Did You Know? Vol 1

This might be a part of a series called Did You Know? but then again, it might not be. I tend not to finish series after I start them. LOL.

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As I was reflecting on my birthday, I started to think back about different experiences that shaped my life over the past 32 years.  One of them, was moving to a new elementary school in the 4th grade.  I came from a low income school district and moved to a higher income school district (that district has gone waaaaaay downhill since I went there). 

I loved my new school, we had tons of resources that we didn't have at my old school.  I remember my 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Cobb, being very pretty and having 'a lot' of money.  She always talked about going to parties and other 'fancy' stuff that, as third graders from a low income part of town, would never even imagine doing.  Ms. Cobb talked about eating caviar and how it was so good.  I had never heard of caviar, but my mom said it was very expensive.  In my mind:  If you can eat caviar, then you must be very rich. In reality, she was probably from a richer family or she had a rich boyfriend, since teachers do not make that much money-especially back then. 

She also took us on field trips on the weekends to fun places throughout Houston.  I guess she figured that we would never be able to go with our parents, so she took us herself.  She was a great teacher and I learned a lot that year.  One day she taught us to use a 'big word', automobile instead of car.  Whoa!  She had a list of big words that she wanted us to use instead of the smaller ones, I only remember automobile though.  Anyway, I always wonder what happened to Ms. Cobb, she was probably my favorite elementary school teacher and 3rd grade was my favorite grade.  That is probably why I had it in my  head that I wanted to teach 3rd grade so bad...mistake!


So, back to the new school and all it's resources.  I was on the playground one day and one of the teachers told me that I would be taking a new class at recess (or was it gym class?) to help my speech.  You see, I had a trouble pronouncing the 'r' sound, they would sound like 'w'.  So if I wanted to say 'rose' it would sound like 'wose'.  Or if I wanted to say 'Rhonda" (my mom's name), it would sound like 'Wanda'.  At my low income school, they didn't have the resources to send a child to a speech therapist, but at my new school they did.

For two years I went to lessons on how to improve my 'r' sounds.  I remember flash cards and a Mickey Mouse game.  Looking back, I think it was one of those things that really help shape my self confidence and alleviate my frustrations.  Before I got help, I had trouble spelling and having people understand me, which is so frustrating to a child.  I would sound a word, but say it wrong because of the 'r' sound turning 'w' when I spoke.  When you have to say something over and over again, it is so frustrating.  Like when my little sister was born, my teachers asked me her name.  I said, "Tori".  They said, "Towi?"  "No, Tori". and we went back and forth a few times before I just gave up.  I am actually getting frustrated just thinking back on it.

After those two years, my speech problem was pretty much fixed.  I still have times when I say the 'r' sound wrong, but very quickly correct my mistake. (and I kind of look around to see if my speech pathologist is coming. LOL). I really wish I had her name, she was great!

To sum it up:  Get your kid some speech help if they are having problems.  It might be 'cute' to a parent, but as time goes on, your child might become more and more frustrated.  Some will even give up on school because they get further and further behind, which would be awful.

The Last Hours of 31

I will be 32 in a few hours.  Yep, 32.  I was trying to recall my past birthdays, and I can't remember them all. #memorylosscomeswitholdage

16th birthday-My sister, Laura, graduated high school.  I remember being stuck in traffic on the way to the ceremony and my mom being upset that she might miss Laura graduating.  She didn't of course because our last name starts with an 'S' and there is no way that traffic could have been that long.  At her graduation party, my birthday cake was an afterthought. LOL.

18th birthday-My high school graduation and graduation/birthday party.  I was wearing brown polka dots (I have the pics somewhere).  That night I went to buy cigarettes and lottery tickets, just because I could. I didn't smoke, so the pack of cigarettes was useless. A few weeks later I got a tattoo.  Yes, I have a tattoo.

19th birthday-I was living in Philadelphia and I got three birthday cakes.  Yes, 3!  My aunt gave me one, my work gave me one, and my friend gave me one.  It was a delicious day.

21st birthday-Coushatta Casino!  My first 'official' drink was a Goldschlager shot and it was awful! It burned going down.  I don't think I won any money on that trip either.

22nd-27th birthdays-I don't remember!  Not because I did anything 'bad', but because I am old! LOL.

28th birthday-Waaaaaaaay too many margaritas at El Palenque.  Great friends and great margritas!  I remember going back to my dad's house (I didn't drive) with my friends and we sat by the pool. I also had a birthday cake with a flamingo on it that my friend Clarissa made me.

29th birthday-My first official running 5K!  My friends Krista, Ginger, Tyler, Debbie, Erika, and Oscar all came out to run it with me or cheer me on.  Afterwards, we went to eat dessert at the House of Pie.

30th birthday-80's theme party!!!!

31st birthday-lunch at work and then dinner with my dad and stepmom.

Tonight, I went to dinner with a friend at Happy Fatz in the Heights. They have the best fruit infused water there.  Tonight's water selection was apples and strawberries.  So good!  Go check them out!

So, to sum it up. I have memory loss and I have good friends to help me celebrate my birthday!

31 was a very hard year for me.  I have had lots of self doubt and depression this year, due to many things that I don't want to talk about here.  I will say that I have learned a lot this year and I hope that I learned whatever it was that God wanted me to learn so I can move past all of this. 

Here's to 32! Cheers!

Take 2: Volunteering at IMTX

Last Saturday was Ironman Texas in the Woodlands.  Last year I volunteered at the finish line, but this year I wanted to volunteer on the course to support the runners, not just the ones to were finishing.

For those who don't know, Ironman kicks off at 7 am sharp.  The participants have 17 hours to complete a 140.6 mile course of swimming, biking, and running.  2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles on a bike, and a full 26.2 marathon of running.  Yikes!!!

My friend Katie does a boot camp twice a week that all the dues money goes towards a non profit that raises money for various non profits.  The manager of that non profit signed up to be the captain of aid station #3 on the run course.  I signed up a few months ago when they were just starting to get volunteers.  Our aid station had tons food and drinks that the runners could have on each of the 3 laps of the course.

My shift started at 2:30, but the traffic was so bad that I didn't get there until about 2:40 pm.  My friend Katie and Michelle were both working that day too, so I just found them and started working at their station.  At first I was helping put ice in cups for the runners, but then moved to the drink Perform station.

Our station had:
Cold sponges (a pool of ice and water was keeping them cool)
Ice
Water
Perform
Gu gel
Gu Chomps
Bananas
Salty chips (I think they were plain potato chip kind)
Bananas
Watermelon
Bonk Bites (no one wanted these! :/ )
Pretzels (those went fast)
Oranges
licorice
Broth (after it was dark)
and maybe other stuff, but I wasn't at the food station.  I only remember what I heard them say

My old running coach, Alain, was completing the Ironman that day, so we were on the lookout for him (Matt and Aly were at the same station too) and we all cheered him on when he came by our station.  He looked like he was hurting, but kept moving and finished!

I ended up staying past 6:30 when my shift ended.  Dawn (the captain) needed more people and asked if I could stay longer.  I told her I could stay until about 9 pm when I had to go back to the IAA fundraiser to help clean up.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I was so inspired!!!  I have had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do an Ironman, but Saturday clenched it.  I had flashbacks of mile 22ish of my marathon and I knew that I could do it if I trained.  I have to save up the $$ first though, the registration fee alone is around $700!  That doesn't include a coach, bike, shoes, etc.  Luckily, the IMTX course is in my town so I wouldn't have to worry about the travel costs that some do.  Last year I was inspired, but this year it was clenched that I want to do one!!!!!

Watch this video, you will be inspired too.

Laundry

I was listening to the Rod Ryan Show this morning on the way to work and they were talking about how often you wash your jeans.  The CEO of Levi's Strauss apparently doesn't wash his jeans ever!  Apparently there are other jean connoisseurs that rarely wash them too!  I am not sure where he lives, but it is probably up north somewhere where it doesn't get so hot like here.  He (the CEO) says that it breaks down the jeans and the dye, so not to wash them often.

I know you can only see a bit of this guys jeans, but he is just pretty and I just wanted to give you a special treat when you read this!  You are welcome.

People were calling into the show saying that they never wash their's or some wash them all the time.  One guy said that he hasn't washed them since college!  That's gross!!!!!  (he didn't sound young either)  He just puts them in the freezer when they start to stink. LOL.  I just don't know what to say to that, so all you can do is laugh nervously.  Please don't say that guy is single and please don't say that I will ever go on a blind date with him. ;)  Rod Ryan himself said that he washes his jeans all the time.

If you know me at all, you will know that I hate doing laundry.  I usually don't do laundry until I run out of underwear (sorry, TMI) or I just go buy new ones.  LOL.  I seriously hate doing laundry.  Even hating doing laundry, I only wear jeans a few times before washing them.  But a whole year or never?  Absolutely not!  I think the general consensus from the people they talked to online said that they were them several times before washing them, so I am not too odd washing them when I do.

Here is some more of my laundry TMI.  I wash towels that I use after a shower about once a week to a week and a half.  They are hanging on a hook in my bathroom between showers so it's not like they are on the floor or something.  I mean, you are clean when you use them, so they aren't dirty, right?  That is my opinion! ;)

Th is is the brand I use, but when I googled this image, a few others came up.  Check them out, they work! :)

This might be gross (I agree with you, but I hate doing laundry)...I wear my workout clothes multiple times (3-4) between washes.  I admit that is gross, but you are only sweating in them each time, they are meant to be dirty.  I only wash workout clothes together, so the quadruple sweatiness is only cleaned together.  I also don't dry my workout clothes because it wears them out faster and I use regular laundry soap plus a workout soap that is meant to get out sweat odor from clothes (you can get it at running stores).  Plus, they hang on a doorknob/hook to air out between uses.

Everything else I wash each time I wear it, so don't worry, I'm clean!

What about you?  How often do you wash your jeans?  Am I alone in the towel and workout clothes laundry?

Mean Girls Anniversary Party

So a few weeks ago the 10 year anniversary of the movie Mean Girls was upon us!  I know, how exciting!  Doesn't taht make you feel old?  10 years!  I can't believe that it has been that long.

Anyway, my stepbrother Brandon invited us over to his house for an anniversary party with his friends.  Everyone was supposed to bring over something to snack on that was Mean Girls related.  I should have watched the movie ahead of time to know what to bring, but I figured when in doubt, bring wine!  So I did!  I know there wasn't any wine in the movie, but there were margaritas.

People brought chips, guacamole, cheese dip, cheese fries, salsa, taco bell, and toaster strudel.  There was probably something else, but I don't remember!

Everyone was wearing pink (even the guys) because it was Wednesday.  That is part of the movie for those of you who don't speak mean girl language. :)



We watched the movie (of course!) and we all new what was going to happen and said the lines.  Here are some of my favorite quotes!

"I don't think my father, the inventor of Toaster Strudel, would be too pleased to hear about this."

"Stop trying to make fetch happen, it's not going to happen."

"On Wednesdays we wear pink."

"Four for you Glen Coco, you go Glenn Coco! and none for Gretchen Wienners, bye!"

"Get in loser, we're going shopping."




I had a really fun night!  See you in another 10 years Mean Girls! :)

Family Fun Day

A few weeks ago (I know, bad blogger) there was a family fun day at my dad's work that we were invited too.  They have it each year, but this was the first year I was able to attend.  It was super fun!

They had games, vendors, door prizes (good ones!) and food!  They even had a classic car display (my dad works in the car industry) outside for everyone to check out.  There were some pretty cool cars there.

In another warehouse, there was a kids section filled with face painting and games.  Cole was super excited to get his face painted, Hunter was too cool to walk around with his face painted.  Cole REALLY wanted to be Spiderman, and we were afraid that the clown wouldn't be able to make it, but alas, she could!  His face was super excited as soon as she started to add the makeup.

So serious.  Spiderman is all about the seriousness. ;)

The final result!

Another clown asked Cole what kind of balloon animal he wanted, he said a blue gun.  She said how about a sword or a dog, but he was insistent on a blue gun.  When that kid get something in his head, he want it and there is no talking him out of it.

Hunter playing the spin the wheel for prizes game.

It was a fun day!  We didn't win any door prizes, but it was a fun day!  Free food always makes things fun! :)

Discovery Green Movie Night

Each month Discovery Green (a park near the George R. Brown downtown) host a family movie night on its lawn.  It is a free event, open to anyone.  All you need to do is bring a blanket or lawn chair, plus drinks/snacks if you wish to have them.  You can also get snacky items at the concession stand they have there.  I would NOT recommend the little restaurant on property, it is really gross, the people don't know what they are doing, and it isn't very clean.

The movie for May was supposed to be the original Back to the Future, but it was the 2nd one.  Boo!

I got to the park about 7 pm (movie starts at 8:30 pm) to make sure I got a good spot to sit.  My friend Terrie and a group of her friends were going as well, so I met up with them.  I was planning on bringing my lawn chair, but apparently it has decided to rust in the last year that I haven't used it.  :/  Boo!  I brought my yoga mat for a little bit of cushion, and a beach towel-flamingo of course!

They were setting up the movie screen when I got there.  It was a huge inflatable screen-pretty cool!  I want one for a party! :)

Once it started to get dark, they played a game with a back to the future theme.  They chose random people from the audience to participate.  It had something to do with putting letters on a license plate.

After that got out of the way, the movie started.  But as it turns out, it was Back to the Future 2 instead of 1.  So disappointing.  I was really looking forward to seeing Back to the Future, since I hadn't seen it since I was little.  I really don't remember what happens (I know he travels back in time to his parents prom), so I was lost during the first few minutes.  I would have left, but my friend needed a ride back to her car, so I couldn't leave.  I just read a book on my Nook until it was time to leave.

The movie was supposed to be part 1, but I guess there was a mix up of sorts and they either downloaded the wrong one or bought/rented the wrong one. :/   People even told them it was the wrong one and they were trying to fix it, but I guess they figured they would just leave that one up since it was already playing.

Ghostbusters is next month, but I don't think I will be going to that.  I don't want to be disappointed again. :/ I guess beggars can't be choosers, but still!

Easter 2014

Easter Sunday started off with Jabba wanting to go outside to kill poor, innocent lizards.  We never have lizards around the house, Jabba makes them basically extinct around our area.  It's really sad.

I headed to church to volunteer and celebrate Easter.  My church has a new HUGE cross fountain that was just finished and I took a picture of it.  A few months ago, they had let us all write our names on white paper to put on the inside of the cross when it was being constructed.  Kind of like our names were at the base of the cross.  Pretty cool.

Afterwards I drove to Spring to see my family for lunch.  We had BBQ and hung out by the pool pretty much all day.

My mom had gotten the kids all of these random toys, so of course the adults had to play too!

Cole's 3rd Birthday

This big guy is 3!  Wow!

Cole had his 3rd birthday at Chuck E. Cheese along with his friend Ruby from school. Their birthdays are a few days apart and instead of having two parties and splitting up the 'guest list' from class, they had one.  The table was set  up when we got there with cute microphone balloons and chuck e cheese place settings.  The theme at Chuck E. Cheese was Rock Star (or something like that) and everything there was rock star themed from the birthday crowns to tables to the videos on the monitors.  It was cute.

Rockstar party!

They had two smash cakes for the birthday kids and one larger cake for everyone else.  I <3 cake="" span="">

We played games!

We opened presents!

Party favors!!!  Cole LOVES Play-Doh and suckers.

After the party we went back to my sisters house to open presents from the family.  We only had a limited time at Chuck E. Cheese itself, so we figured we would just open the family ones at Beau and Laura's house.

Cole's favorite present?  A blue motorcycle!!  Or mooootorcycle as he calls it.  It really has 4 wheels, you just can't see two of them under the silver part.  It is so cute.