HyzyHouse Hysterics

New Recipe Night - Bourbon Street Chicken

2012-02-09T11:29:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe on my new addiction Pinterest. I can't stop that thing, you can lose hours on that website just looking at nothing. But I did find this nugget of yummy. When I stumbled on it I figured I had to try it since this is the only chicken Zachary has EVER eaten voluntarily - that wasn't pressed into a shape and breaded... As a matter of fact it's one of the only reasons I will go to the mall when he asks, because I'm pretty much guaranteed to get him to eat some "real food." Now I'm sure there are many who would claim that Bourbon/Teriakyi Chicken from the mall probably only qualifies dubiously as "real food." But in our house, when it comes to Zack, anything non-carbohydrate based is considered "real food" including hotdogs, corn dogs, bacon or even PBJ. If it's not a waffle or cereal and has protein anywhere in it... we jump for joy if he'll eat it. So, Bourbon Chicken...SCORE!

Bourbon Street Chicken

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp ketchup

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp cornstarch (if thicker sauce is desired)

Heat oil in a large skillet, add chicken pieces; cook until lightly browned. Remove chicken. Add remaining ingredients, heat over medium heat until well blended and dissolved. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered. Serve over hot rice.

Easy Peasy, lemon squeezy. Zack proclaimed it "good" and ate all that I gave him. Another keeper! The only thing I might do differently is try and put it in a crock pot so that the chicken gets a little more tender. It was quite as tender as the mall chicken. And we all know that if there's anything to aspire to it's "mall chicken!" :o)

Snow one way or another

2012-02-04T19:26:00.000-05:00

This has been the weirdest winter... it's been in the 50's and 60's, we even hit 72 the other day. No snow in site, so if nature won't make it, then I will! My sister-in-law, MaryBeth, makes the most amazing paper snowflakes. She claims she just uses regular scissors and her imagination... but I feel certain she must have magic scissors and a platoon of snowflake fairies. I finally whined and wheedled and piti-fulled my way into getting her to send me some! They arrived the other day and I've been studying and studying them and I still don't think I will be able to match them.
If you look closely you'll see that "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong. Can you guess which thing is not like the others before I finish my blog?" Although for my very first try I think it's not too bad... Can you guess...go ahead...did you guess?
Top left corner... I'll keep trying....

There's not much more pitiful than a pet or kid who's got a boo-boo

2012-01-31T18:04:00.002-05:00

Took the Cooper boy to the vet today because he's been limping for the last two days and it's really messing with our walking schedule. He wasn't putting any weight on his back foot at all and I noticed he had a red sore between his pads. Seemed like the pain was disproportionate to the injury. Always heard dogs were pretty tough especially with their feet. It could just be the my Coopy is a sissy dog, but I thought I better have it checked out just make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious. Like the time I let Zack cough for weeks when he was 3, until John guilted me into taking him to the doctor, and he had double pneumonia. Or the time my brother was complaining, after a 4 wheeler accident, that his knee hurt and my mother told him he better toughen up because his school had stairs - and we found out after a trip to the doctor that his knee was broken! It runs in the family... so better safe than sorry and off we tramped to the vet.
It appears the Coopster has some sort of chemical burn on his foot between his pads and it was eating away at the pad. Ahhh... YUCK! The vet (who was wonderful) had to clean it and wrap it with honey! And poor Cooper cried like a little girl dog the whole time. :o( So, now he's all limpy and pitiful and is raking in the treats at an alarming rate. No walking and extra treats... hope he doesn't blow out his ACL next carrying around the extra weight.
Yeah...about the honey...... apparently honey is great for burns, but I must say it makes keeping him from chewing on his bandage a little challenging since I'm sure it smells just yummy. For the next 4 days I'm changing his Honey Wrap and feeding him pain pills and antibiotics. And remembering to lock him in his crate every time I walk Zoey because he cries and howls until I'm sure the neighbors either want to shoot him or call the animal equivalent of child protective services on me. Plus, the bonehead will do whatever he can to escape the fence injured foot or no injured foot! It's fun at the Hyzyhouse!

Hey, you got another kid here...

2012-01-30T20:37:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel bad because it seems like Zack can get lost in the shuffle. All Brenna's "firsts," New recipe nights etc... He just goes along all good-natured and even keeled and doesn't provide me with a lot of good blogging fodder. Not that that's a bad thing...It's sort of like our photo albums, 95% of the time I am the one taking the pictures, so if someone didn't know us and was looking through the albums they might think John is a single parent! :o) Not necessarily a bad thing, it just is what it is. Zack, for the most part, is a sweet, good natured, easy going kid. The only thing he's doing a lot of right now is growing and playing Xbox! Like I said, not a lot of blogging fodder.
Lately, we've been getting ready for high school (still makes me slightly nauseous to think about) planning his courses, sports choices and that sort of thing. He's applying to a number of specialty programs...Project Lead the Way (engineering) and AP Scholars (honors program). He had to write an essay to get into each program. That always makes me laugh, because does any kid really want to get into these programs especially when it involves writing an essay. Most of the time they probably just want to write "because my mother said I had to." But he was very amenable and sat down and wrote his essay and I thought it was pretty darn good.

I want to be put into the AP Scholars Program because of allthe benefits AP classes provide. I alsowant to qualify for an advanced degree diploma. I would like to have the opportunity to take normal classes and APclasses, instead of only being able to take classes that are easy. I feel that AP classes will challenge me morethan normal classes, and teach me more. I also think that I would rather “hang out” with kids in AP classes than“average Joes.” AP classes will help meprepare for college by teaching me good study skills, time management and makeme pay attention to details. Theseskills will also help me get farther in my life after college. I don’t feel like middle school has presentedme with many serious challenges and I am looking forward to seeing just what Ican do when I really have to make an effort. This will also teach me to strive to be the best that I can. I don’t know which college I want to attendafter high school, but the AP Scholars program will help me to be morecompetitive wherever I decide to apply. Lastly, I’ve heard girls like smart guys!

The last line gets me every time, because it is so Zack with his funny sense of humor. I've always told him when he's writing anything that a bunch of people are going to read, it's good to have something to make you stand out. What he wanted to write was "I heard chicks dig smart guys."

Geez, I love that kid.

New Recipe Night - Drunken Gummy Bears!

2012-01-28T15:42:00.001-05:00

My friend DeLee turned me on to Pinterest the other day. I had heard about it sort of, but I lumped it into the "I really don't have the time or interest to learn how to do something else webby. I can barely keep up with all the changes on Facebook" category, but for some reason that day I decided I'd take a quick peek... All sorts of foul curses on my friend, somehow that morning I lost an entire 45 minutes of my time. Blink...it was gone... Pinterest is a fascinating hodgepodge of inane, amazing, helpful, weird, beautiful, brilliant stuff that people have found on the web. It is a complete website done by people who have too much time on their hands for people who have too much time on their hands and I was trapped!
One of the first things I saw was a recipe for Drunken Gummy Bears! Tell me, who could resist that!
I knew I had a Girls Night Out coming up and I thought what better to bring to a Girls Night Out Game Night than... drunken gummy bears!

Right now they are in the refrigerator soaking and we'll see what happens. I plan to report back at the end of GNO with what I'm hoping is many humorous pictures of the girls enjoying the drunken gummies!
There's not really a "recipe" mainly directions, here's what I did...

Drunken Gummies

2 1/2 bags (8oz) gummy bears

1 1/2 cup Smirnoff Vodka

1 can frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate (flavor your choice)

Place gummies in a bowl and just cover with vodka. Place in refrigerator for 3-4 days or until the vodka is absorbed. Place fruit concentrate in a container and add 1/2 the recommended amount of water. Add one cup of the fruit juice to gummy bears and allow to soak 3 more days. Stirring occasionally.

Voila!

Not all the recipes called for the addition of the fruit juice, but the one that did said it helped to cover the strong taste of Vodka. Since neither I nor any of my friends are big drinkers I thought this sounded like a good idea. Apparently you must keep the gummies in the refrigerator or the Vodka dissolves them into goo. Can't wait to see how they turn out. Check back for a report!

New Recipe Night - Shrimp with Lemon-Saffron Rice

2012-01-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

I've lost count of my successes and I think that's a great place to be. We had a real rough patch last year... a real dry spell... nothing terrible, I didn't kill anyone, but there weren't a lot of recipes added to the ole cookbook. But it looks like 2012 and shaping up to be a red-letter year! Last night Zack and I had Shrimp with Lemon-Saffron Rice. Actually technically is was Shrimp and Kielbasa with Lemon Saffron Rice, because we love us some kielbasa in the Hyzy House. And if you want to get even more technical, Zack actually had shrimp and kielbasa with a clementine or 18 on the side, but that's a whole other story. He didn't want anything to do with the rice. He prefers his carbs in the form of cereal or Eggo waffles.
It was very tasty. I actually used Saffron Threads, so it better have been good, because those thing cost $19 for an amount that would fit on the head of a pin (maybe two pins). I mean is the stuff made out of pure gold? Why the hell does it cost so much, but even more importantly why did I pay for it when I could probably find a box of Uncle Ben's saffron rice for 99 cents??? I guess I was feeling wild and crazy and I had another recipe that also called for saffron threads so I figured "Why Not?" Let's live life on the edge. Little did I know that I probably won't have enough of my $19 saffron threads for both recipes.
So, here it is in all it's $19 saffron thread glory....

Shrimp with Lemon-Saffron Rice

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 tsp minced garlic

1lb peeled and deveined large shrimp

2 cups uncooked instant rice

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp saffron threads, crushed

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 (14oz) can low sodium chicken broth

1 cup frozen peas

2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add oil, onion and bell pepper; sauté 3 min or until tender. Add garlic; cook 30 secs. Add shrimp to pan' cook 30 secs stirring frequently. Add rice and next 7 ingredients - through broth. Bring to a boil, cover pan. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until rice is done. Remove from heat; stir in peas and lemon juice.

Like I said I made a few changes, I added kielbasa because it's one of the few proteins the Zackman will actually eat. That boy likes the pork - hot dogs, bacon, kielbasa, pulled pork. He likes the pig that's for sure. I also left out the peas because frankly they make me gag. I hate the way the "pop" in your mouth when your eating. It's an unexpected "what the hell did I just bite into" moment for me. I prefer my peas to stand alone so I know what I'm getting. I also forgot to take a picture, so you'll only get the "publicity" shot. But it was good, another addition to the pork section or fish section of the cookbook!

New Recipe Night - Chicken Caprese

2012-01-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

I know, I know new recipe this, new recipe that... it's all I have to write about. I could talk about Brenna taking her remedial driving class, I could talk about watching football all weekend or my trials and tribulations turning the cheese on at the high school, or working as cafeteria lady or the lengths I have to go to get Zack to write yet another essay about why he wants to be in the AP Scholars program in high school (I don't think it will reflect favorably if he says "because my mother is making me")...but really do we think those things would be more entertaining than New Recipe Night? I'm not sure....

Homemade Hyzy version

Plus, we've been on a roll at the Hyzy house and we need to make the most of it. Cooking is sort of feast or famine for me... I'll go for a spurt where I'll cook almost every night and then the dry spell will hit and it will be corn dogs, cereal and take out for quite some time... so let's make the most of it.
Tonight's feast....
Chicken Caprese
2 Tbsp Mrs Dash Tomato Basil Garlic Blend
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
4 tiny mozzarella balls, cut in half
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.
Toss tomatoes and mozzarella balls with 1 Tbsp Mrs Dash seasoning.
Lightly flatten each breast. Place tomatoes and mozzarella ball mixture on each chicken breast. Roll up and secure with a toothpick.
Place breasts on baking tray. Combine olive oil, vinegar and remaining 1 Tbsp Mrs Dash seasoning and brush on each chicken breast.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cover lightly with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Official version

This was tasty, tasty, tasty and easy, easy, easy. Of course Zack wouldn't touch it - he had the supremely tasty and fortifying, dinner of champions Ramen noodles for dinner. The kid lives on ramen, cereal and waffles - it's like he's already in college!

New Recipe Night - John Hyzy style - otherwise known as Heaven on a Plate!

2012-01-23T21:03:00.000-05:00

It's a Manly Grill

Last night, John took over New Recipe Night. Background, this is the 2nd year in a row that John has won his Fantasy Football Superbowl. This is the 2nd year, I have NOT participated in Fantasy Football... I'm just saying... Anyway, when he wins I make him use the money for something he wants that he would never buy normally. Last year he bought himself an iPad and this year it was a new grill. He researched and shopped around and found his dream grill. It's a charcoal grill, but lights with propane and it's got all sorts of flimmity flams, whicker wockets and extra cool dippity dots. He even got a wireless thermometer with alarms and bells and whistles. He's been a grilling maniac. We've had ribs and pork butt and burgers etc... But last night he OUTDID himself! We had Grilled Salmon, but not just any grilled salmon. This was sweet and salty and moist and luscious and honestly to die for! He made it with potatoes, peppers and onions grilled in foil. I didn't have to do a damn thing, except dishes! Totally worth it and if he keeps cooking like this - I am turning in my pots and pans!
The recipe was called Grilled Salmon - but I am renaming it

Heaven on a Plate

1 1/2 lbs salmon fillets

lemon pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

salt to taste

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

3 Tbsp honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp sesame oil

4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder and salt.
In a bowl, stir together all the remaining ingredients until mixture is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the marinade mixture, seal and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat grill to medium heat. Cook salmon for 6-8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
This was soooo good, "we" might just make it again this weekend!

New Recipe Night - Crock Pot Carne Asada

2012-01-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Crock Pot Carne Asada

3 lbs beef stew meat

2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chopped onion

1 diced bell pepper

3 Tbsp flour

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup water

Place stew meat, 1/4 cup water, salt and pepper in crock pot. Cook on high an let simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Drain juice from tomatoes into measuring cup. Add tomatoes, garlic, green pepper and onions to crock pot; stir and let simmer on high for 30 minutes. Add cumin, oregano and chili powder to crock pot and stir. Blend juice an enough water to equal 1 1/2 cups liquid and flour. Stir into meat/veggie mixture. Let cook on low for 3-4 hours until sauce is nice and thick. (If you like runnier gravy, 3 hours is good) Serve with rice and warm tortillas.

It was pretty good, I don't think I let it cook long enough. It will probably be great tomorrow after the flavors meld a little more. I also think I need to let it cook a little longer, because the meat was a little tough. Lots of potential just a little tweaking needed.

What have I become or not become

2012-01-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a little worried because it appears that this blog is turning into nothing but a chronicle of New Recipe nights. I don't know if I should be happy because that means I'm actually cooking... a lot... for me at least. We haven't gone out to dinner in quite sometime and "fend for yourself/I don't care what you eat" nights have not been near as common as usual. On the other hand, I'm a little worried that we have so little going on in our lives that all I have to blog about is cooking. Which if you know me well is just...WIERD!
It seems as though all we really do is work, eat, sleep etc.... But again sadly or not sadly... I'm okay with that. I love my house, I love puttering around my house, l love not having lots of places I have to be or commitments I need to fulfill. Don't get me wrong, I'm still doing all my volunteer duties but during the winter it seems as though things slow down just a little bit. I'm not complaining - I certainly don't want any drama. Zack is doing just fine at school, a few minor blips here and there but nothing critical. Brenna seems to be settling back in at Radford. It has not been a totally easy transition. Still no sign of a roommate and I think she's a little bit lonely, but there are other opportunities that are cropping up. She's been leaving her dorm room door open and since most people know she doesn't have a roommate- lots of new people are stopping by and checking on her and talking to her. She even mentioned how surprised she was that people were being so nice to her. I'm convinced when you start college already with a roommate and a boyfriend in place you really limit the amount of new people and new experiences you open yourself up to. Although it's been a little bit sad and lonely for her, I am convinced this may be the best thing that's happened to her.
John is working his ass off at work, long hours and a wretched commute - with sadly no end in sight. Times like these... huge mortgage, saving for 2 kids in college etc... that make me really glad I'm not a man with all the responsibility to provide for his family. We are so lucky and he does a magnificent job. I only hope that in 5-6 years when we only have one in college that he'll be able to quit his rat race and do something he really wants to.
But, I'm happy... I love my house, I love my family and I don't need much. I'm convinced I could have been a pioneer woman. That is a pioneer woman with high speed internet, TiVo, Fed Ex delivery and a Target nearby.

New Recipe Night... Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage

2012-01-18T18:20:00.000-05:00

My version, no "official pic" available

With Brenna gone, it's only John to serve as my guinea pig since only RARELY will Zack even join us at the table on New Recipe Night. So, tonight it was Lentil soup - I originally planned to make this recipe with my sweet Vegetarian Godson Cameron was here, but we never got around to eating this one - since Cameron is not here and I had a little Italian Sausage hanging around the freezer, I went free style and threw it in the mix.

Lentil Soup w/Italian Sausage

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, diced

l large onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups lentils

8 cups of water

1 28oz can tomatoes (crushed, diced, or stewed) broken up

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

*** 1/4-1/2 lb of Italian Sausage broken up and cooked ***

Cook Italian Sausage with olive oil and garlic. Add vegetables and sauté until lightly softened. Add water and lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a slow boil. Add tomatoes and spices. Continue to cook, covered, over low to medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Adjust consistency, if too thick, add a bit more water.

Verdict - it's a keeper. Tasty, I think with or without the Italian Sausage. Right now I'm on a roll, 3 for 3 New Recipe nights! Yeah!

To Watch or not to Watch

2012-01-18T07:58:00.001-05:00

Geez, I just realized that American Idol starts tonight... the internal debate will rage all day... do I let myself get sucked in and watch again? Or do I stand firm on my morals and convictions and ignore it and watch something worthwhile like Hoarders or Pawn Stars? The problem is I do love me some Steven Tyler....
But if I let myself watch even one minute of those stupid audition shows, then I get sucked in and I am stuck, trapped and regretting it all season long. Like when I hide in the basement and eat an entire package of rice crispy treats so that I don't have to share with anyone... regret! American Idol is like my TV show crack... I can't stop myself, I don't enjoy it and it's not even remotely good for me.
I just don't know what to do... the incessant commercials and ads are tempting and luring me in... I guess we'll just have to see how strong I am tonight at 8pm on channel 5!

So this is me still worrying...

2012-01-17T06:56:00.000-05:00

I guess it never gets any easier. Brenna got back to Radford just fine yesterday, but no sign of a roommate; she says her room is empty and lonely. Now, I'm awake worrying... She doesn't have a class until 2pm today... who is she going to eat breakfast with, who is she going to eat lunch with, what's she going to do all day? Is she going to be sad and lonely and hate college? I know deep down, she's going to be just fine - a small bump in the road that we won't even remember in a few weeks. But, that doesn't stop me worrying and fretting and projecting all my "military brat/always the new girl" fears on her. It just never ends, first with the pacifiers, then the potty training, then the first day of Kindergarten, the hellish middle school years, first day of HS, graduation and grades, premarital sex and STD's, and now college social life... the worrying just never ends. Seems as though no matter how smooth things are really going, I can find something to worry and stress over, maybe I should be worrying about my worrying and stressing!

All good things must come to an end.

2012-01-15T19:10:00.000-05:00

Our girl heads back to Radford tomorrow. She's been home for a month and I must say I was a tad worried about the transition from "on your own, no rules college student" to "back at home do what we say daughter," but it went just fine. There were no issues besides the fact that poor Zack was never allowed in his own bathroom. But he took that in stride. She even came and subbed with me a couple days, worked a couple shifts at Padrinos to make some extra money and dyed a strip in my hair pink since I'm the "hippest mom ever!"

When she heads back tomorrow, she's one of only a few of her friends who is going back. Biggest shock... her roommate will not be returning and neither will her boyfriend! Both, sadly, were academically suspended for the semester and can reapply for admission next fall if they choose. It was quite a shock, so poor Brenna heads back not knowing when or if she'll get a new roommate and without her boyfriend. Of course the first thing John and I said when we heard the news was, "you're hanging out with the wrong crowd!" but that being said she managed her time and her grades very well. John and I were both very proud of the effort and the grades she brought home her first semester. I am also very proud of the way she's handled this little bump in the road. She was bummed for a couple days, but now is moving forward. Of course it helps that we took her out yesterday and pretty much emptied our bank account for her. Sadly, when you lose a roommate, you don't just lose a roommate you also lose... the tv, the bathroom organizer, the desk lamp, apparently the cleaning supplies, the fan...etc... so, John and I pretty much spent until we thought our bank account would spontaneously combust and then spent some more. She also needed a new car battery, fancy hiking boots for her trip to the Virgin Islands and so much food that I was concerned maybe Radford has stopped feeding them! As she said, "It's just like Christmas!" I think that helped her mood.

It will be hard to let her go, I've enjoyed having her back around. What I won't miss... her "borrowing" my makeup, my clothes etc... Although I guess the fact that she takes clothes out of my closet says one of two things... either I am totally hip and have all the coolest clothes or that I'm a 45 year old woman who dresses like a 18 year old kid. Considering the fact that my closet is divided into "dressy sweats and hoodies" and "everyday sweats and hoodies" it seems that maybe I'm not dressing my age. I always said I wanted to be on What Not to Wear, but I know they would throw away my vast collection of Hoodies and I love me a good hoodie! But I digress...

I am excited for her and the upcoming semester. I'm convinced that the Tropical Biology class she's taking along with the study abroad trip to the Virgin Islands is going to give her some great opportunities. I envision her finding lots of new BFF's, after all they will be working together all semester and then heading to the Virgin Islands together. I'm convinced this is the "right group" for her to be hanging around with. We've also elected for her to drop Chemistry this semester, she passed but has decided she wants to retake it sophomore year, so she's taking mainly electives and her 2 Biology classes - 17 credit hours. I think this will be a good chance for her to concentrate on Biology and enjoy the semester a little more. We'll see.

I'm very sad to see her go back, because I will miss her muchly, but at the same time so excited and maybe a little envious. I think that's just the way it should be.

New Recipe Night...otherwise known as MIRACLE NIGHT!

2012-01-10T19:14:00.002-05:00

Chip-Crusted Fish Fillets

Official version

My version

A full-fledged, no shit MIRACLE happened tonight.... Zack Hyzy... our Zack Hyzy...not only ate dinner with us and by that I mean ate the SAME dinner we ate... but he... wait for it...wait for it.. HAD FREAKIN' SECONDS! You heard me... seconds of real food, not seconds of waffles or cereal or Kit-Kat bars. Seconds of Chip-Crusted Fish Fillets. I almost choked on my own fish fillet when I looked up and he'd eaten all his and was getting up for more. For a brief minute I thought maybe we'd taken the wrong kid home after school!

So, all in all... I think Chip-Crusted Fish Fillets is a keeper! The key... they are crusted with salt and vinegar chips!

Chip Crusted Fish Fillets

4 (6oz) cod fillets - or other firm white fish

2 tsps canola mayo

1/8 tsp salt

1 (2oz) package salt and vinegar chips, crushed

1/2 cup light ranch dressing

Preheat oven to 400. Arrange fillets on baking sheet and brush 1/2 tsp of mayo over top of each one. Sprinkle even with salt. Gently press about 2 Tbsp crushed chips on top of each fillet. Cook fish for 10 minutes or until it flakes even with a fork. Serve with ranch dressing.

** try broiling last 2 minutes to brown up the top**

Happy 2012 and New Recipe Night... all in one!

2012-01-04T18:17:00.002-05:00

I know it's not really Happy New Year, but this is the first post of the new year for me. Tree is down, decorations are put away, Zack is back to school, Cameron is visiting and all is well in the Hyzy house. It's nice to be back in a routine, but at the same time it sure was nice for that routine to involve PJ's, sleeping in and no responsibilities! I successfully blog all last year and I printed off that blog so that I could include it in the 2011 scrapbook that I haven't finished yet. I'm getting there... be patient. Anyway, I thought it was a cool idea to have a visual and then a written reminder of each year.

On another note, I don't like to cook, but I recognize the necessity of eating. So, while I don't like to cook, what I hate even more is to cook the same thing over and over again. Don't get me wrong we have our tried and true favorites that we're never going to give up. Mimi's spagetti, Brenna's mexican casserole and John's venison stew, but about a year ago I instituted New Recipe Night. Because while I don't like to cook, I LOVE looking through cooking magazines and cutting out recipes. New Recipe Night was born. Brenna and John jumped on the bandwagon with both feet... Zack not so much. But when your entire repertoire of food choices is Eggo Waffles, cereal and ramen soup, there wasn't much surprise that he was not much interested in participating.

New Recipe Night rules... no rules... I make no promises, it might be good, it might be awful but we try. Honest opinions are valued and if you don't like it you are always welcome hightail it to the peanut butter and jelly. For the most part, it's been a big success. Not many recipes are keepers, but that's really not the point.. the point is something new.

I thought it would be fun if I kept track of all the New Recipe Nights we have and what the final verdict is...and so it begins tonight... In honor of vegetarian Cameron... we had

Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs and Ricotta
8 oz uncooked pappardelle
1 Tbsp salt
1/3 cup whole milk ricotta
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp pecorino Romano cheese
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Cook pasta with 1 Tbsp salt according to package directions. Drain, saving 1 cup cooking liquid. Combine 1/2 cup hot cooking liquid and ricotta cheese in blender and process until well combined. Combine hot pasta, cheese mixture, spinach and remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat. Add additional cooking liquid to moisten if needed.

Final Verdict....KEEPER! Brenna and Cameron ate like there was no tomorrow and for the pasta there wasn't. John and I thought it was good but not fantastic and Zack wouldn't even look at the picture.

For future posts I will post the "official" picture and then a picture of what my version looked like. I would have done that tonight, but they ate it before I could get my camera!

Buffalo Recap

2012-01-03T21:07:00.005-05:00

I think maybe I should just title this whole blog year as the "recap" year since I don't seem able to blog in any sort of "real time."

Two days after our wonderful Christmas we loaded up for our post Christmas pilgrimage to Buffalo. I like visiting Buffalo... I HATE the drive with an all consuming passion. The only way to navigate it is Valium, ear plugs and my iPod. I find it quite irritating to be trapped in the car for 9 hours with anyone, especially during the winter when the sniffing, throat-clearing, coughing and sneezing is non-stop and makes me want to poke my eyes out and drive an ice-pick through my ear drums! All though it would seem smarter to poke everyone else! :o)
We had a very nice visit with everyone...spent time with all the cousins, went bowling, saw Uncle Gary and his Speedy Parker Blues Band play a "gig."
The only thing I hate about going to Buffalo is THE BED! My In-laws have the worst, hardest, most awful bed I've ever slept in. I might almost rather sleep in the woods. You can't sleep for more than an hour in any one position with out starting to ache all over. So John and I spend the whole night tossing and turning and waking each other up. I'm old.... this doesn't work for me. I need my sleep. I need my sleep uninterrupted... it's why I stopped having babies! Sleep, I love my sleep. The last night we were there Brenna slept over at the cousins, so after everyone went to bed... John and I snuck into the other guest room with the two double beds and slept! Boy did we sleep. It's probably one of the first times in my life that actually snuck into a bedroom to sleep! :o)
I also find the older I get, the less I like being away from my own house and my pups and all my stuff. I now that's bad, most people enjoy the excitement, the variety, the new experiences, the change of pace. Not me, I love my stuff, I love my rou live tine - being out of my comfort zone make me itchy. It's stressful for me. It's funny, once in 4th grade I had to write a poem. I can't remember it all, but it went something like this...

I will be a hermit when I grow up,

and never ever, ever have to clean up.

I'll in a shack with an old towel rack,

eating hard bread in my old, old bed.

I'll never do math or take a bath.

I'll grow my own food and to the neighbors be rude.

Sadly, that's all of my poetic genius that I can remember, but rather prophetic if I don't say so myself.

We had a very quiet New Year's in Rochester. Watched movies, gorged on bacon wrapped venison tenderloins and MaryBeth's apple pie. It doesn't get much better than that! Here's looking forward to 2012 I hope it's will be as great as 2011 was!

Christmas Recap 2011

2011-12-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

Santa left lots of goodies

A great Hyzy Christmas yet again. It was just us, which is the way we like it, There are lots of rules... I mean traditions... that we follow on Christmas. For instance.. the kids are not allowed to wake us up before 7am. Then we all go down together, get coffee and tea made and the kids get ready to open stockings.
We open stockings, one gift at a time with everyone oohing and aahhinng over everything.
Once stockings are done we take a break eat some real breakfast so that then I don't have to worry about all the junk that will be consumed. Then the kids take turns playing Santa and we open the gifts under the tree. Again, one at a time, with everyone watching and exclaiming in delight!

Add caption

This was a great year for gifts for everyone. Highlights - Brenna....
Iphone 4, Harry Potter Page to Screen book and movie.
Zack... 3 Xbox game - Skyrim, Skate 3, and something else involving gratuitous violence, some cool hoodies.
John - racquetball racquet, hockey shin guards and my personal favorite - a desk organizer complete with all his own office supplies so he'll STAY OUT of MINE!
Me - Star Trek 40 years vault book, Wizard of Oz dolls, water floss pic, and a bracelet that says "Love you more" <3. It was a wonderful Christmas... very quiet... very calm and relaxing.

About 5 we went over to the neighbors and had an embarrassing huge dinner. Ham, 2 turkeys, numerous sides and desserts!

And we finished the evening off with Wii - Just Dance, the perfect dose of humble and humiliation! Especially when the neighbors 2 year old can rack up a better score than you can!

You can never have too much Harry Potter

We are so blessed and so lucky. We have wonderful friends, wonderful family and a wonderful life. I am looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store for us!

I got everything I asked for!

Lots of goodies

No more little boy shinguards for Johnny

Cul-de-sac dinner

Just Dance

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

Traditional Christmas Eve PJ's are opened and on... pictures are taken. Gonna watch a movie and then hope my children got to bed before Santa collapses and doesn't remember to visit our house! It's tough once the kids can outlast the adults.

Let the celebration begin...in a minute..

2011-12-24T18:13:00.001-05:00

Happy Christmas Eve! We are celebrating in rare style... Zack is in the bathtub, John is watching football, I'm "resting" in my room with the pups and Brenna is at work. Hopefully we'll all rendezvous at 9pm when Brenna gets home, the kids will open their "Christmas Elf" packages and then we'll all snuggle and watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes. If that doesn't say Christmas I don't' know what does! :o)

Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-23T16:43:00.002-05:00

Here's our Christmas letter that I tried to get out in a timely manner, but was less than successful. So here it is instead...

Goodbye2011 – Hello 2012

Happywhatever holiday is closest to the time you receive this letter. At this point all bets are off and I’m noteven going to predict. Just know theHyzys hope you enjoy it to the fullest.

It’sbeen a big year in the Hyzy House. TheWonder Child graduated from high school this year and has transitioned verysuccessfully into her freshman year at college. She is happily ensconced down at Radford University in southernVirginia. She loves her roommate, lovesthe area and loves most of her classes. Chemistry…not so much, but let’s be honest who really lovesChemistry. We’re getting used to thehouse being a little quieter and a little lonelier. We text daily, call a couple times a week andFacetime at least once a week – so there is still plenty of contact. She was one of only a couple freshmenaccepted into a Tropical Biology Study Abroad Program and will be spending herSpring Break “studying” in the Virgin Islands! I know, it’s tough to be a college student. My mother always told me (during the darkyears) I just had to be patient and eventually we’d like each other again. It’s true – she has become an amazing, funny,delightful young woman and we are so proud of her. I think her new moniker The Wonder YoungWoman is very fitting.

TheZackman has hit his stride and is going full force through 8^thgrade. While I don’t want to jinxmyself, he seems to be coming out of the “obnoxious middle school boy” stageand we see glimpses of the entertaining young man he’ll become. His voice is starting to change and I swearyou can see him growing daily. He’staller than me and the pants I postponed buying until Sept are already tooshort. He’s doing great in schoolincluding taking 2 classes for high school credit. For the most part we areenjoying him – when we can pry him off the Xbox.

Johnand I are doing fine. He’s workingharder than any human should and still having to contend with his hellishcommute. He breaks it up with foraysinto the wilderness. 2 deer so far thisseason and he’s deep in the planning of a 10-day adventure back to Alaska.

Icontinue to sub at the elementary school, vainly trying to help fund all myfamily’s exciting adventures. I spendmore cumulative hours at the high school than most people who actually workthere and have taken on additional responsibilities with the Crew Team. Maybe the biggest change… I’ve been caffeineand soda free for 5 months! I know!Right!?

Weare wishing you all a happy and healthy 2012!

Hark! Herald the Hippo Sings...

2011-12-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

Nothing and I mean NOTHING says Christmas like....

Herald my Christmas Hippo! I love him beyond all imagining. And the BEST part... his hat and scarf are removable so Herald NEVER has to go away. He can be the New Year's Hippo, the Valentines Hippo, Easter Hippo, Veteran's Hippo and on, and on, and on.... I can't wait!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree Where for art thou?

2011-12-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

Another successful tree hunting year. We finally have this thing down to a science. First and foremost we ALWAYS get a real tree. For years we were all about the "family bonding," the "let's make memories." Until we smartened up. We have searched out our trees in every way possible. We've gone out into the woods and hunted and cut down our own tree, while dragging children in snowsuits and sleds. We've gone to Tree farms and tramped around the semi- wilderness, still cutting them down ourselves - with children fighting over who gets to use the sharp pointy weapon. We've visited many a tree lot, some good, some shady. One year I even sent John out with the children on his own while I stayed home and manned the home front. By the way, that is the one and only time I've ever seen John so angry he lost his temper, yelled and slammed a door! Just like most "family outings," during our Christmas Tree outings, someone always cried, someone always got mad and someone always ended up sulking...until we moved to Woodbridge and discovered our little nursery. Now, we troop 5 minutes up the road to the nursery, mom stands by the bonfire or in the gift shop, John and the kids roam, narrow the trees down to the top 2, call mom, we all vote. BAM! DONE! Home in 30 minutes! It's worked for 5 years and it worked again this year. We had to wait to get the tree until Brenna got home so it was a little last minute. This year Brenna took over the tree lighting. For years John and I have decorated the tree separately - it just works better that way. John always did the lights, and the kids and I did the decorating. But this year, Brenna did the lights and then the kids did the decorating all on their own and it turned out beautifully if I do say so myself.

She's here....almost

2011-12-13T07:22:00.001-05:00

Brenna gets home today for Christmas break and will have her first semester of college successfully under her belt!
Tonight is Fear Factor Family Night, because nothing says good family bonding like a night watching the NEW Fear Factor with totally list-worthy Joe Rogan!
Then tomorrow, the traditional tree picking out and our holidays will begin in earnest! It will be nice to have all my chicks back in the Christmas nest!

Rice Crispy Treats, the new Crack!

2011-12-10T20:57:00.001-05:00

In one day I have single handedly wiped out any good I did with my cleanse. I took dinner to some friends tonight. Yesterday I decided to make rice crispy treats for their dessert and since I was making one batch I might as well make two batches since I didn't want any of the rice crispy cereal to go to waste. I am trying to be a good citizen and not wasteful.

Now...I can't stop eating those freaking things. I had some for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, after dinner snack and just because. I will eat them until I throw up and then because my stomach will be empty I will eat some more! I am now at the "might as well finish the entire pan and then they'll be gone and won't tempt me anymore" stage. I need help... I need a rice crispy treat Intervention!

I made it... I did it... Pizza here I come...not really...but something here I come...

2011-12-05T06:53:00.001-05:00

It's done, it's over and I'm glad. I really didn't mind it. I was amazingly only passingly hungry during most of the time. My main problem.... yesterday was boredom! I was SICK to death of drinking stuff. I didn't particularly want to eat something, but I thought if I had to make another smoothies or juice another batch of juice I would poke my eyes out!
I don't think I'll put the blender and juicer away just yet. Probably not a bad idea to incorporate more of those into my regular diet, but going to take a couple days off first.
I don't know that I feel particularly "cleansed" but I know I must be? Maybe I wasn't very dirty?
About 830pm... I made the decision and I ended the fast with a Subway veggie sub. It wasn't that I was crazy hungry, like I said I just couldn't bear to drink anything else. I will say the sub was very tasty!
Today, back to my new normal ( I hope), going to try and make better food choices and move forward. Yogurt and fresh fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and we'll see about dinner!
Glad to say I did it, glad to have it over.

We're all still in the land of the living...

2011-12-04T08:41:00.001-05:00

Day 2 completed with a minimum of pain. I was definitely hungrier yesterday than the first day, but still not terribly so. Maybe around 7pm when I was sitting and watching TV I got a little cranky as that is my prime "munching" time. But I persevered and made it through just fine. Athough watching Chopped and Top Chef was probably not my best choice. Never before have I been tempted by squid ink pasta or a sardine salad with spinach and rice cakes! I'm not really missing the eating part, as a matter of fact it's sorta nice not eating - not having to figure out what to eat and then make it, not having to cook, but I am totally BORED with drinking... and with the peeing every 30 minutes... and with the cleaning of the juicer and blender 6 times a day.
Here's my menu for Day 2:

730a - Water with lemon
830a - Greens with apple juice
1130a- Blueberry/pineapple rice milk smoothie
230p - Pineapple/raspberry/mint rice milk smoothie
6p - Spinach/blueberry/apple/lemon juice
9pm- Strawberry/mango rice milk smoothie

I was supposed to be drinking nut milk - made with ground up cashews, coconut oil, water and vanilla...but that shit was disgusting!!! It sorta smelled like you were trying to drink suntan lotion, but I with chunks. Frankly I think I would have preferred suntan lotion. So no nut milk in this house, I just saved my last smoothie for before bed.

I will say my stomach is definitely flatter after 2 days of not eating, but I'm sure that's short lived. :o) I do feel like after this it will be easier to start eating healthier, although I'm not sure I'll ever be able to restrain myself totally when a tasty gummy bear dances in front of me...oh and that Papa John's double layer pepperoni pizza... I'm definitely getting me some of that....

No one is dead yet!

2011-12-02T20:15:00.001-05:00

No one is dead, no one is injured, no one is mad and no one is even crying yet! 14 hours into my cleanse and it's going fine. Here's how it's gone...

600am - hot water with lemon

930-11am - 1st green juice - blueberry, apple, lemon and spinach

130-3pm - 1st fruit juice - Mango Strawbery with rice milk

5-630pm - 2nd fruit juice - Mango Cherry with rice milk

800pm - 2nd green juice - Greens with apple

It hasn't been bad at all. The fruit juices are more like smoothies so I quite enjoy those. I actually have one more fruit juice and a nut milk I'm suppose to drink before bed and I don't think I'm going to be able to do both. You have to wait at least an hour between drinking.

I actually haven't been horrifically hungry at all today. It's amazing to me. I have had some twinges of hunger, but then it's time to drink another drink and I can go a little longer.

I will say - I don't think anyone realizes how many FREAKING commercials about food there are until you aren't eating! It's crazy and of course everything looks stunningly tasty. :o)

Overall, very successful day. I'm a little more nervous about tomorrow because I plan to stay home and work on Christmas decorations so there won't be as many distractions as there were today so it might get a little more difficult. But we'll see.

I must say I'm a little impressed with myself. I don't think I've ever gone a full day without eating - minus food poisoning or the flu... so yeah for me!

Hangry or not, here I come...

2011-12-01T20:56:00.000-05:00

I went to Trader Joes today and stocked up on things like rice milk, organic coconut oil, raw cashews, kale, spinach and all sorts of organic fruits and veggies. Now I've spent so much money that I have no choice but to cleanse away. I feel like I should be enjoying my last meal tonight. I kinda want to run through the house stuffing everything I shouldn't be eating into my mouth, but I know that defeats the purpose so I am trying to be mature and adult... but I don't like it very much.

I just lost my virginity.... my juicing virginity that is!

2011-12-01T12:53:00.001-05:00

I just made and consumed my first official Jack Lalanne juicer juice! I thought I better do a practice run before the big kick-off tomorrow! I made Spinach-Blueberry-Apple-Lemon juice. It was actually pretty tasty, pretty tart but that's okay for me because I love sour - a normal person might find it a little daunting. It sure smells healthy and tastes pretty fresh. Not sure how 3 days of these juices will go, but I'm going to give it the old college try. I'm a little worried considering the time between my yogurt breakfast and my salad lunch was only 4 hours and I was about ready to eat my sweatshirt. You know it's bad when the Yam Sticks you bought for the dogs Christmas stockings are calling your name out of the back seat. I'm not making any promises, but I really feel like I need to jumpstart myself out of the "2 pieces of apple pie aren't so bad especially if you only have one scoop of ice cream" or "taquitos make a great breakfast, they have CHEESE in them!" mentality. So, tonight is my last hurrah before I jump on the healthy bandwagon. I sure hope they play a lot of rocking' music on that bandwagon, cause I'm pretty sure I'm going to be cranky as hell! :o)

To cleanse or not to cleanse...

2011-11-30T20:35:00.000-05:00

I've been toying with the idea for months of doing some sort of cleanse. I just feel like my eating has gotten a little out of control. Not so much the amount, although who in the world wouldn't like to lose 5-10 lbs, but mainly what I'm eating. Just junk lately, whatever is easiest to grab and eat, whatever takes the least amount of effort. I would like to just hit restart and start over. But... there is no way I can do any sort of lemon juice, cayenne pepper thing. It has to be something reasonable not torturous. Not eating is going to be bad enough, not to mention having to choke down some god awful concoction. As a woman who is famous for getting cranky if she misses a meal... a cleanse seems a little daunting. I am the one that the work "Hangry" was invented for. When the kids were little... John would say... "don't talk to mommy until we get her some food." If I seem a little touchy or cranky, the first thing everyone askes is "Have you eaten?" I admit that not eating for 3 days seems a little bit like asking for trouble. But I need something to wake me up and snap me out of this bad food choice hell I'm living in. So... I found a book called 3 Day Cleanse. It seems to be a very reasonable approach to the idea of cleansing. You drink lots of fruit juices and smoothies. Herbal teas, nut milks and if you absolutely get DESPERATE ( or more likely your family gets desperate) and before the police are called.... you can eat some cucumber, celery or even a bit of avocado. I envision my family standing in the bedroom doorway and just lobbing cucumbers and celery sticks at me. Just knowing that I can eat something if I have to, makes me feel like I can do it.

I even used my credit card points to buy a Jack Lalanne juicer in preparation. I have given up caffeine and soda. I am ready to go. Let's see if I can actually follow through... D-day is Friday....

Thanksgiving Recap

2011-11-29T20:22:00.001-05:00

Once again a day late and a dollar short. The day after Thanksgiving I came down with some sort of bizarro cold that sucked all the energy out of me. On the other hand, maybe it was a food coma! :o) We had a great Thanksgiving, very quiet which is just the way we like it. Our girl came home from Radford and slid back pretty seamlessly into the house routine. Art and Karen came down for the holiday and we all kept it pretty low key.

Even the pups enjoyed dinner

I am so thankful for so many things. I am thankful for children who seem to be growing up into wonderful, kind, thoughtful and fun young adults despite all the incredible parenting errors that were made along the way. It's a good thing children are so resilient! I'm thankful for a husband who puts up with me. I'm thankful that I have wonderful In-laws, that we all get along and enjoy each other's company. I am so appreciative of all that we have, because we have so much.

I am thankful for a Thanksgiving that only requires me to put a nice shirt on for the pictures and allows me to keep my jammie pants on all day.

Food was good, dishes were done quickly and we all enjoyed each other and the holiday together. Couldn't have asked for much more.

Oh the pressure...

2011-11-24T12:27:00.001-05:00

Tom's gone in the oven... now it's all over but the waiting... Cook Tom! Cook!

45... it's the new 25.. or 35.. oh who am I kidding it feels like the new 65!

2011-11-23T21:36:00.001-05:00

Had my birthday yesterday. 45 years old... geez, how does that happen. John has spent the last couple of days wandering around mumbling, "I can't believe I'm sleeping with a 45 year old woman" and things like that. I like to remind him that he's closer to 50 than me. Geez, 45... that means if I'm lucky enough to live to 90, my life is half over! Sort of a sobering thought, but I shan't dwell on that.
I had a very nice day. It was quiet. I walked the dogs, I took a nap and generally putzed around. My In-laws arrived mid-afternoon and we all went out for a nice dinner. I opened presents when we got home. I got lots of cool things, snow boots that look like tennis shoes, makeup bag, my favorite candy - among other things. Even all my girlfriends remembered me. Tons of people sent me messages on Facebook and that was very fun. Friends from high school, from all over the country and many local friends. It's amazing how good it makes you feel when you go on Facebook and there a tons of birthday messages waiting for you. Just a simple Happy Birthday, can make you feel so treasured. I guess you should never underestimate the power of letting someone know that you took a minute out of your day to think about them.

I tell the kids every year that all I want for my birthday is a handmade card. I don't need gifts, I don't need anything special except a handmade card. Those stinkers didn't let me down. They both made me cards and they were MUSHY cards! I almost cried...out loud...I definitely got teary-eyed.
All in all, a great day and I am very thankful for my family and friends who made me feel very valued and appreciated! Getting old is not so bad when you have friends and family around you.

On a complete side note....

This is what happens when you can no longer out last your children and you go to bed leaving them up and giggling together.... It's curling irons gone wild!

Who says hunting isn't romantic?

2011-11-20T08:37:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was opening day for hunting season, which is actually a little confusing since John has spent the last 3-4 weekends in the woods with some sort of weapon. Bow and arrow, muzzleloader, a big stick - pretty much anything he can propel at a furry creature. Anyway, yesterday was "Opening Day" for real guns, I guess. On a side note, our neighbors boys were suppose to go on a big Boy Scout camping trip, but it was cancelled because they didn't think it was a great idea to have scores of boy scouts and hunters all traipsing through the woods on the same day. Ya think?
So, my intrepid huntsman got up at 345am to go out and hunt and gather for us. He called home about 11am and said he'd already got a buck and a doe! "Two?" I asked. "Yes" he said. "They were in love and I had to shoot both, so that one didn't have to live without the other!"

See romance is alive and well in the great outdoors! Now when we eat our venison this year, I will have to remember that it is infused with love!

Reunited!

2011-11-19T08:14:00.001-05:00

She's home - safe and sound! She made it home with a new hamster, a car that had to be dropped off at the mechanics for an alignment, 25lbs of laundry, a cold and an empty bank account! :o) But she's home! We ate her favorite casserole for dinner, went to the pet store to by hamster supplies (see empty bank account), had family movie night and went to bed leaving the kids up together watching TV. It's good in the Hyzy house.

On another note, on the way home she had to go to court for her first speeding ticket. She was going 86mph which qualifies as reckless driving. John drove down to give her moral support for court. She ended up with 8-hour in residence driving school, 16 hours of community service, a second court appearance in April and what I hope is a healthy respect for listening when your mother screams "Slow down you are driving too fast!" :o)

It's great to have her home, she can't wait to see all the neighbors, eat all our food and have me do her laundry. Let's see how long it takes before everyone is ready to kill each other!

1 More Day!

2011-11-17T06:28:00.001-05:00

In 1 more day our girl will be home from college for Thanksgiving Break!
Yeah! Hurrah!
She hasn't been home since August!
Tuesday I spent $322 at the commissary stocking up on all "her foods." To include toaster strudel, bagels and cream cheese, laughing cow cheese, wheat thins and various other treats. Yesterday I put new flannel sheets on her bed. (Side note... I also purchased new flannel sheets for Zman's bed along with a new comforter and blanket, Lest anyone thinks we've forgotten we have another kid) Today I will spend the day cooking all her favorite "real foods." Like a yummy green chili mexican casserole that's only name is "Brenna's casserole," white chicken lasagna and zucchini bread and muffins.
Tomorrow I will spend the day with my face pressed to the window waiting for her to drive up...only kidding. But we are excited here at the Hyzy House.

Leftover Night on a whole new level

2011-11-13T07:13:00.001-05:00

Last night we had Leftover Night in the cul-de-sac. We are making the most of the last few days of beautiful Fall weather before the cold, ice and snow drive us indoors. I love Leftover Nights anytime because it means I can totally wash my hands of the whole dinner process! No thinking about what we're going to eat, no shopping for the extra "critical" items I don't have even though I thought I did, no actual cooking which means I can squeeze a few extra games of Spider Solitaire in before the guilt becomes too much for me. No worrying about who is eating what and whether a Lego waffle counts as dinner. On Leftover Night everyone is ON THEIR OWN! Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly generous, I will take out the various leftovers and set them on the counter - so there is no confusion. On a side note, both John and now sadly Zack lack the ability to find anything (especially in the mysterious cold box) in the kitchen unless it has flashing lights and a sign with rhinestones on it! They can stand in front of the open refrigerator door and insist with a perfectly straight and concerned face that there is absolutely No.Butter.In.This.Refrigerator! Even my "hints" don't help... "Are you sure, it should be a brown container on the 2nd or 3rd shelf....MARKED BUTTER???" "No, it's not here, I"m sure we're out... Now what am I going to put on my....?" Until I get up and march over there and point to the brown container marked butter that is (maybe) partially behind the ketchup! EVERY.FREAKING.TIME. But I digress....

Neighborhood Left Over night is even better... because it's not really leftover night at all. You get to clean out your refrigerator AND eat something you didn't cook! THE.BEST.EVER! So last night we drug the tables out and the chairs and whatever we had to contribute. There were ribs, chili, taco soup, chicken noodle soup, salad, baked beans, potato casserole and both Oreo and Chocolate Pie! SCORE!!!

Even better it's another excuse for the cul-de-sac to gather like Leave it to Beaver and hang out. The kids run around, the mom's chat and solve the world's problems and the guys got an impromptu poker game together. Everyone's happy, well fed and the plates are paper so there's not even any dishes to do!

I'm not sure it can get much better than that!

When is driving home from Radford like an episode of Twilight Zone or Groundhog Day?

2011-11-09T20:16:00.000-05:00

When you stop at the halfway point in your trip - 2 1/2 hours into the trip home - and Zack says, "I'm going to start my homework." As you get out of the car to walk the dogs, you think... "He's such a good boy." Until.... you get back to the car and he then says, "Where's my backpack?" WHAT DO YOU MEAN "where is my backpack?" Turns out said backpack is still in the hotel room with his Spanish project (due Monday), his Language Arts homework and his Math extra credit!!! WTF!? If it had been anything but school work, I would have blown it off and had them mail it back to us. But you can't mess with school work. So we turned around and drove back to Radford, then turned around and drove home. 5 hour drive became 10 hour drive! It's a good thing he's so damn cute, you can't stay mad for long!

The puppies go to college

2011-11-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

Brenna has been doing great at college. We had a wonderful time at Family Weekend, but all we heard all weekend long was... "I miss Cooper and Zoey." "Do you think Copper and Zoey remember me?" Blah, blah, blah. Puppies this, puppies that. So, Zack and I decided to road trip down to Radford with the puppies and we had a great time. I'm not sure who was more excited to see who, the dogs with Brenna or Brenna with the dogs. We hiked and hung out in Brenna's room. Fortunately the weather was beautiful so we were able to hang out on the Quad and just generally relax. I think it was good for Brenna and for us as well. We miss our girl.

Hiking in the woods

Hanging on the Quad

Brenna's room

Together again!

College Boy

College Girl

Only proof Mom was actually here

She loves her pup

She missed her Bro too!

They dress up in college too!

2011-11-08T17:51:00.000-05:00

Super girl

Pirate girl

Apparently Brenna had at least 3 different Halloweens at college! I must say after perusing, some would say creeping, on all the pictures posted on Facebook - I am so proud of my girl. She looked totally cute and fun and hip and cool. And while there were short skirts and fish net - she never looked trampy or slutty or dressed in anything that would make her mother cringe. Now she may be totally sandbagging me, but she seems to be making good decisions and standing firm to her beliefs and her sense of what is right for her no matter what others around her are doing. She is so much stronger and more self-confident than I was at the same age. I am so proud of her.

Halloween ReCap

2011-11-07T19:42:00.000-05:00

I've always said that if it isn't late, it isn't from me! So, here's my Halloween recap only a week or two late. I always have the best of intentions, but the worst of follow through. This was a different Halloween. Brenna was gone, and Zack is at that funky age where he's really too old to trick or treat with his family, but still too young for me to just let him go off by himself with friends I don't know. He's in some sort of limbo land. He made a "lame-o" costume (because I won't let him go out without a costume) and went out for about 15 minutes and then came back and hung out with the grown ups and ate all our candy.

Lame-O costume

Chili table

While the actual Halloween maybe have been a little lame. We had a fabulous Pre-Halloween Mt. Burnside BBQ and Chili Cook-off! We had six different kinds of chili, there were secret ballots and PRIZES! We had pumpkin carving, painting - glitter and feathers! I know I've said it before, but it bears saying again. I LOVE MY NEIGHBORHOOD! It's like a Leave it to Beaver neighborhood. I don't think there are many places in the world that you can throw
6 or 7 houses together and have all the husbands, wives and children get along. We ate chili, carved pumpkins and just had a great time hanging out together.

Candy Haul

Baby Boy Milestone 5,678

2011-10-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

Our baby boy has reached an significant milestone. He's always been our long, skinny string bean boy! The kid is almost 5'4"and weighs 89lbs. And we were ecstatic about that! Well this weekend it happened.... the boy can sit in the front seat of the van and turn the airbag ON...all by himself... without a backpack or a friend to help him! Our little boy is growing up!

When is inappropriate always appropriate?

2011-10-25T21:27:00.000-04:00

When it's GRANDPA BUD! My dad is the funniest, naughtiest, most inappropriate Grandpa ever! But that's why my kids love him so much. My dad doesn't do "kids", by that I mean he was never the grandpa that played Barbies or trains or talked baby talk. He always treats my kids like mini adults. He's the grandpa that sent pocket knives and BB guns when they were toddlers! Many of his presents were sooo cool, but had to be put on a "safe" shelf until the kids could be trusted not to kill or injure themselves or each other with their presents.
He's the Grandpa that includes curse words and foul language in every birthday card. He's the grandpa that stores his loaded gun on the top of the refrigerator because "the kids can't reach up there."

When Grandpa Bud's in town there's always vodka on the counter, cigarettes in the ashtrays and weapons at the ready. He's the Grandpa we want to go live with when the Zombie Apocalypse hits! This week he sent Zack a vintage T-shirt. This t-shirt has been around since 1975 and now it's been bequeathed to Zack and he loves it. Of course he wanted to wear it to school the very next day....Ummm....NO! Don't think today's "kinder, gentler" schools would appreciate a machine gun shirt...professing Big Mac Attack! I know Zack can wear that shirt to school and Grandpa Bud can visit wearing his "Kill 'em all let God sort them out!" shirt! I can bet you my name would be hot in the PTA circles! :o)
I love that my kids can appreciate the "naughtiness" of Grandpa Bud. I spend a lot of time telling them not to repeat or listen to anything Grandpa Bud says and that just makes them laugh even harder. It's always good to have a rebel on your side!

Radford Weekend Recap

2011-10-24T20:16:00.002-04:00

Our trip to Radford was a huge success! We got down there Friday night and met up with our girl. It was so good to see her. I think she was just as happy to see us as we were to see her. I thought she might strangle her brother she hugged him to long and so hard.

Matching "stoner" hoodies

College is hard work!

Her dorm room looks great, they've decorated it nicely and they are keeping it clean and very homey. Some of my OCD tendencies seemed to have rubbed off on Brenna and I don't know if that's good or bad, but it does make for a nicely comfortable dorm room. We took her out to dinner and then left her hang out with her friends. The next day we met up for all sorts of fun and game. We had nice breakfast, took our girl to the mall to buy all sorts of "necessities" including 2 pairs of jeans for Mom! :o) Went to the school bookstore and got our Radford hoodies - we also walked around downtown Radford, which is really about 4 stores, a gas station, a CVS and a really cool "stoner" store called Lamours. The latest rage are these hemp hoodies that are called Bajas, but John and I refer to them as stoner hoodies, anyway we had to get one for the Z-man who is going to be the coolest kid in middle school!

We walked all over campus, which really isn't that big, but totally exhausted us. Went to a folk festival on the Quad and bought apple butter, and a weed pot and corn husks flowers. Listened to bluegrass music and generally just hung out. It totally wore us out and we had to go back to B's dorm and literally take a little nap. I am WAY TO OLD to be in college that's for damn sure.

I don't know why they are so tired?

We played some pool, saw a Comedian/Magician performer and just generally had a great time. We laughed and laughed and laughed. It's been a looooooong time since we've had a family outing that didn't end in tears, screaming or pouting. The kids got along, the parents got along and the kids and parents got along! That just never happens.
I am so proud of Brenna. She's doing such a great job so far. She's bringing in 2 A's, 1 B and 1 C (2 points away from a B) and her Chemistry grade. Not doing great in Chemistry, but she's got a plan and she's working on getting it together. She's planning on getting a tutor to help her and has already been in to talk to her professor during his office hours.

This is from the girl who in the 9th grade would rather take a 0 than ask the teacher which basket to put her homework in. She had the homework done and with her, but instead of asking where to put it she just kept it. That girl is not meeting with her professors and talking to the Learning Resource Center. She asks for our opinions and listens and then makes it work for her. I'm so proud of her.
The other thing that pleases me is Brenna's willingness to share all sorts of "stuff" that is going on at college. Probably more than I really want to know, but I love that she's comfortable enough with us that she will share what's going on in her life. I try and just listen and affirm that she's making good choices and give her advice if it seems receptive. I just can't say enough how proud I am of her. When I think back to all those horrific years in middle school and the beginning of high school when we despaired that she'd grow up to be anything except a pathological liar and felon and I look at her now and I am amazed! She is smart, funny, kind, loving and taking charge of her life. How did we get so lucky!?
I will end this with the 2 best quotes of the weekend:
"You'd be surprised how much puke I've seen!" - Brenna
"You know you've got another child!" - Zack
Geez I love my kids!

On the road again...

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

We are ready to go, headed down to Radford for our first College Family Weekend! Can't wait to see our girl! 2 months is long time! The car is loaded down with all those college essentials... wheat thins, mint oreos, printer ink, can opener and quarters! Aahhh the things you miss when you no longer live at home. Gonna spoil that girl when we get there. Watch out Radford!

Alicea Zickert

2011-10-08T21:19:00.000-04:00

Pismo Beach 1988

This is how I remember Alicea

My old college roommate, friend and stepsister, Alicea, died on Weds, Oct 5th. Alicea was my first and only friend for quite some time when my parents plucked me out of High School my Senior year and plopped me down in West Germany at Bitburg High School.

Spring Break Adventure 1988

She was quirky and crazy and marched to the beat of her own drum. She had "gone native" to a degree I so admired then. They lived in a little German village and Alicea knew everyone, spoke the language and even had a German boyfriend. Then we roomed together in college our freshman year with 4 other girls. I remember Alicea was the "cooker" in the apartment. We had a 2 element hotplate (back in the "good ole days" when you could have dangerous hot plates) and while the rest of us were eating Ramen and egg salad - Alicea was making crazy good stuff.

Disneyland 1988

We would wait in anticipation for her to start cooking! She made these Lumpia rolls stuffed with cheese and I don't know what else. I didn't even know what the hell a lumpia wrapper was - but I could have eaten my weight in those things.
She left college before the end of our freshman year and we drifted apart. Time, distance, life all got in the way as they do and I mainly heard news through my dad. Much like the news that she had died. It makes me sad that I didn't make more of an effort to keep in touch. It makes me sad that we let life get in the way. It makes me sad to realize that she's no longer in this world and my heart breaks for her mother and my dad because I know that no matter how old they are, the death of your child can't be anything but devastating. I hope that Alicea has found herself in a place where she is healthy and happy, surrounded by cats with one hell of a kitchen!
She will be missed.

My Baby Brother

2011-10-06T12:29:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that Friday my baby brother graduated from Air Force First Sergeant School! First of all I can't believe that he is old enough to live on his own, stay out after dark or drive! Let alone join the Air Force, this is the guy that when I send him a birthday card I still PRINT because I am afraid that he can't read cursive! That kid, the one who refused to cut his hair when he worked at Taco Bell, that kid is a FIRST SHIRT!
That kid is going to be responsible for an entire squadron of troops, for their well-being, their behavior, their careers, their everything. He's going to be great at it and I am so proud of him. It's times like these that make me so sad, because we all don't live closer and can't take part more in each other's lives. I miss him and I miss his family and I wish that I could be there to witness the success and the wonderful job that he is going to do!

Back to the Past - Part 3 or are we ever going to catch up to real time and does anyone really care?

2011-10-05T12:17:00.000-04:00

The kids all settled in school, John hard at work and I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Somehow I find myself still volunteering up at the High School with the booster club even though I DON'T HAVE A CHILD AT THE HIGH SCHOOL. I had all sorts of grand plans to take a year off and relax, sub more, make more money...blah, blah, blah. But when no one steps up to take your place, I just can't walk away, especially since I know Zack will be up there next year and I will feel compelled to help again, might as well just stay and keep the continuity. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking with it!
I also agreed to be the Secretary for the Crew Boosters even though I DON'T HAVE A CHILD THAT ROWS. But I will next year, so continuity blah, blah, blah!
So, I've been running around like crazy working on Spiritwear, Concessions, Athletic Hall of Fame and Fall Crew Camp. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it and think it was important, but it just boggles my mind how many people there are that DON'T HELP. That decided someone else will do it. They want all the benefits, but don't want to put any of the time or effort in and it's starting to wear me down. But I made my bed and now I have to lay in it and I'm trying to do it without too much complaining. Someday, the kids will all be gone and I will be missing these busy days.

I love me my Diet Dew!

The other thing that is not making me happy although I have to trust that in the long run it will... I have given up caffeine and soda! I know it's freaking crazy, but I've done it. I have been worried off and on for years about the amount of artificial sweetener I consume. Generally a cup of coffee a day, with 3 spoons of Splenda, and then 4-5 diet sodas a day. That's a lot, can't be healthy... blah, blah, blah.
A few weeks ago our coffee maker broke and it took me about 3 days to get a replacement, so that was 3 days without coffee and I figured if I could go 3 days, why not keep going. And if I'm giving up artificial sweetener, then I'm giving up soda, because I could never drink a REAL soda! :o) So, as of right now I am caffeine free and soda free. But I am not happy about it! I don't feel any better, don't have any more energy and don't seem to notice anything different than an increase in my longing for a Diet Coke. I do think that maybe the number of headaches I get has decreased a little bit, but it's hard to tell. The official count is last caffeine - August 18th, last soda - Sept 11th. I think I might let myself have an occasionally caffeine free Diet Coke - once in a while, but I realize that's a slippery slope.... More than anything I miss my Diet Mountain Dew!

Back to the Past - Part 2 or college memories I probably don't want to know about

2011-10-04T11:53:00.000-04:00

Going on 6 weeks at college and it all seems to be going fine, or at least as fine as one will let on to their mother. Only a couple bumps in the road... 48 on the first Chemistry test and a speeding ticket that was high enough to count as reckless driving, but other than that....:o)

College might make you crazy

The girl seems to be settling in just fine. No roommate issues so far, although her roommate goes home almost every weekend, so that may make her the perfect roommate. We'll see. Still going strong with the boyfriend. She dropped her history class because we were afraid that 17 credit hours, which included both Chemistry and Biology might be too much and I think that was a good decision. Our girl is very good about texting and calling. She texts all the time and calls pretty regularly and with the Mac's we can FaceTime which is just like Skype. It's always good to see her and talk to her. It appears she's keeping herself very organized and trying to study. We have Family Weekend, next weekend so we can actually go down and verify with our own eyes.

I can only hope that this is the college version of WATER PONG and not the more traditional BEER PONG! Some things are better left not known. I trust my girl and am hoping that she is better and smarter than either her father or her mother were!
She is also very excited because she is applying for a study tour over Spring Break to the Virgin Islands! Sounds awfully cool to me, Mama better get a better job thats for sure. Study Tours, care packages... this college stuff is not cheap!

Back to the past - or here are the most exciting parts of our life, because I'm sure you've been laying awake at night wondering.

2011-10-03T11:36:00.000-04:00

This is what I imagine him to be

It's October already and I don't know what's become of my time. It's gone by in a blur of school starting, volunteering more than I should, subbing, and life in general. There in lies my dilemma... do I go back and recap all that has happened over the last couple of weeks or do I just move on? Does anyone care? Does anyone even read this besides me? Probably not, so I guess I can do whatever I want. Since I am planning on printing off each year's blog and using it as a companion to my scrapbooks, I guess it would behoove me to recap life in general. Someday maybe future generations will care about the minutiae of our lives.

Sadly, this is what he generally does!

Big exciting first day of school - 8th grade no less! Hard to believe that our sweet baby boy is in his last year of Middle school. How does that happen, when does it happen? I suffered through all the first day jitters, who would he eat with, who would he sit with on the bus, would he know anyone in his classes? Did the Zackman worry about any of these things? Of course not, he just coasts through school with nary a worry. I guess I should have had a hint, when we went to pick up his schedule and the squeals from all the girls who saw him were deafening! It was like the Beatles were in town. And then the squeals of excitement when some of them were in the same class! O.M.G!

But then he looks like this and I wonder... I just wonder...
All his teachers seem fine, except for one (Civics) that appears to have some "issues" and an English teacher that appears to have a reputation slightly worse than the Nazi's! Oh Yeah! Just what I need. Please Lord, just let me get through middle school without harming myself or anyone else!

10 years....

2011-09-11T07:46:00.001-04:00

Seems hard to believe that it's been 10 years since the Towers were hit. I remember watching it all unfold on TV. B was at school and I was a getting ready to take Z to preschool and I just stood there in stunned horror. John was TDY in Georgia and I wondered how and when he would get home.

I remember thinking what a horrible accident until the 2 plane hit and then I remember thinking who? how? why? Could this really be happening? Wondering what should I do? Who should I call and then pretty much spending the day trapped in front of the television, riveted by the horror, heartbreak and stories of amazing heroism. To this day, the idea of those men and women running into those buildings as they fell to try and rescue people amazes me.

John made it home 3-4 days later after finding the last rental car in GA and driving back to Wichita Falls with coworkers. We tried to keep as much as we could from the kids. When they are 8 and 3 you have to protect them as much as possible.

So while today I will remember and be thankful for all that I have in my life. I don't think I'm going to be watching too much TV. It's too painful and heart-wrenching. On the other hand, it would be nice if some of our political leaders would sit down and watch and remember that we can come together as a country, we can all get along and we can work toward what works best for the nation and not ourselves.

8th grade??? Say what???

2011-09-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the Zack-man. 8th grade no less... how can that be. I still remember the dread and terror I felt when I contemplated sending him off to Kindergarten. I wondered what I would do with myself without him home every day and how I would keep myself busy. Was I really ever that naive?
Now he's starting his final year of middle school and then high school and I'll be facing sending him off to college just like my baby girl. How does this happen so fast?
I must confess he surprised me tonight, got his clothes laid out. Texted a picture to his sister for confirmation of a choice well made and put himself to bed at 9:00pm. I couldn't believe it. This is the kid who all summer made it his personal mission to be the last to bed and the last to rise. Actually sleeping until 4:00pm one day!
He actually went to bed at 9 and when I just peeked in at him was asleep at 9:30pm? Do you think he's sick? Should I worry? The poor kid can't win. If he stays up too late I worry, if he goes to bed too early, I worry. I told him to be prepared that with his sister gone, I only had him to focus on!
For now I'll just assume that even though it doesn't look like it, maybe he is actually listening to some of the things we say and maybe he won't be too cranky when 6am rolls around tomorrow morning.
Good Luck Zack, I know you are going to knock 'em dead in 8th grade!

We're off to see the dentist...

2011-09-02T13:49:00.000-04:00

I took The Boy to the dentist today to get 3 teeth pulled. Not because of poor hygiene, although that's a whole other "boy story." I mean The Boy will literally shower or bathe 2-3 times a day, has numerous "manly" haircare and body care products, but I can't get him to brush his teeth to save his life. Unless you specifically tell him to brush them and then follow up by threatening to touch his toothbrush he won't do it. He "forgets" on a daily basis. I just don't get it. But I digress.... he had to go to the dentist to have 3 baby teeth pulled. Hyzy/Hall children seem to value their baby teeth above all things and those damn teeth won't fall out. He's 13 years old now and I think he's lost 8 baby teeth naturally. The rest have been pulled or are still hanging around in his mouth.

Had the 3 teeth pulled with very little fanfare. He was nervous, but came through like a champ - bravery and all that jazz. So off we (Zack, the tooth fairy and I) went to the magical place of tooth fairy prizes.... Target. I told The Boy I would get him whatever he wanted, Xbox game, Wii game, Nerf gun... whatever. I mean even though it's not my fault he had to have 3 teeth pulled it still sort of sucked so I was in major "guilt make it all better" mode. At one point when it looked like he couldn't find anything he really wanted, I even offered to buy a new DS for him, but he declined.
What did we end up with... Cheese-Its, Pop-tarts, Gobstoppers and Junior mints. Nothing but sugar, preservatives and processed food product. It seems like there is something fundamentally wrong with rewarding good dentist behavior with nothing but sugar, sugar and more sugar, but did that stop me? Nope, that's what the boy wanted, that's what the boy got!

I'm surviving...

2011-09-01T07:43:00.000-04:00

It's the first day of September and I am still surviving.... no caffeine, no Brenna and an incredibly tall, handsome, funny, but totally obnoxious teenage boy in the house. Why o' why can't they go off to college when they are in the 8th grade??? I'm just saying....

End of Summer Wrap-Up #2

2011-08-31T19:00:00.000-04:00

But there's more....August wasn't just concussions and college - lots of other exciting things happened in August... for instance...

#1 - I cleaned out my Linen Closet... this was a bonus added onto the Summer To Do List so I got an extra crossed off item. Not only did I clean out my linen closet, but now I have AN EMPTY SHELF in my linen closet! Did you hear that people??? AN EMPTY SHELF in my linen closet. Sometimes I like to just open the door and look at it. But that also brings me to my biggest pet peeve of the summer. Why can't sheet manufacturers put the freaking SIZE of the sheets ON the sheets. Because unless you live in a house where everyone sleeps in the same bed or in the same size bed, when you try to sort the sheets, there is no way to tell WHAT SIZE they are! In our house we have every size of bed from twin to king. Now obviously I can tell the difference between a twin and a king, but doubles, queens and kings are all very similar and it pisses me off! Because when you haven't cleaned your linen closet out in....years... there are all sorts of unidentifiable sheets in there...stuffed in the back under Aunt Hilda's hand crocheted "heirloom" afghans. Sheets I don't ever remember buying, let alone using... so when in doubt... throw it out!!!! Then you get an empty shelf. I bet it's those damn sheet manufacturers plan, no sizes means I throw my sheets out, which means eventually I'll have to buy new sheets. Damn those sheet people!

But wait more excitement ahead....
#2 - I've given up caffeine and I'm working on soda. I tried this once before and gave up after about 3 days, but so far I'm going on 2 weeks and its all good. Our coffee maker broke about 3 weeks ago and it took me 3 days to get it replaced. That meant 3 days of no coffee and once I gave that up it seemed I should just keep going. I haven't had any caffeine in 2 weeks and I'm down to one soda per day. I'm pretty proud of myself, but I am NOT ENJOYING it. I have 6 bottles of Diet Mountain Dew (my own personal crack) sitting in the garage taunting me. I can't stand to throw them in the garbage, but I'm not letting myself drink them, so I need to find a new home for them, before I succumb to their siren song!
I also got a juicer - since I guess I'm getting all healthy now. Sadly it's been in the box for the last week. I guess it's much better for you if you actually open the juicer and use it! :o)

Summer excitement is almost overwhelming me, it's time for school to start!

End of Summer Wrap-Up

2011-08-30T19:00:00.001-04:00

August has been an incredibly busy month and I've totally neglected my poor little blog. I've been catching up reading all my friends blogs and seems we've all been in the same boat, so I'm just jumping in with both feet.

#1 - This is the main thing that kept us busy the end of August. John and Brenna took a Father/Daughter trip to New York City. It all started out with flowers and rainbows. They road the MegaBus up to NYC on Friday afternoon and explored Times Square and ate dinner at cool places.

Like I said, rainbows and unicorns. Saturday they decided to rent bikes and ride in Central Park and that's when it all fell apart.

BEFORE

There was bike riding and ice cream eating, but then there was crashing and ambulances and ER visits and chaos.
Apparently Brenna and a bike racer lady crashed headfirst into each other. John didn't see it happen since Brenna was behind him. But he heard it happen. So they spent the day in the ER with X-rays and CAT scans and blood tests and all sorts of scary tests. John calls me on Sat night and opens the conversations with... "Don't worry, everything's okay, but..." Let me just go on record...NEVER start a conversation with "Everythings okay...but..."

AFTER

Turns out everything is okay, but our girl spent the night in the hospital with a concussion, a small cheek fracture and a hell of a black eye. They couldn't ride the bus back so I drove up Sun morning to get them and bring them home Sunday night. Let me just say for the record.... I will never drive on the New Jersey Turnpike again, unless my family is being held hostage by Bigfoot.

She's doing fine now, but it was scary for a little bit. Concussions are nothing to mess around with. Apparently for the first couple of hours she had no idea who she was, where she was or why they were in NYC. In the end she lost about 6 hours time. She has no memory of the accident or the 30-45 minutes before the accident up to about 5 hours after the accident. Foggy and Groggy for quite some time afterwards. Got the girl home and babied her completely. She had a brief scary relapse about 4 days after the accident and it almost derailed her college start. But she really took it easy and slowed down and we got the green light from the doctor and off to Radford she went.

It's All Over But the Crying!

2011-08-29T21:44:00.000-04:00

We moved our girl down to Radford this weekend. I don't know how it can be true that my sweet baby girl is in college now. I must admit it was a little bit harder for me than I thought it would be. I'm so excited and happy for her, but at the same time I can't believe she's not going to be here everyday. It would be so much easier if they could go to college when they are freshman or sophomores in high school. No one likes them at that age and it would so much easier to let them go. Instead, life waits until they turn into real people, fun people that you want to hang around with and then they leave for college. We got her all moved in with no problem. Their room is actually much bigger than we expected and they had plenty of room to fit everything in.

Roommate Samantha

Zack putting together the incredibly complicated storage shelf

It reminded me a lot of the first day of Kindergarten panic. You are sending them off, not knowing if they'll have anyone to eat lunch with, if they'll find friends, if people will be mean to them, if they'll get lost or be sad or whatever. But instead of getting them home safe and sound at the end of the day - it lasts for 3 months! You've said all you can say, you've tried to equip them to stand on their own two feet and be happy and successful and self confident, but you don't know if any of it sticks. You know how wonderful and beautiful and smart and kind and fun and amazing they are and you can only hope that everyone else sees it. I don't know how my parents did it. At least we have texting and FaceTime and Brenna doesn't seem to mind my endless "what are you doing now", "what did you eat for lunch" texts! :o) I told her she should change my name in her contacts list to something like Too Cool 99 and then all the "kids" wouldn't know she was getting texts from her mother 85,000 times a day! She said she didn't care if they knew. Love that girl.

So, we left her on Sat and drove home. I must admit I was very weepy for the whole day. Every time someone was nice to me, I burst into tears. But John my hero stepped right up to the plate and anytime he thought I was getting weepy again he'd reach over and grab my...my... you know my.. Va jay jay. Which immediately pissed me off and cured the tears! That's my guy!

I think it's very interesting how each of us projects our own fears onto her. I'm terrified she won't have any friends and will be sad and lonely all the time. John is only worried about grades and academics. I guess if you put us together we make a complete worrying person.

I am much less weepy now. I've talked to her a couple of times and she's doing great. She had her first day of classes and all went fabulously. We've decided to have her drop History because she was taking 17 hours, but with Biology and Chemistry - I think that's too many. For her first semester there's nothing wrong with taking fewer hours and concentrating on the core classes. She can take history anytime.

She's doing all the right things, taking care of everything that needs to be taken care of. Staying organized and prepared. I'm so excited for her to be successful and have a great time. Not too great a time.... I went to college too.

Too Weepy to Post

2011-08-27T17:18:00.000-04:00

Our Baby Girl is settled at Radford University and I am stuffing my sorrows into a box of Dove Miniature Ice Cream bars. Will write more and include pictures when I get myself under control!

Summer Update #2

2011-08-06T22:20:00.000-04:00

I don't know why it's so hard to write. It's not like my days are jam packed, but everyday I look at the blog and instead I choose to nap, read or do nothing. This really has been the summer of a whole lot of nothing. I'm not saying that's bad, it just doesn't give me much food for the blog fodder.
So, summer update #2 -

#1 - We have almost completed our Dorm room shopping. Personally I believe that they should give out medals for this event and I totally earned a GOLD medal. We got 90% of everything on her list....in one day... and no one died!!! Not only that, but no one got cranky, no one cried and no one yelled. This is even more amazing if you consider the fact that we stood in front of the Target towel display for I KID YOU NOT... for over an hour! Who knew that the choice of towel color was so CRITICAL to college success. But I was patient, I was tolerant, I was even helpful. And eventually the choice (hallelujah!) was made and we checked out. But it didn't end there, no the amazing shopping performance of me continued because we moved on to IKEA and comforters. I know you know how this story goes... the only difference is that I actually picked out a pillow and lay down on the floor while the great comforter debate raged. But again, no one cried, no one sulked and no one died and we left with a comforter. All that's left is the easy stuff, cleaning supplies, school supplies etc... She got her dorm room assignment and roommate. Muse Dorm, room 124B and Samantha Wooldridge. They actually met on Facebook and have been messaging back and forth over the summer. Hopefully that will give them a leg up over doing just random selection. 3 more weeks and we head down to check her in.

#2 - For the first time in probably 17years, we no longer have a room devoted to toys. The Toy Room is no longer. John has a very cool Man Cave/Home office. He's got the computer, a TV and a lazy boy. It's a nice little retreat for him. It's weird not to have a toy room. Zack has taken over the basement and Brenna is in limbo until she leaves.

#3 - The heat has been atrocious! Almost too hot to do anything except hide in the house. We've done plenty of swimming and movies. Added Xmen First Class (awesome) and the last Harry Potter (sad, but good). Captian America and Cowboys and Aliens on the To Do list. We (really Brenna) spent a couple of weeks mourning the last Harry Potter. They were there for the midnight showing - actually about 3 hours early. Zack and I saw it a bit later.

#4 - Visited Buffalo for a couple days. It's always a nice trip, but tiring. We flew Brenna and Melanie there about 4 days early and then we drove up and met them. It made for a very interesting car ride up with only Zack in the car. The boy can sleep! We finished up breakfast at 630am and that boy slept until Erie, PA! That's about 8 hours in my estimation. Made for a very quiet trip. So, we were worried about the ride home with all 3 kids. Love me some teenagers! Melanie slept the entire trip and B and Z slept all but 90 minutes of it. YEAH!!! Sure beats the days of "she's looking out my window!" "He's chewing too loud!" Oh yeah it does!

#5 - Zack is still sleeping like a champ... record so far this summer... 4pm!

Waiting for the heat to clear and starting to get geared up for the new school year.

Plant Porn

2011-07-10T11:03:00.004-04:00

*****UPDATE***** I just went out to help my plants have sex and only the boy flowers were awake and ready... TYPICAL!!!!

Here is the first bounty from my initial stab at gardening. Can I say, I am pretty proud of myself. I almost hate to eat them, I just want to leave them out for everyone to look at and admire.

Sadly though I must report that my zucchini and squash are not having sex! They are all dressed up in beautiful flowers, but not getting any action. Now if these same flowers were my teenage children I would pat myself on the back and consider it a job well done, but...they are not...

So that is how I find myself on Sunday morning googling for plant porn which believe it or not I found here. I love Google, I hope those Google boys are rich and happy, because you can find ANYTHING on Google! Anyway, so now I am prepared to go forth and molest my zucchini's and hopefully that will result in lots and lots of babies!

Really, no one has thought of this yet?

2011-07-09T08:07:00.000-04:00

If we can put a man on the moon or at least fake it so well everyone thinks we put a man on the moon. If we can carry computers in our cell phones, watch TV in our cars and map the entire human genome. Why o' Why can't we invent silent dental tools? I'm just saying....

5 Question Friday

2011-07-08T08:35:00.000-04:00

1. Do you think cursive writing is overrated? (Schools in Indiana have now voted to take teaching cursive writing out of their curriculum.)

Totally overrated! How many of us write in cursive now? How many of you actually still write and don't type or text or whatever. I use some sort of cursint... printing mixed randomly with cursive. I think my boy spent 10% of 3rd grade half-heartedly learning cursive and then never bothered again. Let's add more art, music or PE instead of cursive.

2. Do you still use a pocket calendar or notepad or do you keep your info on your smart phone?

NO smart anything here.... I love my 3 different calendars.... back off technology whores!

3. What 3 things would you save if your house was burning down? (family & pets are already safe)
I actually already discussed my fear of fire..what-would-you-take-make-it-good

So, let's see...no family or pets...45 year old plant handed down from Lala Simpson, Laptop, Something Star Trek...

4. Country Mouse or City Mouse, err Person?
Country, definitely country. This would probably surprise most people, but since I generally like animals better than people and I would rather be flogged than go shopping... I think country.... provided the country has a bathroom, shower and high speed internet!

5. If you could pick ANY reality show to go on, which would you pick?
Top Chef.... but only as an eater, NOT as a cooker!

There you go...

Summer Update #1

2011-07-06T19:30:00.004-04:00

We are 2 weeks into summer vacation and it's been both busy, busy, busy and very quiet at the same time. So... what have we done?

#1 - I've heard "I'm bored" twice. Maybe that's not so bad except that the first time it was uttered was on DAY ONE of vacation... Zack was the culprit. And the 2nd time I heard it was on on DAY TWO and this time it was Brenna. So I said to myself..."Self we need to nip this shit in the bud!" I immediately whipped out my Summer To Do List which has delicious nuggets like wash baseboards, clean windows, or steam clean carpet. Surprise, surprise when given these options the boredom magically disappeared and I haven't heard a peep since then.

#2 - We made another road trip to Radford and got our girl registered for classes. We were very excited to discover that for a Biology major she only has to take Statistics and one Math class. That is very exciting for us - since math is definitely not her forte. She'll skip math this year, take a refresher at NOVA next summer and hopefully zip right through College Algebra. Stats... we'll just have to see. She's also taking Freshman English, Biology Seminar, Bio and Lab, Chemistry and Lab, History and University 100 which is a intro to college class they ask all freshman to take. It's a pretty jam-packed schedule but she can handle it. She has her actual schedule set up pretty sweetly for a freshman. She only has 2 classes on Mon and the first one is at 11am. She only has one class on Friday at 11am. Her heavy days are Tues and Thurs with Weds being a middle day. So it's definitely workable for her. She also got to actually meet her roommate. They found each other on Facebook and have been messaging back and forth - so it was good for them to actually meet and discover that they do like each other. She is so excited and now is ready for summer to be over so she can head off to college!

#3 Zack got his traditional "cut it all off" summer "Do."

Before

After

#4 - We've hit the pool a number of times, the weather has been horribly hot and humid.

#5 - We've seen Green Lantern (heart you Ryan Reynolds), Transformers 3 (better than the 2nd one), Super 8 (super awesome) and have many more on the "want to see" movie list.

#6 - We completely cleaned out the toy room. Since Brenna will be away at college we are going to move all Zack's game systems and "toys" down to the basement and turn the toy room into a home office for John. We cleaned and boxed and sorted and purged our guts out! Goodwill came and we had so much packed up and boxed around that when John came home from work he said, "Are we moving again? I don't want to move!" Now the toy room is empty and awaiting the installation of home office stuff.

#7 - The kids have slept in till all hours of the afternoon. Zack got up at 230p today. I feel weird making them wake up just because I don't think they should still be sleeping, so I let them sleep.

All in all, a successful first two weeks....

July 4th

2011-07-05T21:12:00.000-04:00

We had a very quiet 4th celebration this year. Most of the cul-de-sac was out of town, so the few of us that were still here got together and relaxed. If you call keeping my eyes riveted on Zack since he seemed a little "giddy with the power" of handling the firework lighter for the first time! Then when he broke out the cotton balls and vaseline and started to construct mini bonfires all over the cul-de-sac, then I really started to worry. Apparently vaseline is quite flammable, this he learned on some sort of survival show on Discovery channel.

But other than that - we all survived, no one and nothing got burned up except those things that were suppose to be burned up.

5 Question Friday

2011-07-02T08:29:00.000-04:00

So I found this blog...http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/ and I guess each Friday she posts 5 questions for everyone to answer. Sounds good to me. Means I don't have to sit and stare at my blog waiting for inspiration to hit. Also means I can cross Blog of my To Do list at least for one day! I'm totally in. So read on and let me know what you would answer...

1. If you had the opportunity to bungee jump, would you?
Are you kidding me??? I don't even like to climb up the step stool to change a light bulb. If there is an opposite of an adrenaline junkie that would be me. I might very well be allergic to adrenaline!
Also most bungee jumping takes place on bridges, very tall, very high bridges and I have an irrational fear of those as well.
When we lived in Prattville, AL you had to drive over this old, rusty metal bridge to get to the thriving hellhole of Montgomery and it use to freak me out every time. I would drive across the bridge and practice how I would undo my seat belt and pop Brenna out of her car seat before the car sunk completely under the water. Do you pop the seatbelts and harness before you hit the water and then risk impact injuries or do you wait until you've begun to sink to do it and risk drowning in murky, creature infested Alabama swamp water? This is also the reason I asked for a Life Hammer every Christmas for years!!! But I digress....
No I would not bungee jump!

2. Would you rather go to the movie theater or to the drive-in?
Again...duh movie theater... while in theory and in a perfect climate-controlled world the drive-in would be cool, but sadly reality not so much.
Bugs, bad sound and the worst part for us... they start so damn late! Neither John nor I can make it through a whole movie if it doesn't start by 730pm...nevermind a double feature.

3. Do you have your groceries delivered?
I don't even let John shop for groceries. If the grocery people are anything like my husband you order Kraft mac and cheese and you get Hunan pea noodle bowl. "What??? they are both noodles?" or you order Hellman's lite mayo and you get Chipotle pimento sandwich spread! "WHAT? they didn't have what you wanted!" Really they didn't have mayo at the grocery store?
Besides how would the grocery store people know I needed **NEW** giant sized gummi bears or **JUST RECEIVED*** decadent Dove bars with dark chocolate and almond sprinkles or Vodka? Since I don't know until I get there! :o)

4. Eyebrows: Do you wax, thread, pluck, or stay au naturel?
Sadly I wax myself and not successfully, and then I pluck until I have my normal bush brows back.
But I am totally fascinated by the threading and I think we should make it a Girls Night Out one day.

5. Would the people you went to high school with be surprised by your life today?

The people I went to high school with wouldn't even remember me since I never got to stay at high school for more than a year before we moved. They might be surprised I was in their high school.
Actually I guess I did spend my 9th and 10th grade in the same school, but the answer still stands, who remembers anyone from 9th grade.

3 1/2 inches and 13 pounds!

2011-06-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

Took Zack to his yearly sports physical. We found out he's grown 3 1/2 inches and 13 pounds this year. He's 5'4 and 89 lbs! While 13 lbs would be enough to send me into a spiraling descent of depression and a pint of Ben and Jerry's chocolate something or other if it occurred during my physical.... quite the opposite with Zack. I did an amazing happy dance in the hallway and took that boy straight to 7-11 for slurpees and donuts! I guess Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and Eggo Waffles will pack on the pounds eventually. Imagine what we could do if the boy would actually eat some protein and veggies! Maybe some day....

He can now "officially" get out of his booster seat! :o) Kidding, he's not really in a booster seat anymore - because he passed the height requirement long ago. Although legally the weight requirement is 80lbs, so "technically" I could still have made him ride in a booster seat to the 1st day of 7th grade! :o) No more... my boy is a BIG boy now!

It's not just a cliche, time really does fly!

2011-06-19T11:44:00.014-04:00

Kindergarten

Senior portrait

I don't really even know where to start. How did we go from this sweet little Kindergarten angel to this amazing, beautiful practically adult? How can I be the parent of a High School Graduate? I mean really??? I can still remember high school like it's yesterday. I don't remember a lot of my younger childhood, as a matter of fact when we were growing up my dad use to always tell us he'd never been a child when we asked. We thought that was hilarious, until I grew up and now I realize he probably just couldn't remember any of it! The same holds true for me, except I CAN remember high school, so that must mean I'm not old enough to be the parent of a graduate.

The graduation ceremony was great. Woodbridge Senior High School is one of the few schools in our county that still has it's ceremony outside in the stadium, so weather is always a factor. But this time it was relatively cool, stayed overcast and really we couldn't have asked for better conditions. I didn't cry, but I did get a little teary eyed when they first walked down into the stadium. But after that I was too busy trying to get pictures to even really think about what was actually happening. Probably a good thing.

Grandma and Grandpa Art and Grandpa Bud all made the trip down for the events and that helped to make the weekend even more special.

We finished the evening off at the Melting Pot Fondue restaurant where we gorged on food, laughter and fun.

Inner Wild Child really???

2011-06-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

Brenna has been at Senior Beach Week all this week (that's a whole other post). Apparently she's having a great time which is wonderful because I had my doubts. She's sharing a house with 15 other kids, 12 of them boys. You see where I'm going... but I digress...
She texted her father yesterday... "Ate my first oyster and got a henna tattoo on my side."
John was telling me about this text this morning and he says to me...
" I guess she's channeling her inner wild child!"
Really???!!!
Her inner wild child...is eating an oyster and getting a henna tattoo? Dear Sweet Baby Jesus with all your Baby Jesus powers I hope that's true.
If that's her inner wild child...I say BRING IT!

I'm still processing before I can blog in earnest

2011-06-14T16:13:00.000-04:00

Enough said....

She's done it to me again, drat that girl!

2011-06-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

So, every year she does it to me and you would think that I would catch on and not be drawn into the drama. Every 3rd quarter of her high school career Brenna let's her grades plummet, she gives me a heart attack and I begin to very slowly gnash my teeth and pull my hair out! And so begins the gentle nudging, the kind reminders to do her homework, quiet suggestions about tutoring and the fact that actually studying for a test might be helpful. This year was no different, except that she waited until the LAST nine weeks to let the grades plummet. Comes home with and F in AP Biology Lab, D+ in Algebra II and a D+ in AP Biology Lecture. A's in everything else. Mind you, Algebra II....REQUIRED FOR COLLEGE, AP Biology....WHAT SHE WANTS TO MAJOR IN IN COLLEGE!
It was not a happy Hyzy household. And that F in Lab... that wasn't just any old F.... that was a 47 F, a so far down in the bottom of the basement you can't see light F!

But my girl did it. She worked her tail off, she went to tutoring, she dissected a cat like a professional and I'll be damned if her grades don't reflect it. She's done and we're waiting for the finals, but she's 1 point away from a B in AP Bio Lecture, got a C in Algebra II and 4 points away from a B in AP Lab! That's some shit there! But why o' why does she put me through all this... not only me, but the whole cul-de-sac as I vent and whine and moan day after day. Why can't teenagers ever do things the easy way??? Why can't they just listen to their parents and do what we say? Please o' please sweet Baby Jesus let Zack NOT follow in her sisters footsteps or I may not survive the stress!

So you think you can sing...NOT!

2011-06-10T07:00:00.003-04:00

Zack is taking chorus again this year. The kids are required to take a music class and their choices are Band, Orchestra or Chorus; since he was taking guitar lessons when the decision had to be made we chose Chorus. I mean really, how hard is chorus? Stand up there, move your mouth and pretend to sing. Which is exactly what Zack does, except that usually he's also hiding behind the person in front of him or make silly faces at me. It's painful, if you are going to require these kids to take music class - how about offering something they might actually enjoy. Music appreciation? History of music something besides freaking singing or playing an instrument. But I digress... let me hop down off my soapbox and continue on with my riveting story...

This year they decided to "experiment" and they separated the choruses by sex. Their thinking was that without the girls to impress, the boys would buckle down and take it all seriously and become good little singers. OBVIOUSLY, no one in the decision making process was or had ever been the parent of a middle school boy nor had any of them seen Animal House. Frankly, the only thing keeping those boys even slightly civilized is the chance that a cute girl might be looking. Take that incentive out of the equation and it's like boys gone wild! So yesterday this letter comes home

Apparently the boys sucked so bad they decided to cancel the concert. Really??? I could have told you this was destined for disaster back in August. Needless to say, but I will anyway, the whole Hyzy house was happy to not have to sit through Man in the Mirror, Seize the Day and according to Zack "some mumbo-jumbo african song." I don't care what anyone says that boy is taking Home Ec and Shop class next year. Mama needs a new napkin holder!

World's Best (almost) daughter...otherwise known as Odysseus

2011-06-09T12:37:00.000-04:00

The only difference between my travels this week and Odysseys's 10-year long adventure was that he was trying to get home to his family and I was trying to buy cigarettes! Both were fraught with dangerous places, questionable characters and temptations beyond imagine... Odysseus was successful, I was not.

I little background before I begin my story... My dad has always smoked More cigarettes, at least as long as I have been alive. I'm not even going to go into the whole smoking vs. not smoking issue. If 30 years of my nagging and 18 years of his grandkids telling him how sad they are that he's going to die because he smokes cigarettes hasn't made him mend his ways, I think we've pretty much done all we can. Anyway, went to Idaho last summer to visit and the very first day we are all sitting out on the patio socializing and Grandpa Bud lights up... A horrified and shocked silence descended on the backyard! Grandpa Bud was smoking some sort of plain white cigarette! (John still insists they were Eve's!) Well, the whole family just sat there in stunned and puzzled amazement until I broke the silence, "What the hell are you smoking?"
Apparently thanks to those "God-Damn Democrat Commies" in Washington, Mores were priced right out of poor downtrodden, persecuted Grandpa's budget. He would buy a carton and ration them out, smoking "knock off Indian cigarettes from the reservation" in-between. So for Christmas as a joke, we sent him a carton of cigarettes so he wouldn't have to suffer the indignities of smoking those "pu**y cigarettes" when he went down to the local bar.

Fast forward to yesterday... Often when we have company when I make up the guest room, I put a picture from the guest's last visit in a frame and leave a chocolate on the pillow. But, this was Grandpa Bud, no stinkin' chocolate for him, cigarettes would be just the ticket!... I began my odyssey early in the morning after all I had plenty to get accomplished. 3 long, hot hours and 10 stores later I would have sold my first born for a carton of Mores, hell I would have given her away for a pack. I went to Giant, Bloom, Safeway, 2 Gas stations, CVS, a liquor store, the BX, the Commissary and the Class IV store. There were no Mores to be found, nary a one. Still haven't found any (except on a Russian website that seemed questionable at best) so...I bought a bottle of Vodka. Best. Daughter. Ever!

Bake Sale Anyone?

2011-06-04T11:47:00.000-04:00

My computer is not a quick fix... it's $500 to replace the LCD monitor or $800+ to buy a new one. I've started the Hyzyhouse computer repair fund in my Big Jar o' Change I keep on the counter. Feel free to drop by and drop in some spare change. I may be doing a daily bake sale on the corner. Unfortunately since even with Betty Crocker's help and or the little elves pitching in, I'm still not usually asked to bring dessert, I don't have a lot of hope about earning the big bucks that way. I'm bumming....

Send help, or chocolate, or a stunningly handsome manservant, or a new computer, or money, but for heaven's sake send something!

2011-06-03T09:37:00.008-04:00

UPDATED - So on my way home from the Apple store - where I did NOT get my computer fixed on top of everything else - I was distracted rehearsing some speech or other to some member of my family in my head and I almost ran a State Trooper off the road! Obviously my "Oops I'm sorry wave" didn't mollify him and he proceeded to pull me over. But he was probably really sorry when I burst into tears (yeah raging hormones and stressful life)! Told him I totally deserved the ticket and to just add it to my big pile o'crap! I thnk I might have scared him and he took pity on me and only gave me a warning. Sheesh! I need that vacation NOW!

My computer is broken (thanks Brenna you stinker!), Graduation is in 7 days, my guests arrive in 5 days, we still have Hassenpfeffer kicking rabbit poop and bedding all over the guest room, my husband hates his job - the job that he spends a good 12+ hours a day at if you include his crappy 2 hour commute, Zack can't remember to hand in school work he HAS DONE already so instead of the straight A's we're use to the kid may not make it out of 7th grade, and Brenna is devastated and mopey because we won't buy her a $650 Iphone for graduation....
Calgon take me away!

See... I was right... Mother's do know what they are worrying about!

2011-05-31T18:05:00.001-04:00

My boys made it back safe and sound from their big Canada Float Plane Adventure. A fun, exciting time was had by all. No one was injured in the making of this adventure, but if you read my blog

Please don't let a bear eat him it wasn't for lack of my worrying. They got home, relaxed a little and then broke out the pictures.... And lo and behold THERE WERE HATCHETS! I just knew it, I knew there would be.

AND BEARS!

AND SCARY DEMON MOOSE!

AND THIS....Wait for it... is a picture of my 13 year-old son getting a 15 minute "briefing" before he goes up in the UNCERTIFIED FLY AT YOUR OWN RISK. aircraft and FLYS IT ALL BY HIMSELF!

Thank the heavens above their host was also in the plane, but Zack flew it by himself!

I am so glad I didn't go on this adventure!

Turtles, turtles everywhere

2011-05-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been a little down on humanity. People letting their pet rabbits go because "I see wild rabbits all around so I'm sure my PET would love to be free." Or "I"m just going to run into the grocery store for ONE minute... my dog will be fine in the 90 degree heat!" Fuckers...

But on my walk yesterday, two different times I saw people (women) stop in the middle of traffic or pull over on the side of the road to save turtles. That's what I'm talking about people!

Heartbreaking

2011-05-27T18:47:00.000-04:00

My dear friend's mother died today. I can't tell you how sad this makes me. It was not unexpected, but it was sudden. I feel helpless and heartbroken and at a loss as to what to do to help my friend through this. I just keep imagining what I would be doing or what I would be feeling, but that just leads to sadness and I have to stop myself. Is there anything that helps in a situation like this?

I do like this stage of my life. Kids are getting older and more self-sufficient. Money and our finances are not as critical as they were in the beginning of our life. And I'm not as consumed by other's opinions as I use to be. But getting older in turn means that my loved ones are getting older... I don't like it when I realize that this stage of life is also the stage when these sorts of events are going to be more and more common. Parents and loved ones get older and frailer and things happen. I don't like that.

Every time I walk out my door and look over at her house my heart breaks, thinking about what she's going through. I think it's struck me particularly hard because my mom has been visiting this week. When you grow up in and live the military life - you get use to your family being far away. Visits happen yearly if you are lucky. You always miss them, but you learn to make your life locally and survive on phone calls and email. It's sort of like a scab, you know you have a wound but it's grown over and just sort of a shadow in your mind. The missing is always there, but it's not immediately painful and sad. Then something happens, usually a visit, and it makes you remember how much you love them and how much you miss them and how sad you are to be apart so much. The missing and sadness becomes sharp. Or something even more tragic happens and you really do realize that it's all so fleeting. That you need to spend each day being thankful for your family and friends, close or far, and never let them doubt your feelings. It seems so cliche, but cliches are true for a reason. Hold your family and friends close and make sure that when you go to bed tonight - they all know how important they are to you.

Hassenpfeffer anyone?

2011-05-27T07:16:00.001-04:00

Once again... a moment of weakness and we have a new addition to the Hyzy House. The story goes... a coworker of Brenna's found this "precious" bunny in the gutter during a storm and brought it home, but for whatever reason couldn't keep it and apparently shelters only keep bunnies for 3 days before the bunnies get an all expense paid trip to bunny nirvana. Well, those of you that know Brenna can hear the horrified, outraged screams from where you are...

Understand that most of this was taking place as I was driving down to Philadelphia with the Crew team. Texting is a wonderful and horrible invention.

Then the words that almost sealed my fate came vomiting out of my mouth... "If you can't find anyone else to take it, it can come stay at our house for a little bit."

So, Hassenpfeffer came to live at the Hyzy House Animal Hotel...

He is a sweet bunny and very obviously a pet, very calm and docile. Loves to be held and shows no fear whatsoever of people or the dogs. The kids love playing with him and holding him and for one brief weak moment I thought it might be fun to have a little bunny, but we all know how this story ends... After the 2 week honeymoon period, the kids won't even remember we have a rabbit and it will fall to mom to clean, feed, water and exercise little ole' Hassenpfeffer! I've heard this story before... it's the Hyzy dog story, it's the Hyzy snake story and trust me I don't need a Hyzy rabbit story!

I continue to inject the word "fostering" into our conversation at every opportunity. And my children continued to pretend that english was not their first language and they didn't have any idea what I was talking about...

Then all the "leads" Brenna had for bunny homes dried up - imagine that - but I was not daunted! Word went out to Facebook, friends and strangers on the street, who I accosted and insistently offered a free, adorable, precious bunny until they ran the other way.

But I was not to be foiled and SUCCESS.... Hassenpfeffer has a new home! The actual move-in date has not yet been determined, but he is going home! Actually just up the street to a neighbors, who have bunny experience. They have all the equipment - their bunny went to the great bunny hutch in the sky and they have been looking for a replacement and Hassy FIT THE BILL!

Neighbors - happy

Hassenpfeffer - happy

Mom - happy

Brenna and Zack - not so much

For a brief moment I was the best mom in the world and now I'm the worst. It's my cross to bear.

2011-05-26T20:30:00.001-04:00

Text and picture received from my 13 year old son! My middle school teenage son!

I thought it looked a bit like a heart!

Please don't let a bear eat him!

2011-05-26T14:19:00.001-04:00

My boys took off today for their 5 day Float Plane Adventure Trip to Canada. John and his friend Brian have been planning this Father/Son trip for almost a year now. They are going up to a place John went about 2 years ago.

Here's the plane they'll be taking. Apparently this gentleman built it himself using LOTS of duct tape (right up Zack's alley) and there are signs posted all over the plane that say things like "not certified to carry passengers" or "this plane has not been certified by the Canadian government" or the ever popular "Passengers fly at their own risk!" Now when John went 2 years ago, I really didn't think to much about it - I mean after all he's a grown up, he's capable of saving himself and if he isn't well.... Hmmmm... his choice. BUT... this time he's taking MY BABY out on this rickety bucket of bolts, on this death-trap from hell on the duct tape express... Say WHAT? Are you FREAKING CRAZY?

This is where they are going... podunk Canada. No electricity, no Xbox, no Ipad - I'm not sure Zack knows what he's getting himself into.
I'm not sure Mom knows what she's gotten herself into. This is the first time Zack has ever left me for longer than a sleepover. :o( I've left him and gone places, but now the tables are turned and I find visions of bears, hatchets and child eating lake fish dancing in my head. I find I'm ending each of my texts with either - Please don't let a bear eat Zack or Please don't get eaten by a bear!
Lord save me from myself.

What would you take? Make it good or I'm making fun of you...

2011-05-18T17:31:00.000-04:00

One of my biggest fears is fire. Not fire, in a fireplace or campfires or matches, but fire as in my house burning down. When I was younger (as in 27 younger) - I use to lay awake in bed mentally rehearsing how I would get my infant child, two cats and a 110lb chocolate lab out the bedroom window when the house burst into flames. For years I asked for one of those "hook to the window, roll down" ladders that you hid in your bedroom so you could escape out the window again when the house burst into flame. Never got one and even if I had, I'm not sure how you carry down an infant, two cats and a dog. It's sort of like the brain teaser where you have a chicken, grain and a fox and you have to get them all across the river. But, none can be left alone, one will eat the other etc.... Because if you take the baby first, then you have to leave it alone on the lawn and the cats are running around the house, if you take the cats first then they'll run away the minute they are outside... already my mind is spinning! But I digress and I believe have forgotten the point of this post...

So anyway, each morning I have about 12 different blogs that I read, I have them linked to mine so I can immediately see who has updated and who hasn't. I discovered a new blog http://ohnoa.com/. It's pretty damn funny. ***Disclaimer - it's chock full of profanity, so if you don't find profanity amusing, this may not be the blog for you. I, on the other hand, find it immensely amusing. When I logged on today to read her blog imagine my HORROR and AMAZEMENT when I discovered that her house had burned down TWICE! I can't even begin to imagine, nor do I want to as I'm sure that would lead to many more sleepless nights. Her post was totally hilarious and I spent a good portion of my early morning laughing out loud and she linked me to another interesting site http://the-burning-house.com/ that I spent altogether too much time perusing.

Which leads me to the purpose of this post.... If your house were burning down... what would you take?
For me:

Kids (although now they are probably old enough and smart enough to save me)

Dogs (not smart enough to recognize me when I come home from the store and so obviously need saving)

Wish I could save the snakes, but their cages are too heavy and they don't come when you call them in the smokey, dark, flame ridden house.

Mr. Spock nutcracker (kidding! - that I'd save it, not that I have one sitting on my desk)

I'd want to save my photo albums, but I have too many and they weigh too much because I'm slightly obsessive about documenting.

Maybe the 45 year old plant I inherited from my husbands grandmother?
Oh and the laptop - then I'd have some of my pictures
But, honestly, with my kids, dogs and husband... what else do I need?

Baby Boy Milestone 4,745

2011-05-14T17:30:00.000-04:00

Hallelujah! Our 13 year old baby boy finally lost another baby tooth. Actually 2 teeth in 24 hours! The kid is 13 and has only lost 8 baby teeth. At this rate he's going to be ready for braces when he's 35! Maybe that's a good thing, are you still required to pay for braces if your child is an adult? Hmmmmmm.... The big teeth were already coming in and the baby teeth didn't want to leave so I made a dentist appointment to have them pulled, but told Zack to work on them himself. After all, every tooth he pulls himself saves me $78! Two more teeth gone, saved mama $156! So the tooth fairy offered the kid $20 or a left over bag of Sour Patch Kids. Guess which he chose? Obviously... the candy! With choices like that it's amazing to me that all his teeth haven't fallen out!

Baby Milestone 6,750

2011-05-13T23:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my baby girl went to the Doctor all by herself! She woke up with a sore throat and what looked like white patches. I told her I was working but if she wanted to she could go to the doctor by herself. So she did, picked up her prescription all by herself and came home and put herself to bed! Very proud, but a little sad, brought a small tear to my eye when I was talking about it with a friend. Can't believe how grown up she is.... of course I'm not obsolete yet... she still needed Mama's $$$ to pay for the copay and prescription. That probably never ends if given their choice!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:21:00.000-04:00

The thing I love most about my Mom is that she is ALWAYS on my side. No matter what. She never picks John over me. Although in our early years of dating I am pretty sure she liked him better than she liked me. That may have been more of a reflection on me and on my choice in male companions, than it was a deep abiding love for John. But since then... she always picks me. She even picks me over the grand kids. I don't think that's true for most grandmas. I know that no matter how outrageous my behavior, how irrational my reasoning or how bug-eyed crazy my thought processes, she ALWAYS picks ME! And while we may drive each other crazy because we are so much alike, I don't think there's a better gift than that. Happy Mother's Day - Mimi!

Another new feeder
My Mother's Day has been amazingly wonderful! I didn't even mention it during the preceding week, not because I was trying to trick anyone or test anyone, but because I didn't really need any gifts and for the most part, my family is good to me...mostly.
But lo and behold when I got up in the morning, there were presents and cards on the table at my place.
Beautiful tulips and a new bird feeder
The kids did my chores, we went to Smoothie Cafe for lunch, the weather was beautiful, I took 2 walks with the pups, then a bubble bath and I got wonderful presents. Two new bird feeders - one hangs on the window and the other is a unique feeder for Orioles that you fill with an orange half and grape jelly! I know...grape jelly?... who knew. I also got my favorite thing....homemade cards. I've always told the kids, I don't need presents, all I ever really want is a homemade card from each of them. And to this day they've never let me down.
My FABULOUS cards!
I always look forward to seeing what they come up with.
Zack's are always funny. They either have cartoons or funny sayings, and generally they involve sarcasm, since that's what my children were weaned on. In the Hyzy House you get a steady diet of sarcasm. I was just thankful that this year's card did not involve any sort of fart or poop humor. Who knows, maybe he's growing up.

Brenna's cards are always an artistic work of art and generally involve a poem and are always all the mushy things she would never say out loud. This year's cards didn't let me down.
Zack's card made me laugh and Brenna's card made me cry. All in all not a bad thing.

P.S. This was my girl's Facebook status...

Brenna Hyzy
I love my mommy with allllll my heart she's the best mom in the world :) And this time I wasn't hacked... Happy Mother's Weekend Julie Hall Hyzy! ♥

A trip to Hell...not so much

2011-05-07T16:45:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a trip to the Mall with BOTH my children. I probably haven't take both my children to the mall at the same time in 10 years. Let's be honest except for the twice yearly trip to buy summer clothes and school clothes for Zack I haven't been to the mall by myself in as many years. I don't like the mall. I don't like shopping and until today I didn't much like taking BOTH my kids anywhere. :o)

But today I was weak... and when Zack said he was ready and Brenna said she wanted to go and "help." I gave in, and you know what it was awesome! Not only did we get everything on our list to include: shorts, shirts, shoes, bathing suits and flip flops for Zack. We got Brenna's graduation dress and sandals, a new bathing suit and flip-flops. I got damn cute summer shoes, flip-flops and new tupperware. The kids got tie-dyed shirts and we all got matching bracelets so that when Brenna leaves for college we'll all still be connected.

Not only that....

NO ONE cried, no one pouted, no one called each other stupid. We laughed, we gave fashion advice and we had lunch together! It was not Hell... it was Heaven! It only took 18 years and now Brenna is leaving. Some how that just doesn't seem fair.

Leave it to Beaver ain't got nothing on us!

2011-05-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

I think I've mentioned before how much I love our neighborhood. This is just another example of why. 1st Outdoor Movie Night of the year. We watched Tangled, ate candy and popcorn and snuggled under blankets. It was awesome!

1st movie night of the year

Even Cooper and Zoey are ready

The whole neighborhood turns out

Movie buddies

Got my girl and my popcorn!

Am I the only one conflicted?

2011-05-05T15:00:00.004-04:00

This blog is in no way shape or form reflective of the world in general. For the most part it's only about my little corner of the world and since no one but my husband and mother probably read it that's fine. But I do plan on printing it off each year and attaching it to the scrapbook for that year and so I wonder should I comment on current events going on in my world. Will "all" the people in the future thumbing through the scrapbooks and reading the blog wonder about what was going on in the world at the same time.

Will they care that gas hit the $4 mark here or that it seems every person on the DC city council is being arrested for misuse of funds and fraud or that we have some sort of trillion dollar debit in our nation, that many of the middle eastern countries are rising up and protesting their dictators, that Japan is dealing with an earthquake induced nuclear meltdown, tsunamis or that the largest number of tornados ever hit the midwest 2 weeks ago? I don't know and sadly I am really not the best person to comment on current events. I don't read newspapers either real or online and I don't watch the national news mainly because I'm not around a TV when it's on, but also because it's never good. It's only famine, fighting, disasters and government name-calling and ideology bashing. I don't like listening to my children bicker and I don't like listening to my elected leaders do it either. I've been relying on my friends and husband to let me know if there is something I should be aware of.
The only exposure to the news I get is from 6-615am while I'm laying in bed waiting for the weather. So, if it doesn't make that portion of my local news then I don't know about it.

Needless to say (but I will anyway) this weeks news made my 15 min window. On Sunday May 1st Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces troops. Apparently spontaneous celebrations broke out all over the US, at ball games, at concerts and in the streets.
Am I the only one a little uncomfortable with that? Don't get me wrong, am I glad he's dead - YES. Do I think the world is a better place - YES. Do I think he deserved a trial and all the attention that goes along with that - DEFINITELY NO. Do I think he deserved to die - Yes probably so. But do I want to go out in the streets and cheer and party and celebrate the death of another person, another human? No, I don't think I do. I will leave you with a quote I read on another blog I follow...

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

-Martin Luther King Junior

But when the Zombie Apocalypse comes I will NOT be rowing to escape!

2011-05-04T21:26:00.002-04:00

Brenna has rowed for the last two years, I've been at every regatta cheering my guts out, but I'd never put my money where my mouth was until Sunday. I have always been a huge advocate for these kids. They are amazing athletes, probably some of the fittest, most coordinated athletes of any sport. You see those boats, especially the 8's, flying down that river it's like poetry in motion. It's amazing, awe inspiring and after Sunday mind-boggling! I rounded up 6 of my favorite friends, because who likes to make a fool of themselves alone, and off we went to Learn to Row camp. And while I learned to row in theory... in practice, not so much... let's just say if you are trying to escape the Zombie Apocalypse and your choice is getting in a boat with me rowing and single handedly making your way on foot, unarmed through the zombie horde....I'd start walking!

Practicing in the barge

Looking skeptically at the boat

It's not just getting in a boat and rowing. There's legs, arms and back all moving in the right order, there's oar position, there's catch position, there's release position. The coxswain is yelling at you, the coach is yelling at you, you have to match the speed and position of the stroke seat, not to mention the evil "crabs" you catch that practically rip the oar out of your hands. Plus, if you are me you are totally stressed about making a fool of yourself in front of all your friends and strangers. Ar-r-r-g-g-g-h-h-h!

You want me to do what?

Oar death grip

Off we go...

I could not keep my oar straight to save my soul. Apparently I have bad wrists. They don't listen to what my brain is telling them to do. Well, they do, but if I begin to think of anything else (like not tipping the boat over) then they go back to their naughty ways and my oar goes all catawampus and higgledy-piggledly. At one point the coach hollered (in the nicest possible way) "5 seat, if you could keep your oar straight it would really help the boat and all the rest of us!" It was pretty humorous, if humiliating yourself in front of all your friends can be considered humorous, which I think it can.

Nevertheless humiliation and all, it was pretty fun. It is very cool being out on the water, especially with friends. I can see how it would be a lot of fun, if you got good at it and everything was working in sync and if I could keep my damn blade straight! I really don't think it was my fault, pretty sure I had a gay blade...just saying.

The makings of a great? 8!

At least when the Zombie Apocalypse hits we'll have lettuce!

2011-05-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

My small, manageable I hope garden

I have decided for some unknown reason to dip my toes in the murky, mysterious waters of home gardening. My history is not great, just ask my mom. She has a totally huge, I mean jolly green giant huge, green thumb. Me, not so much. As the years have progressed, my black thumb has morphed into a vague, sickly green color. I don't necessarily kill every thing I touch, now it's more of the benign wasting disease of neglect. I always start out enthusiastic, gung-ho full of dreams and ideals. I'm going to single handedly bring nature back to the city, purify our household air and teach the kids about the wonder of nature... but then slowly and insidiously I begin to get distracted, lose interest and the next thing I know I have pots full of sad, droopy dead "use to be" plants. But NOT THIS TIME! :o)
I decided to start small and manageable and instead of investing too much time an effort in creating veggie beds, I would use containers. Small, manageable and easy to keep track of, or so I hope. So, I ordered books, I did my research and I planted... tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, mixed lettuces, squash and herbs. And I waited....

My lettuce bowl

Peppers

Our first homegrown salad! Delicious!

And believe it or not... it grew and it's still growing. Right now all we have is lettuce, but nothing has died, nothing has wilted, rabbits haven't found it and I have hope!

Will and Kate ain't got nothing on us!

2011-05-01T18:27:00.000-04:00

While most people in the world were glued to the TV watching some sort of shenanigans going on across the sea, little did they know they were missing the REAL EVENT. Royal wedding, shmoyal wedding...right here in Hyzyland it was PROM NIGHT! I'm not sure even what to say about the whole thing except for the trite but true... "I can't believe how grown up they look." "I can't believe she's so beautiful." Blah, Blah, Blah drivel, drivel, drivel. I should just let the pictures speak for themselves. Let me just say though, I was totally STUNNED when she walked down the stairs. I mean really... really... that's our baby girl. That's the Wonder Child... how, why, when...I mean really.... You always look at the sweet little baby or toddler or growing girl and think "Geez, I know everyone thinks it, but MY kid really is cute." And then this walks down the stairs and you know and you feel a little sorry for all the other people who really did think their kid was cute or pretty until they saw this....

Is there any movie star or royal person more stunning than this?

Her boyfriend of almost a year... Zack-Zack

Will and Kate, I don't think so... this has to be the most stylish couple.

So beautiful, so stunning, so grown up... it really does make a mother weep.

I don't care

2011-04-29T06:36:00.002-04:00

Is it bad that I DON'T CARE that Will and Kate are getting married? I'm just saying....

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:41:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter 2011! It started off with everyone sleeping in late except me. Can I just say the one thing that's nice about your children getting older is that the Easter Bunny was very happy that he could go home after a long night. Get a good night's sleep, wake up , have his morning coffee and then put out the Hyzy Easter Baskets! It is tricky when the kids are 18 and 13 to figure out what to put in their baskets. So they got things like body wash, deoderant and socks, but mostly candy. Oh the candy!

I love a man-boy who will wear a good pair of Easter socks!

I guess no matter how old they get, candy is always good. I don't know why that surprises me, since as the baskets were being stuffed, there was - one candy for Brenna, one candy for Zack and "Ooohhh that's a good one" for mom! I can't believe how grown up they are getting. I mean look at Zack - he's almost as tall as his sister. Wha-a-a-a-t!?

Cooper is helping with the egg hiding.

Hiding instead of hunting this year.

We had a fabulous cul-de-sac outdoor lunch together. I just love our cul-de-sac, it's exactly the kind of neighborhood I always imagined. The adults hangout, talk, play washers, drink and generally enjoy themselves especially if the requisite Big Bucket O' Margaritas is busted out! The kids run around eating too much candy, getting too tired, too dirty and too wound up. Someone always cries and someone else makes them laugh and they all go at it again. In the summer it's fire fly catching and outdoor movie night and glow in the dark bracelets. We all yell at each other's kids, and tell parenting war stories that make you feel better and worse about yourself all at the same time. I know people always "pooh-pooh" Hilary Clinton, but when she said "It takes a village"but she was damn right. Even when you don't agree with parenting styles or advice - its' still nice to have it all and see how other people do it, how it works or doesn't work. It just makes it all so much better with good friends!

So, the adults hid eggs and the kids hunted for eggs. You are never too old to hunt for eggs when candy is involved. The big kids helped the little kids and the adults rummaged through the candy... and it was GOOD!

I Hate...

2011-04-20T10:28:00.000-04:00

RUNNING! Ran again today. I am repeating Week #2 because I was out of town for 2 days and my allergies have been kicking my ass this week and I haven't felt like walking around the house let alone running. I know, I know excuses, excuses, excuses... So, I sucked it up today and we ran. Can I just say, I HATE RUNNING and not in a I hate vacuuming the house or I hate dusting way. But in a I Hate people who abuse animals and children or I Hate it when politicians interrupt "our regularly scheduled programming" to speak to us way. I mean - look, I don't read books I hate, I don't eat food I hate, I don't hang around with people I hate, I don't go to movies I know I'll hate and I don't (generally) participate in activities I hate. So why oh why may I ask am I continuing to force myself to...run... The only thing I like about this whole thing is when the running is over. I'm happy when I'm done, but I'm not sure that's enough to keep me running. We'll see, the verdict is still out....

She's a Highlander!

2011-04-17T20:19:00.000-04:00

We visited Radford University this weekend and.... turns out....it's THE ONE! She really liked it. After visiting both ODU and Radford, this school is definitely more "Brenna." It's quite rural, lots of farms, cows and horses. Did I mention HORSES everywhere!

Library

It's smaller than ODU which is not a bad thing, beautiful campus. There's not a huge amount of graduate level opportunities in the Science college and while that seems a negative at first, what it means for the undergraduates, is much more opportunity to do research and publish papers and gain valuable experience. Since she has no idea what she wants to do except major in biology and work with animals, her Master's degree would probably be very specialized anyway and require transfering regardless of where she starts off.

Freshman Dorm

Student activites center

She liked the dorms. Excuse me... Residence halls. They are all suite style, which means 2 rooms or 4 girls share one bathroom. The days of a bathroom at the end of the hall with all the rooms sharing are over. Nice!
So, we made our deposit and we are on our way to being Radford Highlanders!

DREAD THE RED!

Holy Sh*****!

2011-04-12T11:34:00.008-04:00

Day 1 of Week 2... it rained. It rained Day 1 of Week 1 as well. I can only assume that it's God weeping because I am wasting my time trying to run. I'll have to keep monitoring for other signs. Also, what the hell sort of Twilight Zone episode is going on over on Mohican road? I know for a fact that 90 secs of running is SO NOT the same amount of time as 90 sec of walking. Damn time warp bastards. Lastly, the personal running trainer voice that I originally thought was so calm and sexy, now just makes me want to hunt that guy down and stab him in the throat! Running might not be my thing... I'm just saying.

Make me a Monarch or...

2011-04-11T19:00:00.000-04:00

Brenna, Mel-weenie (Brenna's BFF) and I road tripped down to Old Dominion University's "Make Me a Monarch" day. We spent the night in a hotel so we could be there bright and early for the program.

It was a well done and informative program. Of course, you had to weed through all the propaganda and rah-rah "This is the BEST university ever" cheering. But, Brenna came away loving it and very excited about going there. We'll hit Radford next weekend before she makes her final decision.

I liked ODU, its a beautiful campus and seems to have a decent sized Biology department. You hear a lot about ODU being a party school, but frankly I figure if they are going to party, then they are going to party and any school will become a party school. Likewise, if they aren't going to party it doesn't matter what the school is like. Brenna has a good head on her shoulders.

Really the biggest draws for me... Schlotzkey's and Sonic right on the way!!! I say sign her up!

Geez, quit your bellyaching

2011-04-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

After I finished Day 2 of my "big running goal program" yesterday, you know the one where I run for 45 sec and walk for 2 minutes and I do this 4 times and then a cool down walk... Yeah that one. I happened to tune into Regis and Kelly (while I was changing clothes, I don't normally watch) and I saw the story about this guy www.dadt.com/live/special/runacrossamerica/index.html. Apparently this Dean Karnazes guy is running 50-60 MILES a day until he makes it from California to New York. Yes, you read that right... 50-60 MILES. A. DAY! He is doing it to encourage Americans to get up, get healthy and get fit. I guess all proceeds go toward a group called Action for Healthy Kids. http://www.active.com/donate/AFHK Jesus Christ, I don't even want to DRIVE 50-60 miles a day! Guess I'll try not to complain about my 45 sec run...

Thundering Elephants

2011-04-07T09:35:00.004-04:00

Day 2 of the running plan completed. Does everyone feel like a galumping elephant when they first start running? I see all the other people running around me and they seem so fleet and light-footed while I feel like I should hear shouts of "stampede" or "Earthquake! Take Cover" as I run past! I hope it's going to get better, Zoey and I definitely did not enjoy Day 2 as much as Day 1.

This Boy....

2011-04-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

This boy is co cute you want to eat him with a spoon, so sweet he still says "love you momma" even though he's 13.

But, this boy has never gotten out of bed by himself unless the clock reads later than 1030am. This boy requires the waking process to begin 30min before he has to get up so that I can troop up and down the stairs 2-3 times reminding him to "wake up now!"

And at least once a week, I find this boy asleep on the bathroom floor, covered with his towel while the shower is running. This boy is going to need a really patient college roommate!