When it rains it pours

Jeremy and I (Tina) have decided to collaborate on the blog now, so I decided to girly it up for everyone!
I had one of those days yesterday. One where it starts out great, and even gets better, then everything seems to fall apart. I just wanted to go to Hobby Lobby and look around. The great thing was I found a pattern for Jeremy's pullover sweater thing (he wants me to make one for his birthday) for 99 cents! They are usually $16! That made my day. After that I just walked around the store and took a leisurely look at things. When I got to the cash register, I figured I'd better look at the time to make sure I was home in time for Asher. It was 3:40!!! He gets home about that time. So I payed for my stuff, and got out of there as fast as I could. I was just about to turn into our neighborhood when I heard a police siren and looked up to see the flashing lights. Oh great! It seems I didn't stop completely at the sign, so he gave me a ticket. (Anyone else ever automatically say Thanks! when they hand you the ticket?) When I got home Asher was nice enough to remind me that he waited 7 minutes!
Inside I fixed Ayden a drink because it had been really hot outside. I was just about to give her a drink when she slipped and hit her mouth with the pacifier in, on the chair she was standing by. Ouch! I picked her up to see her mouth was full of blood! Of course, I was worried! I couldn't see what was bleeding. I thought that we'd probably have to go to the ER or something because she knocked a tooth out of place. After the bleeding and crying! stopped, I saw that Ayden had tore that little muscle that attaches to your lip and gums. My poor little girl! I really felt bad!
After that I just wanted the day to end. Anyone ever have one of those days?
On a happier note, here are some pictures of us at the Rough Riders game!

Hurting your kids and other interesting things.

We have all done it right. One minute we are throwing our kids up in the air or swirling around and around and they are laughing and giggling and we are laughing at their laughter and then suddenly your grip slips and they go flying. Jubilation turns to tears for them and total guilt for you. That was the way I felt when I banged my little daughters head on the ceiling the other day. I was at my in-laws place with family. I was throwing Ayden in the air, she was laughing and then all of a sudden I heard the "bonk" and saw her face change from happiness to a blank stare and then a look of pain. While my face changed to sorrow. I thought I had way more room before I hit the ceiling but I happened to be standing in the entrance of the kitchen and the dining room which has about a 6 inch wide down drop that is only about 7 feet high. It is the lowest part of the entire area and unfortunately I managed to find Ayden's head with it. I felt so bad but she survived. I am sure all of you out there have done things to accidentally hurt your kids. If you do then tell them to me in the comment area.

Ayden is walking now to a slight extent. She stands up, takes about 6 steps and then falls. Then she gets right back up and tries again. She will be walking efficiently in a couple of weeks I think. She is a true joy to me.

Asher went on a field trip yesterday to a dinosaur museum. He said he had lots of fun. He is doing really well. He plays daily with about 4 other next door neighbor kids. He is doing well in school. He is trying to get straight A's so he can reap the money we told him we would give him if he did. He really likes money.

Tina is doing great. I keep telling her to write some blog entries so people can have some different perspectives but she just hasn't gotten around to it yet. We are approaching Ayden's 1st birthday in a couple of weeks. We are in the planning phase for it. Tina recently got done putting into practice all of the home improvement shows she has watched over the years. She bought a headboard for our bed that needed to be sanded and refinished which she did a wonderful job on and we installed it on our bed this past weekend. She really did a great job, it looks great.

I am subbing for Frisco ISD these days including right now. I am currently at a middle school subbing for a 8th grade social studies class. They are studying for state wide test next week and I am just kicken it.

Tonight Tina, Ayden, Asher, Little Dave and I are going to a Frisco Rough Riders game. Also I have a interview with the city of Addison for a Summer Camp Counselor position. I am still searching for a teaching/coaching job for the fall. So far nothing has happened but it is still a bit early in the process. The answer to the last poll question was "I know who killed me". It starred Lyndsey Lohan who was up for worst actress. Congrats on the person who got it correct.

I am thinking about getting into to guns. I went shooting as part of an elders quorum activity this past weekend. I got to shoot my 12 gauge at some clay pigeons. I did pretty well. I am thinking about purchasing a Glock 19 and getting my concealed license in the near future. I need a hobby and enjoy shooting so I am going to look into it.

Spitting off the Balcony

First things first. For those who took on the poll question, the correct answer was the Inland Tiapan snake. One person got it correct, if that was you, pat yourself on the back.

So let me try to get you caught up on what has been going on with us for the last two weeks.

Asher got his first report card a week ago and came home with A's and B's so we were happy with that. He is doing well in school. He was wanting to play baseball this season but decided he would rather wait till next season or perhaps play basketball. I think he just likes coming home and hanging out, which is fine.

Ayden is doing good. She is pulling up on everything and anything she can touch or grab. She is able to stand and balance herself now for about 15 seconds or so. She is starting to move around a little bit while she is holding on.

Tina is doing her normal mom thing. She has been hanging out with the kids by herself on most nights since I have been working most nights these days. She found a headboard for our bed on craigslist and bought it for $50. It is a nice heavy wood frame. It needs some sanding and staining but Tina is excited to put into application all the decorating and home improvement shows she watches on DIY and HGTV.

I have been sick for the past couple of days. I can't really talk and my ears are all pressurized so I can't really hear either. I am still at Market Street right now. Still like doing what I am doing, but the hours are wearing me out. On most days I don't get home till 7:30pm on others it is closer to 11pm. I have started the process of applying to school districts. I have applied to about 16 districts so far I believe. Most of which are relatively close to where we live. It is still a bit premature to start getting calls from them, but it shouldn't be very long.

We got a visit from my sister Sarah and her little one Anna this past weekend. Sarah was in town to attend a function and stopped by for a visit. It was nice to visit with them. I have only really seen Sarah twice in the past 4 years probably. She seems to be doing well and Ayden had a nice time staring at Anna. For those of you who don't know Sarah lives in Iowa while her husband finishes up medical school.

I PASSED!!!!!!

I am reminded of the scene in Legally Blonde when El Woods was walking up to the posted list of those who were chosen for the prestigious legal internship. Upon seeing her name on that very small list of names she shouted,


"ME!"


That is the way I felt yesterday after finding out I passed the teachers exam. I wish I could say I knew I would pass it or it was easy and stuff. The truth is I was shocked. I had no business passing that exam. I wasn't positive I had one answer right until I reached a question somewhere in the 80's. Prior to the exam I had asked/told Heavenly Father that if this was the way I was supposed to go in life then please help me pass this test. I know without a doubt, without His help I would have never passed this test. I can now start looking for a teaching job and go to all of the job fairs. I broke down in tears when I saw that I has passed I think for a couple of reasons. Those who know me know I have struggled with the decision of what I should do professionally for that last 11 years. It was a decision that haunted me daily and I never could seem to get a confirmation from above on the matter. It has been a constant source of frustration for me. So getting such a straight up confirmation of my direction and as I see it purpose for my career was special to me. The other reason was because it was semi-miraculous. I am not humble when it comes to taking tests. I am not the smartest person in the world and and I am not the dumbest. But I am good at taking tests and I like taking them. I like analyzing them and seeing if I can break them down. I did do some deduction while taking the teaching test but honestly felt I had no chance of passing it because the material I studied did not help with a single question. I just wanted to let everyone know the good news.

Happy 5th Anniversary!!!

After waiting for many, many months for my divorce from a completely miserable, nightmarish marriage to come to an end I decided to attend the local institute in McKinney. My sister Sarah had been going to it and I had asked her on a few occasions about the local "talent" at the female position. I remember her telling me about this one girl that was cute and sweet. Sarah never officially introduced me to her so I never knew which girl she was referring to when I attended institute. There were a few cute girls at institute, three for sure that had some interest in me but known of those three I had any interest in. One evening I decided to attend a young singles activity in Frisco at a sand volleyball court. I attended with a couple of friends who were girls. During that evening I got to throw the football for a few minutes with a delightful young woman named Tina. I had seen her around and I knew she was dating someone. I found her personality appealing and she was cute. Over the next several months I watched her and talked with her when I could. I went with my friends and her and her boyfriend to the Renaissance Fair where I watched her some more (I have pictures with my spy equipment to prove it! J/K). I watched her at the dances. Over that period of time I had spoken with my friends about her on several occasions. They were good friends with Tina so they knew a little about her. They and others had given me the impression that Tina and her boyfriend were for sure going to get married, it was just a matter of time. I don't remember the exact moment I knew Tina and I would be a perfect couple, but it was not very long after I first met her. After a few months passed since I first met her and knowing she and I would be absolutely perfect for each other, I decided I better let her know I was out there and interested in her when/if she became available. So one day after an activity I told her exactly that. I wanted to plant a seed. I wanted to let her know there was a better option out there. I think it was only a few weeks after I told her I was interested in her that she and her boyfriend broke up. The underlying story of all of this stuff going on was my two friends who were girls, who were part of the 3 girls that liked me in the beginning wanted me for themselves. So they were feeding me bad information. When Tina and her boyfriend broke up they kept it from me because they knew I liked her. They pressured Tina not to date me because they liked me. I on several occasions made it clear to my two friends that we were only that and nothing ever more, but they still schemed and planned all the while. My first "date" with Tina was a trip to the local golf driving range. It was on the eve of my sister Angela's wedding reception. We had a real good time hitting golf balls, neither of us was very good at it though, but we had nice, natural conversation and I think an instant comfort level. We had never been alone before, so we never really had the freedom to speak freely together. At each table for Ang's reception there was a vase that had a beta fish in it. I remembered from our first date her telling me she liked animals and stuff. So I grabbed one of them and took it out to her house the next day. After that I asked her on a real official date and I think we went ice skating at the Frisco mall where we both fell on our butt's once or twice. A day or so after that I received a voice message from Tina saying she couldn't date me because her friend (and my friend) liked me and didn't want her to date me. Well we got through all that soap opera bs and the rest is history. I just thought I would tell the story for those of you who have never heard it before. I knew Tina and I were perfect for each other shortly after we met. I then spent the next 4 months trying to convince Tina of that fact. The truth is Heavenly Father answered my prayers and blessed me with the sweet after going through so very very much of the bitter in my previous marriage. She is a blessing and we will be together for ever. After knowing each other for 6 years and being married for 5 of those we have still never raised our voices to each other. We are truly happy and blessed to be together. I love her very much.

In other news I am still working at Market Street and really loving every minute of it. I like this job more than any job I have ever had. I am happier with this company than any company I can ever imagine. I will get the results of my school teacher test I think in one week. I don't think I am going to pass the test, but who knows. I do know I enjoy this job and have a lot of opportunities with this company.

Tina is getting better from her sickness. We are going out tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary since I work this evening. Ayden and Asher are doing well. I think maybe for the first time I can remember, it snowed twice in Texas in one Winter where I live. Asher and I played out in the snow last night for about 30 minutes. We were having a snow ball fight, then we made a little snow man. There was probably 6 inches of snow in our backyard which is a lot for Texas. I have included all those pictures either on this blog or on the photo album. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see.

For those of you who took the poll question on the blog from the last post that answered Manchego, you were correct. Manchego is a Spanish cheese made from Ewe's milk.

Greetings

Man I enjoy watching SpongeBob with Asher. I just heard a vocal exchange between SpongeBob and Plankton. SpongeBob said, "You can't have that crabby patty Plankton, its for the customer." To which Plankton replied, "Customer? Why I'll boil the customer in hot oil..." Plankton is truly funny on that show. The Scott family for the past few days have all been added to the disabled list (for my women readers this is a sports term). Tina is out with a cold/flu. She has had a sore throat, body ache, cough, etc... Asher has had a cough for the past couple of days. I woke up with a headache and Ayden is teething. Other than that we are doing great.

Ayden's front teeth are coming in now. You can just see her right front tooth about to poke through the gum. We think it has been contributing to her evening grumpiness. She continues to struggle trying to pull herself up. She usually ends up busting her face on something. She is almost totally of the boob now. I think she only boob feeds once or maybe twice a day now. It is fun to watch her crawl all over the place. Thank heaven for little girls.

Asher continues to do well in school. His highest grade right now is in science which is also his favorite subject. He went to a kids b-day party the other night at a game center and had lots of fun. He has met some of the other neighbor kids and has started to play basketball with them next door. Baseball is coming up in April and he is getting excited for that.

Tina is sick as I mentioned above. But other than that she is doing well.

Meanwhile, the store has opened. Last you heard from me I had 3 job possibilities. It turns out I chose the one I had from the very beginning. I was offered the library job at CCCCD. I was invited to interview for a library job with the City of Little Elm, o I could substitute teach. After weighing all of my present options I decided to keep the full time Market Street job and the benefits that come with it. The store opened this past Friday to a abundant crowd. I got to the store at 8am. After placing some grated Grana Pandana on a display section I was returning to my cheese section when I looked up and saw a person that looked familiar. This was a person I have seen on TV hundreds of times. This person was the great, 3 time Super Bowl champion and Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman. He was talking to someone but as I walked by him I said, "Holy smokes its Troy Aikman" and I patted him on the back as I walked by. Needless to say we are now best buddies. I worked a 10 hour day that day, hard work but lots of fun. The store was packed to the max. I got to meet one of the co-owners of the company. He seems like a very good person and I can tell that the feel of family that permeates throughout the company comes from him. I am learning my cheeses these days, so if any of you have any questions about cheese then holler at me. We have 300 different cheeses in the store. I have tried many of them and have learned a lot about them so far. I am currently reading a book about cheese to better familiarize myself with the many, many cheeses of the world. It is really quite interesting. I won't get the results of my teaching social studies test until the 14th of March. I don't expect it will be a good result. I studies a good amount but evidently didn't study the right stuff because I guessed on almost every answer choice. So if HF wants me to teach he would have to have blessed me with a lot of help. I will let you know when I know. Please, take the poll to the right.

"F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium, bomb, N is for no survivors."

- Plankton

Happy Valentines Day to you and yours.

All is well in the Scott domicile these days. Asher is doing well in school. He recently got an award at school called the Rucker Rocks award. It goes to students who help make the school a better place by treating people nice and making good grades. Asher is making friends church and school and is a very good boy. We got to see the Chipmunk movie the other day. Asher liked it and so did Tina and I. It was a pretty good movie. We have been watching some of the old Star Trek movies since Asher is so interested in Astronomy. He is enjoying them. So far he has only seen "Star Trek:Insurrection" but he wants to see some of the others. Baseball season is coming up in April and he is excited to play.

Ayden is crawling all over the place now. She has pretty much got the crawling thing down and is ready to start pulling herself up on objects and walking. She tries to pull herself up but hasn't quite mastered the technique. She usually ends up slipping and hitting her face on something. I just laugh and laugh. J/K! She is nearly weaned off the boob now (sorry I am not a p.c. guy). She can say "Momma" and "Dadda" now and that is about it, but that doesn't stop her from gibber jabbering nonstop. I tell Tina she gets that from her, but we all know it is from me.

In other news I was very sad to hear the news that Postum is no longer in production. After many decades it has been discontinued due to lack of demand. So I have made the shift to really the only other naturally decaffeinated coffee like drink, Pero. It was hard to find. I like it, but Postum is my preference.

It is kind of weird. I went about 27 years of my life really never reading a book except church books. In fact the only book I remember reading growing up was a few Jack London books. My favorite was "White Fang". I had trouble finding books that could hold my attention. After getting into the Harry Potter books a few years ago it has really opened up a love of reading for me. Since then my brother and dad have introduced me to several Fantasy writers and I have really enjoyed them. I now have a line of about 10 books I am looking forward to reading. If any of you have any suggestions for books you have read please let me know about them in the comments section. In job news, I didn't get the Tech job but that was good because I have been there and done that and I didn't want to go back to it. I did get the part time Library job at Collin College so that was nice. I was also hired at Market Street a few weeks back and have done some training with them over the past couple of weeks. Market Street is really the first company I have experienced that did things right in my opinion. They treat people right, they promote from within and are friendly and kind. I am going to try and work there part time in addition to the library. Also I have been trying to substitute teach in a very large district and couldn't figure out why there was no jobs. Well after talking to the district they had messed up my login so I couldn't see any jobs. Well they fixed it, so now there are tons of jobs out there. So I am going to try and do all 3 of these jobs in addition to my 6 credit online graduate hours. I take my Social Studies exam one week from tomorrow. If I pass it I will be qualified to teach Economics, Government, History, Civics, etc.. in grades 7 -12. If I don't pass it my plans might possibly be delayed by quite a bit. So I need to pass it the first time. My knee is still screwed up. I have had an X-ray, I have had it checked out by a orthopedic surgeon and tonight I am getting an MRI on it. Problem is I don't have insurance so if surgery is required I might have to wait a while to get it fixed. It has been jacked up now for almost 2 months. It is a little depressing because I would like to be playing softball and basketball for the church and the city. Also I can't go out and play with Asher very much.

Tina is doing great as always. She is loving being a mom and is very good at it. She and I went to Red Lobster for Valentines day. I don't really know what else to say about Tina. She always makes fun of me because I never write much about her. But I don't know what to say about her, she is just great.