MERRY CHRISTMAS

ALL PLAY AND SOME WORK

Sometime in the Fall, my work scheduled a meeting that myself, my bosses and some of my managers were to attend in Denver Colorado in November. One of our managers is an expert skier and several on the rest of the team are pretty good themselves. So Jeff planned on us lengthening our stay by 2 days and we all went skiing. I was leary at first in going because I'm no expert! I can go down a blue without rolling down the mountain but that is my max! My entire management team is guys. They all are very protective of me and always looking out for me. I was worried I'd get up there and not be able to keep up and then they'd all feel like they had to take care of me and not leave me by myself.  I was banking on the fact that there probably wouldn't be enough snow for all of the slopes to be open AND that Rhonda (my counterpart in Louisiana) was going and she had NEVER skied before.

But then Rhonda backed out on me after we were already in Denver. So it was just me and the guys…and I kept up. Our CFO and his wife came and joined us so I had Miss Molly to add to the very low estrogen pile. 

We had a blast and it was so fun to get away and do something fun with my team. 

This video cracks me up…you probably won't think it's funny unless you know Jay. But this was his way of trying to pay for our very expensive bill. He pulled out everything he had in his wallet and presented the value to the manager. This was about half way through his spill.  And I realize it goes sideways about 10 seconds in but I don't know how to fix it.

SAY BYE TO LUCY

We have 3 dogs. I wish we only had 1. And I didn't even like her until about 2 years ago. Lucy was my favorite and I didn't try to hide it. This picture is Jax (the dumbest dog we own and Colson's dog) and Lucy.

We got Lucy for Calli's 3rd birthday so she was almost 77 in dog years. We were told she was a full Pomeranian but I have my doubts.  If you aren't a dog person, 77 is the perfect age for a dog….or at least Lucy. She could run and catch up with the other dogs and be protective if she needed to be but for the most part she snuggled up to me (and Wes) or sat at my feet all day long. She didn't have accidents in the house. She didn't chew up things. She didn't carry things off. She just slept and ate.





Colson tortured her when he was young and then spent a few years trying to get Lucy to forget all the mean he had done to her. The last few weeks, Lucy was sleeping with him some nights, half the night (she would sneak out and come find my bed sometime in the night).

Which is why the Friday night when Wes drove home and found Lucy dead in the road with Colson in the truck, it was a horrible night! Colson was devastated. He cried for hours. When I got home that night, I found him in the pitch dark out by the grave he had made for Lucy.

The next morning he got up early and made a bigger headstone. I was so sad but I was determined not to rush and get another dog. I mean we had 2 others….we didn't need anymore. I didn't need another thing to take care of.

After about 2 weeks of every night climbing into bed and Wes and I saying something about what Lucy would be doing, I decided I had to have another lay around dog. So we went to the local animal shelter….one of the most disgusting places I think i've ever walked into. I know they are a great place to find a pet but I couldn't get past the filth and smell and constant yelping.

That night Wes got on the internet and found a lady nearby that had maltipoo. I saw the picture and said "oh those are cute" and then Wes read "hypo allergenic and don't shed". SOLD!!! I drove over to her house that night by myself. I didn't want any kid convincing me to buy this puppy. I wanted to make the decision, all on my own.

Tucker is perfect! He poops a lot but he'll stay in his kennel whenever I need him to and only cry if he needs to go out and go potty. If he's running around the house he'll just poop wherever he is. But if he's in his kennel, he'll go on his potty pad or if we are home he'll cry to be let out. And if he sleeps in the bed with us, he licks your face to wake you up so you can take him out….he won't poop on our bed. THANK GOODNESS!

He's a great addition and just what I wanted! I do miss Lucy still.

MY SWEET BOY!

I found this in Colson's notepad. I'm not sure when he wrote it but it's so sweet….It's about his Grandpa Schubert

GRAMMY GOES ILL

In August, right before I left for Hawaii, my mom had a stroke. It was a big one according to the Doctors but thank God that there were no external physical lasting effects. She has full mobility of everything, no droopy face, no slurred speech, etc. What was effected was her memory, in particular names of people and things. This was her 2nd, she had her first in August of 2013. The one in 2013 was a TIA but this one was a full blown stroke.

After a stay in the hospital we visited several doctors and had several further tests done. Her main problem is that she has a clogged artery in the nape of her neck. It's 100% blocked. If it was only partially blocked, they could put a stint in. Since it's 100% blocked, there is nothing they can do…except take blood thinners so the blood is able to pass through to her brain.

In addition she has high blood pressure and high cholesterol, probably due to being overweight and no exercise and years of just not taking care of herself.

My mom doesn't like medicine. And she doesn't like doctors. She believes in Young Living Essential Oils but the Doctor assured her that she would die if she relied solely on oils. They would not cure her in this situation. I think she believes him and is trying her hardest to lose weight, get some exercise and take her medicines.

One Sunday morning Colson was helping me teach my 4's and 5's class at church. We were to make a card for the sick. Colson asked if he could make his own instead of help the kids. He went in the corner and made this card. It was precious. I mailed it to my mom and she loved it too.

GO KATS GO!

Calli wrapped up her first semester of cheering at the High School. It's not exactly what she had in mind but she looks great out there cheering on her Wildkats! She was JV so only got to cheer at the high school game under the Friday night lights at Homecoming.

WHOOP!

I'm not gonna lie….I'm ALOT jealous that Colson got to go to an Aggie game this year and I didn't get to go. Especially since half of the stadium has been renovated. And look how close he got to go. He said it was awesome….I guess I'll just have to take his word.

His buddy Cole Arnold invited him. Such handsome and good boys!

HOMECOMING

This was Calli's first year to really participate in Homecoming. The cheerleaders put on the homecoming dance so we were heavily involved in decorating and planning the weeks prior. She didn't have a date but instead went with some friends. She looked beautiful!

As you can see, homecoming is a big deal and warrants a fancy new dress, pretty hair, spray tan and the whole 9 yards.

On a funnier note, this year Colson had an (alleged) girlfriend this year at homecoming time. I'm not a believer in girlfriends at this age and wasn't really into getting anyone a mum or doing any kind of homecoming festivities for 5th graders. I asked Colson about his girlfriend (Taylor Thomas) and he never admitted to it and didn't want to talk about it AT ALL! So I just told him "IF have a girlfriend (not saying you do) but IF you did, she's going to expect to get a mum. and you need to tell her that you aren't going to get her a mum. This way she won't get you anything and you won't feel silly". About 4 days before the homecoming game, I found one of Calli's old mums under his sink and realized his plan was to just bring that and give it to Taylor. So I texted Taylor's mom and let her know that we wouldn't be getting Taylor anything. She was very understanding and assured me that it was ok. So on game night, I took Colson and his friend to the game. Calli was already there cheering. When he got out of the car, I could tell he was hiding something and trying to get out of the car quickly. I casually asked him what he had in his hand and he held it up like everyone knew what he was doing and said "for Taylor". He really was going to give Taylor Calli's little mum from 6th grade (3 years old). He had cut Calli's name off of it (smart kid). I told him that he couldn't do that and that Taylor knew he wasn't getting her anything. So he threw it in the back seat and said "Man…I had to give Calli a long back rub to get that thing". Oh how cute!!

OPERATION SELFIE

I don't get many pictures of Calli anymore because I'm not with her a whole lot….at least for a long duration. There are many times I'm with her at drop off or pick up at different events. And most of the time her friends are all there and are highly annoyed at me asking for a picture. I'm not sure what the big deal is…it's not like once I leave they won't be taking 25 on their own.

I learned not to even ask for a picture anymore….and since I got my Mac, it's really nice because I get them without even asking her to send them to me because they automatically download to the Mac. This is a generation of selfies….they take them ALL. DAY. LONG!

SHE'S BIG TIME NOW

She's always been big time in our eyes but this year, Calli made a level 5 team….and one of the more coveted ones. The 2 original level 5 teams to the gym are a Senior team, Generals and a Junior team, Colonels. Most first time level fivers don't get put on Generals. Making Colonels is a big deal! There are 4 other level 5 teams but getting a spot on Colonels, Generals or Black Ops is definitely a major accomplishment. 

Because of their past history of being so good, her team was automatically invited to Los Angeles to compete in the Champions League. We'll do that in April. So fun! Woodlands Elite is huge this year, with 5 gyms across Houston and 42 teams….it's crazy! 

There is really a lot that goes into learning about cheer teams and competitions. But I'll just say that our Regionals season was a success. Undefeated for all 5 competitions since mid November. 

We are looking forward to our Nationals season which has us traveling almost every weekend and puts us up against some really good teams. 

A WHOLE NEW SMILE

Calli got her braces off after a year and transformed in 1 hour.

BEFORE

AFTER

So pretty. This was her second round of braces and she had them on for just over a year.

REBELS VICTORY

While I was away playing in Hawaii, Colson was back home winning baseball games with his Rebel boys. They won 1st place in the tournament. Sad I missed it….kinda. Glad my dad was there to watch!

LEAVING MY 40'S IN STYLE

MONTHS ago I got together with 2 of my best girlfriends (Stephanie and Robyn) to plan a 40's girl trip. Our plan was to plan a trip that was within a year from when we were all turning 40. We scoured the internet for places that we really wanted to go. We looked at Paris, Australia, Mexico and landed on Hawaii. We were hoping that the 3 of us would go along with Hilary Davis Ruiz and Shellie Strickland Hlavety. I knew there was a slim chance that Shellie would go because she has separation anxiety with her kid (she's a much better mom than the rest of us :)). I knew if Hilary could make it work she would be there….but she lives in Germany and the travel time there and back would make her gone almost 2 weeks. With 4 girls and no family to help, that makes it really hard on her husband so she was out. It was just down to me, Robyn and Stephanie. When it came time to book the trip, Stephanie informed us that she was out too….so it left just Robyn and I. We decided to not worry about public opinion of us looking like potential lovers and just go for it. So we booked the trip and then forgot about it.

A big trip like that, planned so far in advance, sneaks up on you and it did with us. We did almost zero planning before hand and decided that we'd use the first day to lay out by the pool and figure out what we would do. Because we only had ourselves to pay for we were able to do a lot! We zip lined, we did the helicopter ride, we did the road to Hana, we watched a sunset at the top of the volcano (AMAZING), and we snorkeled. We did not want to come back home…it was a trip of a lifetime and we had a blast! Enjoy the pics

ZIPLINING

HELICOPTER RIDE

ROAD TO HANA

SUNSET ABOVE THE CLOUDS

SNORKELING

BEAUTIFUL PICTURES

OUTTAKES

 Robyn was diligent in saving the planet even in Maui

 This was the book I read and Robyn made fun of me the entire trip.

It wasn't uncommon to see chickens roaming the roads. And people thought we were strange for stopping to take pictures of them. 

 We took this for Calli….because she takes selfies all the time

 We were laughing before the trip that people would think we were lesbian lovers since it was just the two of us. We found these trophies in the airport and I did my best "don't you wish your lesbian gf was hot like me" impression. And then Robyn made me swallow my pride on the last day and get our picture with this "Just Mauied" shirt. There were lots of gay couples everywhere on the island.

 I'm not sure why I thought this pose would look good, but i did. 

 I got a brilliant idea to do the panoramic feature on our iPhone and as Robyn slowly canvased her phone across the landscape, I would run behind her and get back in front of her so that it looked like I was in the same picture 3 times. It was just plain silly and quite exhausting for me because I had to run super fast in the sand. After a while I looked over and saw a Chinese couple copying us! I wasn't flattered, I was kinda irritated. 

On our flight to MAui, I have NEVER, EVER, EVER been so cold. Of course they didn't have any blankets for us on that flight. I had to get into my overhead carry on and pull out my bathing suit cover up and my towel wrap. I was still freezing!