I sing about it...

Almost there...

2011-12-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

This post has been one that I haven't written because I just kept thinking, Am I there yet?? The answer is NO. I am not there. I am not to a place of rest. This fall has seen craziness after craziness. Just a few days after my last post I had an emergency tooth extraction which resulted in pain akin to childbirth, and found out that David's mother has Alzheimer's disease. This blow was followed by me starting law school. I have done well in school, but this semester has been one of the hardest that I have experienced. So, I keep telling myself, "I'm almost there-I'm almost to where I can relax. Almost."

I'll work on more posts form now on, but for right now, I'm off to coupon. (Credit goes to my sister-in-law for getting me hooked on coupon-ing).

Catch Up

2011-08-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's the run down, in order of events:

Hallie and David dancing it up

1. Get denied to go to Minnesota.
2. Get an offer to go to the PALS program at Texas Wesleyan Law.
3. David finds out he has 4.5 weeks to complete 4 grad school classes.

Hallie trying on clothes.

4. David studies like crazy.
5. I study like crazy.
6. I have to have an emergency tooth extraction that results in a broken jaw bone.
7. I get sick on pain medicine.
8. We find out David's mom has Alzheimer's.
9. David and I are still studying like crazy.
10. We move David's mom in with us.
11. We move David's mom's stuff in with us.
12. Hallie is doing great the whole time.
13. I get accepted into the night program.

Halloween decor...yup, I made them myself!

14. David finishes all 4 grad school classes. (With A's)
15. I get moved into the full time law program for the fall by the Dean.
16. David gets his final transcript.

17. I buy Hallie Just Dance 2 and take her clothes shopping.
18. I spend the last few hours making Halloween decor with Hallie bean!

My view

2011-07-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Have a pretty view on the walk to the train station from class.

Rat tails

2011-07-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

Rat Tails

   Yesterday at the farmer's market, we were strolling down the side with local to Dallas produce. As we walked past a vendor with beets for sale, Hallie looks down and exclaims, "That looks like a bunch of dead rat tails."
   Now, this is funny for two reasons:
1. Hallie has never seen a live rat except for in the pet store, and has never, NEVER seen a dead rat. How that entered her mind is TBD.
2. It DOES look like a bunch of dead rat tails.
   I can remember thinking that my grandmother was serving cranberry sauce for dinner. BIG mistake...it was sliced beets. Come to think of it, beets probably taste like dead rat tails.

YAY!! It's today's picture...today!

2011-07-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hallie in a Box

Emma in a Box

Wait! That's not what I paid for!?

While David opened the Keurig box for me with my new coffee maker, Hallie jumped into the box it came in. I had to snap this because I know one day, she will wonder how the hell she ever fit in such a small box. Also, floating around, I have a picture of myself in a Mr. Coffee box. Of course I was about 4 or 5.

Oddly enough, my niece Emma did the same thing to a Build a Bear box today. Genetic?? I think so!!

Freebirds Ballerina

2011-07-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

My foil Masterpiece

Wait. Before you say it, YES, it is an aluminum ballerina!!!

I'm glad you had the artistic genius to recognize what she is. I spent my time creating her, while David enjoyed his Monster from Freebirds. I sculpted the scrap aluminum into my ballerina. She now sits on a ledge in Freebirds between a Knight on a horse and a sailboat.

Flesh Eating Slug Repellant

2011-07-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hagrid Reference

So, as I was browsing a local nursery I found this. I love Harry Potter and found this to be an eerie similarity to something I read about in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. :)

So behind...

2011-07-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Water Gardens Ft. Worth

Here we are on June 30th at a reception for incoming law students in front of the water gardens in Ft. Worth. I had fun going through the law school and am so giddy about it I can hardly contain myself. I'm ACTUALLY getting to study what I want. :)

2011-06-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Hoppy goes Hollywood

Those of you who know us, know that Hoppy is a part of our lives. To those of you who do not know us, Hoppy is my daughter's pet penguin. Hoppy came to us on a true White Christmas morning in 2009. Hoppy goes everywhere with us and is a presence in our household.

Today while driving, Hallie said, "Look Mama!" I turned around to see what she was showing me and 'Voila'...Hollywood Hoppy was riding in the backseat. Little did the 'tween penguin know, she was only getting a ride to the Central Market to go shopping for yummy, organic, gluten-free food.

Also, for those of you who know Hoppy, she did in fact, get some work done. She has recently upgraded her wardrobe to a custom-made beanie and scarf. Compliments of a chic little shoppe at 4519 W. University. This shoppe has also outfitted Hoppy's mother, Hallie and cousins, Emma and Libby-bean.

Waiting

2011-06-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter 7 P2

Here lately it seems like I am doing nothing but waiting for things to happen. I wait for Hallie to come home from visiting her dad. I wait for my niece to be born. I wait for so many things. I wait for decisions to be made. I wait for everything. I even wait for the last Harry Potter film and the Pottermore website. I cannot help feeling like I just sit here waiting for life to start. Truly, I hate that feeling.

Really for June 15th...ALWAYS

2011-06-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Erasure-Always

The other day I was on my way back from my attorney's office and I heard this song on the radio. I began to reminisce about the days that do not seem so long ago, when I was in high school and I loved the song. I thought of the bright, yet naive girl who sang the song while brushing her hair out in the mirror. I was reminded of a time when I had conviction in spades and knew exactly what I wanted and how I was going to get it.
How sad it was for me to be hearing this song on the way home from the attorney's office. This was not the version of life I saw for myself when I listened to this song growing up. I found myself developing a profound sense of loss and respect for the girl I once was.

That's a Wrap!

2011-06-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

View from the Bellagio

The last night I was in Vegas, we went to the Bellagio and watched the water show. With as obsessed with all things French as I am, I couldn't but help be amazed at how beautiful the mini-Eiffel Tower was. I took this shot right in the middle of the walkway. I think the other people around were a little to blitzed to even notice I had stopped walking. It really seems that Vegas is a totally different country than Dallas. Everything is so foreign, from the lights and noise, to the crowds.
I had a great conference with my company, got a few new clients and learned a lot. Even though it was fun, I was thrilled to come home.
Hopefully everything will work out for the best here.

Vegas

2011-06-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Oh my! Can you say lights? Vegas is so incredible took see at night! I cannot believe I'm actually here. I will post more pictures from the trip but for right now, i will just say Viva Las Vegas!

Longest Relationship

2011-06-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

Suitcase of 13 years

   The longest relationship I've had is with my suitcase. My luggage has seen me through bad times and good. I received my luggage as a high school graduation present from my maternal grandparents. I love the green color, and love that my suitcase has been by my side for the last 13 years. On New Year's Day, 2000, when I sat in the San Diego airport cracking jokes about how the airplanes should not have worked thanks to Y2K, the suitcase was there. My suitcase has been present for some of the biggest experiences of my life. Come to think of it, we have been cross-country together, through college together, and through relationships together. My suitcase was even with me in the hospital the day Hallie was born. Right now, it sits innocently against the wall waiting for our trip to Las Vegas tomorrow. I know it is silly, but I love my suitcase.
   This will be the third flight I have been on in two weeks, and I realize, this is the most I've traveled in the last two years and I'm a little bit proud of myself. Scared, but proud. I have never enjoyed flying due to the threat of a very long, bad fall. Not letting my fear get the best of me though, is something I am excited about. I think it is important to do things, even when you are scared. How else will you experience anything new?

Gallery Walk

2011-06-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hallie M's Gallery Walk

I am overly sentimental by nature, and always have been. I hold onto things that have intrinsic value and find myself always struggling with what all to keep that Hallie has made for me. I have plastic bins that I store all of her artwork and school work. Not ALL of the school work makes it into the immortal bin, but things I think she'll like to see when she gets older do-like how she once spelled subtraction-subtrachun. I feel bad about just stuffing her artwork into a random bin and shoving it in the closet, though. This is no way to do her art justice. So, today, armed with nothing more than determination, I organized the artwork from the past school year and scanned it into my computer. I chose the pictures that I loved the most and turned them into tiny pictures that I printed out and framed in 'gallery frames.' I think it's quite the trendy way to display Hallie's artwork. This lets it be enjoyed year round, instead of staying safely tucked inside the art boxes. So, today's picture is the Gallery Walk of Hallie Morgan's Art.

Ho hum

2011-06-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Laundry

Today has been punctuated by nothing extraordinary. I started laundry and managed to get the entire downstairs vacuumed. I cried while I folded Hallie's laundry. I miss my little girl. I held her shorts and shirts and breathed in her sweet, little girl smell.

I also got a phone call from my younger brother Nick, who is in the United States Navy. We only talked for about 4 minutes all together because there is so little time when you are on the ship. He promised to call tomorrow. I live so far from all of my family. It gets exceedingly lonely. The noise I was so used to growing up is now replaced by a pressing silence. Perhaps one day, we'll live closer to each other and our kiddos will be able to play together.

Eye-Catching

2011-06-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Model Behavior

   Today in the midst of our relaxing-by-staying-busy fest, (well, let's be honest here...it was my 'fest' and David was accompanying me) I happened upon a copy of Dallas Child in a toy store that David and I were trolling. I cannot help but love the store. They sell personalized laptop desks! Who wouldn't want one of those? I digress...on our way out I picked up a copy of Dallas Child to look for upcoming events that Hallie might be interested in. I miss her terribly since she's with her Dad for summer visitation and try to stay focused on what we'll do when she comes home.
   When I sat down in the car, I flipped through to the calendar section of the magazine. As the pages went by, I knew I recognized Hallie's principal. So, curious to see who they pictured, I turned back. When what to my wondering eyes did appear? But, my little girl and her best friends from her first grade class!! I was happily surprised to see her gracing the pages in a magazine. I immediately snapped the shot to the left and made a post on Facebook. (And I also went back and grabbed up about 8 copies so we can give them to family and scrapbook them.)
   Most of all I was thrilled to see my daughter. I miss Hallie so much and trying to avoid missing her is how I spend my summer break. I think my angels must have known I needed to see my little girl. If I had not grabbed that issue of the magazine, I would never have known she was in the pages.

Lawn care

2011-06-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Suspect 1

I was chatting with my brother Andy on the phone this evening. While I was on the phone, I asked David to hook up the water hose so I could water the flowers in the front beds while I was talking to Andy. David went one step beyond and decided to turn on the sprinkler system and give the whole yard a good soak.
However, the sprinkler system had a mind of it's own and the sprinkler heads refused to turn on. All the sudden, David is out on the lawn with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver working on pulling the sprinkler heads out of the ground. At this point, I'm sitting in the middle of the driveway having a good conversation while David is using quite a string of colorful language, all the while Andy and I are discussing the Mavs in the Finals. Finally, I told Andy goodnight and told David I was going inside. I feel bad for leaving him outside, but he seemed to be unaware while he dealt with the suspect water sprinklers.

A walk in the park.

2011-06-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

The abandoned sunglasses.

   I spent the day with my husband, David, today. We started our day by heading to lunch. We enjoyed chatting about funny television quotes while munching on chips and salsa. It turns out that one of David's former students works as a waiter at the restaurant. We headed to the theater where we watched Thor and Pirates of the Carribean 4. It was a great way to spend a summer day.
   For dinner we headed to Mi Cocina, a really great Mexican food cantina. During dinner we talked about politics, which actors used their positions to promote their agendas, and which ones we liked and didn't. After a discussion of the movie Heat, which I have never watched and he loves, we grabbed the check and left.
   I asked if we could go on a walk at a nearby park, and he said yes. We found ourselves walking through a picturesque park getting an unprecedented light show that was put on for us by lightning bugs. As we continued our walk, we happened upon an abandoned pair of sunglasses on one of the park benches. After examining them, I placed them back where they were and snapped the photo. I wonder who they belong to, why they were abandoned, and imagine the woman who owned them.
   David and I continued our walk through the park discussing parts of our former lives (mainly things that happened while we were in high school) and enjoyed a few minutes of swinging. I love days like these. I just hope the owner of the sunglasses isn't going too crazy looking for them.

Purple Glaze

2011-06-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hallie's Castle at Purple Glaze

June 1st, 2011
This picture is the castle that Hallie painted at Purple Glaze today. Purple Glaze is a pottery shop where you are able to pick your own pottery, paint it, and have it fired and glazed for you to take home. Hallie and I spent a few hours of our day together painting at Purple Glaze. This was one of the last things we did before she left for summer visitation with her dad. I miss her tremendously already and it's only been about 3 hours. However, I look at this picture and remember that Hallie painted this castle. Her imagination brought colors to it; her hands touched it; her fingers held it; and she was the one who snapped this picture of it before we left to go home.