite activities together: Camping

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: Ocala National Forest

14. How many siblings? I have 4 - 1/2 sisters, 2 step-sisters, 2 - 1/2 brothers, & 1 step-brother. He has a sister and a 1/2 brother.

15. How long have you been married? Almost 4 years

16. Were you married in a church? No, a civic center

17. What town is your current address: Weeki Wachee

18. Do you work or stay at home: I work

19. Where did you honeymoon: We had 1 night in the hotel down the street. Quite sad, I know.

20. What is one thing you love about your spouse? He is a wonderful husband and father.


I am supposed to tag some of you, but I am too lazy. If you read this far, consider yourself tagged! Let me know if you repost so I can come check out your meme!

Produce & Teenagisms

Well, Keith never left for KY. He ended up getting some work here locally and decided to stay. We are still waiting to hear when the new Wal-Mart contract kicks off, but I am not gonna hold my breath on that one! We were discussing the garden that we are going to start this weekend. I suggested to Keith that if he doesn't hurry up and get a job he would be sitting on the side of the road with his truck selling produce. That's when the light bulb above my head turned on and I had an idea. <<<That doesn't happen very often! So, my great idea was this...We could name Keith's new business, Snow Goose Produce. Now, I know that sounds pretty stupid to all of you, but WE thought that it was hilarious. (We live on Snow Goose Avenue). OK, I'm sorry! I wanted to include you in on our little joke, but if you don't think it's funny....I'll change the subject.

Amber is still on a mission to destroy herself. I don't know what happened, but since she turned 4 she is a walking accident. Maybe she has decided that she wants to be a crash test dummy when she grows up and is just practicing???

Andrew is still in trouble, and I don't know when he will ever get ungrounded. I should have know that this was coming, and I probably deserve it for all of the trouble that I caused my parents as a teenager. I just don't know what to do anymore, and something needs to be done because this is spiraling out of control. I know that all teenagers go through a "stage". When does it end? What do I do in the meantime? Aliens have abducted my son and sent back his body with someone else inside. This "new" son lies, cheats, disrespects, and is slowly driving me crazy!

If YOU had a produce stand, what would you name it?
Bubble wrap or cotton bolls to protect a self destructive 4 year old?
How do YOU deal with teenagisms? [teen-age-iz-uhmz] (Made up my own word there!)

SPT - I think it would be romantic to....

....spend the whole day in bed together.
Check out the other SPT's by clicking the graphic:

What do you think is romantic?

Photohunt - Bridges

This is from a canoe trip we took out of Alexander Springs when we were camping there in Ocala - September 2007. Check out the rest of the pics from our trip here.



Here are some more bridge pics....

the good, the bad, the ugly & what's to come.

The Good:
Caring.
Awesome BIG brother.
Creative.
Honor roll student.
Keeps his room semi-clean. (Usually pretty good for a teenager)
Helps around the house.
Funny.
I could go on and on about the good things, but I want to get down to the nitty gritty.

The Bad:
Lying.
Disrupting class.
A's & B's to D's & F's (Now back to A's & B's)
Cheated on a test.
Caught skipping class.
Cheated on another test.
Listened to Ipod in class.

The Ugly:
No tv.
No music.
No computer.
No video games.
No books.
No trips to see Dad.

What's to Come:
Empty bedroom.
Only a bed.
No door.

And The Mother of The Year Award Goes To.......

...........Nope. Not me. In the last week, my daughter has really gotten beat up. If DCF where to come, we would probably be under investigation. First there was the incident in the garage where out of nowhere Amber fell in the garage and hit the back of her head on the floor. She looked like she slipped on a banana, but there was nothing there. Next, she got on her bicycle when she wasn't supposed to and fell and hit her head against the side of the garage door.Of course, she didn't have her helmet on.. She has a big egg and bruise on her ear. Tuesday night, she was running in the kitchen and split her head open on a chair. There was blood dripping down her face....I don't do blood. Not at all. Keith got the bleeding to stop and then bandaged her up. Tonight she was outside riding in her new power wheels. She got out to get some gloves and our dog knocked her over onto the driveway. Faceplant! Big bloody road rash right under her nose.

It's not even the weekend yet. I swear I am gonna wrap the girl in bubble wrap. ****I have pictures, but I took them without the SD card in my camera and I can't find the cord. Will update soon.

In Other News: Keith is still waiting for the new contract to kick off. His friend Corey lives in TN and is in the same line of work. There's work in KY right now and it looks like Keith will be leaving on Saturday for a couple of weeks to meet up with Corey and bust ass. Since we got together almost 7 years ago, the longest we have been apart is 4 days. I just can't help but worry. The weather there is really BAD which is why they need out of state contractors to come and help. I don't want to be alone either. Sure, I will have the kids here, but I won't have Keith. He is my rock, the head of our family, my best friend. I know everything will be o.k. And, we NEED the money. But.......

Look for my next post. It's about teenagers.

I love it when you....

.....are you. You do or say whatever comes to mind without bothering to worry about what everyone else is thinking. You are so confident and comfortable in your own skin. Here you are sniffing my butt for the heck of it. Why? Because you wanted to.







See the other SPT's by clicking the graphic.

I can hear clearly now.........

..............the wax is gone!

****WARNING - TooMuchInformation Below******

For the last few months, it has felt like my ear was full of water and then after a few days it would clear up. A couple of weeks ago it started to get worse, not only did I feel like I had a head full of water, but I was losing my hearing as well. It got to the point that if anyone spoke towards the left side of my head I couldn't hear them at all. So, today I finally went to the doctors office. I had a HUGE buildup of wax, The doctor used something similar to a crochet needle to pull the first eraser sized poece out of my ear. After that, he flushed my ear with water. I can't even describe the nastiness that came out of me. I'm sure you don't want to "hear" it either. I guess my ear canal is smaller than normal and everytime I use a Q-tip it just crams the wax further down into my ear canal, so no more Q-tips for me. Which kind of grosses me out. But, the good thing is that I can now hear everything very clearly.