Today is the Cookie Booth Lottery. You draw numbers for the order of your turn, and then the troop leader and I during each of our turns get 4 minutes to sign up for 3 seperate booths. Except at the primo Wal-Mart/Cabela's booth; there you get 4 minutes to sign up at one OR the other. It's craziness but they have it set up where it's supposed to be fair for all troops to get a chance at a good booth.
Anyway, we get to start selling cookies door-to-door on January 20th. And then we'll start our booth sales on January 23rd. We sell until the end of February. Last year was Lindsay's (and my) first time to sell cookies and she (we) ended up selling 540 boxes. Her (our) goal this year is 675. The money the girls earn selling cookies goes into the Troop's account and then we use that throughout the year for camps and field trips, et cetera.
Over Christmas I had the chance to visit with Betty G. who was our troop leader way back a long time ago. We had a good time reliving some of the things we did in our troop and some of the fun and miserable camping trips we went on. She listened to me (and commisserated with me) over the number of hours a troop leader puts into the job and for the most part without a lot of help from the parents, so at the end of our conversation I told her, "I probably didn't say it at the time, but I thank you for being our troop leader."
So I hope your New Year's resolutions didn't include going on a diet because we're about to have some Girl Scout Cookies to sell!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Vanity Lives
I don't consider myself as being a vain person, but there comes a time when you can no longer lie to that reflection in the mirror and try to convince yourself that those "natural highlights" look all right. So here I sit w/ some Miss Clairol on my head and in just 20 minutes I will have that Toasted Almond shine!
Towards the end of 2009 I started working out at Curves while Lindsay was at her various weekday activities. I did really good for 3 weeks and started noticing a difference in the fit of my clothes. Then my routine got out of whack because of Lindsay's birthday, and it didn't really make sense to start back up right before The Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Food Binging Season. Unfortunately, despite my lack of attendance, Curves still remembered to deduct that monthly payment.
So starting next week my number 1 goal is to get back into my fitness routine. And don't ask me out to lunch either because I'm going to be brownbagging it. That saves me not only calories, but money as well.
Well, my 20 minutes are up. Let's go see is we have washed that gray out of my hair .... at least for the time being.
Towards the end of 2009 I started working out at Curves while Lindsay was at her various weekday activities. I did really good for 3 weeks and started noticing a difference in the fit of my clothes. Then my routine got out of whack because of Lindsay's birthday, and it didn't really make sense to start back up right before The Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Food Binging Season. Unfortunately, despite my lack of attendance, Curves still remembered to deduct that monthly payment.
So starting next week my number 1 goal is to get back into my fitness routine. And don't ask me out to lunch either because I'm going to be brownbagging it. That saves me not only calories, but money as well.
Well, my 20 minutes are up. Let's go see is we have washed that gray out of my hair .... at least for the time being.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Christmas 2009
On Wednesday, December 23, I was wearing shorts and sweating as I loaded up the car to head to Junction for Christmas. On Thursday, December 24, Lindsay, Bethany and I are bundled up and trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues!
Lindsay and I headed out to Granny & Poppa Gipsons after lunch on Christmas Eve. She had a fantastic time with all of her crazy cousins and she's learning to hold her own with her Poppa Gipson. There was a lot of love and a bunch of laughter shared that day and evening.
And Santa again managed to find Lindsay on Cedar Creek. She had as much fun passing out gifts to others as she did unwrapping her own. For me it's just not Christmas morning if I'm not on the Creek and up before the crack of dawn!
On Christmas day Lindsay and I took another nature walk over to Aunt B's house and managed not to get our shoes wet as we crossed the creek! We cooked the usual holiday favorites and everything was delicious; it's a lot of work but totally worth it in my opinion.
Murr and I went into town that evening and saw Debbie & Rodney Phillips. The 4 of us hadn't been together in a very long while and it was a lot of fun catching up with old times and new.
The next morning Uncle Tommy, Lindsay and I climbed the mountain in front of his house. Wow. The view from up there is spectacular. And Lindsay found the back fence! (Mom used to tell us girls to get outside and see if we could find the back fence! I so totally understand why she did that now.)
All in all it was a fantastic visit. Once again it went by way too fast.
And now here we are on the 1st day of 2010 and let me be the first to say HFNY!
I'm certainly hoping it’s going to be a happy one because the last 2 have .....how do I say this .... sucked. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful because I am very blessed in so many ways. So while I’m desperate to believe that 2010 is going to be great one, I’m not going to be holding my breath waiting for it to happen.
There are many things I hope to accomplish in this new year, but I'm not going to doom them and myself by calling them resolutions. Let's just say that if they get done I'll be happy, and if not, well, there's always next year. Right?
Lot's of love to all of you from:
Sandra, Murr, Lindsay, P.J., Patches & Sissy Boy
Lindsay and I headed out to Granny & Poppa Gipsons after lunch on Christmas Eve. She had a fantastic time with all of her crazy cousins and she's learning to hold her own with her Poppa Gipson. There was a lot of love and a bunch of laughter shared that day and evening.
And Santa again managed to find Lindsay on Cedar Creek. She had as much fun passing out gifts to others as she did unwrapping her own. For me it's just not Christmas morning if I'm not on the Creek and up before the crack of dawn!
On Christmas day Lindsay and I took another nature walk over to Aunt B's house and managed not to get our shoes wet as we crossed the creek! We cooked the usual holiday favorites and everything was delicious; it's a lot of work but totally worth it in my opinion.
Murr and I went into town that evening and saw Debbie & Rodney Phillips. The 4 of us hadn't been together in a very long while and it was a lot of fun catching up with old times and new.
The next morning Uncle Tommy, Lindsay and I climbed the mountain in front of his house. Wow. The view from up there is spectacular. And Lindsay found the back fence! (Mom used to tell us girls to get outside and see if we could find the back fence! I so totally understand why she did that now.)
All in all it was a fantastic visit. Once again it went by way too fast.
And now here we are on the 1st day of 2010 and let me be the first to say HFNY!
I'm certainly hoping it’s going to be a happy one because the last 2 have .....how do I say this .... sucked. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful because I am very blessed in so many ways. So while I’m desperate to believe that 2010 is going to be great one, I’m not going to be holding my breath waiting for it to happen.
There are many things I hope to accomplish in this new year, but I'm not going to doom them and myself by calling them resolutions. Let's just say that if they get done I'll be happy, and if not, well, there's always next year. Right?
Lot's of love to all of you from:
Sandra, Murr, Lindsay, P.J., Patches & Sissy Boy
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Holidays
The Christmas decorations are out and the tree is up so it must mean that the Jolly Ole’ St. Nick will soon be coming to see Lindsay at Cedar Creek. I still need to get the Christmas cards sent, and I still have a couple of presents left to buy, but I’m much further along than I usually am at this time of year. And thanks to Amazon and on-line shopping I’ve managed to avoid the crowded stores so far. Unfortunately Lindsay needs winter clothes so I will have to go to JC Penney’s and Wal-Mart at some point in the next couple of weeks, but those trips will be short and sweet!
Thanksgiving 2009 at Cedar Creek was wonderful, but we forgot to have our annual football game. We did have fun playing a new game called "The Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot." And despite the killing of the mountain lion at Bethany’s last month, Lindsay and I didn't let that keep us from taking our nature walk, however I did look over and above my shoulders more often than usual. Those country acres and creek can soothe my soul like nothing else can.
Thanksgiving 2009 at Cedar Creek was wonderful, but we forgot to have our annual football game. We did have fun playing a new game called "The Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot." And despite the killing of the mountain lion at Bethany’s last month, Lindsay and I didn't let that keep us from taking our nature walk, however I did look over and above my shoulders more often than usual. Those country acres and creek can soothe my soul like nothing else can.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Belated Update
My sister Brenda has been reminding me that I haven’t updated my blog. I keep telling her, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” When I checked in today I realized just how long it had been since an update. I don’t know where to start, so we’ll just see where the words lead us.
I left off with the new judge getting appointed. She was sworn in and things have been going …… okay. Looking back on the process of the appointment I realize I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but not only was I dealing with the grief of losing someone I loved, I was also dealing with the workings of local politics.
Life at the office is beginning to settle down. I can’t say that I’ve totally adjusted to the new changes, but since they’re inevitable for the time being I’m learning how to cope. There are still those there that I am closest to that give me a reason to show up every day and I am extremely grateful to have them as friends and confidantes.
In October the Randle Clan spent a great weekend at the Beach! The weather didn’t cooperate as much as we would have liked, but we still managed to have a good time.
October also brought around the Kyle Fair and Music Festival BBQ cookoff. For about the last 12 years I have helped Judge Warner with this event by being his “right hand man“. I stepped into his big shoes for this years' event and we got the job done, but his absence there was almost more than I could stand.
The next weekend after the Kyle Fair was Relay For Life. Howard’s Angels participated in Relay For Life in his memory, and every single one of us who participated also walked in celebration of, or in memory of, a number of other friends, family, pets, and loved ones.
Life has a way of never slowing down. This past Friday we celebrated Lindsay turning 8 years old. Wow. I know it’s a cliché, but where did the time go?
Thanks for joining me on this ride known as “The Jackson Life.” I can’t guarantee you that I’ll keep my blog as up-to-date as I should, but I hope you continue to check in to see how we’re doing from time to time.
I left off with the new judge getting appointed. She was sworn in and things have been going …… okay. Looking back on the process of the appointment I realize I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but not only was I dealing with the grief of losing someone I loved, I was also dealing with the workings of local politics.
Life at the office is beginning to settle down. I can’t say that I’ve totally adjusted to the new changes, but since they’re inevitable for the time being I’m learning how to cope. There are still those there that I am closest to that give me a reason to show up every day and I am extremely grateful to have them as friends and confidantes.
In October the Randle Clan spent a great weekend at the Beach! The weather didn’t cooperate as much as we would have liked, but we still managed to have a good time.
October also brought around the Kyle Fair and Music Festival BBQ cookoff. For about the last 12 years I have helped Judge Warner with this event by being his “right hand man“. I stepped into his big shoes for this years' event and we got the job done, but his absence there was almost more than I could stand.
The next weekend after the Kyle Fair was Relay For Life. Howard’s Angels participated in Relay For Life in his memory, and every single one of us who participated also walked in celebration of, or in memory of, a number of other friends, family, pets, and loved ones.
Life has a way of never slowing down. This past Friday we celebrated Lindsay turning 8 years old. Wow. I know it’s a cliché, but where did the time go?
Thanks for joining me on this ride known as “The Jackson Life.” I can’t guarantee you that I’ll keep my blog as up-to-date as I should, but I hope you continue to check in to see how we’re doing from time to time.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Judge Update
The Commissioner's Court made their decision, so it's time to make lemonade out of lemons and all of that bullshit. At least now that the decision has been made most of the drama has died down. And believe it or not, I've been on my best behavior. I can "grin and bear it" with the best of them. ;-)
Paybacks Are Hell
Being a parent is not for the faint at heart. It also isn’t easy for an old fart like me.
I sure did think I was smart by waiting until I was 34 to have Lindsay; and for a lot of reasons it was a good decision. On the flip side of that good decision is the cold, hard reality that it is hard for this 42-year-old mom to keep up with an almost 8 year old, and it’s impossible to outsmart her.
And I realize I could have it a lot worse; Lindsay is a sweet and smart little girl and not the little monster that I see some moms trying to handle and raise. Her only character flaw, as I see it, is that she is a Mini-Me. And I know that most of you reading this right now do not need an explanation of what that means, but for those of you who do not know me as well this means that she loves to argue, she is always right, and she is a consummate smartass.
Do I deserve everything she is dishing out to me? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Not even I can argue that one. As my mom loves to remind me, I’m payin’ for my raisin’. I owe my mom and dad so many apologies. I now realize that I am lucky to be alive because I know I pushed them to the edge too many times to count. And I also know that Lindsay, too, will push me to the edge in the future, and when she does I’ll remember mom’s other favorite saying: Don’t worry, Sandra, the next stage will be worse.
Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. I love you.
I sure did think I was smart by waiting until I was 34 to have Lindsay; and for a lot of reasons it was a good decision. On the flip side of that good decision is the cold, hard reality that it is hard for this 42-year-old mom to keep up with an almost 8 year old, and it’s impossible to outsmart her.
And I realize I could have it a lot worse; Lindsay is a sweet and smart little girl and not the little monster that I see some moms trying to handle and raise. Her only character flaw, as I see it, is that she is a Mini-Me. And I know that most of you reading this right now do not need an explanation of what that means, but for those of you who do not know me as well this means that she loves to argue, she is always right, and she is a consummate smartass.
Do I deserve everything she is dishing out to me? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Not even I can argue that one. As my mom loves to remind me, I’m payin’ for my raisin’. I owe my mom and dad so many apologies. I now realize that I am lucky to be alive because I know I pushed them to the edge too many times to count. And I also know that Lindsay, too, will push me to the edge in the future, and when she does I’ll remember mom’s other favorite saying: Don’t worry, Sandra, the next stage will be worse.
Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. I love you.
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