Got Sleep?

In case you have ever wondered....this is what going virtually 4 days with only a few hours sleep will do to you. I have been pretty miserable this last week with aches and pains. I finally know what ails me, but that doesn't mean the pain just goes away with a diagnosis. My joints have been really bad....stabbing pain kind of bad. Last night, I fell asleep while on the floor trying to find a comfortable position. I don't think I completely entered a deep state of sleep, but somewhere in my fuzzy, dreamland of REM, I dreamt I was in the movie "Braveheart", and I was on one of those torture tables having my body pulled apart at the joints as an angry mob cheered on. I awoke to find the crowd of peasants and nobility gone, but the pain still in place. Later in the week I am going to a rheumatologist to discuss further treatment. Hopefully, he will have some better options for pain management....Aleve just ain't cuttin' it!

NO MORE WHINING......if I get some sleep tonight, things will be brighter tomorrow. I am willing myself to have pleasant dreams and peaceful sleep......here are some visuals to help the process......

Cute kittens...awwww.

Smiling baby.....

World peace.....

Almanzo James Wilder......

You don't know who he is, do you? He was my first real crush. Laura Ingalls married him on "Little House on the Prarie". I grew up in a hick town, with very limited cable....what do you expect?

Sweet Dreams, my dearest Almanzo....

Sweet Berry Farms

I am late in posting this, but believe it or not, I STILL have some leftover strawberries rotting in my fridge crisper. Kaelan will not let me throw away her precious, red loot.



Kaelan and I headed to Marble Falls, which is about 45 minutes away from home, for an afternoon of strawberry pickin'. The drive is actually quite nice....really curvy and green. The wildflowers were in full bloom all along the roadside and in fields surrounding the area. It reminded me a lot of driving through the mountains back home. When we arrived at the farm, Kaelan got right to work pinching and pulling strawberries from the stem.

Kaelan worked really hard, so her reward was a yummy homemade strawberry popsicle. She savored every bite and delighted in licking the sticky drippings from her arms!

After our cold treat, we headed over to the animal area and fed the donkeys and horses some strawberries (which most of the animals declined....guess they get their fill on those) and feed.

It was a great day, and I as we headed home, my well-trained wildflower hunter called for me to stop and take some pictures of her in the flowers. We just couldn't resist.

That night we had strawberry pastry puffs for dessert.....like these.

And strawberry pancakes for breakfast, and strawberry muffins the next day...and I still have strawberries in my fridge. Kaelan would not let me get rid of the last few....she is very proud of her work!

And THIS is a Good Thing......

Watch out, Martha! I am after your job!

AMAZING SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. IF YOU'RE CHOKING ON AN ICE CUBE, SIMPLY POUR A CUP OF BOILING WATER DOWN YOUR THROAT. PRESTO! THE BLOCKAGE WILL INSTANTLY REMOVE ITSELF.

2. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

3.FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

Doing Our Part.....

We have been having some talks about taking care of the earth and environment lately around the McBrayer household. Well....that would be environmental talk on a two year old's level....things like, "Flush once to help save the earth!" We are also trying to stress the importance of taking 1 paper towel to dry hands, rather than 40!
We are doing things on a smaller scale to help instill these ideas in Kaelan's brain. With that in mind, we decided to spend Earth Day Weekend working with a crew cleaning our neighborhood. We did this as a family, and we were very proud of Kaelan's hard work and dedication. She picked up trash, cleaned pool furniture, raked out new mulch for the playground and helped with sanitizing the playground equipment....all this before noon! Later that evening, we read a book about taking care of the earth, and when Kaelan saw the kids in the book picking up trash, she was happy to say that she did that too!
Don't worry, there is no electric car or biodome in our future, but we are doing our part in a few small ways.

Team Office

I have decided there are two types of people in this world......those who "get" The Office.....and those I just can't associate with....it's okay, I will still talk to "you people"....but I just won't be able to develop deep relationships with you. Sorry....

Spring has Sprung!

Texas wildflowers.....see? I found something I really like about living in Texas!


BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

Round 1 Knockout!

Check this out.....our neighbor Andy was out front "boxing" his son Chandler for fun and sport. They were having a good time, laughing and sparring...innocent "horseplay". Someone gave a pair of gloves to Doug, and then subsequently, I ended up with a pair after a short time. It was kind of a joke at first....the neighbors were cheering and jeering, telling Doug he was in for it now. I totally played it up and bobbed and weaved a few times. Then, I gave a sharp uppercut right near Doug's face, warning him of the hurt I could put on him. I punched at his gloves a few times for some awesome sound effects, and then I was pretty much done....but Doug had other ideas. He beckoned me to take some REAL shots. "I don't want to hurt you", I sweetly said. But NOOOOOOO, he wanted to fight, well, he wanted me to fight. I took a few jabs at him, making contact with his chest, and then suddenly.....KABAM!!!! I literally saw stars! MY HUSBAND SUCKER PUNCHED ME RIGHT IN THE NOSE! He claims I literally walked right into the glove, but as God is my witness....the dude nailed me in the septum. It took me a moment to shake off the shock and wipe the tears in my eyes. The gloves came off shortly there after, due mostly to Doug's deep guilt upon seeing my nose start to swell. Luckily, the puffy redness went away quickly....sort of a shame....I could have used that to make poor guilt ridden Doug do anything I wanted. I am on the comeback trail, though and in training....I think a big fat gold belt would be a nice accessory to any outfit!