Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I can assure you that these are NOT what little boys are made of! On Tuesday, April 3, 2007, we welcomed the most perfect, precious, angelic baby boy into the world, and into our wonderful extended family!

Brady Luke is the first boy in the family...my parents had two girls, I have a girl (and 2 step daughters), and my sister has two girls.

...Scratch that...

Now she and her husband also have a baby boy! Brady was born at 8:15 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 14.6 oz, and was 20 3/4 inches long. He's the smallest baby in the family: both of his sisters and his cousin were 8 lbs or more at birth!

I am so proud of my sister, and I feel so blessed that I was able to be there with her for Brady's birth. She and my brother-in-law are already amazing parents, and I can't wait to see how their wonderful family changes and grows with the addition of this little angel.



His big sisters are SO proud! They were just mesmerized by him. Every time they held him, they just beamed with love and awe!



He is absolutely beautiful. He has gorgeous blue eyes, ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes, a head full of precious baby hair...needless to say, he has already stolen his aunt's heart!



It's almost enough to awaken that deep maternal instinct again. ALMOST. :)

Oh I Wish I Were An Oscar Mayer Wiener....!

Mini Me and I had the great fortune of seeing the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile! Of course we had to stop and check it out...



Did you know that the ceiling of the Wienermobile is painted to look like the sky? Or that the first Wienermobile was built in 1936, and there have been 6 different ones? Or that Wiener Whistles are FAR more entertaining for kids than for their parents??

In honor of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, I give you the lyrics to one of the most beloved childrens' songs of all time:

Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener
That is what I truly want to be.
'Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener
Everyone would be in love with me!

Wacky Texas Winters

I've been a certified Texan for almost eight years now (Southern by birth, Texan by the grace of God!), and the weather here never ceases to amaze and baffle me. Our seasons don't "change" - they usually just explode onto the scene in chaotic, surprise fashion and then disappear into the next one. Except, of course, for summer, which seems to last forever...but that's a whole other blog.

Just 3 weeks ago (yes, around Christmastime), our average highs were in the 60's. Mornings were chilly, but afternoons were mild and comfortable, and I loved it. There are thousands of reasons why I live in the south, and one of the higher-ranking reasons is the warmer weather. If I had to drive on ice and shovel snow on a regular basis, I would routinely curl up in a little ball under the bed and sob. It's pretty to look at, and fun to visit, but certainly NOT something I would want to live with.

I should mention that we normally don't get "Winter" until about February, and then it lasts for a few weeks and quickly gives way to Spring. So imagine our surprise this week when the temperatures plummeted to below freezing - and stayed there for 3 days solid!

Our high temperatures never rose above 29 degrees from Monday until Wednesday, when I think we finally got to 31 degrees. The cold weather would be completely tolerable if not for the precipitation that accompanied it. We were fortunate to avoid any snow or real accumulation, but the ice and sleet made for some dangerous driving (and a few mornings of being almost incapable of yanking myself out of bed to go to work).

Mini Me enjoyed the ice - schools were closed on Wednesday, so she was able to take a little vacation. She found some really cool icicles around the house:



So today, after about 8 days with heavy cloud cover and constant shivering, the sunshine is flooding through the windows and the projected high is 57 degrees. Ahhhh now THIS is what I love about Texas....

Our First (Gingerbread) House!

Mini Me and I have wanted to make a Gingerbread House for Christmas...but time always seemed to sneak away from us! Our holidays are usually so full of activities, we just never had time - and then before we knew it, Christmas was over!

This year, we MADE time for it! We bought the kit and got to work...and this is our finished product! Mini Me did all of the decorating. I helped with the icing...those little plastic tubes are tricky work for 7-year-old hands! I think she did a fabulous job.



We hope to make it our new Christmas tradition. Assuming, of course, that the holidays don't sneak away from us again in the future!

Arts and Crafts

One of the countless joys of sharing my time with my beautiful Mini Me is that she absolutely loves arts and crafts! She just loves to create! So we decided to make these pretty and practical Flower Pens for the kitchen. We are forever searching for a pen, and we can NEVER find them. Now, we'll never have to search again!

We picked some festive fall flowers for our arrangement - lucky for us, Walmart sells them for $3.00/dozen! Then we chose a flower pot to match our flowers, and filled the pot with black beans (to keep the pens in place).

We snipped the flowers from the stems, leaving about an inch or two of stem so we could attach them to the pens. Then we used floral tape to wrap the pens, to make them look like stems. Mini Me put the finishing touches on our beautiful arrangement by placing them in the flower pot.

We had so much fun, we even made a second arrangement for Mini Me's teacher, who is an extremely loyal Texas Aggie. (My apologies to any Longhorn fans who may be reading...)



It was a fun and simple project! We're looking forward to making more crafts very soon. Stay tuned... :)

The Dawning of a New Decade

I'm 30! Wow, that's the first time I've typed that. I'm still not sure what to think about it. It looks kind of...odd. Not in a bad way, really. I suppose I'm just so familiar with the 20's after 10 years of them - 30 just seems a little out of place. A little too grown-up for me. :)

It hit me early this morning, when I logged on to the QuakeCon website. At the bottom of the forum, there is a list of people with birthdays on any given day. And there it was, staring at me: *SpICeY* (30). Ouch! Speaking of my fabulous QuakeCon family...how many people get to say they had one of these on their birthday?!



That sign actually exists in Niceville, FL. Wow...I love it!

I'm actually quite excited about what the next 10 years hold in store for me. Time seems to have accelerated over the past few years, so I imagine that my 30's will be gone before I know it. I plan to embrace every second of them!

And besides, who says you have to let go of your youth when you turn 30? I don't feel a day over 29, and I certainly don't intend to act it! Life's too short to dwell on a number....

The eBay bug strikes again...!

Every few months (normally with a season change, or, in this case, with a birthday coming up), we clean out Mini-Me's room. Clothes, toys, books...everything comes out, everything gets sorted into the "keep" or "discard" group, and the keepers get to move back in. Then we go through the cast-aways and decide what we can donate to Goodwill and what we can sell on eBay!! It's really a lot of fun!

So with the upcoming season change/birthday, the eBay bug has sunk its teeth in! It's unexplainable, really...the joy and fun that can result from watching your items turn into cash! Last night I listed 4 auctions, all for clothing items:

Go to ebay.com, and paste these item numbers to check out our sales!
150032809391
150032817668
150032813538
150032823395

The last time we sold clothes on eBay, Mini-Me made over $60! This time, I'm taking a cut of the profits... :)

The Stitches Are Out!

Perhaps I should say the stitch (singular) is out.

I went yesterday to have the bandages and suture removed from my wrist surgery! My doctor was out because his wife had given birth on Monday, so his nurse tended to me. As she cut through the layers of gauze and cotton and Ace Bandage, I fully expected to see some morphed, distorted, disgusting version of what used to be my tiny, healthy, normal left wrist. Much to my relief, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

I was expecting a series of sutures running across my incision in the typical train-track fashion. Instead, I saw a raw (but well-closed) incision with two little black knots of nylon thread on each end. The incision itself is about 2 inches long, and the knots were just beyond the ends of the incision. Evidently, to avoid unnecessary scarring and to promote a smoother wound closure, they now stitch below the surface of the skin in a zig-zag pattern. So she lifted one end and snipped the knot, and then started to pull from the other end to remove the suture.

One word describes this process: OUCH!

I thought I was going to pass out. In case you've never had an injury to the underside of your wrist, I can now tell you from experience that this is one of the most sensitive areas on your body. Particularly when they start yanking a thread from one end and it slides back out in the zig-zag pattern that it went in with, and the skin has started to heal around it. Oh. My. Gosh. That's painful.

After she finished torturing me, she cleaned the incision and then covered it with Steri Strips, which is pretty much all you can see in the photo. You can also see some purple marks above and running the length of the incision. The one above it is where he wrote "Yes" and his initials on the day of surgery - they are required to do that to prove that they came to your bed in the pre-op area, and verified that they knew which part of your body they would be working on. Comforting. The longer line was drawn to guide the incision. He was actually extremely accurate with the incision. I'm impressed!

Copay at the hospital: $100
Copay at the Ortho's office: $20
Prescriptions, Surgery, Medical Supplies, Latex Gloves, Assorted Fees: $2,000+ (Thank God for insurance!)
Not having to wrap my left hand in a plastic Target bag every time I take a shower: Priceless...

I'm still extremely guarded with my left hand. I'm sure it'll just take some getting used to...

Every Girl's Dream

OK, maybe not EVERY girl's dream...but there are two movies that I've seen in my life that always made me wonder about that little blue gift box tied up with a dainty white bow: Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Sweet Home Alabama. Just how cool IS it to get a gift from Tiffany & Co.?

Now I can tell you because I got one! Well, technically I won one! Let me explain...

In July, we drove to Dallas for the day. That night, as we were leaving to head back home, we were listening to the local radio station. The DJ announced a contest called "Live Life Like a Trophy Wife," and said that the 20th caller would win the prize. I have had a string of pretty good fortune with radio call-ins (tickets to the American Idol live show after Season 1, movie tickets, and something else I can't remember), so I decided to start dialing. After all, nights and weekends are unlimited. :)

Every time I dialed, I got a busy signal. I had dialed at least 20 times and was JUST about to give up, but decided to try once more. This time, it rang. And rang. And rang. I thought that he probably already had his winner and was just letting the other lines ring, but I decided to hold on until either someone answered, or he announced a winner. The DJ finally answered the phone!

DJ: "Kiss FM"
Me: "Am I the 20th caller?"
DJ: "Who is this?"
Me: "--(my name here)--"
DJ: "YES! You are the 20th caller, and you get to live life like a trophy wife!"

I was sooo excited!! The prize was a gift from Tiffany & Co. and a day at Spa Pangea in Dallas. (I was also in the drawing for a trip to Mexico, but I didn't win that one.)

Evidently, they didn't have the gifts from Tiffany's in yet, so they told me they would call me when it arrived. They finally called! So today, Husband drove to Dallas to pick up my prize!

The day at the spa includes a manicure (or deep tissue hand and arm massage), a pedicure, a full body massage, a custom facial, and a lunch in their cafe. (I'm thinking about buying a body scrub or wrap to go along with it...you know, make it a FULL day at the spa!) The gift from Tiffany's is a beautiful sterling silver heart pendant on a chain...but the little girl in me is SO MUCH MORE excited about the little blue gift box tied up with a dainty white bow!!

So now, I feel like a princess. YaY for silly little things in life that make you giddy!

Wrist Surgery - The Aftermath

It's done! Surgery went very well, no problems at all.

We got to the hospital at about 7:30 am, and I was in pre-op by 8:00. Husband and Mini-Me were allowed to stay with me in pre-op. By 8:40, they were ready to start the IV. Mini-Me practically had a panic attack, so she and Husband stepped outside the curtain.

Honestly, I was having a bit of a panic attack, too. I HATE needles, especially big ones. My steady heart rate of 76-78 spiked to 117 as soon as she said "IV." It was THE worst part of the whole ordeal! But I survived.

They gave Husband a hospital cell phone, so the surgeon could call him as the surgery was beginning, when it was finished, and when I was out of recovery. I thought that was pretty cool! Gone are the days of drama when the doctor comes to the waiting room and says, "she pulled through!" Now, it's a cell phone call. What a modern world we live in!

When they came to take me back to surgery, the nurse asked if I was ready for a good buzz. I said "sure," he injected the sleepy juice, and I was out. At about 10:15, I woke up in recovery.

I turns out that there WAS a cause for my cyst. Evidently, there was a tear in the tendon in my left wrist, and it was leaving just enough room for the fluid to leak out. The doctor repaired the tear and amputated the cyst, and now my hand is wrapped like a boxing glove. I get the stitches out on 8/24.

Because of the tendon repair, I now have to go to physical therapy, which will start on 8/25. I'm sure my boss is LOVING me right about now... :)

All in all, I am recovering well. The vicodin makes me nauseous...I tried to work today but the meds got the best of me, so I came home. Hopefully I can work tomorrow, though I suppose a little extra rest wouldn't hurt. We'll see.

On a positive note, I managed to shower, dry my hair, and get ready for work all by myself, with one hand!! I'm so proud!!

Thanks for all the prayers!

Ganglion Cysts

Ever heard of them? A mere 4 months ago, I had never heard the word "ganglion" in my life. Now, turns out I have one of these monsters growing on my left wrist! Joy!

The journey started over a year ago, when I noticed a little bump on my left wrist. I didn't think much of it. It didn't hurt, wasn't causing me any trouble. I figured I'd just leave it alone and it would go away.

No such luck.

By early May, it was getting a little too big for my comfort. I wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious, so I went to the doctor. That is when I learned that this affliction has a name: "ganglion cyst." Basically, it is a fluid-filled sac that juts out between the bones of my wrist. They don't know what causes them, or how to prevent them. They only know how to treat them. Kind of.

The doctor deadened the area and aspirated it by jamming a needle in my wrist and sucking out the fluid. Then he tells me "there's a 30% success rate...so 70% odds are that it'll come back. Good luck!" Needless to say, my little friend returned no more than 2 days later!

So I had an appointment with an ortho, who has scheduled surgery to remove the cyst. He ran some x-rays to make sure it wasn't something more serious. Then he explained that he would have to put me under general anesthetic, because the cyst is growing right over my vein, and if I somehow move during surgery I could basically slit my own wrist. Yippee!

I've never been under general anesthetic before, and I am a basketcase about it! I'm not even so worried about the surgery itself, or the recovery (during which I will have a splint on my left wrist for a week and won't be able to use that hand at all). So pray for me, please!

The surgery is Wednesday morning...I'll post an update when it's over!

When Ballerinas Turn Soccer Pro...

OK so maybe not "Pro" (yet), but Mini-Me is definitely kicking it up a notch with soccer! The child has never played before, but has begged to join a league for the past year or so. I caved. She's playing in the Upward Soccer league at church (http://www.upward.org/up_soccer.htm) this fall.

On Saturday, they had skill evaluations to determine team placement. The goal is to make sure that each team is well-represented by all skill levels. She did great!! She started out with quick kicks against the wall, then moved on to dribbling in and out of cones. After that, she got to throw the ball toward a painted target, and then kick direct shots as the coach moved around the field. Next, she had to run and kick the ball as hard as she could down the field...and then, SPRINTS! She sprinted back and forth from line to line. She's pretty quick!!

She had a great time, and she is really excited about soccer! In fact, she's in the back yard right now..."practicing" with the girlie glittery soccer ball I bought for her today. I think it's about 101 degrees today? She has water bottles chilling in the fridge. Now THAT's dedication!

Earrings!

Mini-Me decided to get her ears pierced! I was a little skeptical, but she assured me that she is ready to be responsible and keep them nice and clean! So last night, we went to Claires and let her pick out her first pair of earrings.

When we got there, another (older) girl was in the chair, preparing to get a second set of earrings in her ears. When Mini-Me saw the big girl in the chair, she was quite interested to see what reaction the big girl would have. When the big girl's eyes started to tear up, Mini-Me's face went ghost white. I thought it was over, and we would soon be leaving WITHOUT holes in our ears.

When the big girl finished, Mini-Me decided that she was gonna do it. She picked out some beautiful earrings - Pink Tourmaline (the October birth gem) - and hopped in the chair. When she realized she had left her stuffed Hello Kitty at home, she started to panic. Dad and I found a big black teddy bear for her to snuggle with, and she seemed to calm down a little bit...well, until the "guns" came out.

As the girl at Claires marked her earlobes with a marker, she started to fade to white again. We did everything we could to shift her focus, but no such luck. She squeezed the teddy bear, took a deep breath, and *PoP!* First earring in... She was incredibly brave. It hurts my heart when she cries, so I almost fell apart when she started sobbing! The girl quickly reminded her that we only had one more to go...lined up the gun...and *PoP!* All done!!

Since yesterday, she has taken extreme care with the new earrings. She's worn the "Just got my ears pierced at Claires" sticker for 2 days straight, and she has turned the earrings in her ears a thousand times. She reminds us when it's time to clean them. So far, so good.... Now if we can just show that much concern over the mess in her room, we'll be doing well!

My beautiful Mini-Me with her new earrings:



And a closer look. You can't really see the pink in the stones, but it's very pretty:

My Incredibly Talented Sister

I have the most amazingly talented sister on the planet. God has truly blessed her with a creativity and a passion that I admire!

She is the owner and sole employee of On Tip Toes (www.ontiptoes.com). She designs and hand-sews heirloom pillowcase dresses, and they are absolutely beautiful. She takes ordinary fabric and adds ribbons, ruffles, trim, and embroidery, and she creates these gorgeous, extraordinary dresses!

I love this photo! The simple white dresses are so crisp and beautiful!



This one is a variety of her creations: one is the white pillowcase dress, and the others are adorable pantaloon outfits she designed!



This photo melts me, too! I think it's the simplicity of the white dress with the innocence of a giggling child. Like I said, I love the white dresses....!



And her newest creation: I love the color, and the fit, and the flare, and the beautiful smile on that child's face!



(The models are the Nieces and Mini-Me...aren't they gorgeous??)

You can check out more of her designs and personalized gifts (and even order online!) at her website!

I am so proud of my Sister!

Quakecon 2006

I realize that a lot of people who will read this blog have NO idea what Quakecon is, and probably had no idea I was such a geek. Well, I am. Sort of.... Let me tell you the story.

Back in 2000, Husband heard about this gaming convention in Dallas. It was called Quakecon, and it was a place where thousands of online gamers came together to play each other in person. The main part of the event is called the BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer), and it is open 24 hours solid for 4 days straight. At the time, I didn't give two flips about the computer...much less online gaming. But he was into it, so Madison and I drove over to check it out one day while he was there.

So my first Quakecon wasn't a big deal to me. I thought it was pretty freakin' cool that so many computers were gathered in one place. But Mini-Me was less than a year old at the time, and most (if not all) of my "spare" time was devoted to her.

The BYOC:




Over the next year, I started trying to play games. Quake 2, to be exact. Before long, I was playing in an all-girl "clan" (which is just a little group of folks that play together as a team) called *scarie*. I had to make up a name, so I thought it would be funny to be *scarie*spice (as in the Spice Girl). It was also a bit of a tribute to my roots in South Louisiana. Before long, I was hooked. I enjoyed playing online with other girls who also had kids and families and jobs and housework!

By the next August (2001), I decided to attend Quakecon as an actual gamer! (Well, Husband and I shared a computer...but still!) I started recognizing names of people I had played with online, and I got to meet them in person. It really was a lot of fun to be a part of this community!

The next year was pretty much a repeat of 2001, only I had "upgraded" to Quake 3, started playing a specialized "mod" called Rocket Arena (after I learned that it's much easier to hit a moving target with a rocket than a pencil-thin rail gun), and changed to a co-ed clan after *scarie* disbanded. Wow, I miss those girls....

By 2003, I decided it was time to do more. I have the attention span of a flea, so I generally can't sit still for extended periods of time playing a game. This chick's gotta move around!! So I decided to volunteer. I arrived early at the event and helped crimp patch cables to create the network for the BYOC, and I crawled around running cables all over the building. It was awesome! I played a bit during the event (I had my own computer by then), but the majority of my time was spent at the registration desk helping to check people in. I literally worked all day and (almost) all night in registration to make sure that people could get in to enjoy Quakecon.

In 2004, I was invited to join the staff as a member of the Entertainment team. The event is run completely by volunteers, hosted by id software, and sponsored by a multitude of companies. As a member of the entertainment team, I got to see what went into "making" Quakecon. The experience is absolutely amazing! To know that I am partially responsible for the largest (and greatest) LAN party in North America is a little overwhelming, and 100% exciting!

I joined the Executive Staff in 2005 as the Director of Entertainment...a position I am filling again this year. I have learned that it is FAR more rewarding to be a part of the creation and execution of Quakecon than to simply attend and soak it all in. I've always loved to serve others, and I like to think I have a creative force in me somewhere...! In the Director position, I have the opportunity to create contests and games, to distribute prizes (or "swag" as it's called in the Quakecon world), and to try to make sure that EVERYONE has fun!

It's really kind of hard to describe how this community has become like a family to me. It seems odd, I suppose, that people who share an interest of online gaming could form such strong connections and bonds. After all, the stigma associated with "gamers" is generally a negative one...basement-dwelling loners with violent tendencies. I can honestly say that this is 100% false. Sure, there are people who fit that mold. But the vast majority of people who attend Quakecon are "normal." In fact, I would venture to say that over 50% of the attendees are over the age of 21...with families and jobs and responsibilities, too. And each year, there are more and more women (I think in 2000 there were about 30 of us...last year there were hundreds).

And so, on July 30, I make the annual pilgrimmage to Dallas, TX, for Quakecon 2006. The event doesn't actually start until August 3rd, but there is much to be done to prepare the venue and schedule all the fun that's in store! And just like every year, I am so excited I can hardly contain myself...the focus has officially shifted to "how many more days of work until I get to go to Quakecon?!?!" Oh man, I can't wait!!

Our Wonderful Vacation

Mini-Me and I joined my Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-In-Law, and 2 beautiful nieces for a fabulous vacation in Florida back in May. It has been YEARS since I've been on an actual vacation...and far too long since spending a full week of quality time with my family! In short, it was amazing. It was relaxing, peaceful, enlightening, special, memorable....perfect.




Mini-Me was especially excited to see the ocean for the first time. She was thrilled! Actually, I think she was completely overwhelmed at first. I guess it's tough for a six-year-old to grasp that a body of water can be SO BIG that you can't see the other shore! (After all...we're surrounded by trees, lakes and rivers in East Texas. Everything has a boundary.) She quickly overcame her awe and was ALL ABOUT jumping and splashing in the salty water. Unfortunately for her, I am ridiculously cautious and spent most of my time pacing the shore watching for sea creatures. Her Nana, Aunt, and Uncle made up for it, though...helping her stay above water, bouncing her in the waves. She loved it!



She also had a chance to do fun stuff, like swim in the pool and fly kites! We even buried the Uncle in the sand, but we'll spare him the agony of posting the picture on the internet! :)

Our vacation was amazing. There is so much to tell about it, and so many memories that we will always treasure. In fact, we're already looking forward to the next one! WE LOVE FLORIDA!

And the blogging begins...!

I 100% blame my sister for this new addiction! (You can check her blog out at http://mylittlecorneroftheplanet.blogspot.com/) I love to keep journals, but really...who has time for that?? I'm hoping that this blog will allow me to keep track of the events in my life, and share them with the important people who mean the world to me!