I have been a tad busy lately but I am determined to keep posting.  Been helping out a friend whose little one has been sick for a while but now things seem to be taking a turn for the better.  Thank God! Getting ready for the movers, they come next week!  I feel like I have a ton of stuff to do, yet I find myself wondering what to do. 

It is Teacher's Appreciation this week.  I am Jake's room mom so I had to organzie that.  Haven't had any time to sub this week, had to pass up three jobs...but that is okay. 

Going to see my doctor today for the last time.  I really like this guy (In the military our primary care doc changes every couple of years.  I have had three while living here for the past 4 years).  Hate to leave him, and I hate starting over.  I have high blood pressure.  I have found that when my meds are working and all is well that's when I usually get a new doc.  He sees how good the readings are and suggests that we try lowering the amount of meds or go off of them completely.  I would be all for that except when we do it  the readings go all over the place.  Instead of putting me on the same meds I was on we try something new and thus the whole process starts over.  Well, now that I am in my 40's I am starting to learn how to use the word "No".  If this should happen in NJ, I will make the decision to tell the doctor no.  I have had high blood pressure since I was about 19/20.  It did not matter what my weight was I had it.  In fact the first time a doctor said I had it I was 9, but the next doc that we saw for a follow up on that said I did not....ARGH!!!! It is a genetic thing.  My mom, grandmother, sisters, and aunt have it.  Not that weight doesn't factor into it, it does.  But you know those commercials where they say if you just loose 10 pounds your blood pressure will improve...sorry it doesn't with me. 

So now that I totally went off on a tangent there...I had not idea I would blog about all that...

My intention was to post a few pictures from the air show...so here goes.

                          These three were so tired by the end of the day.    There is a lady hanging on the wing on the right side.  She  climbed on top too!

                                               AF Cadets, they were cute!!!               A little sensitive to the noise

The rest are of the Thunderbirds.  They are awesome!!!!

Well that's it for now, got to take a bratty little kid to school and then off to the doctor to hear about how I can loose weight...I know how, heard it all before, just don't have the motivation to do it.  Anybody got a motivation pill for me to swallow?

Update on the mouse that was  living in my house.  Bob went and purchased some mouse traps and put one under our bed.  I finally decided at 11:30 that night that I had to go to bed so I went into our room and could hear it scratching to get out.  Bob was at work.  Those of you who know me, know that I was not about to touch the trap, even though it was a box that the mouse got caught into, there was no way in #*!! that I was going to touch it. 

What I can't believe I did was sit on top of the bed while it was underneath the bed!  YUCK.  I laid there awake waiting for Bob to come home.  Occassionally I would doze off but the mouse would start scratching again...what a long night it was. Once Bob got home it took me a while to relax and fall asleep.  But boy did that 5:30 alarm go off way to early.  I am glad however that the critter is gone!  Now I make sure that everyone closes the doors right behind them when they go in and out of the house.

Today is the air show here at the base and it has been raining a little bit this morning, hoping it clears up so that we can go.  My friends kids are coming to stay with us a few days until their mom comes home from the hospital with their baby sister.  Those of you that are with me on FB have heard me mention them on and off since February.  Lots of medical issues but finally they get to come home after three months of being up in Dallas.

Will report more about the air show later.  Have a great weekend!

So we had our final walk-thru this afternoon.  As of tomorrow we no longer own this house.  Many of you know how much work we have put into it.  It started with a blank slate and now holds a piece of us.  Thankfully the buyer loves this house too and I believe she will be taking good care of it.  Not that it matters, since it will no longer be ours, but it does.  I hate to see someone work so much on their house and then the next person to live in it lets it go. 

They were here for 30 minutes tonight and my stomach started to get knots in it while I sat down the street in my car waiting for them to leave.  I thought for sure that they found something wrong..or worse found the mouse who snuck into my house today( More on that in a bit). But when they left I found a nice note telling us how lovely everything looked and that the new owner-to-be would like to know everything we do to maintain our home.  So that was nice.  I figure it was such a nice day that the realtor and buyer sat out on the back patio, shooting the bull...that is why it took so long! LOL

So the mouse that is in my house...  This morning Jake is watching TV before school and I am on the computer and Jake says " Mommy, there is a mouse in our house."  I thought he was talking about something on the TV because he was so calm so I ignored it.  Jake said it again and told me to come and look.  So I did, as I walk around the corner I see something move across the hall and it either went into my room or the laundry room.  God, how I hope it is in the laundry room and we just can't find it.  Bob set traps but I do not want to step foot into my bedroom until it is found.  It will probably be a long night for me! I screamed bloody murder when I saw it move, it was fast so I did not get a good look at it but I am sure it was something. Bob was asleep and jumped out of bed.  Poor guy, I gave him a heart attack.  He couldn't go back to sleep after that.  So it has been a long day for him since he won't be home from work until after midnight.  Bob thinks we will find the little booger when we move...GREEAAAATTTT!

So tomorrow we close on the house.  Although things are rough all over the country housing wise, we were fortunate to have 3 offers  6 days after putting it up for sale and it was a dream come true offer.  No one was trying to get a great deal, so it worked in our favor.  Plus we are getting a nice profit off of the sale.  I hated paying a realtor to do this but we were so nervous about selling because houses just don't seem to be moving quickly in the area so I figured we would still be trying to sell the house.  I am so thankful that we are not going to have to worry about selling this house. 

Now we have to start preparing for the move....three more weeks and the movers come and then two weeks later we will be moving away. WOW!!! This is something I have been wanting for a long time, to move away from here but now after 4+ years it is a bittersweet ending...NO, I did not say I will miss it here...but I will be leaving with some great memories and friendships in my heart.

I know I said in February that I was back...but apparently I wasn't.  So now I am starting all over, again.  But take note there is a new background and a new title for this blog.  I was inspired during the middle of the night for this new title:  A Southern Yankee Girl. 

Some of you may be wondering why this title.  Well for those who do not know it I am moving away from the heart of Texas to Yankee country....New Jersey (Well, almost Yankee country but close enough).  So since I will be even farther from my family than I am right now I thought I need to get this blog back up and active so that I can keep them abreast of daily developments.

We are moving at the beginning of June.  House is already sold...YEAH!!!  Starting to plan and prepare for the big pack out day that happens in the middle of May and learning all we can about where we will be living next. 

We are excited, yes that's right.  We are excited to be moving to Jersey.  There is so much to do there and it holds a lot of opportunity for future plans for Bob and the possiblity of retirement a few years out from now.  We are also soooooooo ready to be leaving Abilene.  We have made some really nice friends and enjoyed living in our house, making it our home.  We are tickeled pink about Jake's first year of elementary school being a huge success.  I will miss his school.  But that is about it, besides my friends.  But as a military gal, I know these friends will remain my friends no matter where I go and I carry very fond memories of them with me. 

So now we enter into a new chapter in our life...watch out New Jersey, this southern girl is about to rock your world!

I'm back...

Miss me?  It's not like I have been on vacation or anything like that.  Just busy and really not into blogging.  But I believe that is all about to change.  Not the busy part, the non-blogging part.  I need to get back into this, just for myself. 

Some of you may know why I have been busy lately, if your with me on Facebook.  But if not here is a list of what is going on in my life:

*We are moving!  YEP!  Got orders to New Jersey.  House went up for sale two days ago.  So if you know of anyone who is moving here to Abilene and wants to buy a house, please connect them with me. Or, if you know of someone who just wants to invest their money into a great investment...real estate, is the way to go and have I got a great deal for you!  Let's hook up!

* Jake's birthday is being celebrated this weekend.  He is going to be 6!  Can't believe it.  Promise to blog more about this later.  But needless to say all the planning and cake making has been keeping me busy.

* My good friends little girl is in the hospital.  She has been since the beginning of the month.  She is 9 months old and has had a hard time with her lungs/respiratory system.  But we think she is turning around for the better.  Not going to go into it here, but if you have time please say a little prayer for her.  She is so sweet and precious.

*I have been substitute teaching for Jake's school and boy are they keeping me busy!  Thank Goodness.  I get called about 3 times a week.  Had to turn down one for this Friday because I had already made some plans, and I have to decorate Jake's cake...so busy!  I hate turning down a job, I feel so guilty.

*Speaking of jobs, I am working on getting certified to teach in NJ.  I really need to go back to work full time and NJ is SOOOOOOO expensive compared to here.  So I am trying to get it all done while I am still here so that perhaps I can get a job soon after arriving to NJ.

*Going to Florida in two weeks to see my parents.  Mom just got out of the hospital about two weeks ago, I think.  Damn emphysema!  She says that she has had an epiphany so to speak, and realizes that she has to quit if she wants to stay out of the hospital.  DUH!!! Why didn't she realize this years ago?

*Gave up Diet Cokes for lent.  To some of you this may not be a huge deal but to me it is.  I have been drinking three to four a day!  I went through some serious withdrawals at first.  Major head aches for the first 4 days.  But now I am past that.  What I find the hardest is the desire to have one at certain times of the day.  I usually have my first one in the car at 7:30am while driving Jake to school...so miss that cold diet coke...it is my coffee.  This is a small sacrifice compared to the one Jesus gave to us, so I can only imagine what he went through. 

I am sure there is more but this is it for now.  I have challenged a friend of mine to get back to blogging because she too has been away from it.  She likes the idea but hasn't officially responded to the challenge...I think she is avoiding it! LOL

Anybody every get their real estate license on line?  If so can you point me in the right direction.  I am thinking about doing that too.  Yeah I know I have said it before but I am serious, guess just a little nervous about it.

Hope all you people out there are doing well.  I look forward to catching up.

My time flies.  We have had a few busy weeks around here.  Guess I will go back to Halloween.  Bob's Aunt Patty and Uncle Mike came for a visit and spent Halloween with us.  Jake loves having relatives around, and so do we.  Gives him someone else to play with! HA!

For Halloween Jake was a train conductor.  He decided this a few days before Halloween.  First he was going to be Wall-E, then he decided he would rather be a dinosaur.  Bought him a costume off of E-bay and it was way to small.  So I was going to make him one, when he decided he would rather be a train conductor so I went with it and here is how it turned out...

November just seemed to fly by. Jake's class had a very cute Thanksgiving program and a special lunch for all the parents.  They sang some cute songs and recited poems.

We had a nice Thanksgiving day with my friend Heather and her kids.  No pictures of this but we sure did eat well.
Now it is December. We did some family pictures with a friend of mine.  She did a good job.
This one is my favorite:

My friend who did these pictures, has moved away.  I have very few good friends here so it is sad and I don't think it has really sunk in that she too is gone. *Sigh*

So now we are here waiting for Christmas.  I promise to post all about how we choose to celebrate it and how we ring in 2010!
Hope all is well with you and that you have a wonderful holiday!

I was right, Jake is the next Einstein...okay maybe not the next one, but I was very please with what his teacher had to say and what we saw of his work.  I have to admit I was a little nervous.  I was waiting for her to tell me he needed to go to his doctor for a check up...that means in not so many terms...he needs meds.  But that was never mentioned.  YEAH!!!

She gave him some reading test that Texas requires them to do three times a year.  He scored very well, one of the top in his class.  YEAH JAKE!  She showed us his journal and we were shocked.  He is actually drawing pictures and trying to write words with it.  I have never seen that.  He is growing so fast and learning so much.  I love seeing it happen! Even his talking all the time is improving! The only thing that was said, which we already knew, was that he is dramatic, he is a little immature (most boys are, and that will develop as he gets older, hopefully sooner than later), and he needs to be a little more better about keeping his things in one place, not all over the table and on the floor.  So those are things we can work on.  I am so proud of him.  He is an awesome kid, and I am so glad that he is mine.

Tomorrow I have to sub at his school and it is picture day.  He is not going to like what he has to wear, church clothes, but I want him to look good.  He will want to wear his school shirt since it is Friday, but he can live without it for a day.  Well off to straighten up the house and watch General Hospital!

Been busy, as usual.  Subbing some at Jake's school and at another school for a friend.  I am beginning to want to go back to teaching, but we have had that discussion so I will not repeat myself.

Jake and Gracee got to decorate pumpkins with Mr./Miss Potato Head faces.  They turned out really cute.  Amy and I found the stuff at Target.  They had fun putting it together.  Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

We are so ready for Halloween! Bob's aunt and uncle are coming to visit us that weekend.  Jake has his fall fest party at school, his last soccer game, and then trick-or-treating.  It will be a busy weekend, but full of lots of fun.  Jake is going to be Wall-E and Gracee is going to be Eve.  Amy and I are making their costumes.  I think what we have planned will turn out great. I hope so!  Pictures will be posted.

Tomorrow Bob and I are meeting with Jacobs teacher for a conference to talk about how he is doing for the first six weeks.  This is standard practice here at the school.  I am sure she is going to tell me that he is so brillant that she suspects he will be the next Einstein, I am just sure of it!