February

Book Review: The Paris Wife

Earlier this year a friend of mine took some “test” on Facebook. You know, those weird tests. It was about 1,000 books that you should have read. It was interesting. I figured with grad school that I would have read more than 52 of them. 52/1000… not good odds… One of the books was The Paris Wife. I actually hadn’t read it yet, but I owned it. It was a book I came across a while back… we’re talking over a year ago. It was a physical book even. Sadly, it just sat there waiting for me to read it. Once I saw it on the list and realized I had it but hadn’t read it yet, I jumped on reading it.

Gosh, for as many books I’ve read about Paris, I need to visit Paris. Truthfully, I want to visit 1920 Paris and 1940 Paris, not current Paris. Although don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see current Paris too. I think it is just all the reading of I’d about a Paris I’ll never truly get to experience. (more…)

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

We’re moving right along. At the school Valentine’s Day party yesterday one of the gals asked how I got my little to read. Obviously, in Kindergarten they accept parents reading to the kids as the kids reading. The kids are sitting and listening to reading. I said, does it count if I am bribing a little. She wants to watch the movies, so she has to read the book first. They kind of laughed at me. But it works. We’re ahead of the reading curve. Have been even before we started the reading of the Harry Potter series, but still, we’re ahead and I like it!

The goal for the students is if they read X-number of books (I can’t remember the number) that they get to duct tape the vice principal to the wall. It’ll be exciting and I want to see if it can happen. (more…)

George Strait Concert Kansas City: Where We Stayed and Ate

We saw George Strait in concert. The end. 

Haha, no, but seriously, we did! He was friggin awesome!! So here’s how our day/trip went.

Hubby and I have been doing Keto (More to come on that). We decided that we could find something to eat at José Peppers. Plus, we really like José Peppers… win win.

José Peppers

1100 E North Ave
Belton, MO 64012

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King George – The Bucket List

King George. That’s all I need to say. If you don’t know who he is… we might not be friends. Haha. 

Okay, so King George is also known as George Strait. One of the best singers of all time. He could sing the phone book and make it a #1 hit.

When I was younger, I always said that there were 3 men… a cutting horse trainer, a family friend who also showed cutting horses, and George Strait. My dad used to laugh at this. They don’t let me forget that either.

I have always wanted to see him in concert too, but then in 2012, he announced that his Cowboy Rides Away Tour would be his last tour. He was retiring. And… I didn’t get to see him. I was a little frustrated. The tour ended on June 7, 2014. That was it. I was so sad and frustrated. 

BUT then… he announced that he was going to do a very short tour, including Las Vegas. My parent’s trip last summer got rerouted to Las Vegas and they got to see him in concert. My dad bragged and bragged. Last fall I had some friends who were headed to Las Vegas and I asked if they were going to see George Strait? They said, No, Reba. And somehow that got us started looking up George Strait. 

My friend Shaye, who was looking this up with me, found tickets to see him in Kansas City in January for dirt cheap. I didn’t believe her so I mentioned something to hubby. Next thing I know…

We. Had. Tickets.

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#BlogFebruary

We’re at the end of the month. That’s crazy how we’ve gone through 2 month’s of 2018 already. How on Earth has this happened? Seriously. Time, please slow down.

Okay, quick break down…

The Top 5 Blog Posts for February

  1. 2012 – Dry Hands
  2. 2017 – Buncha Crunch Oatmeal Cookies
  3. 2010 – And She Said Yes
  4. 2018 – The Damn Water Tower
  5. 2012 – Josie’s Ristorante Scammon Kansas

Honorable Mention:

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Rock Bottom

I remember being a kid and thinking that being an adult was easy. I just wanted to grow up. There wouldn’t be any spelling tests. No school. No one would tell me when to go to bed or when to wake up. Life was going to be easy, right? And yes, no spelling tests was a big deal. I remember smarting off to my dad that, “Why did I need to learn how to spell? It’s not like I would write a letter to the President of the United States or anything.” So note: I did have to write the president when I was in school. Touché.

Man, why didn’t anyone tell us (us as in every kid who ever thought that) that adulting is hard? Our parents made it look so darn easy. Is that part of the problem? Nah, I won’t blame that. Heck, I’ll say it… Adulting sucks. Maybe I want to go back to school. Not college because that still involves adulting. I’m talking grade school, junior high, and maybe even high school. Although, they have problems of their own. A lot of those kids are worried about going to school on a daily basis. Gosh.

In my 20’s I was very arrogant. I’m pretty sure I knew it then. I definitely know it now. And I’m pretty sure I’m paying for that now. For years I have complained that I apparently “love” eating crow. Must be the taste. I have eaten crow a lot. What does that mean? Well, it means that I would swear I wouldn’t do something and then later it happens. I swore I wouldn’t marry a man who had been married. Check. I swore I wouldn’t marry a man who had a kid. Check. I swore a wouldn’t drive a Mustang that was the body style that came out in 2000. Check. Check, check, check. (more…)

Born in a Barn

Born in a Barn

Last night I was standing in the kitchen. The way our house was designed, you can see the back door from the kitchen. Everyone uses the back door. to enter and exit the house unless it’s pouring down rain or slicker than snot. Then usually we use the basement route. Otherwise, EVERYONE uses the back door.

So I was standing in the kitchen and Abug walked in the back door. She left the back door standing wide open. Bad thing to do at our house because the dogs will come in or right now it’s cool out so we let all the bought heat out, etc. (bought air = Sweet Home Alabama line.) I started to smart off, Close the door, were you born in a barn, but I stopped myself. Why would I stop myself… Well… because farm kids are a different breed.

I’ve truly said it before that farm kids are a different breed and they are. They get exposed to some interesting things early on in life. Between watching animals being born, maybe having to help pull a baby to save its life, to doing chores on a multiple time daily bases… whatever. (more…)

The Answer

I don’t know the answer. I’m not sure anyone knows the answer at this point.

A little over a week ago there was another horrific incident in our country. I find it saddening that our kids are becoming used to these incidents. I remember in grade school we had to have earthquake drills, tornado drills, and fire drills, but we never had active shooter drills. I never experienced anything like that until I went to college. But not for my undergrad degree… this was for my master’s. I started my Masters 8 years after I got my bachelor’s degree.

The minute it happened, people went to pointing blame instead. I’m so tired of the blame. It’s everyone else’s fault, yet no one takes the blame. Do I know who gets the blame… nope. Again, I don’t claim to know the answer.

I’ve been trying to find the right words and they just don’t seem to be coming. So many unanswered questions. Too many what ifs. What if’s lead to more unanswered questions. People were sending their condolences to the families affected because what else can we do? And yet, people were saying it was stupid to pray for the families and the community because it does nothing. Is that part of the problem? (more…)

College Life

 

I’m not sure why the last couple days I’ve been stuck in the past. That’s how it feels anyway. Maybe because College seemed so easy… or maybe it was the phone call from Camille that brought back the memories. My {step}daughter is a Freshman in high school. She’s at the part of her life when grades totally matter. When she’s starting to think about her future. Starting to make plans about going to college (or not, but right now yes).

A lot can change in four years. Right now she has college narrowed down to two choices. One is in state, one is way out of state. But either choice she has plans to live at home (the out of state is with family). If there’s one thing I keep trying to stress to her, promise me she’ll live in the dorms at least 1 year. Bam! Seriously though, you learn a lot from living in the dorms, and that is one way you make those lifetime friends. (more…)

The Damn Water Tower

The other night I was watching a movie with my husband and my mother-in-law. I think it was My Secret Valentine or it could have been Very, Very, Valentine. Either way, it was a Hallmark movie. If you haven’t figured out… Hallmark movies are my absolute favorite. Christmas and non-Christmas alike. There’s always a plot twist right before they have a happy ending and they are always so predictable. Either way though, I like them. They give me that warm tingly feeling.

But while I was sitting there watching the movie, my phone rang. I answered the phone and it was my friend Camille. In college, I always teased and called her Camel Jockey. Sometimes to her face, sometimes not. I was caught off guard a little bit because I haven’t spoken on the phone with her for about 10 years. The last time we spoke on the phone, she had just gotten engaged. I found out via Facebook and was giving her crap to the point she called me.

We chatted for a good almost half hour. We reminisced about good times and bad. A few years ago I was sitting in my Midevil British Literature class when we went to break. During the break, I jumped on Facebook for a minute and saw a very scary message. She said something to the effect of don’t wait until the last minute to tell your best friend how you feel or something like that. I can’t remember the exact words because it’s been almost 3 years now if I remember right. (more…)