Tired, Tired, Tired

We're half-way through a week of craziness. Today was missionary Zone Conference (where I provide lunch for 45 missionaries), and I'm subbing at the preschool every other day. The girls have Field Day and field trips and James is always busy at work. Have I mentioned that I am ready for school to be over?

Random Thoughts

1. I love the springtime in south Georgia. Except the pollen- hate the pollen.

2. We have less than a month until the end of school! *dances a jig* I'm ready for this school year to be OVER.

3. Nothing to exciting going on around here, which is good. No drama. No craziness. Yes!

4. The stack of "To Read" books on my nightstand is ginormous! And it seems like more arrive in the mail everyday. Oops.

5. Season 2 of The Best Show on Television aka Friday Night Lights came out on DVD yesterday. Mmmm...Tim Riggins! All of the rest of our shows come back off of strike this week with new eipsodes- Ugly Betty, and Grey's Anatomy. How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock have been back for a few weeks now. And I still need to catch up on the complete Jane Austen series from the BBC that has been showing on Masterpiece on PBS. *sigh* The DVR is so full. All the more reason for school to be over!

6. I leave you with random pictures that make me smile.

Mystery Solved!

As I suspected, the neighbors are not a front for a cannibalistic cult, and there are no bodies hidden in the ginormous shed.

James actually spoke to the man who lives next door! James was working in the yard yesterday afternoon, and the guy actually came over to speak to him. Crazy. Turns out he's electrician who is hired to work on huge building projects, like skyscrapers. He's been working on a project in Missouri for the last two years, and he only comes home once a month or so for a weekend. (Which explains why we rarely see him.)

He and the lady have been married for the past eight years, and this house was her's and her ex-husband's. When they guy came home this last time (for a weeks) he noticed how overgrown everything was. Evidently the lady was having a hard time with the upkeep. (Although why her grown son who lives there couldn't have helped remains a mystery!) They decided to cut everything back and cut down the trees to make it easier on her.

So I guess that explains it. It doesn't explain why the lady is so weird, though.

This is made of awesomesauce

A BLUEGRASS version of the Rick James classic SUPERFREAK

Madeline's First Post

This is me and Evainne the giant turtle at Turtle park. On 3/22/08 AKA the day before Bella's baptism.

Reason #5482 Why My Children Are THE BEST EVAH

The following conversation just occurred while watch the LotR marathon on TNT:

Madeline:"We counted hobbits last night."

Me: "What??!?!?"

Isabella:"You know how you are supposed to count sheep when you can't sleep?"

Me:"Yeah..."

Madeline:"We counted hobbits instead."

Uh-Oh

The girls wanted to earn some extra money, so I told them I'd pay ten cents for every dandelion they dug out of the yard (roots and all). So far I've had to pay Madeline $3.70 and Isabella $3.50. And that's only after 20 minutes of work! I fear I am going to go very, very broke. :P

SLACKERS!!

"Come on! Get a blog! Everyone else in the family is doing it!" Mom said. We'll be able to keep up with each other and it'll be so much fun!"

Chuh. Yeah right.

Mom was doing okay for a awhile there, and Sarah and Travis seemingly dived into the deep end of the pool. But no one else has updated! (Although I saw Corey and Nikki did today.) What's up with that, people? It's not like you're busy with jobs and kids or anything. :P

Jennifer's Turn

Five Random Things You may Not Know About Jennifer

1. I have lots of scars on my lower legs and knees, mostly from when I fell down a stone staircase at my Jr High in 8th grade and from my 2005 car accident.

2. I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series at least once a year.

3. I once came *thisclose* to winning U2 concert tickets from a radio station. I was caller #94 and I needed to be caller #95. I'm still depressed about it.

4. I moderate a Harry Potter message board and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

5. Conjoined twins scare the hell out of me. They are FREAKY and need to stop going on Oprah RIGHT NOW! Especially the two sisters that are attached at the head, and the one sister sits on a chair while the other one pushes her around. JUST STOP IT!

Five Things

Five Little Known Facts

James gets to go first!

1. I'm a big Harry Potter fan - books AND movies. (The books are better, though.)
2. I'm as handy outside the house as I am inside. I can work on almost any car, do most home repair (plumbing and electrical included) and I'm a great cook.
3. I am a big fan of British sitcoms and movies. Especially the BBC costume dramas. (But let's keep that on the down low!)
4. I've been known to scrapbook and create dollhouse furniture with nothing but a piece of cardstock and an exacto knife.
5. My second toe is longer than all my other toes. It freaks Jennifer out. That's why she won't let me go barefoot in the house.

Play along!

It'll be fun! :P

Comment to this post and I will give you a letter. You will then post ten of your favourite things that begin with that letter.

Huh.

This is surprisingly accurate. The only thing I disagree is the "feel overwhelmed and therefore avoid large crowds". I don't mind large crowds of strangers. I just don't enjoy large crowds of people I know. I prefer smaller, more intimate gatherings.


My Personality

Neuroticism	50
Extraversion	48
Openness to Experience	35
Agreeableness	35
Conscientiousness	59

You are poised, confident, and clear-thinking when stressed, however you feel strong cravings and urges that you have difficulty resisting. You tend to prefer short-term pleasures and rewards over long-term consequences. You tend to feel overwhelmed by, and therefore actively avoid, large crowds. You often need privacy and time for yourself. You prefer facts over fantasy and are more interested in what is happening in the real word. You are willing to take credit for good things that you do but you don't often talk yourself up much, however you are not adverse to confrontation and will sometimes even intimidate others to get your own way. You are well-organized and like to live according to routines and schedules. Often you will keep lists and make plans.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

It Gets Weirder...

I came home today from preschool to find a redneck tree trimming crew blocking my driveway as they stood around a HUGE fir tree that blocked half the street.

(When I say redneck crew, I mean Redneck Crew. You know how Mom and Dad always press us into yard work whenever any of us come to visit? It'll be like five adults, six teenagers and three kids all running around the yard picking up pine straw, raking, mowing, etc. That's what this tree trimming crew looked like. It's like some random dude called up all the members of his family and said, "Hey! Come help me with a job. I'll buy you a coke at the convenience store!" And then the whole family loaded up into their various beat up pick up trucks to come do the job.)

Anyway.

The neighbors have now cut down three huge fir trees that completely blocked their house from the street. Don't get me wrong- it looks awesome! But you have to understand that, in the year and half we have lived in this neighborhood, these people have done nothing more than mow their lawn occasionally. So this is totally out of character for them! It's just so weird.

James and I are taking bets as to what's going on. He thinks the person who actually owns the house has died and they have to move out, so they are making it look nice. I think they just want to sell for some reason. James' death theory got a boost tonight when we saw the lady who lives there standing out front with another (unknown) lady, and they were both dressed in conservative black dresses. We may never know the true story. We'll just wait to see if a 'For Sale" sign appears.

Howdy Neighbor

Ever seen that movie called The 'burbs? We have some neighbors like that, although I doubt they're a front for a cannibalistic cult.

When we first moved in, we would wave at them every so often. They never waved back. In fact, they just would stare at us like they had never seen anyone wave before. We rarely see them. Maybe once a week? They've got huge trees and bushes in their front yard that totally obscure the house from the road. They'll let their grass get knee high, then all of the sudden we'll wake up one morning and it will be cut. We never see or hear the lawn mower, though.

They have a ginormous shed in their backyard, like the type that is big enough to park a car in. We have no idea what's in there, as we've never seen them go in or out of it. There are two huge stacks of wooden pallets, also in the backyard, that from the looks of them have been there for years. We often wonder what they intended to do with the pallets. And to top it all off, at one point the chainlink fence that we share was electrified. It's not anymore, but the wire is still there.

So yeah, we have weird neighbors. But it got weirder this week.

They've started cutting back trees and bushes. They've been out in the yard everyday. We saw a lawnmower come out of the ginormous shed and actually cut the grass. (Still no idea what else is in the shed, though.) Just a few minutes ago I saw them out in the backyard looking at the pallets and talking. Could a project involving the pallets be far behind? Who knows?

Stay tuned.

Isabella's first post

Hi I am Isabella. I am funny, cute, and smart. I love my friends and famliy.

It's all her fault

This is my mother.
She's a bit off her rocker.
(Hee! Puns.)

Yesterday she called me to inform me she had started a blog. She them suggested I get one, because my brother and his family had one, and so did my cousin. Evidently my grandfather has all of their blogs bookmarked so he can keep up with us! I told her I had been blogging since 2004 (over at Livejournal) and she needed to get with the times, man! She wanted me to give her the link to my LJ and I laughed for ten minutes. No way, Jose. That stuff is private, yo! She might see all the things I say about her.

So here I am, jumping on the Blogger bandwagon. All because my mom said so.

Here Mom!

Does this make you happy? :P