Internet, Family & Puppies.

Sometimes, I think the internet is my best friend/enemy.

I felt like cleaning today, but now I don't think I'm going to. First I was like, "Lookie! My guitar!" So I picked at it for a while (did you catch the pun?) and then I found my car registration renewal form, and discovered that I can renew it online.

I love that with the internet, you don't have to wait in lines for things like renewing your registration.

However, then I decided to check Facebook, and now I'm here updating my blog. Which means that I won't really clean today. But I am going to make myself go to the grocery store today. I don't think I can put that task off anymore.

Travis wants chicken and rice for dinner, so maybe I'll pick up those ingredients. I think he asks for that meal more than any other meal. Thankfully, it's easy to make. He even tackled it once when I was sick. I just follow the Campbell's recipe that you get on the back of a can of Cream of Chicken.

Click the photo for the recipe.

I skip the vegetable part, because Travis will not eat it otherwise, and I just by chicken tenderloins and put several in there. It's really good. I think I add other ingredients, too, but it's a spur of the moment thing, so I can't even remember what I put in there. ;)

Since I last posted, Ethan turned 4. It feels like he was just born a few days ago. I got to see him yesterday, and he was so excited when I got there. I know that we're incredibly blessed to have the relationship we have. He came over about a week or so ago, and this is a picture I snapped of him:

He loves The Beatles, I tell you. He was flipping through the book, all snuggled on the couch with his beloved "Furry Fella." Yes, it's a stuffed opossum. It's the mascot from Cracker Barrel.

His birthday party was a surprise party, and his response was fantastic. There is a video, and I'm trying to get my sister to email it to me. It was a Wow! Wow! Wubbzy theme. Sarah and I worked together to make the invitations:

On the back, it says, "Shhh, little buddy. It's a surprise!" They turned out really cute. Here he is blowing out his candles:


Ethan informed us that he wanted "real" musical instruments, not toys. So he got them. He got a 1/4 Electric guitar and a set of bongos. Here he is with "Ol Buddy H" proudly holding his guitar. The kid in the background is Sammy, his cousin. His face cracks me up.


People keep asking me when I want to have kids. After spending a day with Ethan, I think, "probably after about a year" and then I go out in public, see children that are horribly behaved, and then I think, "How about...in 10 years."

I'm sure it'll be much sooner than 10 years, but we've still got a way to go before I think either of us is ready. I've started talking to Travis about us getting a dog. In Houston, there is a Lhaso Apso/Shih Tzu rescue center that adopts out dogs (mostly that came from puppy mills) and I would love to give one a good home. I think we've decided that we're going to start saving up the money for the pet deposit and adoption fees of the center.

So adorable.

Death.

These last few weeks have been weird for me.

I had an uncle that I wasn't close to pass away after being in a hit and run.

I found out yesterday that a friend from high school has terminal brain cancer.

And today I found out that a friend of mine died this afternoon.

I would just like for people to stop dying. Especially young people.

It's been a few.

I've hardly been on the computer lately because I've been so busy.

The first thing that happened was that I came down with strep throat. Luckily I didn't really have any fever, but the pain was pretty bad. However, the medicine worked quickly and I was fine the day after I got my diagnosis.

I went to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Cook-Off with a friend who works for a company that was entered into the competition. We ate lots of delicious barbecue and spent the day enjoying the carnival. Originally, there were 4 of us altogether, but then my friend's sister and the sister's boyfriend left so it was just my friend and I. We decided to go do the fun-houses and we couldn't stop laughing. It was a nice change to feeling like crap.

Natalie, Kim, Christy & Me

That night I coughed and coughed and coughed (possibly due to the smoke from the cook-off) and had to relocate myself to our guest bedroom so that Travis could get some sleep. As soon as I woke up that morning, my phone rang and it was my mom. She was telling me that my uncle had died early that morning and had been in a victim of a hit-and-run. This was my uncle that I wasn't particularly close to, as he had a really difficult life. I spent the week going to my mom's house every day, helping with my grandparents and my nephew so that my mom could make all of the funeral arrangements.

Hopefully, this week will be much calmer and normal. Travis leaves tomorrow to go to Beaumont, and then he, his brother and some friends are going to New Orleans for a Chick-Fil-A opening and to spend some time just hanging out down there. He'll be gone until Friday, so I'll just be here, hoping to find something to do. :)

I must confess that right now, due to poor daytime programming, I'm semi-watching an episode of Full House and they're trying to teach Michelle to read. Their tactics really are terrible. No wonder she couldn't read yet. People, don't let Full House teach your child to read.