Hurricane Harvey took a lot

BUT we found a lot too. We found strength. We found courage. We found a new beginning. We found that our dedication to each other and our families is even stronger than we knew.

We were late to our wedding reception due to a flat tire.

Shortly after our 5th Wedding anniversary we evacuated to drier land for Hurricane Ike and had to wade home. We had damage but no flooding.

We spent our 14th wedding anniversary cleaning out our home and deciding what was salvageable and what was not salvageable.

It's a new start for an oldish couple. We'll take it.

Check out the new Kesha Album. It has and continues to help me through being homeless and having 90%of my life expertly packed into a storage unit sized 11X20.

As the line from "Hymn" says, "I know that I'm perfect even if I'm fucked up."

One of my besties got 6 feet of water in her house so I am off to give my time to help out wherever I can. We are in a holding pattern searching for a home.

Love and light.

"I hope you find you find your peace falling on your knees. Praying," -Kesha

Sunshine, red heads, sistahs for life

I have joined up with some fantastic, witty,& wicked smart ladies to blog. Follow our journey through Sistahhood and get a front row seat to our lives. Bound by love, loyalty, & experience we are doing things our own way and looking out for one another. I hope more of my sistahs join us as this goes on.

P.S.- these ladies are wicked talented and wicked hotties!

Beauty born from pain

Isn't it funny how beautiful things can come from painful situations?

-A wonderful friendship with a kindred spirit
-A once-in-a-lifetime love
-Giving your child the name of the man who meant the most to you in this world
-Strengthening the family bond
-pushing on and through to come out on top because you have been told you cannot

A lot has happened in my 36 years on this earth. My parents split and my Father divorced the whole damn family. It hurts. It has been this way since I was 9. On the bright side, my Mother was an AWESOME parent who made up for it without even trying mostly. My family (who stayed around) is VERY close. I tried to repair my relationship with my Father a few years ago but you cannot force things. I just don't have the energy to handle the entire relationship on my own.

When I was 19 I fell off an obstacle at Lackland AFB and broke my back in 2 places. Everyone was disappointed, not as much as I was in myself. It was a career ending injury that I have never really healed from. The man who was like a Dad to me (See In Loving Memory) was the last person I wanted to talk to because of dealing with a lot of disappointment. When he called and he told me that I could never disappoint him because he loved me no matter what, he ended a horrible depression that I had been swimming in for weeks.

I went back to school after giving birth to my youngest (& last) son and it took forever but in May 2012 I graduated with my Associates of Arts degree and I have since moved on to University of Houston to pursue a Bachelors in Social Work. I have (again) encountered some bumps in the road but I will keep going.

Last, but certainly not least, I have recently begun a friendship with a wonderful lady. I read her blog for a long time before I put 2 & 2 together to who she was and what tragedy had befallen her and her kids. Unfortunately, this was set in motion by someone who was supposed to be her friend. Someone who claimed to love her but just wanted to have her own needs met. So you see, on one hand I feel awful that her family was turned upside down by someone I know. On the other hand, I owe the nutcase a debt of gratitude because I ended up with 2 wonderful nephews and a wonderful friend who I feel like is a part of my family who had been missing.

Beauty does come from pain.

I'm alright

A little banged up from the fall...

It has been a crazy few months and there have been many ups and downs but I am still here.

I have had a shit ton of health issues and had to drop 3 of my 4 classes. I did get an A in the class that I kept. While this should have made me feel better as it was Abnormal Psychology and it was an intricate course, I have still been down over the break down of my semester.

So, I took the summer off to find the answers I seek about the cause of my kidney stones and finish some other issues up so that I can get right back at it in the Fall.

SO, I am slowly but surely fighting my way out of the funk. I am enjoying the kiddos and seeing them blossom. I spend much less time talking to them from behind the computer composing essays and such. I will be ready to be back at it in August but for now I will embrace the break.

I hope this finds y'all happy and healthy!

In loving memory....

This is MSG Harold R. Laranang. He was my JROTC instructor at Clear Lake High School but he was so much more than that to me. He was my best friend, my mentor, my hero, and the closest thing to a father that I have ever had.

He taught me so much in the short time that I knew him. I met him my sophomore year of high school and he passed away in August of 1998. I remember the day he walked in and told me that I was going to be on Color Guard. I remember the day he told us to practice hard because we were competing that weekend. I hate being in front of people. I wanted no part of that at all. I did compete, on the Color Guard with my dearest friends by my side and we did well and I loved it. JROTC became more to me than a P.E. credit to me (and most people I know that took it) and those people became my extended family. To this day I have an Army JROTC sticker on my car to go along with my U.S.A.F. Veteran sticker.

I remember the supposedly grumpy men (MSG L & General Bailey) who walked in the room and talked tough but would turn out to be big teddy bears. The reason that MSG and I became so close was spawned out of a fight. I was talking with a guy in the corps who had lost his girlfriend (my BFF) and as MSG L walked by he told me he wanted to talk to me. He told me that I needed to watch out who I was hanging out with. I told him that he needed to mind his own damn business. The next day in class, near the end, he pulled me out in the hall to once again talk to me. I was petrified. I figured I was going to get in trouble for cursing at a teacher. He told me, instead, that I was right and he was wrong but that he saw a lot of potential in me and he cared for my well being. He didn't want me getting sidetracked by hanging out with the wrong people. We were friends for life after that. Don't get me wrong, my Mom was around but being a single mother meant she had to work her ass off to keep us afloat. So if I wasn't in trouble or didn't come to her about something- I kind of did my own thing. I had not had a male presence in my life who gave a shit about me in a LONG time.

Whenever I talk about him, I always say that he showed me my wings and forced me to fly. I truly believe that. He was my angel and he still is just in a different way now.

I wore my dress blues to his funeral. I was doing fine until General B hugged me and told me that MSG would be so proud of me. I lost it. You see, I was injured in the USAF (I had 2 compression fractures at T-12 & L-1). I didn't get much time in before it happened. I was 19. When I came home I was broken. I felt like I had let everyone down. I didn't want to see or talk to anyone other than my immediate family. So when he called, I was reluctant to talk to him. My Mom forced me to pick up the phone and talk to him. I told him what happened and he asked why I didn't call him and I told him that I didn't want to disappoint him. He immediately told me that I could never disappoint him and that he loved me. Once again, it was just what I needed at the time.

We made a pact that we would both take care of ourselves. I used to bitch at him because he had young kids that needed their father so he needed to quit ignoring the doctors and just follow their damn orders. I was angry for a while that he broke his promise. And then I felt guilty that I didn't keep in touch better.

A few days before he passed away (suddenly), I was talking about him to a guy I would end up dating. B was waiting on a heart transplant and I was telling him about my best friend who was a heart patient as well. I mentioned that his birthday was coming up and that I needed to call him. He was gone within the week.

I had a dream that week where he told me that I shouldn't feel guilty and that he knew I loved him and he loved me too. A year later he came again to express his displeasure at my choice of dating partners. He came back the year I got married and had my first son to tell me that he was happy for me. And most recently in October he came again to tell me that he was worried about his daughter but that he was so proud of her.

I named my oldest son Connor Odin Harold.... the Harold was for MSG.

I wanted to write this blog about him because I am hoping that sharing it with the world will alleviate some of the pain that still exists. Most days everything is fine, but tonight it just hurts so fucking much.

Make no mistake... he was a special man. There are 5 gazillion little things that I could tell you about him. He was a devoted father, a wonderful teacher, and an awesome friend. I enjoy keeping up with his kids as I have come to love them all and it makes me feel closer to him. He used to draw pineapples on my letters. I cannot find the bigger ones but I found a small one that I plan to blow up, clean up (just remove the lines from the paper), and have tattooed on my wrist along with Laranang. I hope that it honors him and the important role that he played in my life. He loved life, his family, and teaching. He taught me that I could do anything that I wanted and more.

So, anyway, that is my story.

I love and miss you every day MSG!

Baking

I have been baking up a storm this year! Every two weeks I have been baking double batches of Wookiee Cookies and sharing them with the AWESOME guys who work on our vehicles. If you know my husband and how hard he is on his vehicle you would agree that these guys deserve to be absolutely spoiled with baked goods. ;-)

This week I will be doing cupcakes from scratch. I do mean from the bottom up which includes homemade frosting. Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and conversation hearts on top for Valentine's Day is what I am making. Hopefully they turn out good. I am not worried about the cupcakes themselves but I have never done frosting before. I might make a single batch tomorrow to test them before I make them for our ODSJ potluck on Tuesday.

I will try to report back and post pictures of the results. Then next weekend I shall be once again baking cookies. The kids LOVE this new baker that I have discovered within myself.

So here are my brownies. I use the Bossk Brownie recipe from the Star Wars cookbook as a base and I have been experimenting with different additions. So far I have done milk and dark chocolate, semi-sweet and white chocolate, Andies mint chips and milk chocolate, and my latest is milk chocolate and peanut butter chips. I like them all but the peanut butter was my favorite. Here is a picture of my latest brownies.

On a recent trip to Tanger Outlet Mall I stopped in to Kitchen Collections and picked up a silicone baking mat. Woah buddy, I need another one of those. It makes the cookies so much easier to deal with when taking them off the pan. I do not need to spray the spatula or anything. So here is a picture of my Wookiee Cookies on the new mat.

Please ignore my dirty stove. I always clean it after the baking is all done. I enjoy letting all my frustrations go while scrubbing the crap out of my stove.

Oh and if you are wondering what Wookiee Cookies are, basically they are chocolate chip cookies with 2 types on chocolate chips (milk & Semi Sweet) and cinnamon. The cinnamon is what makes all the difference, I think.

Anyway, if I don't go to bed soon I might not make it there. Sweet dreams everyone!

2 AM

Good golly, I really hate insomnia. I feel like every nerve in my body is a live wire tonight.

It is extremely odd to have all 4 boys here all night on a Sunday. I figure getting ready for school tomorrow morning will be chaos. Beautiful chaos. I enjoy having the boys here. I love having them all close.

Another week begins for us. I have school and must begin researching my topic for Advanced Writing this week. It should be fun to learn more about Veterans, PTSD, & Substance Abuse.

In other news, my group and I went to The Queen of Queens contest the other night. What fun! Drag queens are awesome and incredibly hard working. There was a ton of talent in that building and the environment was very supportive. This was a dry run for us so I hope to have pictures to post here once we go to the next one. FUNFUNFUN!

Have a great week everyone!

Reflections of NASA

The end of January and beginning of February marks the anniversaries of NASA tragedies. I think the people involved with these tragedies will never forget where they were when it happened. I always like to pause and remember the heroes who died in the pursuit of knowledge of the unknown. It takes a lot of balls to go in search of the answers when the known danger level is high. I have a special place in my heart for the astronauts who were lost in Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia.

Apollo 1 touched my heart because of the way things went down. After watching 'From the Earth to the Moon' with my husband and hearing him talk about LOTS of NASA stuff, I really admired Gus Grissom. He seemed like a guy that you would want to have lunch with and just listen to him talk. When I found out he, Ed White, & Roger Chaffee had perished in Apollo 1, I was very sad. Fortunately, some good lessons came out of the tragedy.

RIP guys!

Challenger was completely different for me. I was in the 3rd grade and we were watching the launch live. Remember those days when NASA was beloved instead of shoved under the rug? Yeah me too. Anyway, interestingly enough I would end up going to High School with Ellison Onizuka's daughter. Challenger still horrifies me. Not that all of the loss of life does not but I was literally watching these wonderful people die, I didn't understand it in 3rd grade. My son, C, is in 3rd grade. I think he would grasp it better than I did but that is because we would have discussed it. Not that my Mother was against discussing it, but she was busy with work and Uncle Sam doesn't usually pause for tragedy. (Except 9/11) I find it wonderfully fascinating though that even today the families (most) of these astronauts (and teacher) are not anti-NASA at all. They all understood the risks taken by their family member.

God bless you all and Godspeed.

The shuttle Challenger flight STS-51L crew members who died January 28, 1986. In the back row, from left, mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist Greg Jarvis and Mission specialist Judy Resnik. In the front row, from left, Pilot Mike Smith, Commander Dick Scobee, and Mission specialist Ron McNair.

And finally, Columbia. WOW. That was a completely different period of my life. I had gotten up a little early that day to have a chat with the guy I was dating (and married) who was living in East Texas to my Houston. He was right there watching when NASA lost communication with Columbia. His Dad was some big NASA guy and he always kept up with that stuff. It was one of the things I liked about him seeing as I have always been a fan of the Shuttle program myself and I have come to appreciate the other programs in the last decade.
By the time I had gotten home from work that evening I had seen, talked to, and hugged many faces of the space program who waited in Mission Control desperately hoping the loss of communication with Columbia was just a glitch. It still haunts my husband that he heard the boom when Columbia re-entered the atmosphere over East Texas. Columbia is the tragedy that sticks out for him the most.

The seven crew members who died aboard this final mission were: Rick Husband, Commander; William C. McCool, Pilot; Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander; David M. Brown, Mission Specialist 1; Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist 2; Laurel Clark, Mission Specialist 4; and Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist 1

The Space Shuttle program will always be MY program. :-) It was the vehicle of the space program of my lifetime. My hope is to see another space craft fly in my lifetime. In a perfect world, no one else would have to sacrifice their lives to make it happen. No matter what, I will always support NASA and the work that they are doing. I only hope that the next craft is as beautiful as the Shuttle was to watch launch, fly, and come home. I watched every launch and every return after we lost Columbia and I shared in the apprehension and joy that every member (and every fan) of NASA that went with it until that bird was back on the ground.

Late last year I took my kids to see Shuttle Endeavor as it made its pause in Houston for the last time. The kids were hungry and hot, the crowds were intense, and the traffic was murder but the experience was worth it. As I stood there so very close to that Shuttle, I remembered going to see them as a little girl on my Dad's shoulders. I remembered the horror or watching the Challenger explosion, the sinking feeling when we lost communication with Columbia, and finally all of the times that the school pulled annoying fire alarms to make us go out and watch the shuttle fly over. I longed for the days of those fire alarms. I stood in the shadow of a giant with my (bitchy) kids in awe and didn't want to leave her. I felt like a left a piece of myself with Endeavor. It sounds dramatic but the end of the shuttle program was the end of a piece of me because it was so very much a part of my life growing up near NASA.

To my dearest NASA, good luck and Godspeed! We are watching to see what you do next and anticipating greatness. (If we can retain politicians that support you)

Dropping in for a quickie...

So, I was accepted into the Social Work program on December 17, 2012. I am excited and scared and ready to go all at the same time.

I have begun a full load for Spring that consists of Abnormal Psychology, Oppression, Diversity & Social Justice, History of Social Policy, and Advanced Writing. WOO. LOTS of writing included in this semester.

I may be able to keep up with some things, but please forgive my lack of blogging. I am either studying, sleeping, baking, or cleaning. :-)

Much love to all!

Happy New Year!

Well well, welcome 2013.

2012 was interesting.

-Near the end I got the confirmation of my admission to the BSW program so it is official now.

-I made some fantastic new friends! Some of them I might never meet in person and some of them I will move heaven and earth to meet.

-I learned a lot about myself following a rough summer and almost losing an important person in my life.

-Also I learned that most people could benefit from therapy.

-Messing with my kids brings out the warrior in me and she has anger issues.


-I have the best family (including my fictive kin) in the world.

-My kids are growing up too fast.

-Music is a great way to change my mood.

3 days in to 2013

-Some people need electric shock therapy.

-I have developed a rather bad case of insomnia.

-I love playing games with the kids on the Wii more than I thought I would.

-Kids are still resistant to cleaning their room.

-My loving husband is still a pain in my ass. (and I am a pain in his.)

-Blogging is fun but not therapeutic unless it is anonymous. Having to worry that my kids will stumble on this page makes it hard to be completely honest.


Hopes for 2013

-Continued success in the education department for everyone.

-Loss of some of this weight that has snuck back over the past year.

-I have decided to continue to keep my hair red until the effort becomes overwhelming to too expensive. (I get the stuff from Sally's and my Mom helps apply it so it is doable)

-Continue to develop new friendships and nurture the others.

-Find an acceptable Rheumatologist.

-Keep my GPA up.

-Laugh at least once a day.

-Make someone else laugh at least once a day.

-Learn!

SO, I hope that you have a wonderful 2013 as well and that all of your healthy (not necessarily physically healthy) resolutions come true!

Semester #1

DONE!

I am still waiting on my grades. It looks like it may be Monday before I know them for sure but I know I passed everything. What a busy freaking semester it was too. I really had many weeks when I didn't know if I was coming or going.

Reflections on my 1st FULL semester @ UHCL-

1. This was a HUGE culture shock for me. MUCH different than going to COM and it clobbered me. I really have to step it up to keep my grades up there.

2. APA is very confusing. I know that the more I use it, the easier it gets but dang.

3. The BSW program is FULL of AWESOME people. It was a kick to see some of my classmates from my summer Ethics Class in my Intro to Social Work Class.

4. I am going to know these people very well by Spring 2015.

5. I LOVE volunteering. I am not able to do so over the holidays because of having the kiddos home but it is very cool. I did a food drive with Bay Area Turning Point and it was AWESOME soul food!

6. Parking SUCKS. Good for me getting exercise though. I just have to make sure I get there with enough time to hike to class. :-)

7. Whoever talked about the Freshman 15 (lbs) did NOT transfer from a community college to a university. There is food for sale almost daily. A lot of it is donation or super cheap. It is super yummy. Bake sales are always going on and hard to resist.

8. The Sugar Free Mocha from Java City in the Bayou Bldg is excellent and much cheaper than Starbucks. Just keep this is mind for your early morning or night classes. I will see them a lot as I have class from 4 pm- 10 pm one night a week next semester.

9. The campus is freaking nice. Of course, it backs up to the nature center so...DUH! The boys freaked out when the deer came about 30 feet from us and stopped.

10. There is ALWAYS something going on there. UHCL has numerous events that are low cost or free. They put on one hell of a Welcome Back Bash in the Fall. There are movies that you can see. I can bring the family for free with my ID. The people are great. I cannot wait to see what happens in the Spring.


Now, everyone PLEASE cross your fingers, toss salt, or even say a prayer that Spring is less hectic personally for me than fall was. I had emergency gall bladder removal surgery the Wednesday before classes started and then had to have another STAT procedure during midterms. Thankfully, I had AWESOME professors who understood that I needed to get these two things done. Also, the kids got sick more than usual with weird crap that they usually do not catch. Plan for the Spring semester is Lysol, vitamin c, and lots of TLC. :-)


I hope to keep up with this better but I give you no guarantee.

For now, I am going to put on some fuzzy, warm pjs and relax on the couch until I am tired because it is break time baby!

Poultry Divan

We do not have the big boys for Thanksgiving this year so we celebrated with them early. It is a good thing that we love turkey in this house because we will go to my Mom's for Thanksgiving and have leftovers from that too. So on to the best part.... the leftovers!

Tonight's recipe came to us as Chicken Divan, but we usually make it with leftover turkey meat. We made it with chicken once and it was dry. My suggestion is that you make it with dark meat since it is usually more moist. Also, you can healthify this recipe if you wish. (Yes, I am aware that healthify is not an actual word.)

So here it is in my oven:

Divan Recipe:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

3 whole chicken breasts ( or equivalent in poultry meat of your choice)
2 pkgs frozen broccoli (I used 1 pkg 24 oz florets)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (you can substitute fat free)
1 cup mayo (can sub low fat or fat free but must be MAYONNAISE)
8 oz sour cream (again fat free could be used)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I use cheddar jack because the hubby doesn't like cheddar)
1 tsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Simmer Chicken breasts in salted water. (Since I am usually using leftover meat, I can skip this step.) Cook broccoli to package directions. In bowl mix soup, sour cream, mayo, seasonings, cheddar cheese. In a 13x9 greased pan add broccoli, poultry meat, and parmesean cheese. Cover with sauce and top with cheese. I mix a little cheddar and parm on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.

YUMMY stuff!!

I have never tried to healthify this recipe so I cannot testify to the difference in taste. We probably only have it once a year so I don't worry about it much.

Our turkey meat is courtesy on Jerry the turkey. Yes, we name the turkey. it is an old tradition. If we are going to be reaching around in, cleaning out, and stuffing the turkey we should at least be on a first name basis.

Here is Jerry before I began basting and browning him.

We had a wonderful dinner with all of our kids and celebrated being a family. For me, cooking for the boys is a way to show them what they mean to me. I put my all into cooking tasty and nutritious meals for my family. It was a lot of work but very worth it to see their smiles. I hope you all can slow down and enjoy your family this month as much as possible.

School is extremely busy and I am volunteering once a week with a local organization that does awesome work in the community, so I haven't been around much. I will try and remedy that. Take Care!

Still here

Just busy.

I have a lot to do and time is short right now. I will try to post something this weekend if I have time. :-)

A miracle was born 13 years ago today

Today I want to say Happy Birthday to my 13 *gasp* year old step son B! He is such a wonderful kid and I feel lucky to get to share him with his biological parents. I still have the hospital picture that his Daddy emailed me on the day he was born.

B is a euphonium player in the Honor Band at his school. He loves to read, help out around the house, play on the computer, and even hang out watching crazy TV with me on the couch. He gave me a diamond ring 9 years ago and asked me to marry his Daddy. He is a fantastic son, step son, and big brother.

His Daddy and I are SO proud of the young man that he has grown into, as I am sure the entire family is also.

Stupid Chicken Pasta

I'm a bad blogger today as I forgot to take a picture of the recipe that I am going to post. It was stupid because it is friggin' easy!

3-4 chicken breasts cubed (Depending on the cooking time you could use cooked all the way to frozen)
2 14.5 oz cans Italian style diced tomatoes
1 packet Lipton Savory Herb & Garlic soup mix (Supposedly found near the powdered Lipton onion soup mix. I couldn't find it at either store I went to today.)
Farfalle (Bowtie Pasta)
Parmesan Cheese to top it

Mix tomatoes and soup together in crock pot. Add chicken and stir. Cook 6-8 hours on low. Serve over pasta and top with cheese.

Now it wouldn't be me if I didn't modify it in some way or another.

First off, if your crock pot is on crack like mine is (even on low) then I would adjust cooking times. You could shorten to 5-6 hours or use frozen chicken breast. My chicken came out a bit dry at the 7-8 hour mark.

Second, I went to Kroger and HEB and couldn't find that damn soup. I used Onion Mushroom instead. You could use Beefy Onion or just plain Onion as well.

Third, the recipe called for Parmesan cheese. Kroger had a deal and I got Kraft 5 cheese Italian for a deal and it was perfect. Parmesan, Provolone, asiago, mozzerella, and romano. YUMMY

Since I couldn't find the savory herb and garlic soup I added herbs and garlic to the mix along with some seasoned salt. I tried it before adding any salt though.

I added the pasta to the crock pot after boiling and mixed it right in.

Family complaints:

1- Not enough sauce

Note- double sauce next time using 2 cans Italian style diced tomatoes and 2 diced with garlic.

2- Not thick enough sauce.
Note- try adding tomato paste to thicken the sauce

3- Chicken a bit dry
Note- Adjust cooking time

Family Suggestions-

Try spiral pasta for better sauce holding.

Add garlic bread.

Other than that it was yummy. Even N, who is my picky eater liked it a lot. I will add this to the successful recipes. I hope you enjoy it. I adapted this recipe from one posted on The Crockin' Girls website. Stop by and check them out!!

http://crockingirls.com/recipes/stupid-easy-chicken-pasta/

My links never seem to work so copy and paste this into your search bar. I LOVE their site and go there regularly!

Tomorrow night is Sausage and Lentils from their website. YUMMY!!

Endeavor- Per ardua ad astra

In about six hours the space shuttle Endeavor will leave Houston and make the trek to California. It is completely unfair that Mission Control/JSC/Houston got screwed out of a shuttle. However, I am so glad that my sons were able to gaze upon the shuttle from 100 feet away. I don't think that they understood the historical value of seeing the shuttle but then I doubt I did when I last gazed upon her when I was 6 or 7. I have high hopes that the kids will one day remember our evening hike across Ellington Field to see Endeavor one last time.

S and I walked away arm in arm reflecting on the emotions that we felt. Both of us grew up in the area and though I was an USAF brat I was a NASA groupie. He was the NASA brat as his parents both retired from NASA a few years ago. Neither of us wanted to leave her there on that runway, and I swear we left a small piece of our hearts with Endeavor. It might seem sappy to you that we feel that way but you didn't walk in our shoes. Challenger was lost as my 3rd grade class watched the launch on TV. Columbia was lost when S and I were just dating. Apollo 1 took the lives of 3 wonderful men including Gus Grissom, who was one of my favorites. The first thing that I ever wanted to you was be was an astronaut. So I mourn the loss of our shuttle and the program that brought it alive. I am glad that it lasted long enough for my kids to know the wonder that was our space program. I hope to god that there is a future program for them to marvel at and learn from.

Goodbye Endeavor! You saw our Shuttle Program to the very end and we will never forget your service. Thank you to all the wonderful people who made the program a success! Your hard work and dedication will never be forgotten.

School, School, School, Sleep, Kids, School

So this is what I feel like this semester:

I dropped my Philosophy class because I have to do 40 hours of Volunteer work for one of my important classes. That is a load off my shoulders.

I was sick a lot of last week. Apparently I am rather anemic and it is bad enough to keep me down during certain times of the month, TMI, I know but it s something I need to get taken care of. I cannot be that fatigued and dizzy 4 days a month, I simply do not have the time to do that. I ordered some chewable Iron. I need to go pick up some B-12 to go with it.

We went to UHCL to see the movie 'Brave' on Saturday night. I wasn't feeling well some of Saturday but I promised the kids so I got my crap together and we went. It was a cute movie. I really liked it. N thought it was boring. S thought it wasn't up to par for Pixar. C thought it was OK and Nana really liked it. It was a free movie with a UHCL ID so I will not bitch.

The boys and I are excited that The Avengers comes out on September 25th! We really enjoyed that movie. S doesn't care. He isn't into super heroes. N hasn't seen it though and he is excited. I saw it in the theater twice. Once in 3D with friends and C and then with Nana, Mimi, and Ella for Nana's birthday. I wanted to go again too. After that the 4 boys and I spent the summer watching the movies that came before it. Iron Man 1 & 2, The Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. We are working on obtaining all of those for our collection. I am so glad that the boys liked them though because we got to spend quality time this summer hanging out together and watching movies. I LOVED my movie nights with my sons.

OK, so update on the kiddos!

Everyone is well.

B got into Honor Band at school. He plays the euphonium.

J got moved out of Band and into Theater Arts. I seriously think he is going to blossom in this class. It fits him well!

C is joining Green Team at school to help with the garden again this year and he got an invite to join the Robotics team at school. They only take a few people so he hopes that he gets picked. He is still rocking the Gifted and Talented program too. I hope this keeps up as the year gets harder.

N is doing really good in school. He is reading on a second grade level and has been since Kindergarten. He wrote a poem one day out of the blue. Right now he is reading a book about the human body.

I am SO PROUD of my boys! I love them all very much! Anyway, I think since the rain finally started that I might be able to get some sleep so I guess I should go and do that! :-)

Chicken Paprikash

Slow-Cooker Chicken Paprikash
Nutrition Info

Calories: 298.7
Fat: 8.7g
Carbohydrates: 15.5g
Protein: 39.5g

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=71448#

Ingredients
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot
2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
4 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 1/4 cups reduced-fat sour cream
Directions
Combine flour and chicken in a large ziploc bag; toss well, making sure chicken is coated. Add chicken mixture and remaining ingredients (except sour cream) to an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir in sour cream just before serving.

Makes 6 1-cup servings.

This was yummy. It was only missing some warm, crusty bread. We served it with Red Cabbage. Only J didn't seem to like the cabbage. It is a bit different.

9/6/2003

9 years ago today S and I got married. J was not quite 3 and B was not quite 4. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Houston and the ceremony was lovely and small. We had a great time. Now B is almost 13, J is almost 12, C is almost 9, and N is 6. And yes, I was 6 months pregnant in this picture. Two of my best friends in the world stood up with us in our small wedding party and my Brother-in-Law Michael gave me away. My sister was on pass from Kuwait and she would be back just in time to see meet her newest nephew (C).

Happy Anniversary to us! We have a beautiful family and a good life.

Welcome Back Bash!

Tonight we went to UHCL's Welcome Back Bash on campus. My husband did not want to go so he and the older kids stayed home. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.

There was so much fun things to do there for the kids and families that we were doing things until the least second before we left. I am SO sorry the older kids were not with us. J, who is my monkey, would have LOVED the climbing wall!

Here are C and N climbing up it. I have a terrible fear of falling so when they got to the top I think my heart was in my throat but they LOVED IT!

We got there and hung out with the Social Worker Booth making sand bracelets. N got his face painted. They had free snow cones, Freebird's brought in food, NASA brought cool stuff out, Monster brought yummy energy drinks, the Army came and the Coast Guard brought a boat. The CG guys were incredibly cool. Shout out to them in the Port of Houston and best of luck to the gentleman training to be a rescue swimmer!

NASA brought out gloves to try on, Astronaut food, and even a helmet from the Apollo program that was used for training. They were fantastic and very knowledgeable and we enjoyed talking to them.

It was HOT but they had free drinks and lots of water. There was an awesome band to play for us but it wasn't overly loud and annoying. Seriously, I am pissed that B & J missed out. From now on, I will just take the van and take them myself because they would have loved it.

There were pictures done by some great photographers. Remember that it was HOT so I look horrid, but the kids are adorable.

I want to thank the University for putting on one hell of a party and doing fun stuff for our families to come out and enjoy the campus. University of Houston- Clear Lake is an awesome University and I LOVE attending there. The Student Veteran's Association for the great shirt and inviting me to the meetings. I will definitely do my best to get there. The Social Work Department because y'all are awesome and my soul mates. And everyone who came out and were so nice to my crazy kids. Oh and a HUGE thanks to my Mom for hanging out with us and helping me with the kiddos!

If you are looking for a great University in the Houston area, check them out!

http://www.uhcl.edu