Yippee!!

My husband comes home today!! He's been gone since Tuesday morning. His job called him away to Abilene for the week.. We don't do well with being apart from each other. We both turn into pathetic sad people.. In the 2 years that we have been together we have never been apart for more than a few days at a time.

Welcome home honey!! I've missed you so much!

Last Nights Weather

I don't think this qualifies as snow. Being from the north, I would just call this ice.

It looks pretty, until you slip and slide in it, of course I wouldn't do that.. I'm great on my feet. Not clumsy at all!! Okay, well there was this one time, at band camp, oh sorry wrong story.. Anyways, I was in Boise Idaho, in the middle of winter, waiting for my bus to leave. We were stuck due to the weather. Me and some other people decided to go to the Chinese place around the corner and order some take out. On the way back, guess who slipped and landed flat on her butt. Yup that was me. I bring this up because I almost did it again taking these pictures..

The branch on the ground is from the last ice storm. The tree got weighed down so much the branches were nearly touching the ground. The dog, thinking it was a new play toy snapped that big branch off..

As you can see, my car is still all froze. There is a sheet of ice surrounding it as well..

First Days

Last night I had my first sign class. It went pretty well. I wasn't sure how many people would be there. I thought for sure I would be the only one, but luckily 4 others showed up. It was pretty cool. I got to meet new people and get out of the house..

This morning, (if you can call it that, what with still being dark out and all..) I got up at 4:30 so I could get to my 5;30 fitness boot camp session, in Arlington. My sisters friend, you know the one? The on that begged me to join this boot camp with her? Yeah that one. Well she stud me up! I had to go by myself. but it was fun and man am I sore today!! I thought that other days with just the treadmill were bad..

In other news, my hubby got sent away for a job. He will be in Abilene till friday. i just hope he makes it there okay, its in the low 30's and there is suppose to be an ice storm headed this way..

Working Out Hurts!

Thursday I became the proud owner of a brand spankin new treadmill. I went and bought it while the hubby was at work, got it home, unloaded it from the car and got it into the house. For some reason I think I'm super woman.. I then got it all set up in one of our spare rooms and proceeded to use it for 30 minutes. I again used it Friday morning for 40 min. This morning I got up at the crack of dawn, okay, more like 7:30, did another 40 minutes on the treadmill and headed off to meet, my new personal trainer.

Okay, okay, she is not my own personal trainer. I couldn't afford one of those.. It's a group thing.
One of my sisters friends talked me into joining this fitness boot camp with her. She really didn't have to do much talking, I have been wanting to do something like this for a while now.

I'm not going to tell you my weight, but its not good.. I've been overweight for a long while now, I just didn't want to do the gym thing by myself and I had no girlfriends to go with me..

Today, I am sore. I'm hurting all over the place. I think its mostly from moving the treadmill by myself.. That was stupid. So starting Tuesday at 5:30 am I will be getting myself back in to shape!!

Spreading Sunshine

Tigger over at My Support Blog is having a sunshine giveaway. Go check it out!!

Celebration

Woo hoo! I did it!

I was cunning and suave enough to land me a job at the zoo!

Well, okay, first I have to pass the drug test and background check, but then I'm in like sin, baby!

I only talked to the lady interviewing me for a few minutes and she was handing me the blue card ( The pass go, collect $200, your hired card..)! Yea me!!

On another note, I would like to thank DiPaola Momma at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom for also bestowing upon me, the Honest Scrap award! She told me I didn't have to come up with 10 more honest things about me, or 7 other people to pass it too. I'm going to hold her to her word on that, it's the only reason I accepted the award again.. hee hee. Thank you so much!!

Maybe I can talk the hubby (weasel my way out having to cook..) into taking me out to dinner to celebrate my new and wonderful job?

Interview with an Elephant

It's been almost a year since I last had a job. My last job was at a storage facility. I sat in a little office for about 5 hours a day, waiting for people to come pay for their unit, or rent a unit. The best part about this job, my boss lived in Florida. It was only me at this place. I liked the job, my then boyfriend, now hubby, hated it. The place was located in a not so good part of town, and only a few years before, maybe one or two, a woman who worked there was beaten to death by somebody trying to rob her. So, as soon as I got engaged to my wonderful husband, he wanted me to quit. He made enough money that I didn't need to work if I didn't want to.

In fact, he still makes enough to where I don't have to work, but it would be nice if I too were bringing home a paycheck. Since we moved I have applied at tons, if not billions of places. Finally last week I got a call for an interview from the last palce I applied at.

I bet your asking yourself, "Whats this got to do with elephants"? Am I right? Well I'll tell ya! The last place I applied at was the Fort Worth Zoo. Now, I'm sure I won't be interviewed by an actual elephant, but you got to admit, that would be pretty darn cool!

So, tomorrow I'm off to the land of animals, and hopefully it won't just be fleas I'm bringing home, but a job! Maybe I should discreetly wear a flea collar?

Giveaway

The Apron Goddesses is having a giveaway.

She is giving away this awesome media apron. It has a pocket just for you ipod or cell phone!!

More awards?

Lori over at Time of Your Life awarded me this wonderful blog award!!

The rules for the Honest Scrap award:
A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers whom you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

So, 10 honest things.. hmm

1) I am completely happy and at peace with the way my life is right now, and that honestly scares me. I've never been completely happy..

2) I'm honestly afraid I will never have kids. That my chance to have kids has passed and that its my fault my one pregnancy went bad.

3) I am truly and honestly grateful for all you people out there who read my blog. When I started this thing years ago, I wasn't all that into it. But now I have meet so many wonderful bloggy friends I can't picture not having my blog!

4) I love cheese! Any kind of cheese. Cheese dip, cheese sticks, extra cheese on my taco's. There is never too much cheese when I'm around!

5) I want to be a better housewife. I don't think I'm doing all that well at the moment.. I spend too much time on the computer and not enough cleaning, but then again what looks clean to me, looks dirty to the hubby..

6) I want to go back to school, but I'm afraid I will fail, like I did with high school (I dropped out and got my GED).

7) I want to be able to read tons of books. All the great classics and then some. Just so I can say hey, I read that. But I never will, because I'm just not that into them..

8) I want to write. Poems, stories,anything. It doesn't matter as long as I'm writing something. But I can't.

9) I miss Oregon, but I know I will never go back. Sure there will be the occasional visit, but that's it.

10) I was sure I was destined to spend life alone. Then I met my hubby. He is the reason I am completely happy with life. I'd be lost without him.

Wow, that was harder than I thought it would be to come up with all that..

So now on to the 7 I'm passing this to.

1) Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies

2) Sandy at For the Love of Prims

3) Pat at Back Porch Musings

4) Lisa at Cranberry Flats

5) Kat at Sunshine and Lemonade

6) Sandra at Canyon Wren Cottage

7) Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm

I encourage you all to go check out these wonderful women, if you have not done so already!

Genius? Who me??

Sandy over at For the Love of Prims posted a blog today about The Blog Readability Test. It tells you the level of education is required to understand your blog. I figured I would give this a try, see what it says. I figured I would get like high school level or something lower. I did this test twice and both times it came up with Genius level. Who knew! I think they got it wrong if you ask me..

Go and check out this test and tell me what you get!!

Banana Bread Disaster

All though my house smells of wonderful, warm, banana bread, there is no wonderful banana bread..

This is what happened when I tried to make banana bread. Yes, parts of it are still good, but its not what I imagined when I set out to make banana bread.

A few things went wrong.. First I think I put too much mushed banana in the batter.

Second, I filled the pan up, with too much batter. I now have a small mess in the bottom of my oven to clean.

Siblings

Here are 2 pictures of my brothers. The first one is when they were 5 and the other one is from a few years ago. I wish I had more pictures of them, but I don't.

As I said the other day, my mother had 2 sets of twins. We are 7 years apart. When my mother met my dad she had my brothers and my oldest sister and my dad had 2 kids of his own, one boy, and one girl.

After they were married, my mom was in need of surgery. She was told she had fibroid tumors in her stomach. She went in to have the surgery and the doctor told her he couldn't operate. The tumors were gone and in their place was a baby.

Cut to several months later, picture a waiting room with 2 girls and 3 boys fighting over if the baby is going to be a boy or girl. The girls wanting another girl to even out the numbers, the boys wanting another boy so they can continue their take over of the girls. Now, picture if you will, both parents walking out of the doctors office, faces frozen in shock. Skip to dinner that night, the kids still don't know whats going on, my mother looks at my oldest sister and says "Do you remember what they told me when I had the boys?" "It's a boy?" "No, not that, remember what they said about the boys?" " That they are twins?" "Yes. The doctor said there are two or more babies.."

Now everyone is in shock.

So that's how my mom ended up with 2 sets of twins. Now, on to the rest of the story. As you can see on of my brothers is in a wheelchair, and like I said the other day, I have a deaf sister. One twin out of each set is handicapped. My brother was born with cerebral palsy (cp). The doctors told my mom that he would never walk, never talk and she should institutionalize him. Did my mother listen, No. My brother not only walks with a walker, that boy never shuts up!! My dad once wrote a poem about him, and If I could find it I would include it.. My brother is a great person. He's one of those happy-go-lucky types. He loves being picked on, I know that sounds weird or mean but its true.. He loves to pick on you right back. And he's very protective of his younger sisters. Anyone picks on them in front of him and oh boy will they get a talking to!

Anyways, I just thought I would share a little more on the 2 sets of twins thing. Oh and if you were counting, yeah that adds up to 7 kids total..

Weekend Baking

My oatmeal raisin cookies were in such high demand, that I am being forced to make more, including some without raisins..

I am also making Carmelitas. You can get the recipe from Tanya at Sunday baker.

The first picture is mine, the second one is from Tanya's blog. Hers turned out better than min..

It's taco night, here at the Watson household. We love taco night. I usually eat about 2 taco's the hubby stuffs 3 or more down and we still have tons leftover! I'm stuffed, but I can't wait to try the carmelitas! I'm still waiting for it to cool..

I'm thinking about making pizza tomorrow night or the next night, another recipe by Tanya at Sunday Baker

Sign Language

As some of you may know, I have a deaf sister. Actually, a deaf twin sister (my mom had 2 sets of twins..). My sister became deaf when we were only 7 months old. I learned sign language before I could talk. I have not been around my sister much in the last 8-9 years, except for when I go home to visit. A few years ago I was a sign language interpreter for a fourth grader. Now, since my lack of using my sign language, I am very rust at it. I was lucky my student was young and didn't know much sign himself..

Sign language is a part of who I am, even if I don't get along too well with my sister. I don't want to forget that part of me..


I use to want to be a sign language interpreter, or teach at a deaf school. I got the chance to be an interpreter a few years ago, and I sucked at it. My sign language is very shotty at best. To be an interpreter we had to be qualified by the state and take all kinds of tests. The first test I had to take, I was being evaluated by 2 hearing people and 1 deaf person. I couldn't do it. I had to leave the room because I was shaking and crying so hard. The second test I manged to get through because no one was in the room with me. When I got my test results back, I lost all confidence in myself and my sign language. One of the comments on the test said, "This person does not have an understanding of sign language and looks to be a beginner." (give or take a few words, this is from memory..) At this point in my life I was 23. I had known sign language for 22 years or so. I couldn't believe I was marked as a beginner.



After that I lost all confidence in myself and my sign language. My point to all this is, I am starting to regain my confidence, well okay, I'm hoping to regain it..

I signed myself up for a beginners sign class that starts on the 26Th of this month.

So here's to hoping I can get my confidence back! Also this gets me out of the house, which I severely need to do. I'm starting to turn into one of those people that never leave the house, but that's a whole other story for another day..

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Oh, and if you ask nicely, I just might post some pictures of my twin brothers..

Blog Awards

My wonderful, long time friend, Michelle over at Fluttering Butterflies awarded me these two great awards.

Van Gogh's ear.

Roger of Idaho Photo is the originator of this unique award and it is given to people who have made a difference, who stand out in areas of art, photography, philosophy, writing, blogging, comedy.

Premios Dardo Award.

This award "acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day." The rules of this one state that it be passed on to 15 other blogger's.

Also, Sandy over at For the Love of Prims, passed this award on.

Lemonade award

I am going to pass all these awards on to:

Sandy at For the love of prims

Pat at Back Porch Musings

Sandra at Canyon Wren Cottage

DiPaola Momma Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom

Lisa at Cranberry Flats

Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies

Lori at The Time of your Life

Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm

Tanya at Sunday Baker

Kat at Sunshine and Lemonade

Chris at Just a Girl

Mer at All That and a Bucket of Chicken

Pantry Challange- Day 6

Tonight we had red rice and beans, pasta salad and baked potatoes. I cheated a bit and had my hubby stop and buy some sour cream on his way home. You just can't have a baked potato without sour cream!

Recipes- Part 2

Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal:

4 cups water
1 1/2 cups apple juice

1 cup steel-cut oats

1/2 cup regular barley ( not quick cooking)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

2 medium apples coarsely chopped

honey (optional)

fat-free milk (optional)

In slow cooker, combine water, apple juice, oats, barley, cinnamon, ginger and salt.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours. Before serving stir in brown sugar. Top with pecans and apples. Serve with honey and milk.

Cowboy Surprise:

1 pound ground beef

half an onion

garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

2 cans ranch style beans

Brown ground beef, drain.

Add onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Stir in beans. Heat on medium until boiling.

Let sit for 2-3 min and enjoy

Recipes - Part 1

As promised, here are the recipes for everything I have made so far.

Peanut Butter Cookies:

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

3 tbs milk

1 tbs vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 all purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

Pre heat oven to 375. Place sheets of foil on counter top for cooling.

Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended.Add egg. Beat until just blended.

Combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with a fork.

Bake at 375 for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set, or just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to foil to cool completely.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:

2 sticks margarine or butter softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

3 cups Quaker Oats ( quick, or old fashioned, uncooked)

1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350.

Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.

Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Pantry Challange- Day 5

I am starting to run out of ideas on what to make with whats in my pantry.

I made some oatmeal raisin cookies and tonight we will be having the last of the split pea soup.

Tomorrow I will post the recipes for everything I have made so far..

Kitty Kitty

I figured since I posted recently about Junior (our dog) I should post an embarrassing picture of Ford.

Here he is passed out on the couch, with his face all mushed against the cushion and I'm sure there is some drool..

Pantry Challange- Day 4

Well, since we still have leftovers from the past few days, and my husband will be working tonight, dinner will be leftovers. Not fun, but hey what ya gonna do..

Tomorrow I will be baking some oatmeal cookies..

Junior Tribute

Here's Junior sleeping in a hole she dug.
Sleeping in the yard.

After many long discussions, we have decided that we need to give Junior away. We love her and she is a good dog, but we can't keep her in the house, because she chews on the furniture. We can't keep her outside, she chews up everything out there, and she digs so many holes, not to mention letting Scooter into the yard. I really hate giving up an animal. I love all animals and would bring home every stray, if I could.

I wish we didn't have to do this, but we have no other choice. We have tried punishing her. Keeping her out when she's been bad inside, but that doesn't work. She just tears stuff outside.

I love you Junior and I'm sorry, but there is a better home out there for you.

Doggy Visitor

This is scooter. He lives behind us. Junior and Scooter dug a hole for Scooter to get into our yard.

Scooter wouldn't let Junior eat her food..


Or let Junior on the porch.
Other than that Scooter was a friendly little dog

He eventually went home and Junior got to eat.