We are SMRT

Creating a monster

2012-01-24T05:24:00.000-08:00

Our dog Bruiser is pretty darn smart. He knows a lot of words and we are always working on keeping him active and his mind busy. When we first got him we bell trained him so when he wants to go outside he will ring his bell. This was very easy for him to master.

To challenge him more I had my Dad build him a "dog brick" and within a few days he had that down to a science. A "dog brick" is a puzzle type box where you put treats inside and the dog solves the puzzle to get the treats.

Bruiser also likes to play with his shoe. We trained him to only play with his shoe and leave others alone. His favorite thing to do with his shoe is to "rodeo". He gets the shoe just right and then goes in circles with it and then will change directions.

Our next adventure with Bruiser might just create a monster, he will truly be able to boss me around. We purchased a couple of Bow Wow Buttons. Right now we have them programed with "Dog Treat" and "I want to go outside". He is taking to them pretty well. Today I have already given him two treats. Last night Mark and I were talking and all of the sudden we heard "I want to go outside".

After these buttons are mastered we are going to keep adding them and hopefully we can teach Bruiser to talk to us.

Hit the New Year Running

2012-01-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

No rest for the wicked around here. I have done fairly well with my trying to work out 4 days a week. I love our new exercise bike.

Most of my time lately has been focused on Maddy's SSI application and jumping through all the hoops. It seems like things are going well. We should have this all wrapped up in the next few weeks.

When I am not work with or for Maddy I have been a busy little PR queen for the business. The 20 bucks a month we invest in HARO each month has really paid off a good bit.

I look like a real business woman!

Check it out here and here. We are number 26 on the first article and number 3 on the second article.

We have been working hard on a Super Bowl info graphic and once we press release it I will give you a peek.

January is already halfway done...YIKES!

What a year

2011-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

2011 was quite the roller coaster ride. Hopeful that 2012 will be a wildly successful year and that everyone stays happy and healthy.

Let's see what we did in 2011:

January:

The year started out nice and calm. Make a good bit of resolutions so I kept and some went by the wayside.
Maddy went to Monster Jam with her boyfriend and did really well with the LOUD noises. It was an "anything for love" outing for her.

February:

This was the month of dr. appointments. Those yearly check-ups, never much fun but a necessary evil.
Maddy started in Special Olympics in January. She was on the track team and loved going to practice each week.
We managed to get everything done including Girl Scout events, church events and arranging time for the boyfriend.

March:

What a whirlwind month this was. Every day on the calendar was full.
Track practices and her very first Special Olympics tournament. She did great and medal-ed in every event.
Maddy begin a bible study of the basic Tenants of Faith
The month closed out with a trip to Vegas. Always so very thankful for my Mother who comes to my house to keep watch over the child and dog.

April:

Track practice, and tournaments continued
The prom was on the 9th. Maddy and the boyfriend had a fabulous time
We attended a special charity event for Special Olympics and Maddy was able to mix and mingle with the Houston Astros.

May:

In May we made the drive to meet my aunt for lunch and a wonderful time was had by all. It is nice to reconnect with family.
Maddy completed her bible study and was baptized on the 10th
The church held a special service for all the kiddos that completed the bible study and they were all confirmed. We had a table full of family in attendance, it was an amazing day.

June:

The month started with my family reunion. The weekend was filled with love, laughter and family stories.
Maddy began Special Olympics swim team.
For the first time EVER Maddy went away to camp for 5 days.
While Maddy was at camp we began the preparations to retain Guardianship for when she turned 18
The day Maddy left for camp my Mom fell and hurt herself. We would not find out until a week later that she had burst her L1 vertebra
Mother begin the long journey of recovery. We had hallucinations, a stay in a Houston hospital and then a move to a rehab facility in her home town.

July:

Maddy had her first swim tournament and medal-ed in every event. She loves the tournaments!
Most of my month was taken up by driving to check on my Mom once a week and helping her with her long journey of recovery. She was fitted for a brace that would be on her for several months.

August:

This is a rinse and repeat month. Look at what I did in July and that is August.
The highlight of the month was Mom going home on the 12th.

September:

Maddy was thrilled as the Fright Night remake came to theaters. She loved it so much she managed to convince enough people to take her she saw it 5 times at the movies.
Maddy had a swim tournament in town and Mark went with us. He was there to see her receive her very first gold medal.
Mother was making more and more progress towards being independent again
Maddy broke up with her boyfriend of over a year. It was a traumatic day for all involved.

October:

Maddy turned 18 and for 4 days she was a legal adult.
Mark and I became parents again. We are official legal guardians
Oct. 7th was a huge milestone for us. Maddy had gone one year seizure free! (Thank goodness we are still seizure free)
Maddy had her wisdom teeth removed. She was quite the Chipmunk Cheeks.

November:

The SaveOnBrew business was in full swing with some great press both locally and nationally. My new duties included some PR work as well as Database Management.
Thanksgiving was a big milestone for Mom, she drove herself to my house for Thanksgiving.

December:

SaveOnBrew continued to get great press
My niece and my best friend both graduated college. One a BA and one a Masters
We celebrated a calm, small Christmas and were all very thankful for health and all the personal and business milestone that the year brought us.

I am definitely ready for out with the old and in with the new.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Enjoy our E-card

How to be a PR Guru from home

2011-12-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

Since I only mention it all the time you know that the husband and I are running a small business from home. Things have really been on the upswing here for us with SaveonBrew . Recently I have moved to try to do some more PR work as well as tend to the day to day data. When you basically have 3 people running a company while working full time jobs (mine is Maddy of course) everyone has to do a lot of everything.

I am constantly amazed at the Internet because of the ability to reach people. In my learning how to do PR for the company I learned of HARO. This is short for Help a Report Out. This site places reporters of all mediums with sources for their articles. Many times you submit a pitch, they ask for more information and the next thing you know you are in publications.

This happened to us today. A couple of weeks ago, I found a pitch on HARO about small business owners. I sent it to the hubby to complete and that evening the reporter send an online interview. Today we received notice that this was being published.

http://businessinfoguide.com/entrepreneur-interview-mark-davidson-saveonbrew/

I would ramble on and on about other things that are happening for us, but I have a HUGE pile of data work that needs to be done.

Post in Pictures

2011-11-21T06:09:00.000-08:00

They say a picture is worth 1000 words so here are some pictures showing what we have been up to.

Maddy and her best friend have started volunteering at church. Here is the day the got their badges.

Maddy is helping our neighbor with her stained glass. Maddy earns money and loves having a job.

When my mom broke her back she was hallucinating spiders for weeks and weeks. She had a little visitor waiting for her when she came to my house for the first time since the injury. Don't even give me that look, my Mom gives as good as she gets.

I got a new car. We loved having paid for cars but it was time for a new one. It is a Hyundai Vera Cruz. We love it!!

Our neighbors dogs got out and they were gone for a few days so I became the neighborhood kennel. This is Maso and Flash. I like them much better when I get to just play with them and send them home!

Part of Maddy's 18th birthday was a room make over. She got new bedding, new bath stuff and then we also re-painted her room.

This is Maddy hard at work on Mark's computer. He has been showing her all he does when she has problems or issues with her Ipad. This is the first morning of trying to do it on her own. She was a very happy and successful girl that morning.

Car Conversations today

2011-10-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

After school work Maddy and I ran a few errands today. The following are statements or conversations that happened during our quick outing today.

When looking for her wallet and could not find it. "Dude I am totally freaking out right now!"

"I don't think the Hulk should be a super hero. He did not have a whole city to watch after like Spider man does."

"Man I really miss my Spider man T-shirt."

"Ostriches are creepy. They just look funny. I am glad I am not an ostrich because then I would creep myself out."

We survived the summer

2011-10-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Living in Texas the summer lasts until about now or later since we are still in the 80's this week.

Around here we are hoping that the change of the season will continue to bring better news. The roller coaster of summer just about wore all of us out.

Maddy had a great summer, she loved swimming for Special Olympics. She is loving the volunteer work at the church each Sunday. We survived the removal of her wisdom teeth and glad to have that behind us.

Mark and I are now official Guardians of Maddy and we are in the process of getting SSI for her. We are doing all the right things for all the right reasons. The Save on Brew business is doing well and we have had some good things happen with that lately.

Mom is now out of her back brace and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. She is gaining more and more independence each day.

Wishing a quiet, calm fall and winter for all!

One year

2011-10-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

This Friday Oct. 7th we had a huge milestone. Maddy has now gone one full year without a seizure.

Three Cheers for One Year!!

Just like picking a puppy

2011-10-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Maddy recently broke up with her boyfriend. She is happy for the freedom, but she does miss the "idea" of a boyfriend. She has now decided that every boy in her line of sight is up for grabs. She gives them the look over and then gives me a look or a nod of interest.

She and her best friend have been volunteering in one of the children's room at church and Maddy was most excited that a cute boy was also working in the room. This Sunday after the service I went to get her and her from from where they volunteer. I could see both of them standing by one of the adults. I waved and they waved back but did not come to me.

I worked my way through the sea of children and went up to them. The adult explained to me that Maddy wanted to meet one of the boys in the room. After the room cleared a bit the adult called a young man over. As he made our way towards us Maddy looked at her and said "No, No, not that one, the one over there!". By this time the young man had joined us. Maddy got so shy she stood behind the adult and look all googly eyed at the boy. Finally I took the incentive and introduced everyone. Maddy finally stated he was cute and she liked him just fine.

I could not help but laugh and once we headed out of church I told Maddy that finding a new boyfriend is not like picking out a puppy. You don't to just walk up and choose one. I had her best friend in stitches as we left because I made sure to point out EVERY boy and ask Maddy if maybe that one was the right boy for her.

Miss Maddy is 18

2011-10-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Eighteen years ago today our Miss Maddy was born. She was born before digital cameras were around, yes she is that old! Last night Mark and I went through our digital pictures and took a walk down memory lane. Here are a few of my favorites of Maddy growing up.

When she was born we had no idea what life would hold for her or us. It was certainly a different path than we ever imagined. It has been said that special people are given special children. I would not change Miss Maddy for the world and we both feel so blessed that she was given to us.

Spider

2011-09-30T05:48:00.000-07:00

When Maddy and I do school work I do my best to keep it fresh and somewhat fun. Her learning ability is pretty much capped out, but we still do a lot of reviews and new concepts do sneak in once in a while. To start this school year out I decided to try a word game with her. I had a deck of scrabble cards which was basically scrabble tiles on cards.

I picked out 10 cards with a nice mix of vowels and consonants. I explained that I would set the timer for 5 minutes and she was to make as many words as she could. She would write them on a piece of paper so she could use the cards more than once. As I am explaining this to her she wanted to know if she could have a few more cards. I told her that she could have 5 more, but she had to pick then. She asked for an S, and I, and a P. I thought the S was a great choice the P confused me.

Once she had all the tiles lined out on the table I put the time on the timer and went in the other room to do some work. I passed through once and saw the word spider on her list. I thought WOW! Later that day when on the phone with the husband I told him about how well she did, she thought it was fun and how impressed I was that she spelled spider.

That night at dinner I told Maddy that I was so impressed with her word spider that I had told Mark all about it. She looks at Mark, and just cracks up laughing. Through the laughter I hear her tell Mark that she had cheated!

When she was doing this exercise there was a Spiderman cup on the table and that is what she used to spell spider. She was smart enough to not spell Spiderman because I would have caught on to what she had done.

After almost 18 years, that kid can still bamboozle me!

Not enough hours in the day

2011-09-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

It seems that lately I have been treating my blog just like I treated my diary when I had one. Keep up for a while, drop off the face of the earth and then reappear again.

I think about writing and I intend to blog a whole lot more than I actually get around to doing it. There just are not enough hours in the day.

Short version of recent life:

Mom- She is doing much better, moving around better and starting to go out once in a while. She is still in her "turtle" but in 4 weeks we hope that she gets to be out of it for a while during the day. One of the side effects of this adventure is that she has had so much lab work and so many x-rays, MRI's and Cat Scans that doctors keep finding things. In the long run I suppose it will be good, but right now it seems like set backs. Hopefully this will all be behind her and she can get back to her busy social life full time.

Maddy: Wow!! She won a ton of medals including a gold at her last swim meet. She is done with competition for the year, but is still going to practice to improve. Her and the boy friend are taking a break right now and we will see if they decide to give it a go again or decide to move on. On Oct. 1st she will be 18 and we have everything in place to hopefully go to court that week to retain Guardianship of her. It was a long process mentally and financially but we know it is the right thing to do for her.

Mark: He is working about 28 hours a day. It seems like that most days. He is still trying to keep up with all his writing deadlines and get his name and talent out and about in Hollywood. He is working full time at Save on Brew in addition to his full time day job that puts food on our table.

Me: I have taken over the Save on Brew Database and as I get that more under control we are working on expanding my job responsibilities. Maddy and I have started school again for her Senior Year and it seems to be going well.

Will do my best to make more time to share funny Maddy stories. They seem to be endless. I have to remember to tell the "spider" story soon.

Dear Diary

2011-08-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

June 1
I am so excited, my Aunt arrives in town today and we will head to my family reunion for the weekend. It will be great fun!

June 6
What a wonderful weekend, a good time was had by all at the reunion. Was wonderful to visit with my aunt. I feel this is gonna be a great summer!

June 13
Well, today Mark and I made the decision to go ahead and retain guardianship of Maddy. It is the right thing to do and this way we know she will always be protected.

June 14
Big day today, we are finishing up the shopping for Maddy to go to camp next week. I am not sure who is more excited her or us. This is the first time she will be away at camp. What a huge step. Mark and I are really looking forward to the break as well.

June 21
AM: What an exciting morning!! We successfully dropped Maddy off at camp and by the time we left she was already having a great time. Now time to relax and spend time with Mark and also a little break for me as well.

PM: Wow! Just Wow...got a call from my Mom today. She fell in the shower and hurt herself. She says she is ok and nothing is broken she is just sore. Her doctor is out of town so she hopes to feel better in a few days. She has a friend who will stay the night with her tonight.

June 22
Busy day here, we are getting ready for a series of meeting with a potential investor/partner for the business. Three full days of meetings at my house next week. Great opportunities await. Looking forward to Thursday! Mark is going to work and I get the house all to myself. Relaxation here I come!!

June 23
Just got a call from my Mom she is not doing any better and she does not have anyone to stay with her tonight. She does not want to come to my house and see a dr. here. She says she will be better, she just needs a little help during the night. So long to my "me time". Headed to Livingston to stay the night with her.

June 25
AM: Uneventful time at Mom's house. She is going to see a dr. today and figure out why she is still in so much pain. We are headed out to pick up Maddy from camp. We can't wait to see her.

Mid-day: Maddy is still beaming from camp!! What a wonderful experience for her. She loved every minute of it. She fully embraced all the activities and made a ton of friends. Looking forward to an evening at home with my little family.

PM: Got a call from Livingston, the Dr. said Mom has "broken her back" and an appointment was made for Monday for her to see someone. However, due to the meds she is taking she has started to hallucinate. I am now on the way to pick her up and bring her home.

Late Evening: I almost killed the woman on the way home. She decided to share every hallucination with me for the entire hour and a half on the way home. We are finally at my house and I hope to get her settled in bed soon.

Midnight: The woman has gone crazy!! She is hallucinating again so off to the hospital we go. Long day just got longer.

June 26
It is 4 am and I just got home from the hospital. Mother has a burst fracture in her L1 vertebra and will be admitted to the hospital.
Went back to the hospital after a few hours of sleep to hope that the orthopedic doctor might drop by. Mark is having to clean the house to prepare for our meetings this week and take Maddy to swim practice.

June 29
Today is our first day of meetings with our business partners. Since my Mother is still in the hospital and still seeing crazy things we have decided that I will sit in on the morning meetings, leave about lunch time and then go see Mom and then pick up lunch for the crew.

June 30
Just go the news that they will release Mom to the rehab facility to get her started on physical therapy so that hopefully she can be able to be back at her house in about 3 weeks. She has decided she wants to be back in her home town to do the rehab work. Running to the house to drop off lunch and then meet mom at the rehab facitilty.

What a month! Not so sure how this summer is gonna turn out after all. The adventures of July to come soon.

Swim Tournament

2011-07-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Maddy had such a good time with track we decided to try swimming. This weekend she had her first tournament in Palestine. It was a small tournament and was great competition practice for her. She had a whole lot of fun and received a medal in every event she competed. She did a relay event, 50 meter free style, 25 meter free style and the 25 meter back stroke.

The next tournament is in September and I know with more practice she has a chance at some gold.

First Silver for the Relay

Waiting for the 50 meter freestyle

Three silvers and one event to go

End of the day, big smile and 4 medals

25 meter backstroke

Weird and Wonderful

2011-07-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Video is a bit weird for me but the song is wonderful.

On a side note my Aunt Nola would have loved this song.

Treading water

2011-07-10T06:06:00.000-07:00

I consider treading water a major upgrade right now. For the past few weeks I felt like I was drowning in the sea of things I thought I had to so. Thanks to a great spouse and a few days rest I am doing much better. Following is a random update on all the things going on right now.

Our website www.saveonbrew.com is coming along nicely. We have made some changes in roles, responsibilities and may have a new partner in the business soon. Everyone involved has a long list of task, but every day our data gets better, out plan of action gets better and I truly believe we will all reap the rewards soon.

Mark and I are currently in the process of retaining guardianship of Maddy when she turns 18 in October. For something that is the right thing to do and should be a simple process, it is actually quite complex. We had to hire a lawyer, Maddy must have specific testing done, she must be served to show up in court. The court and her court appointed attorney will have to make visits to our house. We are on track to have everything ready so that once she turns 18 we should be in court the next week to become her guardians. They require that we "bond" even though I can't believe either one of us would be a flight risk. Once it is done we will have to register every year and keep the guardianship current so we don't have to go back to court again. It is hard work raising a kid and keeping them safe!

My Mom is on the long road to recovery. She is in her hometown at a rehab kinda place and is starting to get some good therapy and we can honestly say she is making progress daily now. She still needs lots of assistance with everything, but can begin to see the ability to do a few things by her self in the next week or so. This week we will begin to look into Home Healthcare to have that all lined up for when she and the facility where she is staying both believe she is ready to transition to home. I hope that for Thanksgiving she will be back to her sassy self!

Maddy is on the Special Olympics swim team this year so every Sunday afternoon is busy with swim practice. Since I have her on the team that she knows people from church and other activities the practice facility is about 40 minutes from the house. She is enjoying the team so far, but is getting a bit nervous about the first meet that will be on July 23rd. Hopefully she will have a good time at the swim meet and bring home the gold!

Split Second

2011-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Everything can change in just a second. That is what has happened recently. The week that Maddy went off to camp it was going to be Hubby time and then "me" time. Maddy went to camp, had an amazing time and I will share that soon. Instead of what I had planned I spent the time tending to my Mother.

The day Maddy left for camp Mom fell in the shower a split second and a hard fall later she had a burst fracture of her L1 vertebra. Her doctor was out of town so she went to an Urgent Care place and got some meds. The two days that were supposed to be mine were spent at her house trying to make sure she was ok. When I was there she seemed on the mend so I went back home. (We live just over an hour from each other.)

The day we picked Maddy up from camp we had been home a couple of hours and things had gone from bad to worse. I had to leave and go pick Mom up and bring her home. We got her all settled here and then it became obvious that she needed to be in the hospital. It is then we learned about the vertebra. After spending 36 of first 48 hours at the hospital I was finally able to begin to go home for longer periods of time.

She is now in a back brace that she will wear more hours than not and for several months. This week we believe she will move from the hospital to a Rehab facility in her home town. After that we hope that she can be back in her house for the rest of the recovery.

We are thankful that things are not worse and that she will heal and recover from this accident. Once things get back to a more routine schedule I will get back to my typical Maddy stories.

Camp

2011-06-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

Maddy is going away to camp today. This is her first time at summer camp and since she is almost 18 you can imagine this is a big deal for everyone. There was a time when we thought she would never be able to do something like this.

She is looking forward to it and I know she will have a fabulous time. I loved going to camp as a kid and she will be able to do things that she can't do at home. We are so grateful I am able to stay at home with her, but any chance she is about to do something in a safe enviroment out of the house I am thrilled!

We have the schedule for her day and they are keeping these kiddos busy. Multiple activities during the day and themed party every night. She is packed and ready, all we need is for the gates to open this afternoon!

For Dad

2011-06-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

For Fathers Day this year Maddy wrote Mark a note.

For Dad

10 Things I Love about you.

1. Your Smarts
2. Your Kindess
3. You get me into new things
4. You take me places
5. You take care of me
6. You are always there for me
7. You are the Best Dad ever
8. You love me for who I am
9. You are so much fun being around with
10. You are easy to talk to

Happy Fathers Day

Love Maddy

Customer Service

2011-06-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

Customer Service - The long lost art of a person providing a customer with assistance in a mild and friendly manner.

I had two run-ins with Customer Non-Service this week.

The first was when I needed to call AT&T about our U-verse service. We have been AT&T customers for several years with many of their services and are happy with them, but any time there is an issue trying to speak to an actual person is like trying to break into Fort Knox. Our TV's had been losing the signal quite often and after I would reboot the main router or the cable box they would fail on initialization. We are a pretty tech savvy house so once I had done all that I knew to do and when reboot the router would no longer work I decided it was time to call. The first time I called I never spoke to a person, instead a computer voice told me to please do all the steps that I had already done three times. Then the computer voice politely informed me that the last step would fix the problem and since it would take up to 20 mins it was going to hang up the phone now. It also informed me that a note was made and if I still had problems I could call back. (Gee thanks).

I waited about an hour and suffered through several sighs and eye rolls from Maddy. When I called back I was on hold about 10 minutes and enjoyed hearing all about how if I went to channel 411 it would give me helpful information regarding my tv service. Finally a young man answered the phone and assured me that when we got off the phone my problem would be resolved. After we did all the things I had now done 5 times, he stated that a service call would need to be scheduled. I did not point out that my problem was not resolved, but while we were waiting on the service schedule information, he mentioned that I could go to channel 411 to get helpful information regarding my TV service I did let him know it is hard to read that information when you don't have a TV signal. Four days later the service man showed up, rebooted the router and of course we all know what happened.....the TV's booted up just fine.

My second Customer Non-Service was with Wal-mart. I know that is a surprise. I had a very simple question regarding their price match policy. (I may or may not have been asking about beer price matching for the Save on Brew business.) A young lady answered the phone thanking me for calling Wal-mart, mumbled her name and wanted to know how she could help me. When I said I had a question about price matching she transferred me to the service department. The phone rang and rang and rang and rang and rang and rang. It finally went to a voice mail box that was full so I could not have left a message even if I wanted to.

There was an option to go back to the operator so I chose that option. The same girl answered my call and I explained that she sent me to nowhere land and I just had a simple question regarding price matching. She said hold please and the phone rang and rang and rang and rang and rang and rang. It finally went to the same full voice mail box. Once again I chose to return to the operator.

The same girl picked up the phone again and when I stated again that I had a very easy question regarding the price match policy and she kept sending me to nowhere land. She stated that she did not know about the price matching policy and that was why she was sending me to the service department. She wanted to know if I wanted to be transferred there again. When I stated no I did not want to be send to nowhere land again she told me to have a nice day and thanks for calling Wal-mart!

Lauged so hard my sides hurt

2011-06-07T04:44:00.000-07:00

Had a most wonderful weekend with family. My aunt and I went up a day early to spend the night at my cousins house on Lake LBJ. It is a beautiful lake house and we stayed up way to late every night of the reunion. One of the best things about my family is that we laugh, we can laugh with and at eat other and none of it is mean spirited.

We had a couple of events that had several of us in stitches and once we would get settled down something else would happen or we would have to repeat the story. Honestly we spend a solid hour on Saturday morning laughing.

Once we were home on Sunday my aunt was asking about our dog. Her and her husband are currently
"dogless" but will get one in the next few months. I had stepped into the pantry for something and as I am exiting I hear her ask the hubby a question regarding Bruiser.

Mark's answer was "No, not really very much", I quickly chimed in and said "you can be honest, he does and boy does it stink sometimes". They both looked at me and started laughing. She had asked does the dog bark and I heard does the dog fart.

Laughter is wonderful and when you get the opportunity to do it with 50ish members of your family it is pure joy.

Lunch with friends

2011-06-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met a couple of friends for lunch. I watched what we all ordered and it make me reflect on what I eat for lunch has changed over the years.

This year: chicken, steamed broccoli with water to drink

2-3 years ago: club sandwich, a few of the fries and a mojito (or another type of fancy drink, followed by a nap at home.) Share a dessert

4-5 years ago: burger, fries and a couple of beers or mixed drinks (possibly a nap after) Eat part of a dessert and take rest home for later.

6-7 years ago: appetizer, burger or sandwich with fries, couple of beers or mixed drinks and a full dessert.

The amount of food is smaller now, not nearly as exciting and yet I have the weight as if I was eating 7-10 years ago. Dang you older, slower metabolism!!!

Family Reunion

2011-05-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend is my family reunion and I am really looking forward to going. There will be lots of laughter, hugs and the telling of stories. There will be a few tears shed during the stories of those we miss. We will be thankful for everyone who takes the time to come and spend the weekend with us. We will try to figure out ways to get those who do not attend to come.

Every time I am at a gathering there is always talk of getting together soon, or lets do something more often. We get so busy with our lives and what we need to do another year has slipped away from us. Thankfully at least once a year we can all make the time and see each other.

Not just beer and BBQ

2011-05-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Travel safe if you traveling, enjoy the time you spend with friends and family. Most importantly say thanks, prayers or hug a Service Person or Veteran.

Ways Maddy makes me crazy

2011-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

When you have a higher functioning special needs child they are a blessing and a challenge. Maddy has such an interesting mix of what does and does not connect in her brain. We often have conversations regarding her speech, and also the words that she uses incorrectly. This past week she said a sentence that made me proud and drove me crazy at the same time.

We were discussing an issue with her Ipad and after a few moments of silence she looks at me and says
"I have a theory on what the problem is, when Dad gets home I will tell him and I bet he can fixeded it".

She knows what a theory is, she has more than likely solved the issue with the Ipad, but she says "fixeded".

I have created a monster

2011-05-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

It was an honest accident but I created a time monster. If I could go back in time (no pun intended) I would have never pointed out that Justin Bieber digital watch. However in my innocence I did point it out and Maddy bought it with her money.

We had to immediately get it up to date and on her arm. Then....she decided to check the watch against her phone and Ipad. Horror of horrors it did not match. I thought she was going to have a complete meltdown. In what seems like days and days, but in reality about 30 minutes I finally corrected the rip in the time warp.

Last night her watch magically set itself to 12:01. We decided I would fix it in the morning. This morning I specifically asked her what time I needed to set it to. Since we were by the microwave she chose that time. I carefully set everything up and then I waited for the minute to change so I could set hers exactly.

She had a dermatologist appointment today and before we left she checked her watch, her phone and her Ipad. They did NOT match!! I quickly informed her that I did exactly as she directed me this morning. In the car on the way to the Dr. office I see her checking her watch, looking at her Ipad and then re-checking her watch. She reset the time on her Ipad and her phone to match her watch. Then and only then was all right in the world again.

Boy and I am thankful I did not show her the second hand function!

Worst Calendar Ever

2011-05-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

My Mother and I get on silly little Christmas traditions. Some only last as long as the product is available. Try finding fun, silly wind up toys any more. Others happen by accident and may come and go through the years.

Two years ago on a whim I bought my Mom a desk calendar. It was something along the lines of Sayings of Wild Women. It was collection of sassy sayings from sassy women. During the year the calendar provided a good bit of fun as Mom would share some of her favorite sayings with me.

This Christmas Mom got me a desk calendar for Women Who Do Too Much. We both had high hopes for this calendar since we had so much fun with the previous one.

The calendar has become amusing, but sadly in all the wrong ways. This calendar has some of the worst sayings I have ever read. At this point I can only think that some man, tucked in front of a 1980's computer was told to search for quotes and messages about working women and place them on the calendar dates. Who ever was supposed to "check" the work was either busy that day or drunk.

Here are a few of the inspirational messages provided to me by my calendar for Women Who Do Too Much.

*"An envious heart makes a treacherous ear." - Zora Neale Hurston
It is good that we are all too busy to be envious, isn't it?

*Women Who Do Too Much tend to be very controlling. Who knows which came first-our buysness or our need to control? It doesn't matter. Both will push others away and make our lives more difficult in the process-not a pretty picture.

*Our bodies,our clothes. Our clothes, our bodies. It seems women are always under a microscope. Even if others placed us there, have we stayed there longer than we needed to?

* Often we ask those we love to make tremendous sacrifices for our work. We become unfeeling and uncaring in the process. Only work matters. Women who are addicted to homemaking are just as consumed as those addicted to their businesses. And this attachment can be an escape from intimacy.

*Is pouting on of our inalienable rights? It should be. Sometimes we just need to hold on to our negative feelings for a while. It's best to warn others when we have that need.

*We Women Who Do Too Much are not "bad" people. We are usually good people-sometimes we just do some pretty bad things to ourselves and others.

Confirmation

2011-05-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

For 8 weeks Maddy attended a bible study each Tuesday evening at our Church. The class was designed specially for special needs kiddos and was a nice basic look at the tenants of faith and the sacraments. The last class saw 4 students receive the sacrament of Baptism. Maddy was one of those four students.

This past Sunday during a special service for the Special Needs population the bible study class was Confirmed. It was such a blessing to see these young men and women be able to complete the bible study and receive Confirmation.

Since my Mom was so kind and generous to buy Maddy's prom dress this year, I was able to spend money on getting her a new dress for Confirmation.

Mothers Day Note

2011-05-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

When I got out of bed yesterday Maddy gave me a big hug to say Happy Mothers Day and handed me a card/note she had written for me. I am going to share the note with you exactly how it is written and spaced so you can enjoy it as well.

I am so proud That you are my mom and I would never trade you for anyother mom Because I Think you are The #1 mom in The whole world and I thank you for everything you do for me and I Love You just the way you are and I Don't care what People say about you Because I know That it is not true at all Love MADDY

HMD

2011-05-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Wishing all a wonderful Mother's Day!

Standardized Testing

2011-05-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

I do not agree with the way the Texas school system chooses to test special needs children. They are trying to force squares into round holes. They have lost the flexibility or desire to adapt testing to get the best results and knowledge assessment from these kids.

Since Maddy is home schooled we are not bound to the Texas school system requirements. Most children in our state have been taking the TAKS exam this week. In some cases this will determine if a Diploma is awarded. We know 100% that if Maddy had stayed in the public school system she would not have received a Diploma. She would have received a Certificate of Completion. Since she would not be able to pass the TAKS exam and could not take certain classes she would not qualify for a Diploma. She will not need a Diploma and I can easily print up a Home School Diploma that will mean more to her than a school issued piece of paper.

Having said all of that, there is a need to know where she is academically and what areas I can improve on. I know that with the business and shifting the focus to life skills, the academics have take a back seat. I am going to work on getting academics back into our daily routine. We don't know how much more academically she can advance, but the need is still there to review and reinforce the concepts she has.

This week I have printed out the 3rd grade Math and the 5th grade reading released TAKS exam for Maddy. I am being a bit ambitious with the 5th grade reading, but I think she can handle it.

I am not really looking for the "correct" answer in all cases. With the Math exam I am looking at her thought process. Why did she choose the answer and does it make sense. She got 18/38 correct but many that she missed had logical answers. Some of the questions were on concepts we have never covered and she made good guesses that showed she attempted to reason out the answer.

Before we review the results I will go back and give her partial credit for these attempts. I feel this will be a better representation of her skill set.

Still around

2011-04-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. We are still alive and kicking. However it is the to-do list that is doing the kicking. Kicking my arse.

We are good, Maddy is almost done with bible study and will be baptized and confirmed soon. In June she will start up Special Olympics swimming. We volunteered for the Special Olympic fundraiser golf tournament. Thanks to Tommy Bahamas and the Houston Astros for putting on a great event for the kiddos.

Rumor has it that there is an important wedding today. My anniversary is not till August so I guess someone got the dates mixed up!

Happy weekend all and I promise to update more often.

2011-04-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter

When you start to see hard work pay off

2011-04-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

I might have mentioned once or 10 times that the hubby and I have a business or two. The main reason for us to think outside of the box is that we want to make sure that Maddy is well cared for once we are gone. We need to know that she will have the money that she needs to be safe and loved her entire life.

The hubby works a full time job that pays the bills and gives me the ability to stay at home full time. We are thankful every day for this, but it is not enough for the future. The screen writing business is going well, but is most days an exercise in frustration for him. When the idea came about to try to wrangle all the beer data on the web to create a cheap beer website we sat down, thought it through and moved forward.

Partners were secured, and the work began. Thousands of dollars and hours were spend to figure out how it could work, how could it be user friendly and how it could be marketed. Once we did solve the data puzzle then we had to set about gathering the information and decided how it could be entered into a website formula. Then the beers had to be added and let me tell you there is a heck of a lot of beer out there.

Daily we work on the site, improve it, market it, work on advertisers and potential partners. This morning we were mentioned in Technorati. It is nice to see we are picking up a little buzz on the internet.

If you ever hear anyone say, wow those Save on Brew people are so lucky, what a great idea, I should have thought of that. Smile and know that like most "overnight" successes we worked our butts off for a few years!

From Track to Prom all in one day

2011-04-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a very busy day in my house. Maddy and I were out the door at 7:00 to head out of town for her Spring Games track meet. It was hot and very windy where we were. They finally advised everyone to remove their tents for shade as the wind was to strong and the tents were becoming a hazard. So we both got to enjoy a little bit of wind and sun burn from the day.

Maddy's first event was the 100 meter run and she placed second. During the parade and opening ceremonies one of the girls on the Woodlands Shooting Stars received the female athlete of the year award. In the afternoon Maddy had the softball throw. She placed 4th and considering she was hot, tired, wanted to go home and get ready for the prom, and throwing into 30ish mph winds, that was not a bad attempt.

Ready to run

Medal Ceremony from 100 meter dash

Before the Parade and Opening Ceremonies


Track award ceremony

We finished up at the track meet and rushed back home to get ready for Prom. We were very quick and successful and got her ready in 45 minutes. The hubby took pictures of Maddy and then we were off to the boyfriend's house. We took pictures there and then they were off to An Enchanted Evening. They had a Cinderella style horse drawn carriage for all the kids to take a ride in. Maddy was brought home around 10:00.

Maddy and the Boyfriend!

The day was hectic but it was a great day for her!

Back and running at full speed

2011-04-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely time in Vegas and did more than our fair share of helping their economy. We stayed at the Palazzo and due to an issue with our room we upgraded to a suite on the 47th floor. It was fun to see how the fancy people travel. There was even an elliptical machine with its own little workout room in the suite. The view from the room was just amazing!

The hotel itself was just as impressive as the other hotels in Vegas.

There was a nice mix of "me" time while Mark was doing his work thing and a whole lot of "we" time. Things went great here at the house while we were gone and I came home to a girl all ready for the prom. Her and my Mom took care of all the necessities and she is ready for Saturday.

Saturday will be a whirlwind since she has an out of town track meet in the morning and then prom that evening. I will do my best to update with track and prom photos on Sunday or Monday.

Vegas Bound

2011-03-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Mark and I are getting away for a few days. He has a work convention in Las Vegas and my Mom is coming in to stay with Miss Maddy while we are gone. This is a short trip and we very much need it! The convention this year is at the Venetian which will be fun since it supposed to be very nice and is in the middle"ish" of the strip.

While I am resting and relaxing Maddy and I have a nice long list of things for here and mom to do. They are going to shop for Prom dresses. Prom is April 8th and I have not even bothered to being to look! They are also going to look at some makeup for Maddy. We have been to the dermatologist and it seems to be helping some but the poor kid is losing the war against her face/hormones right now. Since I don't wear makeup and never have I decided that would be a good job for Mom to help with.

Maddy is very excited for the time with Banma and I know they will have too much fun with whatever list I leave for them.

Special Olympics Track Meet

2011-03-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Today Maddy had her first Special Olympics tournament. She was signed up to run the 100 meter dash and her field event was the soft ball throw.

We arrived at the meet bright an early and Maddy was ready to rumble!

Her first event was the 100 meter dash. She took off like a shot, cruised a little in the middle and ended up with a photo finish with another girl. Maddy ran it in 17.3 seconds and first place as 17.1 seconds. Here she is proud of that second place medal.

After the parade and ceremonies we had the afternoon events and she was up for the softball throw. It did not hurt that her helper was a cutie pie!

She managed to not be too distracted by the cutie pie helper and placed second in her grouping of the softball throw.

Maddy had a great time and she can't wait for her next meet!

The Call

2011-03-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Last night Maddy started a bible study at the church that is for the special needs kiddos. It was great to see about 15 kiddos there. The young man who is teaching the class is amazing. The kids were asking questions, interested and paying attention. The class will cover the basic tenets of faith and the sacraments.

The class is for an hour, but the first part is snacks and socializing. I love how The Woodlands United Methodist church has built such an amazing program for the special needs community.

While Maddy was in class, I slipped down to the cafe, found a table and listened to music and cross stitched. It has been years since I have done any sort of crafting and I am very glad that my eyes will let me!

Adding more to the plate

2011-03-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

We have our first Special Olympics track meet this weekend. The extra driving to take her to practice has been well worth it. She was so excited to run track she could not wait to find out if she "made the team". I did not have the heart to tell her that everyone makes the team.

At the first practice about halfway through she could no longer stand it and asked the coach if she had made the team. She was greeted with a huge hug, smile and CONGRATULATIONS you are on the team! You could see the joy in her eyes.

Maddy is the only girl on the team and she loves that the boys can not keep up with her. We have started calling her Super Sonic. We are very excited about the meet this weekend and I know she will have a blast. She will be running the 100 meter. We think that next year she will run both the 100 and 200.

She is enjoying the Special Olympics program so much I have decided to go ahead and try swimming once track is over. In addition, this week Maddy will start an 8 week bible study at the church that is geared for Special Needs kiddos. This is such a wonderful program and the person teaching it is just as wonderful.

Wishing everyone a great week!

I thought I had her

2011-03-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Typically when the BF is out of town Maddy will take that Sunday off from church. I really like her to go so she can see her other friends, but I understand that she does need down time as well.

This past weekend one of my friends let me know they would not be at church. While I was helping Maddy get ready for church the following conversation occurred. Maddy and I go to church in the same building but we attend different services.

Me: Since my friend can't come to church today I think I will go to the service with you and the BF.

Maddy: NO, I don't think so

Me: But I have not been to Crowded House I wanna go and check it out. I promise to behave.

Maddy: No! You can go to your church and I will go to mine.

Me: Well if I don't have my friend to sit with and you won't let me go to your service maybe we should just stay at home. I could use the rest.

Maddy: NO!! You need to go to your service, if you don't see friends, it will give you a chance to make new friends to hang out with.

Me: Hmm, I like my friends, but I guess new ones would be ok too.

Maddy: See! You can still go to church even if your friend is not gonna be there.

Me: You are right!! I guess that means that next weekend when the BF is gone you will still go to church with me?

Maddy: *Glares*

Me: Because if I can go with my friend is not there, you can certainly go and see your friends when your boyfriend is not there.

Maddy: *Rolls Eyes* Mom, I get your point and I don't find it funny at all.

Things that are important

2011-03-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

We all have things that we think are important and as we grow and mature those things change for the better. At least we think they do! I have been living in the world of two young people very smitten with each other.

The boyfriend has my phone number and when given he was instructed to only call or text me when it was something really important. I have no desire to have a running commentary on their day and relationship.

Below are subjects/texts that have been deemed by him to be important enough to text me about so far this year.

* I am getting tired of saying "I like" to Maddy, can we start saying we love each other

* When can I come over and hang out at your house?

* What time can I call Maddy?

* I am bored right now and don't know what to do

* I want to call Maddy and ask her a question

* Will you be home before 7:00?

* Can Maddy go watch me at basketball practice?

* I have to clean my room today so I won't be able to talk to Maddy before noon

* Why is Maddy not answering her phone?

* What time can I call Maddy this morning?

* Let Maddy know I am home from my guitar lesson

* Can I call her at 3:00 or 4:00?

* Can I call her now or not?

* I have always wanted to join the miley cyrus fan club do you know how?

* Is Maddy home yet?

* What time does Maddy leave for Girl Scouts tomorow?

* Let me know if you got my last text

* I called Maddy and she did not answer. Do you know where she is?

* Can I call Maddy at 1:30? Is that a good time?

* Where is Maddy? I want to talk to her now

* Did you get my text?

* I called Maddy why is she not answering?

* Did you get my text? I wanted to know why Maddy was not answering her phone

* Is it ok if I call Maddy at 8 in the morning?

* When can I call Maddy again?

* Do you think Maddy would like the movie Zombieland?

* Have you seen Zombieland?

* I want to know if it ok for Maddy to call me a hottie

* Can Maddy come with me to basketball practice today?

* Let Maddy know I texted her and I am waiting for her response

* Tell Maddy to call me

* Can I come over sometime this month?

* When can I propose to Maddy?

* I am gonna delete your number so I don't text you too much

* I added your number back in case I ever needed it

* I will see you at 2 on Saturday. Is there anyway you can pick me up at 1 instead so I can spend more time with Maddy?

* When Maddy turns 18 do we have to have permission to kiss?

* Can Maddy and I talk on the phone till 10 tonight?

* Tell Maddy I called and she did not answer

This is just a sampling I took from the beginning of this year till today.
I think it is a good thing I have unlimited text messaging!

March Madness

2011-03-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

This is what greeted me when I flipped the calendar to March this morning. I still need to add in the weekly track practices once I get a firm day of week for practice.

Maddy's advice column

2011-02-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

Each month Maddy and I do a little newsletter. For this month's newsletter I filmed her answering questions from her newsletter readers. Here it is for you to enjoy! If you want to send a question for next month or if you want to recieve her newsletter send me an e-mail ja_davidson@yahoo.com

From the mouths of babes

2011-02-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Maddy and I did some mission work at the Church. We helped make sack lunches for a homeless shelter in the area. We also asked that the kiddos (all special needs kiddos) to make a card to go in the lunch. We were reviewing them before placing them in the sacks. This was everyone's favorite!!

Middle age

2011-02-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

The hubby had a birthday this week and I have one in May. We are now in our middle 40's. Over the past few weeks I have heard about people we know and it is so surprising to me that how different our lives are from those around us.

In the past month I have been told about two people who have just gone off the deep end crazy ,one suicide attempt and one divorce. I wonder what is it that causes this kind of change. On the flip side I see via Face Book a lot of people who are taking up marathons and long distance biking. This I can understand and I am now also in a phase to try to whip this body back into shape. However I am pretty sure I will not be taking my exercise to marathon level.

Even though I am trying to eat better, exercise more and overall be a better person I don't think is has to do with my age. I am doing these things for me, for my family and because I have known I needed to do it for a long, long time.

I am happy to report that I am very happy with my life, family, marriage and even though I complain once in a while I am happy to have work to do in addition to running the house. I stay very busy with things that I need to do and things that Maddy has to do. Maybe that is the difference? We are all very busy and that requires us to pitch in and help each other out. The family that works non-stop stays together?

Self esteem and respect are the keys for me. We all have it for each other and ourselves in my house. Is that the combination other people are missing? While my heart hurts for these people, I am thankful that I am not even close to being able to understand why or how for them.

I hope that everyone reading this is happy and healthy. Think something nice about yourself and say something nice to someone around you.

Never a dull moment

2011-02-18T10:36:00.001-08:00

Some stuff you just can't make up. This morning I heard Maddy get out of bed and do her usual stomp around upstairs morning routine. I am at my computer working and then I get this text:

Mom, can you come upstairs and help me? I have my bra stuck in my hair.

Fishing for answers

2011-02-17T05:18:00.000-08:00

Now that Maddy has the full time BF we are getting to see a few new behaviors from her. Most are good but a few are about to wear me out. They will get an idea about how to see each other and just like little kids they are gonna work every angle to try to see if they can get the result they want.

Last week I was able to enjoy the independence streak from Maddy and on Monday for the first time in our lives we sent off an application to camp. A true away from home 4 day camp this summer. I am very excited and extremely nervous about that.

We don't live near the BF or where most of her Church and Girl Scout activities are. Most things are about 25-35 minute drives one way for me. Since I stay home full time I tell people the one thing I have plenty of is time. We want Maddy to have a good social life and I am happy to spend the time to take her places.

The BF goes to a YMCA three times a week that has a really good day program for special needs kiddos. When I first learned about it, I considered it for Maddy. But then I had to factor in that it is 45 minutes one way from the house. I am not sure about the cost and honestly I have a lot I am working with Maddy on around the house. Then we started full force on our website business and that really cut down on the massive amounts of free time I had. When I look at my calendar and I see that Maddy already for this year has at least something once a month on the calendar until June, I don't worry about her not participating in a day program.

This week Maddy and the BF decided it would be great, wonderful and perfect if Maddy could be at the YMCA in the day program with him. Maddy comes down the stairs all smiles and that look of mischief in her eyes. Hey Mom, she asks, do you think it would be a good idea if I could get out of the house more often? She proceeds to tell me how I could get my work done and she would be out of the house with friends, having fun and learning things. I explained to her that it just was not feasible for her to attend the day program at the YMCA. Needless to say, she did not care for my answer.

A few minutes later I hear her in the computer room. "Hey Dad, do you think it is better for me to be stuck in the house all day or to be out somewhere having fun and learning stuff?" I am not sure everything she pitched to Mark, but I am sure she gave it her best. After she left the room, I explained to Mark why I had not pursued the day program and what the hold ups were. As always Mark had a few helpful things for me to look into and a possibility of making it happen that would work for all of us.

The next morning my phone rings and it is my Mother-in-law. She wanted to talk to me briefly to let me know about a conversation that she and Maddy had and did not want Maddy to use the Grandmom said routine on me. Evidently in their daily phone conversation Maddy asked her Grandmom if it was better for a girl to be stuck at home having to watch TV all day or would it be better if she was out of the house three days having fun, spending time with friends, going on field trips and learning things. Thankfully the MIL did not fall for the trap and knew that Maddy was up to something.

Maddy and I had a very LONG talk about how it is good to be persistent if you want something, but it is not good when you make other people look bad in trying to get what you want. I had to explain to her when she tells people she does nothing all day or that all she does is watch TV then it makes me look bad. We went over all the stuff she does and that we work on to let her know that she does in fact have plenty to do here at home.

2011-02-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Miss Independence

2011-02-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

I had a Dr. appointment today and since it was close to the house and early in the morning I let Maddy stay home. Things ran late (big surprise at a Dr.'s office) so I was much delayed in getting home.

When I could finally check in on her she let me know she was doing her laundry and cleaning the house. When I got home her laundry was going like gangbusters, she had dry mopped the floors, cleaned the kitchen counters, dust busted the stairs and was dusting the wood on the stair case. She had also taken her medication.

I mentioned to her when I got home how nice the house looked and smelled. She told me I was most welcome and she loved having chances like this to prove to me that she can live away from home and keep a nice clean place.

This and That

2011-02-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

Basically have a whole bunch of nothing for today.

Happy to say that we are staying warm in the non-snow event we had here. Weeks like this just zap my energy and I want to sleep all day. I am going to attempt today to take a nap.

Out of the blue I heard from someone from my past. It was good and disturbing both to hear from them. It seems that the home life is not good at all. Guess they just needed someone to talk to. Their spouse has taken mid-life crisis to a whole new level and I spend the better part of 45 minute with my mouth agape at the stories. It got me thinking a bit and the hubby and I are such low key peeps, I wonder if I got the call because they knew I would not have any drama, trauma, or crisis to bend their ear about.

This weekend I guess there is some sort of football game on the TV. We typically go over to a friends house for part of the game. Maddy wants to go up to the church and watch the game with all the other high school kiddos. I am sure it has nothing to do with the BF being there. I think it is good that she is trying new things and so thankful that the environment at the church is so open and loving that she can spend and evening with high school kids around her age and I don't have to worry.

We are almost done with our Girl Scout Cookie stint. The hubby was wonderful and took the sign up sheet to his work. Maddy is in a small troop that is just special needs kiddos and they go do something fun and social every month. They went to a small theater to see a play this month and she came home smiling and talked about it for days. The cast signed the playbill for the girls and Maddy loves to show off that she is the only one that someone wrote Princess Maddy.

I have made posts before about how Maddy is constantly showered with presents from people just because. It almost happened again. We were at the restaurant we eat at almost once a week (free plug for Carrabbas Grill here) and the owner asked if Maddy was an Edward fan or a Jacob fan. He said that the Blockbuster that is shutting down had a large framed picture of Jacob and he almost bought it for her, but then remembered she liked Edward.

Toward the end of last year Maddy asked me if we could start doing her monthly newsletter again. This is something I did our first year of homeschooling. It gave her motivation to write and be accepting of my "editing" her writing. It challenged her to be creative and she loved hearing from people when the received her newsletter. This week we sat down and got the January newsletter done. She had several stories she had written during the month so we had plenty to choose from. Many days I would ask what she was doing and she would call down, writing up something for the news letter. This time around she had better ideas of what to put in the newsletter and the content.

While we working on the news letter she decided she wanted part of it to be an advice column so we have asked all the readers to send in questions for Maddy to answer. So far we have received some great and funny questions. I am considering video taping Maddy answering the questions so we can see her reactions to them. I have not told her any of the questions so it will be a true reaction and response. This will mean more work on my part, but I think everyone will love it including Maddy.

If you are just a blog reader, but would like to receive Maddy's newsletter send me and e-mail at ja_davidson@yahoo.com and I will add you to the distribution list.

Stay warm where ever you are and I think I will look out the window one more time to see if the snow they promised magically appeared.

Decisions Decisions

2011-01-27T04:37:00.000-08:00

Maddy came downstairs the other day so very excited. She could not wait to show me the very in depth 4 question quiz she took from one of her many teen magazines. Within 4 questions they had determined that she was the perfect girl for Justin Bieber.

Maddy took her time to walk me through each question, how she answered, why she answered that way and with each step she assured me that she had not peeked at the bottom to find how to get the answer she wanted. After we finished the 4 questions, amazingly enough, right there in print it stated she was perfect for Justin Bieber and should be the one he marries.

With her goal firmly in mind to get a marriage proposal she informed me that we just needed to find a way to get her close to Justin and it would be a done deal. She pondered out loud how she could get him to notice her. She wondered how long it would take for him to propose. She knew it would be difficult because of all those other silly girls thinking they were the one for him. Too bad they had not taken this quiz then they would know Maddy was the one. After a few minutes we decided it might be better to attack this problem the next time he would be in town.

Once the joy of envisioning this marriage proposal was over reality hit. Oh my! "Mom what should I tell the BF?" He would be crushed if I left him to marry Justin! Should I tell him this? He is such a good BF, I don't want to hurt his feelings.

Thank goodness after after a few minutes of how great the BF is we decided to keep the Justin marriage proposal a secret and worry about the BF after she was engaged to Justin. This way she could have both her men. She swore me to secrecy and then went upstairs to tell her Grandmom all about it.

Excuses and Bad Habits

2011-01-25T05:40:00.000-08:00

Excuses and bad habits suck. I have both of them haunting me right now and I don't like it because I only have myself to blame. Won't someone step up and take the blame for me??

I have stopped exercising and fallen back into trying to hoard "me" time. I think it started when the work on the website kicked into full swing here at the house. (Shameless plug #99: Check out www.saveonbrew.com) When I started having to "work" again I fell back into habits I had when I used to work outside the house.

My sense of balance became all askew and I focused so hard on getting the projects and tasks done I let everything else fly out the window. The good news is that I did not put on any weight, however I did not lose any weight either.

I now have a better sense of balance of what needs to be done, when to do it, I have the house back in shape and refuse to have excuses to keep me from exercising. I am glad I am aware of the bad habit, but I wish I had not let it sneak up on me.

Enough with the whining and moaning and off to exercise for an hour!

Date Night

2011-01-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

Last night Maddy went out on her first real date. She has been out with the boyfriend before, but I was always there and it was always for just an hour or so. For Christmas the BF received tickets to Monster Jam and an extra one to take whoever he wanted. Big surprise he wanted Maddy to go with him. For those who don't know what Monster Jam is, it is not a rock concert, it is a Monster Truck Rally. My pop music, celebrity watching, girl was headed straight into the mouth of madness know as Man/Boy world!

I had the normal worries that any parent will have when your child is spending the evening with other people. Maddy might be 17 but she still has no filter and will pretty much say what she thinks. Most of the time it is sweet and endearing, but other times, oh my. I worried about the crowds as Maddy has no sense of direction and I hoped that the noise would not be too much for her. My biggest fear is the fear I always have when I am not near her, and that is the fear of a seizure. I am happy to report that Maddy was polite, did not get lost and no seizures.

The BF and his Dad picked Maddy up at 5 and off to the event they went. It was an interesting feeling as they drove off, it was mixed with happiness for her and anxiety for me. It makes me so happy to see Maddy being able to do something like this. Anytime she gets to do "normal" type things I think about how much it means to me when everyone else takes things like this for granted.

Even though most Saturday nights she is squirreled away in her room on the phone while listening to music and watching TV at the same time, the house felt empty without her. We were not sure when she would get home, but the best guess was around 10:30. Of course I started the clock watching at 10:00. She arrived home just after 10 so I did not have to stare at the clock too much.

Her first comments on the evening were that is was okay and the noise was not bad since the BF brought along the headphones they use when shooting guns. She told me proudly that she did not complain at all! I had spent some time with her earlier in the week showing her clips on You Tube so she would know some of the names of the trucks and what to expect. I was informed that she did see both Gravedigger and Monster Mutt. Her favorite part of the evening was the motorcycle exhibition. It will be interesting to hear as the week goes on what she tells people about Monster Jam.

When I asked would she go again she gave me a huge smile and said you bet I would! I have a funny feeling that Mark and I are going to have more free evenings in our future.

TJiller

2011-01-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

This is a TJiller

This is a TJiller with fancy beer in it

The reason I have Tjiller in my house is because of a blog the Hubby wrote for our SaveonBrew website.

To learn more about the amazing Tjiller simply read this:

Tjiller -- from the people that brought you Bkt!

While you are there, check out the site and who knows maybe we will save you some money on beer as well.

What we do for love

2011-01-16T04:20:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to to do something I really, really, really don't want to do. But for Maddy, I will.

She and BF have not seen each other in 3 weeks. He was out of town hunting (rumor has it I might score some deer meat today!!) and then he had to go to the wedding. Typically they see each other once a week and of course they talk on the phone every day. When you are that age 3 weeks seems like 3 years.

About week 1.5 into their being apart they started in on spending time after church today. What they really wanted to have happen was for the BF to come home with us and go to the in laws. (We pretty much spend every Sunday afternoon with the in-laws.) However, the BF has Special Olympics basketball practice today so that was not an option.

I really despise going to a mall on the weekend. Why should I ever go on a Saturday or a Sunday when I can go on a Tuesday when it is nice and quiet. Because I know how much they want to see each other and how much they want to hold hands. (We are mean parents and we don't let them hold hands in church.) I told them both I would take them to the mall today.

So after church I get to go eat at the mall food court , then walk either in front of or behind two teenagers and try my best to not embarrass them. Thank goodness the BF has to be home at a certain time before practice or I think they would have me there all day.

Next week is the big date..I am still not sure I am ready for it, but oh well. More information on that coming soon...

Milestones and Freedoms

2011-01-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

Did you hear that? If so don't be alarmed it was merely me doing the happy song and dance. It was a bit like this:

This weekend I finished a HUGE project that will add over 3000 stores to our SaveonBrew.com database. I have a few other projects, but none as big as this one was.

In addition Maddy has taken full ownership of her laundry and all that entails. This is one more thing off my plate. She is also have much better success at making her own sandwiches.

If things continue at this rate I just might be able to lay on the couch, watch TV and eat bon-bons all day.

Overheard

2011-01-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last night I went upstairs to tell Maddy goodnight and when she heard my footsteps she tells the boyfriend, "Hold on, here comes my Mom".

When I got into her room I asked what they had been talking about. This request is received with an annoying look, eye roll and a sigh. "I was telling him about how clean I keep my room and all the house work I know how to do."

Uh-huh I say and tell her goodnight.

I walk out of her room and pause to wait for the conversation to start up again.

"Ok, my mom is gone, where were we?" "That's right, so I know how to mop the floor, I can dust and I also am in charge of keeping the kitchen counters clean."

The most interesting wedding I did not attend

2011-01-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

The boyfriend attended a wedding of a cousin this weekend. It has been a most interesting experience for me through all the accounts of the event through Maddy. I must say before you read any further, all information has been passed to me via Maddy and what she has heard from the boyfriend.

A few months ago:

Maddy: "The Boyfriend" has to attend his cousin's wedding in Jan. He gets to be an usher.
Me: Cool

In December:

Maddy: Don't forget that "The Boyfriend" won't be at church that one Sunday in January because his cousin is getting married and they have to go out of town.
Me: OK

A few weeks later, and pretty much at least once a week a reference is made to the wedding.

This Friday:

Maddy: Wow, the wedding is tomorrow, big day, did you know that the wedding is tomorrow?
Me: No way!! So is "The Boyfriend" excited about getting married?
Maddy: NO MOM!! He is not getting married his cousin is.
Me: Oh, ok, guess I was confused

Saturday Morning:

Maddy: Oh no Mom! The wedding might not happen.
Me: What??
Maddy: His cousin is throwing up.
Me: Are they sick or just nervous?
Maddy: I don't know just know he is puking.

Saturday Late Afternoon:

Maddy: MOM!!!
Me: What????
Maddy: Oh NO! Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
Me: The bad news
Maddy: "The Boyfriend" got hurt so bad he saw the light!!
Me: What??? What happened and why did he see the light?
Maddy: He fell down and he has a black eye and all kinds of cuts and bruises.
Me: Well, what is the good news?
Maddy: We think he will be ok and I think his cousin did get married.

Saturday Late Evening:

Me: So what happened to "The Boyfriend"? How did he fall, where did he fall?
Maddy: I don't know, but he fell so hard he passed out.
Me: Did he have to go to the hospital?
Maddy: No, there was a Dr. there
Me: So did he fall before the wedding, during the wedding or at the reception?
Maddy: I don't know, but he is still bleeding!!
Me: Well did his cousin get married?
Maddy: I don't know
Me: Wow this sounds like quite the wedding

Saturday Night before I go to bed:
Maddy is on the phone with "The Boyfriend" so she puts him on speaker phone

Me: How are you feeling?
BF: Ok, I guess, did you hear I fell down?
Me: I sure did.
BF: Yeah, I have a black eye, and my hands are all bleeding and scratched up and I broke my glasses.
Me: OUCH! I am glad you are ok.

Sunday Morning:

Maddy: Mom, I am really worried about "The Boyfriend" is still bleeding from the cut on his hand, I think he has lost a LOT of blood.
Me: I am sure he will be fine, his family loves him and will make sure he gets the care he needs.
Maddy: Ok, I guess you are right.
Me: So did you ever find out how he fell, and how was the wedding?
Maddy: I don't know, but he still has a black eye!

I am most interested to hear an adult version of the events. This was quite the wedding!

No, I can do it

2011-01-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

We have been working on Maddy doing things for herself and taking initiative. Last night Mark and I were watching a movie and Maddy came in the room. She stated that she was hungry and was going to make herself a sandwich. We both asked her if she needed help and she stated that she could do it herself.

A couple of minutes later she returns to the room with the meat saying she just needed help opening the container. I opened it and asked if she needed help. "No, MOM I can do it myself".

A couple of minutes later she returns to the room with the bread needing help with the twist tie. I open the bread for her and ask if she needs help. "MOM, I already said I don't need help".

A couple of minutes later she returns to the room with the cheese because she could not get the package open. I begin to laugh so hard she won't even acknowledge my presence in the room. Mark gets up and helps her finish making the sandwich.

I guess once I can find Maddy friendly containers she might not need a little help with making sandwiches. Until then I guess we will have more "No, I can do it" moments.

Last years goals, how did I do?

2011-01-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

These are the goals I set for myself last January, I wonder how I did..

1. I am going to lose 24 pounds this year. That is 2 pounds a month and if I don't do it then shame on me for being lazy. Hmm..I guess I am partially lazy, I am still hovering at about 10 pounds down and just myself to blame.

2. By the end of the year I want Maddy to cut her own food 75% of the time. It will be so nice to go out to eat and be able to eat my food when it arrives, not after I have taken care of Maddy. Maddy is doing a lot better with cutting food, she is also doing her own laundry, cleaning her room (real cleaning), and a ton of other things. Great year for her!

3. I will have more patience with Maddy. I have already improved on this and now I need to take it to the next level. There needs to be a lot more of me watching and guiding and letting things take 5 times longer than if I had done it. She will never master anything if I keep doing it for her. Better than before, can still improve on this.

4. I am going to actually follow up and visit people when I say I will. The past year has brought me new friends and lots of good times with them. I need to do that with all my friends. Did great at the beginning of the year, but then we started another business and that became a time vampire. Hopefully soon I can work on this again.

5. I am going to try to be a better person and not fall to the temptation to speak negatively about people. Instead I will find something good to say or offer help for the situation. Good Lord, I love me some gossip! Doing better, but still need to make sure my words are positive ones, not negative ones.

6. This year the blog will have more of my personality to it. I am going to write what I think and not worry about who is reading it. I would also like to get to 20 followers this year. So I better write some darn funny/thought provoking posts! I still fall into the post a lot and then disappear. I suppose consistency should come first.

7. I will get the things on my list done that have been there for a long time. The Letter of Intent will be done, the complete clean out of the file cabinet will get done and the organization and certificates for all our art will be done. The photo/serial number inventory will get done. Letter of Intent is done, the store room at one point in time was clean, my to-do list has taken a life of its own!

8. I will cook more and add more variety to our dinner menus. Mostly I will add more vegetables and find a way to have Maddy be a part of the dinner making process. (This goes along with items number 2 and 3.) We are eating pretty darn good around here, however I do need to get Maddy more involved.

9. I will finish the dog training I have talked about and wanted to do. Bruiser is very smart and we need to put his energy and little brain to work! Pretty much all we did with Bruiser this year was walk him and love the beejeebus out of him.

10. I will live, love and laugh every day and count my blessings. I will not worry about the things I can not change, but concentrate on the people and situations I can impact. Did a pretty darn good job of this one.

Looking forward to an awesome 2011 and hope that when I do a year in review this time next year it will be amazing!

Since my last post

2010-12-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

I managed to post a picture for Thanksgiving. Since then I have done the following things in kinda this particular order.

Took Maddy to a Christmas Party at church
Decorated the house for Christmas (tree can be seen in pictures below)
Seen the neurologist to up her medication a bit to try to avoid another big, bad seizure
Took Maddy to the Candy Cane Ball

Attended a Christmas party that has been held every year for the past 33 years. People that we call family by choice.
Wrapped what seems like 100 Christmas presents
Took Maddy on a Christmas date with the boyfriend

Dropped my retainer, finally found it and went to the orthodontist
Worked, worked and then worked some more to finally help get our website national. Check out www.saveonbrew.com if you have a zip code we can help you find beer on sale!
Took the dog to see Santa

Attempted to clean the house, feed the family and get some sleep once in a while

Turkey Day

2010-11-25T12:23:00.001-08:00

Dancing with the Stars

2010-11-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

I have not watched the last show this season, but I am about to find out who won. There seemed to be quite a bit of hubbub regarding Bristol Palin this season.

You know life is pretty good when you actually have time to ponder this. First I think their use of the word "Star" is not the same way I would use it. In my definition of the word most of the people they have would not be on if I were running the show. They however decided that Bristol was a "star" worthy of the show.

Should she be in the finals? I guess so..she has improved every week. Is it really fair to compare her to those who came to the show already knowing how to dance? Did I want Brandy in the finals, yep. Did I want Rick and Cheryl in the finals? Oh yeah, have you seen all of Cheryl's great free style dances. But did I every pick up the phone to vote? Nope, so do I get to complain? Nope.

The one constant in Dancing with the Stars is Derek Hough. I am not typically one for a California blonde, but wow, every time he steps on the dance floor....

So no matter who won, I leave you with this little tibit!

The Flurry begins

2010-11-18T04:57:00.000-08:00

Today is our first official holiday event. I have to take Maddy to a Thanksgiving lunch event that she was invited to by the boyfriend. We already have 4 events on the calendar for December and that does not include the traditional family events that will be occurring.

It is fantastic that the calendar is packed with events for Maddy to be attending. This is everything we hoped for when we decided I would stay at home full time. We knew that she would be able to have a social life and a better education at home than in the public school system. We are so thankful that we are able to provide this for her.

In the past year she has matured so much, is doing so many more life skill type activities on her own and has true friends and a very nice boyfriend.

This holiday season will be special because of all the places I get to see Maddy have true joy in her eyes and in her laughter.

Learning to behave

2010-11-17T04:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Maddy and I were out and about and decided to pick up some lunch to bring home. Maddy told me she would pay for lunch. She did not want to go inside so she handed me her wallet to pay for lunch. The wallet is covered with cut out and taped on pictures of Justin Bieber.

Maddy: Ok Mom, if they ask why you have pictures of Justin...

Me: I am gonna say "He is SO dreamy"

Maddy: NO, really Mom, let me finish. If they ask why you have pictures of Justin all over the wallet just explain that it is your daughters wallet.

Me: No way, I am gonna make googly eyes and say he is dreamy

Maddy: MOM! I am serious, that would just be weird. Explain the wallet is mine.

Me: Ok, so I am gonna go inside and if they ask me (insert very stern look from Maddy) I am gonna explain that my very sweet daughter offered to buy me lunch and this is her wallet.

Maddy: Wow, Mom, that was really good, better than I expected.

I go inside, buy lunch, do not get asked about the wallet. As soon as I am back in the car...

Maddy: Where is my change? Did they ask about the wallet?

I gave her the change, explained there were no questions about the wallet. One day I might grow up and behave so I won't have to be told what to do when I buy lunch!

Movies

2010-11-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

We watch a lot of movies. We watch them for fun, we watch them for the husband's script writing business. We watch them because the husband, knows someone who produced it, the studio, or some other random connection.

There are a whole lot of really bad movies out there. I think recently we have seen them all. One of the things I am so proud of the husband for is that he puts his words into action. Everyone at one point in time has said that they could write something better than the drivel at the movie theaters. The husband now has several scripts written, a couple of trips out to LA, and doors are starting to open.

This is a full time job and it requires an amazing amount of patience. It is interesting to me how I watch movies differently now that I live with a writer. I was able to watch a movie from a completely new perspective in October.

The husband was hired a few years ago to do a re-write of a movie script. It was called a page on re-write and he worked hard on this. Many hours, many phone calls and many ideas where exchanged. For a while we thought we would be able to go and see the movie filmed in Panama, but due to passport issues he was unable to.

It was interesting to watch the movie knowing that the husband was the writer for the script. It was fun to watch and know some of the players in the movie and some of the inside stories about the filming of the movie.

The movie is now at Red Box if you want to rent it. It won't be the best movie you will see this year, but you can say you know who wrote it. I can assure it you will be better than Human Centipede, Frozen, and Air Bender.

Things I ponder

2010-11-15T03:55:00.000-08:00

Hello there blog, nice to see you are still here. Lately I have been pondering blog writing, why people do it,why I read the blogs I read, and why I write a blog. However, I suppose since I have not written much I have pondered when I don't write as well.

Mostly I don't write because I don't put the butt in the chair and the fingers to the keyboard. Lately I seem to feel that I need to have a story to tell or something cute to say. When I get busy with life I feel like I have nothing to say so I don't.

I am going to try to write every morning before I get the day going and see what happens. Who knows what sort of rambling I will come up with. I sort of have an idea for tomorrow morning but for now here are things that make me ponder.

* Am I the only one in the world who uses a dust buster and lint brush on my comforter to get dog hair off it?

*Who decided it was a good idea to hire people to hold up a sign for their business or twirl the sign around? Was there a survey and people consistently said that they would not be tempted to visit places unless they were entertained at a stop light by a "sign show"?

*How could the Texans lose this weekend. I mean really? I could have made that last play and not lost!!

*Why are their already houses with full Christmas lights and decorations? I LOVE Christmas but their are rules that must be followed or it becomes Christmas chaos!

Life with Seizures

2010-11-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

I find myself making little adjustments to my daily routine. I know the reason why, but it is interesting to see how the routine changes because of Maddy's seizures. Lately the seizure activity has occurred after a shower and I now find myself either showering first, or waiting about 20 minutes after she is out before I will take mine. Time goes by much slower now after she showers and I find myself being thankful each minute that goes by seizure free.

Looking for patterns has been a constant for us since the seizure activity first began. When she has a seizure the first questions are:

Was it the same time of day? Same weather?
Did the seizure last the same amount of time?
Was the seizure the same as the last one or different? How was it different?
How long has it been since the last seizure. Are we entering a consistent seizure cycle?
Did she do anything unusual? Was she extremely tired, upset or excited?
Could I have noticed something and I didn't?

I have to make sure and take a step back sometimes because if I don't then I can become to afraid to let her do anything. That is not fair to any of us. Even though it is very difficult we let Maddy stay at home if she wants when we zip out to dinner or run a few errands. We are never very far from home, but it always lingers in the back of our minds.

Until there is a permanent cure for fix for her seizures we will continue to adjust our lives to allow her the most independent life she can have.

Bieber Fever

2010-11-06T14:03:00.001-07:00

Tonight I enter the land of screaming pre-teen girls. Wish me luck!!

I think...

2010-11-03T03:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while in the car Maddy had this conversation at me and with herself.

I like Avril Lavigne because she is cool. Do you know why she is cool? Because she does what she wants, she dresses like she wants and she does not care what other people think. She does her own thing and that is cool. That is why she is so cool and why I like her so much. Yeah it is cool to be able to do your own thing and not worry about other people.

I think??

She was so forceful in saying the first stuff and then I could see her processing everything she had just said. I found it interesting that she decided to end on a less powerful note.

Blonde Joke that is no joke

2010-10-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today Maddy and I spent about 3 hours at the beauty college. I love that we get to help students, get a good product and we don't break the bank. I got all over color and Maddy got highlights, cut and blowdry/style. It was a bargain!

Maddy's highlights are blonde and so now she is more blonde than brunette. Once we got home she ran right upstairs to text the boyfriend about the new hair color and I returned a call to my aunt.

While I am talking to my aunt, Maddy comes downstairs because she needs help with her text message. She needed to know how to spell blonde. After writing it down for Maddy I return to my phone call where my aunt is laughing.

She said only a blonde would need help spelling blonde!!

Rah Rah Ree

2010-10-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

Recently Maddy started in a cheer program at church. She has always wanted to be a cheer leader and she is so happy to finally be able to do this. Last week was our first week and she did well. Most of the time she just looked a bit shy and embarrassed. She remembered all the cheers and did pretty good on the arm movements.

This week is cheer pictures after the game. I am hoping for a real smile and not the I am trying to smile are you happy look.

Last week all my pictures had girls that I don't have permission to post so I promise after this weeks game I will post a picture for ya!

Communion

2010-10-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

Recently Maddy has started going to the mainstream Senior High service at out church. This change occurred because this is the service "the boyfriend" attends. I like that she is around more kiddos her age and that she gets a bit more message out of the service.

A few weeks ago they had communion for the service. After church that day I was asking Maddy about it and the following conversation occurred.

Me: I heard you had communion during church today.

Maddy: What? I did not do anything, I was well behaved!

Me: I am sure you were well behaved, but did you participate in communion?

Maddy: Where are you hearing this stuff? I told you I did not do anything in church, I was good and followed all the rules just like I am supposed to!

Me: When you were in church today did you eat a piece of bread?

Maddy: Oh yeah we did that today.

Me: Honey, do you know what communion is?

Maddy: No not really.

On the way home we talked about communion, what it was, what it meant.

See Mom!

2010-10-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Today while we were at the park Maddy wanted to know what her birthstone was, what color it was and how to say it properly. I told her it was Opal and that opals have a lot of different colors in them. She then informed me that for Christmas the boyfriend was going to give her a ring with her birthstone in it. I told her that we needed to make sure to get something nice for the boyfriend since he has spent so much money on her. (While he was on vacation he bought her a very sweet rhinestone heart necklace.)

Later when we were in the car she was telling me that he liked the zany band heart bracelet she gave him and that he loved the zany band dog shaped ring she gave him last weekend. I could almost hear the light bulb go off in her head. Hey MOM!! I do give him stuff! I gave him the zany bands and I always give him the posters from my room when I don't want them anymore.

Uh..huh..used posters vs. jewelry!

Calories in, Calories out

2010-10-12T04:36:00.000-07:00

This week the hubby and I started the calorie count routine. We are documenting everything we eat and we have our target number to watch every day. It is amazing to me the empty calories I eat without thinking about it. Long story short it is all about calories in and calories out. This change works for me because I don't feel like I can't have anything. I get to make a choice!

Here is an interesting article about the theory of it is all about calorie count and exercise:

http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/10/07/lose-weight-eating-twinkies/

Why Maddy is so awesome

2010-10-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

I am constantly amazed and amused by Maddy. She has a sweet and unique personality and a lot of that showed this past Thursday.

Unfortunately Thursday afternoon was most unpleasant here at the house. Maddy had multiple grand mal seizures that required a call to 911 and a trip to the hospital. (For those who don't know, Maddy has suffered seizures for most of her life and thank goodness we only have to do a hospital run every couple of years.)

Because she was having a difficult time they had to drug her up pretty good. They also gave her some medicine for the migraine after as well. Once she started coming to she looked around and slurred to me "Mom, am I in the hospital?". When I said yes, she said, "Oh man! This sucks! I don't get to go to Granmom's house now."

While I was waiting for the hubby to come get us from the ER I kept stepping towards the end of the room to look for him. One time Maddy told me not to leave her alone. When I told her that I had been with her the whole time she very quickly told me that I had in fact not been with her the whole time. She was not pleased that I had chosen to stay in the room instead of going with her when she got the Cat Scan!

On the way home we stopped by the in-laws so that she could see them and they could see her. She was still pretty loopy and while they were asking her questions about how she felt, she proudly announced to them that she puked while in the hospital. Talk about TMI.

Once home she slept for several hours and when she finally wandered out to find us she noticed that we had already eaten. She looked at me and said "Wow, you guys went ahead and ate dinner? What about me? What do I get for dinner?"

The next morning when she woke up after a nice night of sleep she quietly asks me from upstairs if she can finally get up or will I make her go back to bed yet again.

I did let her get up and we went on to do all our Friday and weekend plans. Thank goodness all is back to normal around here.

We survived the birthday

2010-10-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

This past week Maddy turned 17. She was very excited about her birthday. Technically she is excited every year for her birthday. It is never to early to start planning. I already know that next year her birthday is on Saturday. It won't be long until we are discussing the cake and theme. Wonder where she got the planning ahead genes??

This year was a bit different and special because her boyfriend came over to the in-laws with us. She and the boyfriend are just too darn cute together. They both just light up when the see each other. Maddy had very specific plans and ideas for her party this year. I guess she decided that the adults could not be trusted on our own to get it right.

Maddy came down the stairs the other morning all happy and told me that she had just talked to Grandmom. Grandmom had gotten her a cake with Justin Bieber on it, she only got two candles, a 1 and a 7. Grandmom had talked to the younger nephew so he would not blow out the candles since it was Maddy's special birthday. She went on about a few other things and about how awesome Grandmom was.

I get a call the next morning from Grandmom and have the funniest conversation. It seems that Maddy called Grandmom and laid down the law. These were the rules that had to be followed at the birthday party!

1. I must have a Justin Bieber birthday cake. I want white cake and if you don't have a picture for the cake store, then go buy a magazine and pick one. Make sure you pick a good picture that I will like.

2. I don't want a bunch of candles!! Don't put on those candles that won't blow out! I want a 1 and a 7 candle.

3. You can't let my cousin blow out my candles this year. I will have my boyfriend over and I need to blow out my own candles. this year.

4. When we arrive you need to stay in the kitchen. Pop has to answer the door, meet my boyfriend and not tease him. Then I will bring him to the kitchen to meet you.

5. When it is time to eat the cake Pop can not eat the piece of the cake with Justin's nose on it and he can't make any nose jokes.

Thank goodness we were all able to follow the rules and it was a rousing success. Who knows maybe she could be a party planner one day!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

Pawn shopping

2010-09-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

I got a call a couple of weeks ago from my Mom. She was all excited to tell me that she was doing something she had never done before. She went to a pawn shop to shop! She was amazed at what items were in a pawn shop. Living in a small country town she was most impressed with the chainsaw collection available.

She called me on the way to her second pawn shop as she discovered that she could get jewelry from the pawn shop. The way I feel about purses is how my Mother feels about jewelry. You can never have enough! I mentioned that there were a couple of pawn shops near my house and then next thing I know her and her friend were headed to me so we could all pawn shop.

We were in a shop not far from my house and Mom found a ring that she really liked. She had already bought one ring and she was not sure if she wanted to spend the money on another one.

*whispering*

Friend: You know you can offer them less money right?

Mom: What?? Why did you not tell me that at the first shop, I could have saved some money!

Friend: I was just getting warmed up on my shopping, I forgot.

Pawnshopguy: Hello Ladies, can I show something to you?

Mom: Yeah, I guess let me see this ring.

Pawnshopguy: Very nice ring, it is 179.00

Mom: Did you know this is my first time to shop in a pawn shop? I have never done this before, I am so impressed with your jewelry selection! (work it Mom, work it)

Pawnshopguy: Well then, let me talk to my manager and see if we can get you a better deal on this then.

Mom: *snickers* This is fun!

Pawnshopguy: Ok we can let you have this for 129.00

Mom: Hmmm..

*Mom looks at ring and there is a long awkward silence*

Pawnshopguy: *leans in and whispers* You know you can counter offer right?

Mom: *looking sly* I will give you a 100.00 bill for the ring

Pawnshopguy: *winks* Let me check with my manager

Mom: *looks addicted to pawn shopping now*

Pawnshopguy: We have a deal. What name would you like to appear on the reciept?

Mom: *gives her name*

Me: MOM!!!! You could have been anyone you wanted!!

I anticipate that there will be more pawn shop stories appearing on my blog!

Fashion Tips from Maddy

2010-09-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Today Maddy and I were at the mall just walking around and checking everything out. We wandered into Victoria's Secret Pink store and were browsing at all the undies and such. When we got back to the sale section we saw a cute shirt. Then I noticed that the entire back of the shirt was black lace. The following conversation took place.

Me: Ooo wow..the whole back of this shirt is lace

Maddy: Well I guess I can't have this shirt then

Me: Probably not

Maddy: This happens all the freaking time!!

Me: What do you mean?

Maddy: When Grandmom and I go shopping we always find the cutest things and then there is always lace or it shows to much and I can't have it.

Me: Do you really want to wear a shirt that would let everyone see your bra or omg, what if you were not wearing a bra at all!!

Maddy: No mom, only hookers dress like that

Me: *Silent and mouth agape*

Maddy: Mom, what is wrong, heck I don't even really know what a hooker is.

Me: Where did you hear the word hooker?

Maddy: Duh, from Family Guy.

Me: *leans over and whispers to Maddy what a hooker does for a living*

Maddy: Yeah, no shirt with lace for me.

Things I have heard lately

2010-09-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Maddy and I have settled into a nice school routine. She still seems a bit shocked that I expect her to do work every day, but overall things are going great.

Now that we are back together and interacting all day she has said some funny things lately. In no particular order here they are:

1. So "insert boyfriends name" is starting up a band and he wants me to go on tour with him. I told him I would have to wait till summer since I have school right now.

2. So when we are at the mall for my birthday and "insert boyfriends name" is with us, do you think he and I could "sneak off" for a few minutes?

3. I am cold I should have broughten my jacket with me. Do you mean brought? Broughten is not a word. Yes it is a word, I just used it and you knew what I meant!

4. Mom, you need to relax a bit, you know one day I am gonna leave the nest, I can't live with you forever.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T09:15:00.001-07:00

Keeping the Labor in Labor Day

2010-09-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hoping everyone in Blog land had a great weekend. Around here we made sure to keep the labor in Labor day weekend.

On Saturday we ran all the errands that needed to be done, got my car inspected, oil changed and such. Then I worked in the kitchen for a couple of hours to make fresh pico and home fajitas. They were fabulous!

Sunday before the kiddo and I headed to church the hubby and I installed some lighting above our kitchen cabinets. The hubby also fixed the lights in the computer room that were being persnickety. Sunday afternoon was spent at the in-laws where we had grilled steaks, good company and a couple of cold beers.

Monday brought the break from laundry since my dryer died for the second time. However it should be repaired today I hope! We did the obligatory grilled hamburgers between rain showers and spent most of the day relaxing and playing video games.

Now for the shameless plugs:

I have a dear friend who has started up a FB page for good, easy family dinners. Check out the page and "Like It" if you feel so inclined!

Whats on Taras Table

Don't forget to check out www.saveonbrew.com and if you are in Texas let me know if you found any great deals!!

Saveonbrew also has a FB page, so go and "Like it " as well!

Maddy and I start school this week, should have some good Maddy stories soon!

RIP Robert Schimmel

2010-09-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

You were one funny dude. Grateful the hubby and I were able to see you in concert a couple of times.

Sending thoughts and prayers to your family.

Finding Balance

2010-08-31T07:22:00.000-07:00

When it comes to general life I can multitask pretty well. But when it comes to a job or project that needs to be done I struggle. The goal is always to get it done and off the list. Now that I am running the house and working on the website I have had to learn how to balance both.

The past two weeks I feel that a balance has been found and I am productive in both areas. House things get done, errands are run and everyone eats dinner. The website is coming along nicely and I think the Beta phase is going well. The site is working as it should and we are learning how to be more efficient and making a ton of improvements.

It will be interesting to see how I handle next week when Maddy and I start our school year. I know that will take up several hours of the day, but I am sure that after a couple of weeks we will find a good routine.

In the meantime do me a favor and friend SaveonBrew on FB, follow it on Twitter and tell everyone you know. The sooner this takes off the sooner I can finally get that cabana boy and tennis lessons!!
If you don't wanna do it for the cheap beer then do it for all the out of work cabana boys!!!

Things that make you go HMMMM

2010-08-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

I found this article amusing:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/27/fidel-castro-osama-bin-laden-us-spy

Don't forget to go check out SOB!!!

Shameless Plug

2010-08-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

It is finally done! Well almost....

For those of you who live in Texas please participate in the Beta and give me feedback. For those of you not in Texas plan to see the site ready for you in about 4-6 weeks.

The site is www.saveonbrew.com

We have harnessed the power of the internet to locate the best beer prices and we are doing it just for YOU! Please check out the site, send me feedback and of course tell all your friends!!!

Lessons are lurking in the least likely places

2010-08-27T04:39:00.000-07:00

This week Maddy was at speech and in addition to the actual speech therapy part of the session time they often work on critical thinking skills and other applicable social things.

This week is was a great work sheet on problem solving consequences. To make it a little more challenging the therapist required Maddy to give two examples of what could happen in certain events.

One of the questions was about leaving your wallet on the counter at the grocery store. Maddy immediately launched into how someone could get the wallet, steal your identity and use your credit cards.

The speech therapist was very impressed with the depth and quickness of the answer. When she is telling me I thought about my Mother and all she had to deal with when her identity was stolen. I just assumed that Maddy must have overheard Mom and during this time.

When the speech therapist asked how Maddy knew about identity theft, Maddy just smiled really big and said "I learned it on Spongebob".

All about reading

2010-08-24T13:40:00.001-07:00

On the way to speech today Maddy told me that she loves to read.

She said the reason she loves to read is that it is like TV in your head.

How embarassing for you

2010-08-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I slept in on a Saturday morning. I must have slept longer than the family thought I needed to and Maddy came in the room to wake me. After we visited for a few minutes I got out of bed to get ready for the day.

The following conversation occurred just after I left the bed.

Maddy: Ummm, MOM!

Me: What?

Maddy: Did you know that you are naked?

Me: Yeah, I know I am naked.

Maddy: OMG MOM!!! HOW EMBARRASSING FOR YOU!! What were you thinking? Daddy might have seen you!!

Me: Hmm I guess I should have thought of that

Maddy: I can't believe you Mom. Do you know how embarrassed you would have been if Daddy saw you all naked.

Me: Well I guess I got lucky this time, I will have to remember that in the future.

I love having a 16 almost 17 year old kiddo that is still sweet and naive.

Yes Virginia, there is a Jennifer

2010-08-23T09:58:00.001-07:00

I am such a slave to routine and schedules that when they get mixed up it takes me forever to get everything back in line.

We have been so very busy here that I have not taken the time to blog at all. I find time to read blogs, but not to write one.

I declare myself back in action and almost new routine set.

Things I have done and are doing:

*Went to Europe for two weeks, yes it was awesome sauce

*Read the Hubby's new script and thinks he will get some good responses out in LA from it

*Hubby goes to LA soon for meeting and gets to meet his agents at UTA

*Oct. 19th Lost Tribe comes out on DVD. I have not seen it so I can't tell you if it is good or not. What I know is that the Hubby's name is in the credits!!

*Our SaveonBrew website should go live in Texas this week or next. We have put a ton of time and effort into this. Can't wait to see it launch!

*Making time every day to exercise and I love the way I feel when I do

*Everyone here is healthy and happy

On a boat!

2010-08-05T06:44:00.001-07:00

My aunt and I flew into London and spent a couple of days touring around the city and being tourists. We had both already been to London so it was relaxing as we did not feel we had to "see" everything. The biggest change I noticed was how you could not longer just walk up to things anymore. It is quite sad that all the bad people in the world have affected the way that people can experience a city so full of history.

After our time in London it was time to board the boat.

Ok we were not on that boat....

and we weren't on this boat.

We boarded the Crown Princess to start our 12 day British Isles cruise. This is one BIG boat!

With a boat this big, you are bound to meet some interesting people!

Back in Action

2010-08-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog World, I hope to join your ranks again as a regular writer soon.

I spent the month of July on vacations and I had a great time. Coming this week will be reflections of those trips.
Vacation is great, but it is even better to be back home!

Jumping the pond

2010-07-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Headed to Europe!! Have a great opportunity that I could not pass up. Once I am back I promise to bore you with hours of watching my slides. Just like we had to sit through as kids!!

Family vacation

2010-07-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

Ping Pong

Darts

Big House

Lake

Boat, swimming and tubing

Beer

Good Food

Laughter

Every family should do this!

Hit or miss

2010-06-30T18:31:00.001-07:00

Gonna be hit or miss for me in July. Have a ton going on. Stay tuned, you never know when I might feel clever or witty!

Behave or not...see ya soon!!!

Napping with toys

2010-06-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

Gotta have a plan!

2010-06-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

Anytime I am going someplace or preparing for the hubby to go anywhere this is how I feel. Everything must be thought of and must have it's own plan!