Keepin' It Weird ~SIMC

I worked last night and slept until 4pm today.  It is now 8:15 and let me tell you about what I have packed into the last 4 hours.

~ Byron and I went to dinner with my parents.  On the way there, on a busy street near UF and the big hospital, Shands, we saw several police cars on the side of the road near an apartment complex.  No big deal, they were just rounding up a HUGE, 8-10 foot alligator that was sitting on the sidewalk.  Go Gators!

~ We went to Cracker Barrel and I filled my belly with country fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, hash brown casserole and green beans.  Ok, about 1/3 of a serving of all of it, and the rest is in my refrigerator.  PLUS, a few bites of my Mama's dessert: blackberry cobbler and ice cream. OH MAHHH GAWWD.

~ Then we went to The Walmart.  We all know that's an adventure any time, but today really topped any prior visit.  All we bought was light bulbs and Rain-X, people!  This was like a 15 minute trip.  And this is what transpired.....

~First we went to the hunting section and saw this:

It was a Redneck Convention.  They were waiting for the Ammo shipment to come in.  I swear I'm not even kidding.  (In their defense, ammo is in very short supply around here. Because obviously, the zombies are coming. Duh.)

~ Then as we're getting into the truck, there was an old lady standing by her car across from us with what appeared to be her grandson.  He was kind of douchey, in a pants-on-the-ground kind of way.
The old lady started SOBBING, and we realized her hand was SHUT IN HER DOOR.  Before we could react, Douchey Grandson unlocked the door and got her hand out, and then said calmly WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE: "I think we need to go to the hospital, I can see your bone."

YA THINK?!

~ THEN - because it wasn't over yet - we were leaving and saw this guy standing at the intersection:

Skin-tight shorts and pink shoes.  He danced and waved and blew kisses.  Free entertainment!  Gotta love it.

~ And I haven't even mentioned hubby ALMOST getting a nother seatbelt ticket.
Click it or Ticket, friends, they ain't joking.

Never a dull moment!

Fall in Florida

Well I just so happened to find myself at the library on Wednesday again, so it looks like it's time for another Wordful Wednesday post!

It's all about fall here.

We don't get much fall foliage in Florida, so we have to make the most of what we do have.

and now for some outside deco....

...and Lilly, who followed me around and got in my way
and generally made a nuisance of herself until I took her picture!

and now some inside deco....pumpkins courtesy of the Littles.

True blue Gator fans, in all kinds of weather....
{even the storms we've been battling lately...sigh.}
(this was at the Homecoming Parade.)

doing the Soccer Mom thing.

The End!

All is well here, and I hope you all are well too.
Visit Parenting by Dummies for more Wordful Wednesday posts!

Wordful Wednesday

My, how things change! I'm gone for a little bit and now Wordful Wednesday has moved.
You can check it out here now:

So, this is what's going on around the Casa de Dysfunction!

Visiting the Pumpkin Patch....

Volleyball

Soccer

...and just hanging around the house.

This weekend is UF's homecoming, so we have the parade Friday and the game Saturday. Andrew has a soccer game Saturday also. On Sunday, our little town has it's annual Harvest Festival. Good times ahead!

Oh, and as for me: I finished my CNA course and now just have to wait for an exam date. I interviewed today for a caregiver job to do until I get CNA certified and hopefully get on with hospice. Other than that, I'm reading some good books, chaufferring kids around, losing my mind, decorating the house for fall, cooking, losing my mind....the usual!

And now I'm off for a little bloggy catch-up. Hope all is well in your world!

Go Gators! But not to the springs....I prefer they stay reptile-free.

I started reading blogs tonight and saw a Friday Fragments post. "Huh?" I thought. "It's not Friday yet!" And then I checked the computer and realized...um, yep. Sure is. Duh! That's what kind of week it's been 'round here!

TGIFragging Time!

My goal for this long Labor Day weekend is to spend some quality, one-on-one time with each of my kids. I'll let you know how successful I am on this endeavor.



I found out from Brainella the Librarian that the time has come! Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are here! Oh happy day!


Gator football starts this weekend. This means 99.9% of my conversations with John will be about Gator football. He eats, sleeps, and breathes Gator football. I love it; he is obsessed.
My daughters are going to this game with my niece and her fiance. They're going to have a great time!



Natalie loved my post from yesterday, I Want - I Need - I Love, and suggested I turn it into a weekly meme. Would anyone else be interested in that? I did have fun with it! And yes, my friends, if I ever do find that money tree, I will definitely share!



Anyone have awesomely fun Labor Day plans? We're planning to go to the Springs on Monday, and maybe grilling out while we're there.

Hope you all have a great one!

(insert clever post title here)

I am so tired I can't even think of a decent Friday Fragments post title.
My week began with a sick kid (Elayna) and was just very hectic in general. My sleep schedule got messed up over the weekend and never did recover. Then we had doctor appointments and other fun errands as well as the usual work schedule....
yeah. I'm tired.
At least Elayna's feeling better now. Happy kid = Happy Mom!




We had Asian Night at the Dysfunctional House last night. I blogged about it over at Southern Loving....check it out, it was fun!




It has been extremely hot lately....record breaking temps.
The meteorologists may not know why, but I certainly do.
It's because of this:


Tim Tebow signs with Jockey

*SWOON*



I seem to have been saying this myself a lot lately....



Seriously, why is everything Mom's job?
We came home...FROM THE STORE...and Elayna went into the bathroom and then called for me to bring her some toilet paper. Now I buy this stuff in bulk, I HATE running out, but I knew we were low and needed to replenish this weekend. But did anyone (who had been awake all day while I slept) mention while we were AT THE STORE that we were OUT of TP??? And guess what....we were out of paper towels too.
We had NOTHING in the house to wipe our behinds with.
I managed to find some napkins for Elayna, then we loaded up and went BACK to the store.
*sigh*




I'm off to float in the pool all weekend and (hopefully?) relax!
Have a great weekend and visit Half Past Kissin Time for more Fraggin' Fun.

Sundays in My City - The Swamp

My hometown is Gainesville, Florida. We live in a small town just outside of Gainesville now, and we work in Gainesville, shop in Gainesville, etc.

John and I are both huge fans of the University of Florida Gators. I'm a lifelong fan, and John became a fan when he moved here in elementary school. Our kids are big Gator fans as well.

Some college towns don't really get excited over their college teams, even their football teams, or so I've heard.

Not so in Gainesville, Florida.

We are different. We are special. We are slightly crazy.

For example, Saturday was the scrimmage game. A practice game, basically. It's called the Orange and Blue Debut game.

Over 51,000 fans showed up for this game.
We love our Gators.

So for my Sundays in my City feature today, I'm bringing you to The Swamp....Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Home of The Gators.

Where the Gators play...

home of Gatorade

awesome players & former players graciously signed tons of autographs

we packed the stands today!

Our mascots are Albert & Alberta

It was a beautiful day in the Swamp. And the Gators won! {ha ha ha}

It's great...to be...a Florida Gator!

{visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in my City}

Holiday Weekend WrapUp

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
Ours was great. Of course, I haven't uploaded pics yet, big surprise! But, we had a great Christmas.
On Thursday, we celebrated Christmas with the in-laws.
Then on Friday, we celebrated at home, and my parents came over. The kids had a great time and of course, they loved all of their gifts. Elayna was SO excited while opening her gifts that her legs were shaking! It was so cute. Their 'big' gift from us was tickets to Busch Gardens. They are excited! My favorite gifts were soft, warm PJs from MIL, a personalized ornament from my niece with all of our names on it, a new bible from my mom, and HoMedics massager from John, the kind you put in a chair and sit on. It's heated, too. Mmm!
On Saturday, my kids went to their dad's for the week and Andrew went to his grandma's for the week. (his "mother" hasn't even called over the holidays; we haven't heard from her in months so it wasn't a big surprise, but...ugh.) We went to my parents' house Saturday evening because my brother & his family were visiting. We went out for pizza and hung out with them.
Also on Saturday night, we got shocking news - that Urban Meyer, head coach of the Florida Gators, was resigning for health reasons! We are passionate Gator fans, so we were absolutely devastated. However....
On Sunday, we found out that he has changed his mind and will not be resigning after all, but taking an indefinite leave of absence. We are praying for his health. The rest of Sunday was spent doing next to nothing. I napped a lot, since I had to work Sunday night.
And now, here I am! I also changed my blog background tonight....you like?

Hope you had a Wonderful Weekend!

Weekend WrapUp 11.30.09

It's time to wrap up the weekend, and wrap up yet another month as well!
Friday was fantastically low-key. I slept in the morning, and vegged the rest of the day. John and Tim had to work, so the girls and I just hung out at the house. The neighbor kids came over and my friend came by to visit, so the house was full. Then it was time to go back to bed. I never got out of my pajamas. Bliss!

Saturday we slept in and then went to my parents' house for the Gator game. Both of the teenage kids brought friends along with them. My brother and sister and their whole families were there, so it was a full house. We watched the Seminoles get spanked!!!, ate lasagna, and had a great time. We also laughed at my mother, which is one of our favorite activities. The older she gets, the funnier she is, without meaning to be. She complains about us "picking on" her, but she loves the attention!
Shelbie & her friend took about 8,888 pictures of themselves. I'm looking for a good convent to send them to, any suggestions?



Sunday was church, and we had our Family Dedication. It was very simple and nice. Then we got home and put everyone to work cleaning the house. In my spare time *snort* I made chicken & dumplings and rice krispy treats for the Fifth Sunday Dinner at church, plus made spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. I rock like that.
Sunday evening we loaded up and went back to the church for dinner. One of our friends was complimenting me on the chicken & dumplings but ended up saying "Great job, Dumpling". So my new name is Dumpling, and they're picking on him pretty hard. One of Shelbie's friends had NEVER had chicken & dumplings, the poor child. He went back for THIRDS and was totally crushed to discover that they were all gone. So yeah, they were a hit.
And now, after all of that, I'm now at work. Just call me Superwoman!

Hope y'all had a great weekend, and don't forget to link up below!

~* Today is the last day of my UPrinting Thank You Card giveaway; I'll be posting the winner tomorrow, so be sure and enter if you haven't already!