RULE #1
You pull into my driveway and honk, you’d better be delivering a package, because you’re sure as hell not picking anything up.

RULE #2
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anthing below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off my daughter’s body, I will remove them.

RULE #3
I’m aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don’t take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open-minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise; you may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

RULE #4
I’m sure you’ve been told that in today’s world, sex without utilizing a “barrier method” of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate. When it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

RULE #5
It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is “early”.

RULE #6
I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

RULE #7
As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don’t you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

RULE #8
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka – zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided: movies which feature chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

RULE #9
Do not lie to me on issues relating to my daughter. I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres out behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

RULE #10
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a race paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean my guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway, you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car. There is no need for you to come inside. That camouflaged face you see at the window is mine (and if you think this is silly, wait until you have a daughter of your own).

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 4:01 PM :: 4 comments

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Marriage Seminar

While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, "It is essential that husbands and wives know each other's likes and dislikes."

He addressed the man, "Can you name your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "It's Pillsbury, isn't it? The rest of the story gets rather ugly, so I'll stop right here.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:17 PM :: 0 comments

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Women's Revenge!

"Cash, check or charge?" I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse.

"So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. "No," she replied, " but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:16 PM :: 2 comments

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Personal Inspiration

My Inspiration

I have had this piece of paper for years. It has been on the refrigerator, on the kitchen counter, in the “junk drawer”, in my purse, and floating around the house. It’s torn, and dirty, who knows what has been spilled on it, but it never ceases to amaze me that it turns up probably when I need it the most and I get the same feeling as the first day a read it. It reminds me that the challenges in life makes us who we are. So take some time out and…

Think of what inspires you!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:02 AM :: 2 comments

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Sunday, June 26, 2005 A Day at the Beach

What a blast! I took two of the three kids to the beach today. Yes, laundry needed to be done, floors needed to be mopped, clothes needed to be folded. You may have noticed that the list didn't include anything concerning the kids. As a working parent, weekends tend to be my catch up time. The kids asked to go to the beach. I thought about going, then I thought of my list of chores (yes, I'm anal, I make an actual list). I decided that the chores will still be there if I put them off for a day. I also decided that this would be a great opportunity to practice what I've learned in the book SuZan and I are reading about the "STEP" program (see post below). I must tell you that this has been one of the best trips to the beach we've had. Thanks to the book I realized that being a parent doesn't mean that my only job is to make sure every rule is followed, that everyone's behavior is perfect and that everyone is happy. I learned that it's OK for ME to laugh and have fun with my kids. We laughed a lot, we fell down, we were covered with sand, we ate junk food and played the music loud as we drove with the windows down. What a wonderful day!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:29 PM :: 1 comments

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In Search of a Guest Bedroom #5

old color & new color

OK…OK! There is a reason why they call it “woops” paint. After looking at it over night, it looked more and more like…well…poop! So being resourceful, I mixed in white until I came to this color and I am much happier with it. This color reminds me of a latte and of course, being the “coffee snob” that I am, this I can live with. So after the paint goes up, instead of calling it “the room” it will now be referred to as “the latte room”.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 1:53 PM :: 6 comments

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Good God, I Giggle

I am so glad that Sheri nudged me into the world of Blogging and Podcasting, it has to be said that I have had a blast and I have learned a few things about myself.

BLOGGING
I can’t spell worth a darn. Yes, that’s right, I have come to rely on good ole spellchecker, furthermore, certain words I just go ahead and misspell because I know spellchecker will fix them on its own.

PODCASTING
I swear I don’t know who is talking but that’s not ME! I have never heard that person before in my life. Sheri promises that it is me, but I refuse to believe it.

“That’s right!” If I hear “that’s right” come out of my mouth one more time, I’m gonna heave. I remember during collage in my public speaking class, the teacher would have the class raise their hand after every “um” that we uttered. I’m afraid that if I asked Sheri to do that with the “that’s right” she would look like she was trying air out her armpits or be trying to fly away.

The giggles; honestly, I NEVER knew that I giggled….UGG! Gotta do something about that! Since our first podcast, my husband is actually going around calling me “giggles”.

The hardest thing about all of this is listening to yourself. We have decided that we will limit our intake to only 2 glasses of liquid courage during a podcast. Our last one got a little slurry towards the end and I we rambled on a bit. All in all, this is so much fun and you've got to be able to laugh at yourself!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 7:23 AM :: 0 comments

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Saturday, June 25, 2005 My Mother-In-Law is So Wise!

I am so lucky to have been blessed with a great Mother-In-Law. She is such a kind, patient person. She is 82 years young and just lost her husband of 60 years. The other day I was commenting on her plants as they all are so healthy and beautiful. There was one plant that she had growing up her fence and I asked her how she got it to grow that way. Her response was "You know, plants are a lot like children. You feed them, nurture them, and give them direction and hope they grow the way you want. When they get unruly, you clip them back and set them back on track. The key is, giving them enough guidance, but letting them make some decisions as to how they want to grow. They may not go where you think they should, but sometimes the path they choose is better than the one you've chosen for them." I asked her how she decides when she should step in and do some clipping and redirecting. She said, "Well, when they interfere with the other plants or are growing in a way that could kill it."

Such wise words!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:24 PM :: 2 comments

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Batman Begins-Yes! AMC Theaters-Yuck!

We just got back from seeing Batman Begins. The movie was GREAT! I really didn't expect to enjoy it, but my husband suggested we go as a family (which doesn't happen when you have teenagers). I am not a Sci-Fi kind of gal. Give me a chic flick and a box of tissues (and depending on what time of the month it is, a chocolate bar and a bottle of wine) and I'm good to go. But I really enjoyed the movie. The storyline was great as well as the special effects. Let me just add, Christian Bale (Batman) is a HOTTIE!!!!!!

Anyway, hubby bought the tickets online which worked out great! Got to the theater early enough to pick up some snacks and get some decent seats. We go stand in line at concessions, and stand, and stand. This portion of the theater is the most poorly, unorganized mess I've ever seen. Each cashier not only takes the order, they get the food and drinks as well. Now, it's not like they have a huge selection. I mean, how hard is it to remember two cokes and a popcorn? Anyway, we ordered a total of four drinks, a popcorn, and one of the big pretzels (that was quite stale and tasteless - $3.50 sheesh). Could she take the whole order, then get the food? Nooooo. I'd say one item and off she went. Did she have any hustle? Of course not. None of them did. The only thing that was hustling was their mouths! To top it off, I paid $24 for crappy service, a stale pretzel, and burnt popcorn. The only thing that didn't suck were the drinks! I think it would be far more efficient if they had food runners. Maybe one for every two registers. That way, the cashiers could concentrate on taking orders and handling the money transactions, and not so much time dilly-dallying around! I don't know if I should say 'SHAME ON YOU AMC" for the service and lack of organization, or "SHAME ON ME" for paying $24 for lousy food instead of taking it back any demanding my money back. Of course, because of the insane amount of time we spend standing in line at concessions, we ended up with lousy seats (front row) sitting in front of a family with several small children. Not only did the children talk through the whole movie, the adults did as well!

OK, rant over. The whole point of this post was to tell you how great Batman Begins was. Go see it, you won't be sorry. Don't wait on this one to come out on DVD. See it on the big screen and enjoy the awesome special effects. (Oh yeah, and don't forgot to check out Christian ♥♥)!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 8:51 PM :: 0 comments

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In Search of a Guest Bedroom #4

Found: an empty room

Well what do you know…..there is a room here after all! I’m so glad everything is cleared out; however, everything that I’m keeping is in the living room and dining room. Ya’ll have seen the dining room table but I have a mattress and box springs in my living room (the cat thinks it’s cool she has a new perch).

My goal is to totally transform the guest bedroom (I know just emptying it out is a transformation…lol). I am very budget minded when I set out to make or do things. The new carpet cost me barely over the cost of the labor to install it and as Sheri had mentioned in a comment, the paint came from Lowe's “woops” paint. I love it when they have a new employee because there is a lot to choose from. The paint cost $5.00. So I’ve swept all the cobwebs, now onto patching holes in the wall. I don’t know what direction I’m going as far as the look of the bedroom, but I will find something that will inspire me and set me off towards the right direction. THIS is the part I love!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:58 PM :: 0 comments

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Friday, June 24, 2005 Wouldn't You know it

I've had access to "the man chair" (see post below) all week, but I've been too busy to use it. Wouldn't you know it, I finally get to sit down, but now my husband is home.... and in it! That's OK, at least I'll have a snuggle bunny tonight :-)

I'm glad you're home, honey!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:59 PM :: 0 comments

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Sam Houston State University

Sam Houston State University

One of the “projects” this summer is for my son and I to visit Universities here in the State (tuition costs you know). We went to our first collage tour this week at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Things sure have changed since I graced the halls of knowledge!

The University Representative told us that we were smart starting this early (my son will be a Junior this coming school year). Starting the search early tends to make the transition smoother and helps the student feel confident about their decision, not to mention (as in our case) put out there the expectations and “what it takes” to be admitted.

We continued the tour walking around the campus and WOW, I was amazed at what was offered for the students. Dorm rooms (which aren’t what they used to be); workout area, entertainment area; besides the regular cafeteria, they had several “fast food” places on campus and even a Mexican Restaurant (yum). They even have a Hotel for parents. At the end of the tour, I wanted to sign myself up (forget the boy…I want to stay). I really liked the campus, it wasn’t too big and wasn’t too small. Huntsville, is located on the edge of the piney woods of East Texas and is very lush and green. My son was also very impressed and hopefully the strategy will work to inspire him to move a little closer to his potential.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 7:55 PM :: 2 comments

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Go Spurs!

San Antonio Spurs Rock!

Need I say more?



Go Spurs!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 8:37 AM :: 1 comments

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Dell Axim and the Geek-Wanna-Be #8

PocketBlogger

Ok all, frustration has now settled in (I have been geek-ti-fied). I tried to download Texmaster only for the Axim to tell me that I didn’t have enough memory. I ran out and picked up a CompactFlash card…OK…great (can’t tell hubby how much I spent….shhh). I then downloaded (correction – tried to download) Texmaster; after it finishes the download, the Axim tells me that it is not a pocket pc program. - Uggg!

Topping off this experience Kevin from kct's digital world recommended Pocket Blogger. I downloaded pocket blogger and now I can’t find it on the Axim! Sigh…..you know I’m going to have to read the manual. I’m not very happy right now.

Until next time!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 7:31 AM :: 0 comments

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 Coffee with My Daughter

This was just so cool I just had to post (I know SuZan, I'm supposed to finish my cleaning by 9:30 then off to the man chair-probably won't happen). Anyway, I took my 16 year old son to Target today to apply for a job-any job (I pimped my son to the manager). Try as he did to get out of it, we still went. Our Target has a Starbucks. I asked my daughter if she wanted to go and have a coffee with me (I've always wanted to say that as that was one of the small pleasures my mom and I had before she died. I was only 18) while we wait. We did and had a blast. My kids are soooooo cooooolllll!!!!! The only way I could yell louder would be IF I PUT IT IN ALL CAPS. OK, here it goes.....MY KIDS ARE SOOOOO COOOOLLLL!!!

Ta for now-I have dust calling my name!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:00 PM :: 3 comments

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The Reason I Was Late to Work!

READ THIS PARAGRAPH BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURES

A guy in St. Louis was driving to work on Hwy I-44 when he heard a 'pop'. He thought it sounded like a flat tire, though his ride wasn't affected. After pulling over, checking the tires and finding them intact he opened the hood to look at the motor. Before the hood was even all the way open he jumped back in shock and knocked his head on the partially opened hood, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing! Nobody was going to believe this! You sure wouldn't have either! Fortunately, a coworker with a camera recognized him along side the road and stopped to see if he could help. Now, this has to be right up there at the top of the list of unusual but verified:

The Reason I Was Late For Work.

Yikes

Gulp

Uggg

Sheri and I have a good friend in Germany. Don't know where she finds this stuff but I wanted to share. But really ladies: late to work? I'm afraid this would be grounds to take the day off and go have a drink!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:26 PM :: 3 comments

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In Search of a Guest Bedroom #3

Slowly getting there

Marching on! I am making progress in my search of a guest bedroom. It doesn’t look as drastic as the last post but I am trying to rid myself of stuff as I go (because the dining room is driving me crazy). Now I’m forcing the issue, I went out yesterday and ordered new carpet for the guest bedroom (being we sloped glue on it when we put in the wood floors down the hallway).

Tip of the Day: If you only have a room to recarpet, ask at the store if they have any remnants in their warehouse. I did this and I am getting Mohawk frieze carpeting, installed, for a sweetheart of a deal.

So they will be here Tuesday to install the carpet. Before they do that, I have to clear everything out and paint. I’ve pretty much decided I didn’t want to mess with the floor moldings, so I will just give them a good scrubbing. And to top it off I won’t be able to work on it until Saturday (Hospital called…..I’m out spending money…..guess I’ve got to….sigh). This weekend I’ll trade out with my sister-in-law that big sewing table for a vanity to go in the room. I wish Katy were here, she said she likes doing this kind of stuff!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 6:44 AM :: 3 comments

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Wednesday, June 22, 2005 The Value of Being a Woman

Sheri and I recently had a conversation we called “The value of a woman”. I thought it would be interesting to figure out how much it would cost (good ole dollars & cents) to replace what we do everyday. Wouldn’t you know, today on Dr. Phil, he actually quoted a study about stay-at-home-moms. He stated that being a stay-at-home-mom is the equivalent of 2 full-time jobs (of course we all knew this).

I still thought it would be fun to actually look up the cost with known services that you can hire. After searching around I stumbled across Salary.com and sure enough found the chart below. I will tell you that the dollar amount did surprise me.

What is your salary?

Salary.com also figured that a 40-hour per week working mom who comes home to take care of her kids should earn the 60 hours of mom overtime in addition to her work paycheck. Boy am I underpaid! I think I need to revamp my resume.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 5:09 PM :: 4 comments

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A Good Night's Sleep....

Or not! SuZan asked me how I slept being my husband is out of town. In answer to her question-ha. Dogs wouldn’t go out last night before bed (11:30 p.m.). At 3:30 a.m., Oreo (little dog) starts whining, licking my face, then eventually gives a low growling bark. I told him to go back to bed because it was not yet 5:00. He just kept looking at me with those serious eyes while wagging his tail. OK, up I go to let him out. Meanwhile, Bradley (big dog) was already standing at the door. We go outside, Bradley runs off to take care of business while Oreo sits on the patio looking rather smug. I tell him “you better go do something”. So, he lifts his leg and pees on the pillar while standing on the patio. Bradley comes running back, we go inside, Bradley runs to his bed-out like a light. Oreo and I go to my bed; Oreo stretches out in James’ spot-out like a light. Sheri on the other hand tosses and turns for about an hour realizing how much she misses James’ snoring and while she hears every crack and creek in the house. Sheri fell back asleep at 4:30. She was not happy when the alarm went off at 5:00! Then, as she is walking dogs (half asleep), the sprinklers kick on. It’s dark, so she can hear them, she just can’t see them. That is until they spray her from all sides! What an interesting morning. You just have to laugh!

P.S. Don't you just love the switch from 1st person to 3rd? Blame it on sleep deprivation!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 10:01 AM :: 1 comments

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Great Problem Solving!

Hey ladies, this is for all of us who

have husbands and sons!

Amsterdam Toilets

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 7:30 AM :: 3 comments

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Tuesday, June 21, 2005 The "Man Chair" bwahahaha!!

Ladies-remember the days after you were first married and couldn't bare to be apart from your hubby for 8 hours let alone several days? I remember them well. My husband traveled extensively when we first married and usually his travels took him over seas. Our schedules were such that it was not conducive for me to travel with him, so I spent a lot of time alone. I just didn't know how I'd ever make it through the week without him.

I'll tell you what, after six years of marriage, I love him as much as I did before, but, I'm so looking forward to sitting in the "Man Chair", with the remote :-} !!! Don't get me wrong, I miss him terribly, but oh, the man chair. You see, this chair is worn to the perfect softness. It's angled so that you can see the TV without obstruction, and, as I found out today, the air conditioner vent is turned to blow directly on the chair's occupant. Why my obsession with this chair? Because I never get to sit in it! My husband seems to always be in the chair, hence the chair acquired the "man chair" title!

So far, I've only been in the man chair today for maybe....30 minutes total. You see, I had this huge list of things that I just knew I was going to get done. Yeah, right! I came in, looked at the chair, tripped over the dog, oh shit, I need to let the dogs out (husband's job). Then I ran to my bedroom, ripping my suit and heels off while sprinting to the closet to get in my comfy clothes. Woo Hoo I'm going to hit the chair. As I come out of the bedroom ready to float to the chair, there are four beady eyes staring at me. Shit again, I need to feed the dogs (again, my husband's job). As I walk through the laundry room to get the dog food, what to my wondering eyes doth appear? DIRTY LAUNDRY! OK, so I'll feed the dogs, and while their eating, I'll switch out the laundry, then.... you got it.... CHAIR TIME! Oh, that's right, the dogs need to go out again after they eat. Out they go. While I'm out there, I look at the grass that is getting dry and brown. OK, I'll turn on the sprinkler, but that's it! Got it set up, walked in, and started to get hungry. Oh great, my son was going to make breakfast for dinner. Well, that was before his friends called. It's only me. What to eat? Man, all of the good, fattening food is gone! All the food is gone for that matter (teenagers). Do I run out and get something? The sweat is forming on my brow. If I were to do that, well, that would take more time from "THE CHAIR". What to do? There's got to be something in the deep freeze. Ah, one last frozen Lean Cuisine Dinner. Not too much frost on it, should be OK. Stick it in the microwave for 5 mins, perfect amount of time to check email. Checking, checking, oh my, seems to be a problem with our podcast feed. OK, I'll shoot off an email to get that fixed. Holy heck, 89 unread emails. I'll just skim over them. Thirty minutes later, the forgotten dinner. Should taste really good now. Well, while I eat, I'll balance my check book. But, where did all of these receipts come from? Ring, ring. SuZan? Go walking? Sounds like a great idea.

I could go on, but you get the gist of it. Oh my Man Chair, when oh when will I get to be with you?

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:42 PM :: 3 comments

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The Real Women Show #002 Is Live

The Podcast Network


The Real Women Show #002 (MP3 - 26.8MB - 76min)LISTEN NOW

Welcome back and thanks for listening. We had a great response to our first show! We love all of your comments plus the great ideas and suggestions for future shows.

Our second show deals with the difference between an OT (Occupational Therapist) and a PT (Physical Therapist), and how health conditions not only effect the patient, but the family. We share a fun quiz from the July, 2005 edition of Good Housekeeping-we want to find out how our listeners would react if they were in this situation. SuZan discovers Sheri’s filing system (yeah, if that’s what you want to call it)! Sheri describes her recent “well woman” exam (and yes, it tends to get a bit graphic) which brought up an interesting discussion on UTI’s and the ease of getting your doctor to write prescriptions-for ANYTHING. Sheri talks about her hobby-gardening and how it helps here “detach”. In our new Tips and Tricks feature, SuZan shares a cute way to serve ice cream at your summer time barbecue! During the intermission (read-potty break), there will be a word from The Podcast Network.

After the break, Sheri and SuZan sit down and do an in depth review the of the 1st chapter from the book “STEP-Systematic Training For Effective Parenting” by Don Dinkmeyer, Sr.; Gary D. McKay; Joyce L. McKay; and Don Dinkmeyer, Jr. Listen to the end to hear our real life examples and how they were put to the test based on what we’ve learned – and we only read the 1st chapter!

Sit back, relax, and listen. This is a long one folks-we’re still learning the art of Podcasting. There is a small section with technical difficulties. Don’t adjust your settings. Keep listening and eventually it will clear up. As always we’d like to give special thanks to James from jkOnTheRun for his technical assistance and to One Egg ticket for the fabo music.

Enjoy!

Update: Earlier our "listen here" link wasn't working. Great news - it works now! Enjoy!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 8:32 PM :: 2 comments

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The Teenage Vocabulary

This afternoon, my husband was complaining how “chatty” our 16 year old was with me last night. Our son was helping me haul trash out, going through things, and we were having fun (well as much fun as you can while cleaning “The Room”). My husband was right though, our son usually speaks in sentences of three words. We started naming them and this is what we came up with:

What’s for dinner?
Is there food?
I wanna eat.
Can I go.
Clean my room?
I don’t know.
But I’m hungry.
Can’t find it.
Order pizza please.
Bite me dad!

And of course we cannot forget the newest addition to his vocabulary:

Can I drive?

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:50 PM :: 0 comments

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In Search of a Guest Bedroom #2

Progress

I cannot believe all of this Crap! As you can see I am making progress (to bad the dining room is filling up with junk, but you have to move it out first). I have thrown away four garbage bags full of “stuff”. You are not going to believe some of the junk I have found:

April 17 newspaper from 2004
Power Ranger wrapping paper (I think at 16 my son is over them now)
Son’s freshman football physical
Hartz 2in1 Flea & Tick Killer for dogs (we haven’t had a dog in 8 years)
Oh good God a spare headboard! (what I need that for I don’t know)
All of the boards my son broke when he was in Karate (from age 5 to 8, I think I’ll just keep the first one he broke).
All the pinewood derby cars my son and husband built (sorry…these are keepers)
A printer (that doesn’t work)
Etc…

You get the idea…sigh. As much as I hate clutter, this has been unbelievable. This room has been the catch all for everyone. It has been so easy just to shut the door…..BUT no more! Can’t wait to work on the fun stuff.



My poor dining room...sniff...sniff

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:49 PM :: 1 comments

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Monday, June 20, 2005 Busy Day?

Is this "dog" tired?

This is what I looked like after a day of cleaning out "The Room". Goodnight, I'll have an update tomorrow.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 11:19 PM :: 0 comments

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In Search of a Guest Bedroom #1

Yes Virginia...there is a bed under there

This is probably one of the most embarrassing situations…clutter…clutter and more clutter. I realized last night that my sister will be here in approximately two weeks. I had told her that I wanted her to visit, because it would force me to do something with this room. BTW: we affectionately call it “The Room”, sort of like a code for “black hole”. I have tried to get inspiration from the show “Clean Sweep” but when I open the door, I quickly get over that feeling.

Granted, this room is not ALL my fault. We have lived here 12 years; whenever I would tell my son to clean his room, he would move stuff over to “The Room” (it would never be seen again); and you all know when you are having people over, you do the quick pick up and stash things. Well after so many years THIS is what happens! I’ve decided that I HAVE to start this today, so it is time to roll up my sleeves, dig in, and throw out.

CHARGE!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 2:32 PM :: 7 comments

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The Last Day of Spring! You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me!

They announced on our local news this morning that today is the last day of spring. If you have ever been here in the Houston area you know better. Today’s high is supposed to be 96 with humidity at 50 (wow it’s actually low today…yea!) and a heat index of “Hell”. I remember what my mother used to tell me when I would tell her I was hot and sweaty:

Horses sweat…
Men perspire…
Women glow…

Well mom; we are glowing all over the place down here!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 10:09 AM :: 5 comments

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Current Book - Parenting Teenagers

STEP

Parenting Teenagers: Systematic Training for Effective Parenting of Teens (STEP)by Sr. Don Dinkmeyer, Gary D. McKay, Joyce L. McKay, Don Dinkmeyer Jr.

We are currently reading Parenting Teenagers: Systematic Training for Effective Parenting of Teens. The book is designed to read one chapter a week and implement the strategies as situations arise. Be sure to listen to our Podcast #2 (coming soon) as we discuss from Chaper 1, the different parenting techniques from the book. We give real life examples of areas in our life that we’ve identified thanks to what we’ve read.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 8:57 AM :: 0 comments

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Sunday, June 19, 2005 To The Father Who Was Never There

As my son grows and I see the relationship that he has with his father, it directs me to reflect on the one I have with mine. This is not a warm and fuzzy post, nor one of sorrow. It is how I feel after coming to terms with the cards I was dealt, and it is OK.

To The Father Who Was Never There
The memories are few, fortunately or unfortunately uneventful. You left out of my life when I was one and except for an occasional family reunion or an attempt from my part, you have not been in my life. Please do not feel sorry for me as this is what I know to be normal, and the only thing that I have experienced. I have in the past comforted myself by believing that you cared. I wanted to believe that circumstances have made it unavoidable for you to be a father. But the truth we both know.

I can remember those few family reunions looking forward to seeing you and wanting to spend time with you, only to get lost in the sea of people that I really didn't know. In adulthood I remember the anticipation of bringing you your eight year old grandson for you to meet. Yes you were kind, and I certainly enjoyed your wife (who reminded me of my mother), but we have no connection and no history.

There are no feelings of hurt, no feelings of disappointment only feelings of what you have lost out on. I have had an interesting life and have a great and caring family. Your grandson is a good young man, with dreams and ambitions that you would be proud of. I’m sorry for you because you have missed out on so much, and my experience or lack there-of has only reinforced my belief in a strong family. I do love you…Happy Father’s Day.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 7:16 PM :: 2 comments

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Opps! Michelin Fubbed Up at Indianapolis!

Michael Schumacher

Today is Father’s Day, and of course we do things my husband likes to do. Even though my son is a “Sports Fanatic” (and I do mean fanatic about all sports), my husband is only passionate about racing. We sit down ready to watch the United States Grand Prix. All of a sudden, Michelin announced that they would not approve their tires for the race unless a chicane was added at one of the turns to slow the cars down onto the banked corner. They had problems with the tires during the trials and only brought back up rain tires. Now, they are looking out for the safety of the drivers, as they should. The race starts and there are only six teams racing…Uggg!

What makes me feel this was inexcusable is that this was the sixth Formula I race at Indianapolis, plenty of years to prepare for this track; they tried to muscle and threaten the Federation Internationale De L’ Automobile and bring in tires that were not approved (because it might give them an advantage). So I think it was fine for the FIA to call them on their bluff. Of course the losers in all this are the Fans, the Teams and the drivers, all of the drivers because the winners certainly don’t want to win this way.

Sham on you Michelin! I guess your giving the FIA more ammunition since they want to bring back to the rules for only one tire supplier.

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 2:49 PM :: 0 comments

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Saturday, June 18, 2005 Happy Father's Day

For those of you who still have fathers on this earth, take the time to hug and kiss them. If that is not an option, then pick-up the phone and call them. For those of you whose fathers have passed to another place, hug yourself as a little bit of your dad lives on through you. My husband's father passed away this past Thanksgiving. He was old (87) and in a lot of pain. We know he is in a better place. That doesn't make it any easier to celebrate this first Father's Day without him. Even though I was only a part of his life for seven years, I want to share with everyone what a good loving, honest, caring, gentle man he was. He accepted me into the family and loved me as if I was his own. So this Father's Day, I not only want to wish my darling husband a Happy Father's Day, but I would also like to pay tribute to my Father-In-Law. Below is an excerpt from a letter my husband wrote to his dad after his passing. This was so beautiful that the minister read this in it's entirety during the funeral then put it in my Father-In-Law's pocket in the casket to live on forever.

Honey-I love you completely. Happy Father's Day!

"Goodbye to a great man"

"My father was one of those people who understood that to achieve greatness could only be done through maintaining strength of character in all that you do. He instilled in his children the unerring credo that you must always do the right thing. It doesn't matter if doing the right thing is difficult, or if doing the right thing is the popular thing to do. What matters is you always stay true to your convictions, and your actions must be consistent with your beliefs."

To continue reading click here...

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 4:30 PM :: 0 comments

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The Evolution of a Blog

Oh No!

Last night (or maybe it was early this morning…I can’t remember), as usual I was messing around with our Blog. We have been progressing slowly with learning how to post pictures, adding links, we had a counter, we could change text and color, and added a RSS feed. We had been approved for google ads for some time now, but with us both being technologically challenged, we just haven’t had the courage to “put them in”.

A BRAVE MOMENT:
So no better time than the present….here we go….hmmmmm that wasn’t so bad. Maybe I can post more stuff, you know to make it interesting. How about a calendar, weather map, clock, etc. There are tons of things out there and with a little (really a lot) of knowledge, we can really be creative and have some fun!

THEN THERE ARE THOSE TAGS!
Tags! My experience with tags is what is on an item I want to purchase or on the inside of a shirt. When looking at the “Template” all you see is nonsense! Don’t know what the words and characters mean. It sort of reminds me of the Commodore 64 days (anyone remember those). I think I was only successful back then to write a currency exchange rate (dollars to/from pesos). But you know, I’ll try anything once.

THAT HORRIBLE FEELING IN THE PIT OF YOUR GUT
Oh no! I don’t know what I’ve done but I have lost everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! All the work that we had done….POOF…..into the cyber black hole. Hmmmm, (a few choice words were uttered here) what to do, what to do? I ended up just clearing the template, of course any customizations we had done were gone…for good. Ok….maybe a little sleep and I can fix the problems.

SIGH OF RELIEF
After about three hours this morning, we are back. Some things are not working (STILL), like the link to our email (but the email is there if anyone wants to drop us a word or two). We still don’t have our RSS feed back, but we'll bug jkOnTheRun for that again (he has been such a sport with Sheri and I).

After all of this…I think I need a shower!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 12:18 PM :: 1 comments

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