More baby pictures to share... :)
My very close friend (she was my roomie in college) and her husband (whom I also went to college with) welcomed their daughter, Eleanor Grace, to the world back in November 2007. She was a couple months early; however, the family is doing well. These are some recent family shots.
She is such a cutie!
Congratulations Gretchen and Jeremy!
We had a diaper shower for our friend, Jennifer, at Whole Hog today. Mom and baby have a wonderful glow about them! Congratulations!
Blu and Mitchell went fishing on Lake Chicot over the weekend--it was a beautiful weekend, highs in the low 70's. Not too many fish caught, but they did bring home some crawdads. We had etouffee' Monday night. Yum!
This past Tuesday, we had a freak snowfall. Very unexpected. And now, they are calling for more snow on Friday (yes, the day I take the test). I've decided I AM GOING TO TAKE THIS TEST...after all, I have four-wheel drive and my sanity is worth saving (at least to me).
"SCATTERGORIES" ...It's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into your blog and try it!
**Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following --they have to be real places, names, things ...nothing made up! You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
What is your name...........................Dana
4 Letter word....................................Dare
Vehicle................................................Durango
City......................................................Dublin, Ireland
Boy Name...........................................Dagmar
Girl Name...........................................Darby
Alcoholic Drink...................................Dark and Stormy Occupation..........................................Daredevil
Something you wear..........................Dungarees
Celebrity..............................................Doris Day
Food......................................................Dim sum
Something found in a bathroom........Drainage pipe
Reason for being late...........................Daydreaming
Cartoon Character...............................Daffy Duck
Something you shout...........................Darn
Animal....................................................Dog
Body part...............................................Derrière (yeah, I said it)
Word to describe you............................Dedicated
Our nights this past week have been spent watching this series. It was like movie-crack for us. We loved it, every minute of it. There are reports that a similar HBO series, (The Pacific) featuring the Pacific theater during WWII, will premier in 2009. And yes, we will watch that one too.
2007 is long a memory and now we welcome 2008...I chose this picture because it shows a path, but you can't yet see what's around the corner...just like what lies ahead this year.
I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's celebration...we were once again spending time out in the great Arkansas outdoors, celebrating with family and friends. (Pictures to follow, hopefully!).
It was time to get out in the Arkansas backwoods. We have not been able to enjoy the peace and quiet for some time now. It was a good time, not to cold (even though we were all dressed for the arctic!).
Now it's time to finish up getting ready for Christmas! Only 13 more days...
Pilot on intercom: "Uh, folks, I'm going to have the flight crew instruct you guys on how prepare for an emergency landing. This is just an extreme precaution. It seems we hit a coyote during our take off from Denver...All of our systems are indicating everything is fine, but we just want to be cautious. So, please cooperate with the crew and we'll make it to Portland just fine."
This happened on my recent trip to Portland. I thought he was joking. Not so.
We made it to Portland, bells and whistles ringing. The remainder of the trip was quiet; the return flight experienced no problems at all.
This was taken by a co-worker who had the opportunity to travel to Kalispell, Montana for training. Lucky dog.
Mitchell had his first football game last night. Unfortunately, we lost, but he did well. YAY #52!!! Now all we need (for the future) is some RAZORBACK RED in the picture!!
I thought this was an interesting story. You can see the full version here:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/24/frenemies/index.html
"Frenemy"..."The term has most often been used to describe females who tangle with their female friends."
Every friendship -- no matter how solid or tentative -- has mixed feelings of support and antagonism. Apter says that "among female friends there is also something else: a wish to offer support and see a friend thrive, on the one hand, and a fear of being left behind or out-shone, on the other." In essence, the "hate" part of a love-hate relationship isn't really hate -- it's envy or insecurity.
How to salvage a love-hate relationship:
1. Don't make things worse. If your friend's nastiness only surfaces at certain times (for example, when she is stressed), try to avoid her at those times; you don't always have to make yourself available. When she antagonizes you, consider defending yourself, but tactfully so as to avoid adding fuel to the fire.
2. Keep a support system. "Make sure you have, or that you cultivate, other friends who are consistently positive and loving so you can remind yourself that a friendship doesn't have to be a love-hate relationship," advises Yager.
3. Focus on the good. "If you really want to keep the love-hate friendship going, make sure you remind yourself of the traits about your friend that are loving and why you want to keep the friendship going, dwelling on the positive rather than the negative," says Yager.
4. It's your friend's problem. Even when confronting your friend, don't follow in her negative footsteps. Don't consider this situation to be your fault or let it lower your self esteem.
5. Don't let her get to you. Above all, don't let your friend drag you down. Instead, "maintain the positive, loving personality that you have despite her temporary or longstanding love-hate behavior," says Yager.
I don't have any pictures of him yet...so, you get to see the proud momma!
Congratulations Brent and Michelle!!!
Born on Wednesday, 22 August 2007
10 lbs, 3 oz.
The first day of school is today for some kids; later on in the week for others. And even later on in the month for more folks.
We are trying (hoping) to get Mitchell (Blu's son) into school today. We have an interview this afternoon. It's hard for me to comprehend interviewing for a school. Job, yes. High school, ??? I suppose this is where our society has put us nowadays.
I don't know why I opted for this picture on this posting. I suppose this is what some kids feel like when school starts. Especially when it starts while the heat of summer is in full swing. I hope things start to cool down...
Happy First Day of School!
It's finally hit the 'hot' time of year. We are expecting highs in the upper 90s this week, possibly hitting 100 a few days. It will definitely be into the triple digits with the heat index. I am thankful we have had a 'cooler' summer, with lots of rain, this year. I watched a comparison on the news last night--for the same time last year, we had 55+ days of hot weather compared to the 43 days (and counting) this year.
Yeah, I know...it's not a lot, but when you live in Arkansas during these hot summer months, you begin to appreciate what you can get.
For those who must be outside this week, drink lots of water, find some shade to rest in, and take care of yourself!
From www.weather.com :
Special Weather Statement
ARKANSAS-BAXTER-BOONE-BRADLEY-CALHOUN- CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND- CONWAY- DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER-FULTON- GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING- INDEPENDENCE- IZARD-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON- LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE- MARION-MONROE- MONTGOMERY-NEWTON-OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE- POLK-POPE- PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE- SCOTT-SEARCY-SHARP-STONE-VAN BUREN- WHITE- WOODRUFF-YELL- 400 AM CDT MON AUG 6 2007
...AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF HOT AND HUMID WEATHER IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF ARKANSAS THIS UPCOMING WEEK...
HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS FORECAST TO PERSIST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND ARKANSAS...THROUGH MUCH OF THIS WEEK. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE MID AND UPPER 90S...WITH A FEW 100 DEGREE READINGS POSSIBLE...EACH DAY THIS WEEK. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS...WILL PRODUCE AFTERNOON HEAT INDICES FROM 95 TO 105 DEGREES EACH DAY. PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MAY SEE HEAT INDEX VALUES EXCEED 105 DEGREES DURING SOME PARTS OF THE AFTERNOONS THIS WEEK. HEAT ADVISORIES ARE ANTICIPATED AT SOME POINT THIS WEEK FOR PORTIONS OF THE STATE.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE REMINDS EVERYONE TO TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO AVOID THE HEAT... ESPECIALLY IF PLANNING TO BE OUTDOORS IN THE HOT TEMPERATURES. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS AND AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO DIRECT SUNLIGHT IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE RISK OF HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES. CHILDREN...THE ELDERLY AND PETS ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE TO THE HIGH HEAT...AND PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO MINIMIZE THEIR EXPOSURE.
