Memorial Day

I know most people think of Memorial Day as a holiday away from work and possibly filled with barbecue and partying, but don't forget to take a minute to thank those who made all of this possible - the men and women who have and are serving our country. Many have given their lives so that we can have this day away from work to barbecue and have fun.

A special thanks to my brother, sister-in-law, and all of my family who have and are still serving our country.

Catch Up

I can't believe I haven't posted since Monday. This week has been a mini-whirlwind.
On Tuesday I had a really big meeting at work that lasted all day so I came home wiped out. Spent some time with my garden, went to feed Joe and just chilled for the rest of the evening. On Wednesday it was lawn day so I helped hubby finish up mowing the lawn and then we relaxed for the evening. On Thursday it was super busy at work and then we went out to Snuffy's after work to have a burger and beer. After that we had to go grab some groceries to avoid shopping during the holiday weekend. Then yesterday, hubby took me to get an ingrown toenail removed and we just chilled around the house. Today... we will just have to see what today brings.

Little Man Goes to the Vet

Today I took Nash to the vet to have his teeth looked at. His baby canine teeth did not fall out and his permanent teeth have already come in, so it is really crowding his mouth and making his other teeth come in all weird. At first they weren't going to do anything except check him out, but since I had done the fasting routine (just in case) they went ahead and pulled his two teeth. He came through like a champ and is enjoying the special soft food he gets for the next couple of days. Now maybe his other teeth can come through like they should.

Orange Crush Daylily

Last year at the local town festival, I purchased a bulb of the official town flower - Orange Crush Daylily. I wasn't sure if it would bloom this year or not, but it did. Here is a photo I took from my cell phone, so the quality is not the best. The petals are a pretty yellowish orange and the center is a brighter orange. Hopefully I can get some better pictures of the blooms as the season goes on.

Back to Work

Vacation is over and I am headed back to work today. This morning I woke up before the alarm went off with a nasty headache. Then I remembered that I had been dreaming about work all night long (I have someone specific on the team who is causing unnecessary stress for the whole team). There was a slight twist to the dream.....all of my staff was ducks who just wanted to eat constantly. To bad the issues with my real staff can't be handled by just giving them some food.

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday

Today is my parents 37th anniversary, so Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad. Today is also my birthday. Today I spent the day doing whatever I wanted. I woke up and went to the pond to feed the ducks. There is a white one and a black one, but only the white one has been coming out lately. I named the white one Joe (not sure if it is male or female, so hopefully I picked correctly). I couldn't get him to come out so I went back home. After hubby got out of bed we went back to the pond and Joe finally came out for his breakfast. He is gentle enough he even ate out of my hand. After that we went home and headed to Best Buy to see if we could find a few movies we liked. No luck there so we headed to PetsMart and got some goodies for the kids (we can always find something to buy there). After that we headed to Academy to get hubby some new flip flops and I even found a couple of pair of shoes too. One pair was too cheap to pass up ($4) and they are cute little flats that will be perfect for wearing at work with summer dresses or slacks. After that we headed to eat lunch at Pluckers. The food was okay but our waitress was a real snit. From there we headed to a different Best Buy (still determined to find a movie since I have $20 in reward bucks to use). Still no luck so on to Wal-Mart to get gas and then went in there to look at movies. We actually found some movies there and then headed home. Now we will relax a bit until time to grill the steaks for dinner.

Nurnburg Brauhaus

On Friday we went to a German restaurant with my neighbor, not the one in Walberg as we had originally planned, but one on Pflugerville called Nurnburg Brauhaus. It was a small place and I had the daily special, which was Sauerbraten (Beef roast marinated and slow cooked in a sweet and sour style gravy served with German potato ball). Hubby had the Wiener Schnitzel and our friend had the daily special. Since my neighbor is from Germany, she could attest to the authenticity of the food and said it was definitely like the food back home. Since two of us didn't eat off of the lunch menu, it was a little more expensive that your normal lunch prices, but it was really good. There was a good atmosphere and the people were really nice. I would go back again, maybe to try the evening meal and some beer next time.

First Day of Vacation

Today is the first day of my 4 days of vacation. Today we are headed to Wahlberg to try out a German Restaurant there with my neighbor who is from Germany. Over the next several days, we also plan to go to the World War II museum at Camp Mabry and also possibly do some research at the State Library. Mostly though, I am happy that I am getting a few days away from work.

Double Edge Sword

I work in the field of Human Resources and even though I love it, it can be a double edge sword at times. For example, it is great because you are usually in on the ground floor of changes for the company. You can put your stamp on the way things are done. You tend to know the direction the company is going before most of the other staff. Unfortunately, that last part can also be the double edge sword part. If there is something happening that is going to have a negative impact, you have advance notice. Many times those things are going to happen to people or departments you are working with and you cannot say anything.

Nephew

I received the official birth announcement for my newest nephew, Maddox, in the mail over the weekend (he was born April 3rd). When I read the announcement, I got a really nice surprise. My brother had originally told me that the middle name would be Ryan; however, when I read the announcement, they had actually made his middle name McCoy. McCoy is my family name and I know both of my grandparents would have been extremely honored that my brother is keeping the name going.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mother's out there. Hope you have a very special day.

Jalapeno Peppers

I have several jalapeno pepper plants and they seem to be struggling and until today I couldn't figure out why. They continually looked like they were being eaten, but they had no bugs on them, they have been getting plenty water, have lots of blooms, but never any baby jalapeno peppers. Today I was outside checking my garden and was so excited because there was a baby pepper plant about 3/4 of an inch long. Two seconds later - literally - I hear this crunching sound and look over to see Riley eating my baby jalapeno! I scolded her, which I rarely do - hubby is the disciplinarian, and now I am off to Lowe's to get some fencing to go around my plants.

World War II Book

I am trying to find out the name of a book that a friend of the family wrote about his experience as a POW in World War II. Unfortunately, he has a common last name, Williams, so searching for the book is difficult to say the least. My grandfather is now deceased and no one else in the family knows the name of the book. I am planning to go to a local museum on my days off in the next couple of week. Supposedly there is a copy of the book there and I can at least get the title of the book.

My Garden: Before and After

This was my garden when I first planted it.


This is my garden now. There are two tomato plants, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, lima beans, snow peas, cucumbers, and green beans. All growing nicely.