A Deer Mishap and Other Things

Well I think my mourning period is over. The world series has begun and my beloved Astros are not playing. And to be honest I haven't watched either game. R1 has watched and I've listened and he is cheering for the Mets and me well I'm not cheering for either team. 

Things have been kind of crazy busy around here. We've had baseball or lessons. We've had homework, all of us. Mountains of homework. And I'm half way through the semester and I'm still not feeling it. I'm dreading the Spring semester and it doesn't start for two and half more months. 

We had homecoming and all of the events prior to. Dress up days at school where I failed to take pictures of my boys each morning. However this week has been red ribbon week and I thought I would redeem myself but alas, mom fail. Until Tuesday where I remembered to take a picture of R2 dressed in orange for "orange you glad you do not do drugs" day. But Monday and Wednesday went with no picture. We will see how tomorrow goes. 

The biggest news is not the best news. I hit a deer last Monday on my way home from a school board meeting. Yep my car that was only a year and a half old does not look to good. There are several things I am thankful for. 1. R1 was not driving. I picked him up at a friends after the meeting and asked if he wanted to drive and he said he was to tired, so I drove home. 2. I only hit the deer going about 40mph so the air bags did not deploy. I was also driving the speed limit which is 65. I usually go faster than that so as soon as I saw the deer pop up from the ditch on the other side of the road and begin to move across traffic I slammed on my brakes. 3. On the two lane highway where I hit the deer there were no cars behind me and no cars coming toward me in the other lane. This is a very busy highway and for this to happen was and depending on how you look at it, it was a small or huge miracle. 4. The insurance company said since this is a no fault accident it is covered under my comprehensive coverage so the deductible is half of what the collision deductible is. And 5. I only did about $3,500 damage to my car. The bumper, grill, hood, and fenders will all need to be replaced. And the insurance adjuster said the deer's antler pierced the A/C condenser so that will be replaced as well. Ahhh the joys of living in a small town during hunting season. So hopefully by the end of this week I will have my car back. Oh and the deer, well he rolled into the ditch and then got up and ran off. I'm sure he went into the woods to die and if I would have been thinking clearly I would have called a friend to go track him for me but I was just excited that R1 and I were OK. 

So other than the amount of rainfall we received from Hurricane Patricia this past Saturday/Sunday nothing really exciting has been going. Unless you count the fact that I didn't even get deer meat after the accident. 

Peace out y'all!

Homecoming 2015

This past weekend was homecoming so the weekend was filled with a flurry of things we needed to do.

I like homecoming. I enjoying seeing all the kids dressed up. The boys always look handsome and the girls are always beautiful. 

R1 and his date were stunning! (but I'm a little partial to them) 

Here you can see for yourself. Stunning!

Thank you Astros

Thank you Astros for an amazing season! I'm sorry it's over. 

But on the bright side, it's only 173 days till opening day!

Crickets

I know I haven't blogged about the Astros loss on Monday but honestly I was so frustrated with it I had no words. 

How do you blow a 4 run lead to lose 9-6. I totally blame A J Hinch and Will Harris. Hinch should have pulled him after he gave up two hits. And Harris needs to learn how to become a better relief pitcher to keep us in the game.  

I know it seems harsh but when you are in a playoff situation and you are up and then your relief pitchers come in an blow that lead, well you can't win a game. 

This is how I felt Monday night. 

And since I am a true blue Astros fan I can say this...It's game day boys. It's do this or go home. 

LET'S GO 'STROS!

Astros Win Another

Y'all will have to excuse me, my beloved Astros are still in the play offs and I'm sure that my blog will consist of nothing but their activity. The Astros beat the Royals 4-2 yesterday and we are now up 2-1 in the series. Have I mentioned love baseball in October!

Post Season Excitement

No words are necessary

The Day Hell Froze Over

So over the past few years I've become more of football fan. It really all started when R1 began playing football in junior high school. 

My favorite NFL team is the Houston Texans. I know they are no Oilers but they are still my team. And since I cheer for the Texans you know what this means, I can not stand the Cowboys. The hatred dislike for the Dallas Cowboys really began when Hubs and I started dating. His entire life he has never liked the Cowboys and since I married him by default I do not like them either. 

So when R1 came home from school last week and said he was asking a girl to homecoming and she liked the Cowboys I knew we were in trouble. 

A big thing right now is how the boy asks the girl to homecoming or prom. The proposal is a huge deal. So with this in mind Hubs and R1 went work trying to come up with something Cowboys related. And since it was Cowboys related this meant I was going to have to step foot in the Dallas Cowboys Store and purchase a few things. So Saturday R1 and I went to the store and made a purchase. 

As I walked out the door I shuddered. I could not believe I walked in, found a few things,  and paid for that junk with my hard earned money. Hell must have frozen over. And all in the name of homecoming. 

Here is the finished product...

 

We're Going To The Post Season

We're going to the post season! 

I get to cheer for my favorite MLB team a bit longer. The locker room celebration was awesome. Poor Julia Morales was covered from head to toe. Even her Twitter post said she smelled awful. 

But I'm a happy girl. Way to go Astros!

Peanutized

I have always loved the Peanuts. I had several Snoopy and Woodstock stuffed animals as a child. I would patiently wait for A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown to come on every year. Another favorite of mine was Snoopy, Come Home

So yesterday when this showed up in my Facebook news feed I just had to do it. I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. 

18th Anniversary

This past Sunday was our 18th wedding anniversary. And as usual Hubs and I were so busy I haven't had a chance to post about it until now. 

So Happy 18th Anniversary Hubs! I love you more than my luggage, or more than cheesecake, or more than Astros baseball. 

I would not want to take this journey with anyone else. We've been through it all and no matter what you've always been by my side.

I love you. 

 

September 11th

2977, we must never forget. I will never forget.

First Day of School 2015-2015

I can't believe my babies are in 10th grade and 5th grade. Last year of elementary school. And my 10th grader drove to school, with Hubs in car of course. 

And not to disappoint, here is the traditional first day of school picture. 

Oh Father Time can you please slow down! My babies are growing up to fast.

Have I Done Enough?

A new school year is upon us again and I am filled with dread. Yes me.

You see my youngest child, R2, has dyslexia. And each and every school year has been a fight for me to make sure he receives the accommodations the law says he is entitled to.

In the very beginning of his diagnoses I used to walk out of our 504 meetings feeling as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest and feeling as if I had been defeated. After our meetings, I somehow always managed to hold it together walking down the school hallway until I reached my car and then I would turn into a crying mess.

 When R2 began third grade I began to really educate myself about my rights as a parent and my child’s education regarding dyslexia.  I no longer wanted to feel crushed. I wanted the school district to do everything they are required by law to do. I showed up to our first meeting of that year with a 3 inch thick red binder. The look on the 504 coordinators face was one of complete and total shock.  I printed out more laws and information that I’m sure no other parent has even come close too. I spent weeks reading laws and interpretations of those laws. I also learned that a school does not always have your child’s learning as their best interest. It is a business for them, but not for me.

So when she began stating incorrect information regarding dyslexia accommodations, I would open my book find the laws written not only by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) but by the U.S. Department of Education as well. I had done extensive research and I could quote a few of the laws from memory but I wanted hard evidence to show her where her statements were incorrect. As one point during our many meetings she asked me if she could have a copy of the STAAR guidelines provided by the TEA. While I know I could have easily pulled out my copy for her to make one for herself, my reply was short and simple.  “I’m sorry but no you may not, you can find this information by doing a little research on the TEA website, just as I did”.

So here we are at the beginning of a new school year and my anxiety is already in over drive mode. Did I do enough preparation last year that this year will be an easier process. Did I do enough last year that R2 will have everything he needs in place as the school year begins? Did I do enough last year to ensure that his teachers are well informed of his accommodations provided in his 504 letter? Did I do enough that moving forward to Junior High School in the next school year will be an easy transition? (Yes I am already worried about Junior High and it’s a whole year away). Did I do enough that he will make significant progress this year? Did the private tutoring we did over the summer stay with him? Did I do enough?

This thing I call “mama guilt” can and has racked through me with such destruction I am left feeling destroyed. While I know in the overall scheme of things I’m a good mom and I have done everything I could/can to help him, its times like this and throughout the school year I am left feeling overwhelmed thinking I haven’t done enough for him. I haven’t done enough to help him adapt to this learning disability that does not define who he is? I don’t want him to have an advantage, I just want him to have a level playing field.

Have I done enough?

Still Ballin'

Well I thought we were done with baseball for a while and it turns out I was wrong. 

In the upcoming weeks R1 begins conditioning with a new coach for the 2016 season, which by the way is months away. He said wants to be in shape and ready to go before the season starts. I can't say I blame him there. Catching is hard position to play and so if he stays in shape during the off season making the transition to game time will be easier. 

R2 had a tryout with a select team. He has been wanting to play select baseball for a few years and we finally decided to take the plunge with him. So this past weekend he had a two day tryout. And let me just say it was HOT! Nothing smells better in the summer breeze than the smell of burning turf. Not really. It was 102 degrees yesterday and R2 played catcher. When the second to last inning was over and he took of the catchers mask and slowly walked off the field and I knew at that moment he was feeling the heat. I walked over and made sure he had plenty of Gatorade and reminded him to drink it and drink it often and to let me know when he needed more.  

He did good and he was proud of the effort he put forth. And because he knows me so well and how I worry and get nervous for him and his brother, he told me, "Mom if I make the team great and if not then that's OK too, there is always regular season ball." What a great attitude to have. I'm proud of him. 

So I guess we are still kinda baseballing around here and I'll take it!

Hardware

Well the boys baseball season ended a few weeks ago but not before R1 and his team brought home a little hardware

Yep his summer league team took home second place in their world series. R1 even played a few other positions to just try something different and he did great! I am really proud of him. 

Way to work!

Happy Birthday Hubs

Happy Birthday Hubs!

In honor of his birthday I thought I'd post a few pictures. Hubs, I hope your birthday is awesome and the boys and I love you!

This one was taken not to long ago, it was opening weekend for high school baseball.

Having a little fun and at R2's basketball game. GROSS!

Disney Trip 2014

This one is a few years old but I love it. It took forever to get them to pose like this.

1000

This post marks my 1000th post. 

Back when I started this blog I knew I liked to write but never once did I ever think about how one day I'd be writing a 1000th post, Hubs didn't event think I'd make it past my third post. And to be honest I had my doubts too. 

But here I am!

I've sat down one thousand times and told the internet people about me, family, my love a baseball, and what truly happens when you run out of specific things in your house like Sour Patch Kids, Oreo cookies, and paper towels. 

Before I started this post I took a look back at some of the things I blogged. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me smile, but it made me feel a small sense of accomplishment. 

I started this blog and I've continued to keep it up. Not every day like in the beginning but I've popped in from time to time to let the thoughts from my brain explode on to the page and craft a story that will one day take me back to a certain time and place and make me feel things I haven't felt in along time. Kinda of the way a song or smell can instantly propel you back. You just instantly remember that specific time.

So here's to the first 1000 and hoping I can continue on to the next 1000.  It's been amazing!

Home Plate

This has been my view for the past few days. Actually not just that but the entire baseball field with one of my favorite players.

It is my happy place, even in the 146° heat.

That is all, carry on and PLAY BALL!