Entrepreneurship

Today, it was snowcones for sale! The girls had a rather brisk business for about an hour and earned $11. Thank you dear neighbor friends for supporting their cause. Stay tuned to find out if Callie spends her share on yet ANOTHER Care Bear. Madden has become very interested in opening her own bank account and is much more apt to save her money.

The best place to be on a 102* day?

THE ICE SKATING RINK!

Callie had a birthday party to attend and Madden tagged along. It was downright COLD in that place! The ice skating went surprisingly well. Callie's last attempt ended with lots of tears about 10 minutes into it (or however long it took Aunt Melanie to drag her once around the rink)! This time, she just took off on her own! Perhaps trying to keep up with big sister had a wee bit to do with it!?!

Future Olympians?

The swimming progress over the past two weeks has been amazing. Two weeks worth of private swim lessons with Coach Bonnie and we've got swimmers! She is a former American record holder with the gift of teaching. She does great work, and the girls adore her. I SO wish I had taken "before" video so that you could truly appreciate the progress that has been made. Basically they were content to just be underwater fish, giving me grief every time I asked them to swim across the pool. Now, take a look: Madden swimming breast, Callie swimming back, and the Callie/Madden freestyle relay.

Farmer's Market goodies

We arrived home from the Farmer's market with 4 pattypan squash, 2 heirloom squash, 4 tomatoes, bison jerky and gingerbread biscotti. How's that for an assortment? The girls picked out the bison jerky (tried a sample and loved it) and the gingerbread biscotti. I (of course) picked out the veggies. I am proud to say that Madden, who had been warming up to tomatoes, now loves tomatoes with salt. Amazing what happens when you eat a tomato that tastes like a tomato rather than mush. She asked for seconds. The pattypan squash did not fare so well, although I made a delicious recipe with squash, onion, bell pepper, tomato and seasonings. I am the only one who ate it. This is the problem with being the lone veggie lover in a house. I buy all these gorgeous veggies with high hopes for the healthy food that will go into my family's bodies, and it all ends up in me, not them. What's a girl to do? Deception is what is going to happen next. Stay tuned.

Update on all things blogging: ordered red couch--arrives in 6-8 more weeks; spotted rug and mocha chairs have arrived--LOVE the rug; teeth still doing well--I am off the Vicodin and only taking Advil a couple times/day--still can't eat hard food or talk quite right, but everyday seems a bit better.

Things that make me go "Hmmmm"

This is what I am currently reading by Barbara Kingsolver.



It is a fascinating, non-fiction, true story. I highly recommend it; it is proving to be very thought-provoking. Everyone seems to be on the kick of going green, living a less wasteful life. We are trying in small ways: recycling, combining errands, no more plastic grocery bags, etc. etc. Nothing too earth shattering, but baby steps, nonetheless. Some habits are hard to break, most notably my Suburban. Not sure I could give it up. I've been driving one (with the notable exceptions of a few years in the Dodge Colt, Mercedes 240diesel, and the Z28) since I was 15 and had my hardship license. How am I supposed to put 2 kids, 2 adults, 2 large dogs and luggage in a Prius for our trips to Corpus? Not to mention carpools, etc. So while I am not giving up the Suburbanator anytime soon, I AM looking for other ways to live a more thoughtful, earth-friendly life.

Which brings me back to the book. It is about the author's family's one-year journey of eating only food of which they know the source. They live on a farm in Appalachia, grow much of their own food, and buy everything else locally for an entire year. And by locally, I mean, Farmer's markets, the other farms in their neighborhood, etc. The most striking lesson so far about the book is learning the effect that globalization has had on our food habits. Most children (and adults like me) are ignorant to the natural food cycle. We go to the grocery store and can buy asparagus, strawberries, and oranges in December. Most of these foods have been flown/trucked in from places unknown. The oil necessary to get a raspberry onto my plate in my house is tremendously overwhelming when you break it down by how far it has traveled. So we are going to try to make our food choices more thoughtfully and buy more locally grown foods whenever possible.

But again, we are talking baby steps here. This afternoon, we are headed to the Farmer's Market to see what there is to see. But I am not ready to give up my raspberries quite yet.

Surgery Went Well!

Well, by all accounts, my surgery went as well as it could have! Much better than expected. I was prepared that they would only do the bone grafting and stitch me up. Ended up they were able to bone graft, place the implant AND place a temporary crown in place. This was only a very remote possibility going in, so I ended up with the best possible outcome. Yea! This means no retainer with a fake tooth! I am off the vicodin this morning and trying it out with Ibuprofen. So far so good.

I have a follow up appt in 2 weeks and many weeks of healing to do before I will end up with my 2 new permanent crowns. This is the link to what was done if you dare: http://www.austinperio.com/dental_implants_austin_tx/index.html.

Many thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. Keep them coming that the implant will "take" well.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thank you dear, sweet friends for one of the most special days of my life. Looking around the room on Sunday I just felt overwhelmed and truly blessed to call you my friends. A HUGE round of applause to the hostesses with the mostest, Suzanne, Lisa and Marj! Love you guys! And would you look at that marvelous checkerboard cake, baked by Lisa--I am not worthy!

Surfin' USA

The girls had a Surfing Safari in Grammie and Grandpa's pool.

They are attending Camp Wildflower (golf, tennis, swim) this week at Nana and Grandpa's house. Oh yeah, and I heard something about a Wii....

Beachin' It!

We have been in Corpus at my parents' house since Tuesday. How is it already Sunday and time to leave tomorrow? Time flies when you're having fun, I suppose. We've been to the beach, been rained on at the beach (which caused mad hysteria from the girls - OMG! WE ARE GETTING WET!), been swimming, the girls and Po played putt-putt golf, mom and Po are playing big person golf right now (with Madden and Callie along to drive the cart), walked and then washed the dogs, mom and I went to the Rockport art festival, Porter is trying to finish Harry Potter IV (so I can finally watch the movie-he didn't want to watch the movie until he had read the book-hurry up already!), I am reading Friday Night Lights (big fan of the TV show), we completed a 550 piece puzzle and are attempting a 1,000 piece one now (it might be the death of us all--some of the pieces are smaller than a dime). That's our week in review!

Happy belated Independence Day, USA!

Living Room Furniture

We still don't have any new living room furniture. It feels as if I have been to every furniture store in town. We are planning to get a new couch and rug, barstools, and possibly side chairs. I had picked out a cute, cheap couch, but Porter didn't think it was comfortable (details!). So now he almost has me convinced to get this retro 60's number from Crate and Barrel. It is fittingly called the Petrie couch. I think it is pretty cute, and it definitely fits the comfort factor (it is very deep and firm). My only hesitation is the matchstick legs, which Porter says he didn't even notice! We are considering two colors, mineral red and fern.


Amazingly, we both agreed upon and love the circle rug, Genesis. I am sure it will look lovely covered in white dog fur!

These are the barstools I covet: But since they run $595 apiece, I am looking for a substitute. Do we think these, at $159 each, will do?