Proud to be an American

I forgot that I had taken these pictures when I posted last night. Here is the setting sun as we headed out for Dallas, and our GPS to show us the way...


And before I really begin, first, a shout-out to my parents.


Mom, please don't be one of those grandma's who has a horrible haircut and wears t-shirts like this...

By the time we got to the fair, the parking lots were all full, so we parked at a church who was selling spots for $10 (actually cheaper than the fair). We were the first ones in this section of the "parking lot," all the way in the corner by the trees.

It was a good mile away from the fairgrounds, but we knew we were getting close when we started seeing these signs.


Once we bought our tickets, we were on our way! Lee wore Texas Longhorn's orange, like a million other people that day.


Now, I would like to say that Big Tex was there to welcome us, but that would be a lie. We actually didn't find him until about half way through the day. I know what you're thinking... Shouldn't it be easier to find a 52-ft talking statue? Yes, yes it should. But the fair is also HUGE, so that explains it.


Some of the booths had "Texas" written all over them. Boots, spurs, saddles, hides, and beef byproducts covered the tables. Chelsea and Sienna would have been in heaven with these 1.5-ft beef bones!


And of course, no Texas fair would have been complete without fried... everything! We saw tons of fried foods. Among them,

• fried oreos
• fried peanut butter and jelly
• fried catfish
• fried pepperoni pizza
• fried cheesecake
• fried onions
• fried chicken
• fried pineapple
• fried pumpkin pie
• fried cookie dough
• fried ice cream
• fried beer
• fried moon pies
• fried frozen margaritas (someone please explain this to me...?)
• fried cheese sticks
• fried dough
• fried cheese curd
• fried guacamole
• and my personal favorite...
  

Yes, fried butter, ladies and gentlemen.

Also, I was SO expecting to see fried pickles everywhere, and I was obviously very excited since I love pickles times a billion. But strangely, we didn't see ANY until we were literally walking out of Fair Park. One little stand, and by that time I was too stuffed and tired to even care. :(

Lee took these pictures of the Cotton Bowl, and he wouldn't let me delete the one of the side entrance. I [mistakenly] thought the one of the main entrance was most important, thus rendering the other one unnecessary. However, he was quick to inform me that the other one is a new tunnel they just put in and he wanted it because it shows the "new metal letters." I'm not quite sure why this was my problem since Lee will

1. never print them out
2. never put them on Facebook
3. never blog about them

but I guess it's not my place to judge. So here it is, for you, Lee. Both pictures you took. (Sometimes he's just so gosh-darn cute that you have to just let him be...)


We went to several shows throughout the day, to give us a break from the heat and walking. The first was an acrobatic show featuring these little, strong Chinese dudes (and some girls too).


We also saw Billy Roy, the one-man band. Now, you'd think that this would be kind of lame, but he was actually really good...for a one-man band. At one point in the show, he played 12 instruments at once (see second picture)! Yes, that is a helmet with a tambourine on it.


We also saw a dog show with dobermans that could jump really high and do some tricks. (Lee just made fun of me for writing that sentence, but honestly, that's what they did. I can't dress it up any more than that.) Later on, we saw the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. They were spectacular, and we were in the shade for this show, so I liked it even more. :)


Animals speckled the fair here and there. I thought it would be more farm/cattle-oriented, since it's...you know...Texas, but I guess not.


Meet Boris. The MASSIVE boar/hog/thing.

In case you can't read that, it says:

"Claim to fame: Champion Big Boar
Weight: 1196 pounds
Family: Registered Hampshire - Lots of brothers and sisters (but he got the biggest end of the trough)
Age: 6 years old
Acrobatic tricks:

• Smile and wave (with his ears) at passing fair goers
• Wag his tail with excitement
• Lie down
• Sleep for long periods of time
• Eat 20 pounds of feed per day
• Oink whenever he feels like it"
  

Speaking of food... (Get it?!) We have seen turkey legs just about everywhere down here (even at our high school football games), but this was our first time trying one. Two words: LARGE and DELICIOUS. I take that back, three words...LARGE, DELICIOUS, and salty.


This is how much we still had left after BOTH of us ate it. Lee picked at the rest of it this morning before we officially considered it eaten.


Besides food and shopping, we also rode 2 rides. One of them was "the swings" but reeeeaaalllllly...high... IT WAS AWESOME! :) It is usually my favorite fair ride anyway, and the fact that we were 50 feet in the air was even better. The second one was this (not sure if the link will work)... Kind of like the Max Air at Cedar Point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU-VfFy5b-I&NR=1

At the end of the night, we went to a show called "Illumination Sensation." There were fountains, fireworks, strobe lights, and images on giant screens. We were sitting on the wrong side, though, so we couldn't see any of the fountains. Since we were tired and couldn't see anyway, we decided to leave a little early. But as we were walking, I asked Lee to stop for a minute because we were in a spot where we could finally see the whole show. It's a good thing we did, too, because as the last song came on - "Proud to be an American" - 4 jacked college guys jumped up and started yelling "YES!" and pumping their fists in their air. They started singing at the top of their lungs and dancing together. Then they randomly took turns doing push-up's in time to the music while the others cheered them on by pointing at them them and slapping the ground, all the while still shouting "YES!" and singing. One guy probably did 200 push-up's by the time the song was over and the firework finale was shot off. I don't know if they were drunk or just REALLY proud to be an American, but it was hilarious. We couldn't have hoped for a better ending to the night. LOL.

As we were lying on the grass waiting for the show to start, it dawned on me that we live in a beautiful place. I sat up, looked at Lee, and said, "Do you realize that we are sitting here in shorts and t-shirts, lying in the grass at 8:00 at night, and it's October?!" I am love-love-loving the weather now, and I'm sure I will well into November/December. I hope all of you New Yorker's are jealous and decide to move down here. Your little bout of warm weather will be short lived, and we miss all ya'll! ;)

When we got back to our hotel, a shower and sleep never felt so good. We did so much walking it was crazy. Just to give you an idea...it took us half an hour - I kid you not - to walk from the Illumination Sensation show to our car! And that was walking at Lee-speed. :)

Even though today is almost over too, I'm too blogged out to blog any more so today's goings-on will have to wait for another day. (The internet at our hotel is super slow and it took me about 2 hours just to upload the pictures.)

Love and miss you all...until next time...

~Hooks

P.S. Fun fact: Fairs are expensive. We spent $20 in water alone.
P.P.S. Ben, sorry I missed your calls! There was no way I could hear my phone in there, but give me a call sometime "tomorrow" (Monday for me). I don't have school until Tuesday.

And so it begins...

We set out on our journey to Dallas last night after work, excited to finally be getting some time to relax and enjoy life without work... Then we got pulled over for speeding. Not so fun. :)

Luckily, the officer let us off with a warning, but still. That kind of puts a damper on things for at least 10 minutes. Then we were blasting the music, dancing (me), and singing once again. I don't have any good pictures and that was the only eventful thing that happened, so this is me saying over and out. The State Fair of Texas is waiting!

~Hooks

You Know You're in the Ghetto When...

...gas is $3.01/gal...

~Hooks

The Good, the Bad, and the Yummy

The Good: On Thursday, it had been a long day, and we were getting home late (as usual) so we decided (through texts) that Chic-Fil-A was (obviously) in order. Since I have air conditioning in my car, I was dubbed the lucky one to go get the food. We totally love Chic-Fil-A, so I went all out on the ordering. But $17 later, when I was 2 cars from the window, I realized I had left my wallet at school. BIG oops. The place was packed, as it always is, and I was stuck in the drive-thru with cars all around me. I called Lee in a panic: "Lee! How far away are you? I just ordered at Chic-Fil-A, and I then I realized I don't have any way to pay because I left my wallet at school!" The answer came that he was still about 15 minutes away. Not good.

When I pulled up to the window, I immediately asked if they could cancel my order. I explained that I was deeply sorry and embarrassed but that I didn't have any way to pay. I told them that I could have my husband come meet me and then I would re-order and be able to pay then, but other than that... The girl at the window called her manager over. They talked for a minute; I assumed she was asking him how to cancel the order. He slid some sort of card through the machine, handed me a bag of food, and said, "Don't worry ma'am. It's on us today." Holy cow. If I didn't love Chic-Fil-A before, I definitely did then. The girl came back to the window, handed me my drinks too and asked me if I needed any dipping sauces. By this time, I was almost losing it, so with eyes glistening I told her, "No thank you. I don't think I can take anything else from you right now." After I thanked them about 4 more times, I drove off...with free Chic-Fil-A. My night couldn't have gotten better.

The Bad: Last Saturday was Free Museum Day. Seventeen museums across the city were offering free admission to the public. Lee and I went with Becca, Pete, and family to the Natural Science Museum. It would have been sweet, except for the fact that I started to get a headache on the way there, and I had just finished all of the ibuprofen in my to-go stash the day before. There were SO many people there; it was loud and hot. Not good for a headache. By the time we got to the second floor, I couldn't take it anymore. I told Lee and everyone else to go ahead without me. I sat cross-legged on a bench with my head in my hands for about 40 minutes. I think I even fell asleep once or twice. People were going by, but I could have cared less about what they thought. I was in so much pain, and now nauseous.

When we finally left, I was so sick I could hardly respond to people when they talked to me. Becca gave me their "puke bowl" in the van, just in case. Of course, by the time Pete and Lee tried to find their way out of the city, with all of the twists and turns and 1-way streets...the puke bowl wasn't happening. I needed OUT. I told them to pull over, but in the time it took me to go behind the van (so I wouldn't traumatize the kids), the sudden urge was gone. I tried to force myself, but I was only mildly successful. I felt a little better though, so I slept on the way home. Once we got back to Becca and Pete's house, I said goodbye and climbed into our car. The nausea had started again, and it was BAD. I had to have Lee pull over on the way back to our apartment. At this point it was raining, but I didn't care. As soon as he pulled into the parking lot, I opened my door, leaned over, and puked...a lot. In fact, there was still a stain on the pavement when we checked a week later. Gross. And a little awesome.

Once we got home, my stomach was feeling a lot better, but my head was still throbbing. I took medicine asap, took a 10 minute bath while Lee made the bed (we had washed our sheets earlier that day), then crawled into bed with an ice pack and slept from 4:30 to 7:30. I woke up for about half and hour to talk to Lee and eat some Saltines, then I went back to sleep until the next morning. At least the migraine was for a good cause: rain. Something we desperately needed and the first real drenching rain we'd had since we moved here. I guess that's why my head got so bad. But rain in TX can be pretty cool...


The Yummy: We went yard-sale-ing yesterday with my Gramma and cousin JD. We got a ton of great buys. Our favorite? A like-new bread maker for $12! We had been wanting one for a while, so we were thrilled when we saw it sitting there...


We made our first batch today, and mmmmmm was it good! Here are some pics... (of course I had to document!)


That's yeast in the middle... It can NEVER come in contact with the liquid ingredients until it's in the maker. Hmm. The things you learn when you own a bread-maker. Amazing.


The finished product!


The Random: I know it wasn't part of the title, but these are some random pics I had forgotten about or couldn't fit anywhere...

This one was from our first Friday of school. We get to wear "Spirit Dress" - jeans and collared school shirts. It was 5:30 in the morning, thus the wet, un-brushed hair and sleepy eyes. :)


Someone took this after school this past Friday. I didn't want my picture taken, but afterwards, I decided that it was kind of cute.


My "Hooker" poster above my classroom door. Everyone in the math hall has a poster "naming" their classroom. Some of them are "Baxter's Pad," "Turner's Turf," "Mike's Madhouse," and "Wulff's Den." They couldn't think of anything that would have been approved with the word Hooker in it though, so we just made a little smiley face out of it. Cop out, but sweet none-the-less. My kids love it. So do random students walking by: "That sign says 'Hooker'!" Haha, love it...


Best. Poster. EVER. Made by Student Council. And I get to see it every day on my way to the bathroom. Yes.


Well, that's it. Over and out.... Goodnight lovely people!

~Hooks

The Day I Never Saw the Sun

I left my apartment this morning at 5:50. It was dark. I left school at 8:30. It was dark. Still, just why was this day one of the greatest so far? I'll tell you.

• God gave me an alternate way to teach my kids how to find a missing endpoint of a segment, given the other endpoint and the midpoint. ...YES I prayed about that.
• A student told me after school that I should be "Teacher of the Year." And it wasn't for letting her have her way (which I don't). It was for teaching her math. And that's it.
• Lee's parents helped us out with the cost of plane tickets. (Do I hear an "Amen" to that?!)
  
• I didn't even bring my teacher bag home with me because I finished ALL OF MY WORK AT SCHOOL. I know it seems like a "duh" thing since I was there so late, but that is not always the case. Those of you who know me well know I procrastinate a tad. :)
• I saw my first (dead) armadillo today.
• My parents sent me 6 pix messages of them just being goofballs on their dinner date to Rico's. I love that they are still in love. :)
• God took our $20,000+ hospital debt and said, "Not on My watch." We now have to pay $200. You read that right....$200!!!!!!!!!!
  

All blog-worthy. All praise-God-worthy.

~Hooks

And Just WHERE Have the Past 3 Weeks Gone???

Quickie post... I just checked my personal email account, which I have been ignoring, and after clearing most of the 165 emails and allowing Facebook to distract me for a bit, here I am.

I just wanted to let you all know that...

• YES, we are surviving school.
• We are, in fact, not just surviving, but loving it.
• No, we have not died or been evacuated due to the wildfires. They are close, but the firefighters are doing a great job. Other than the eerie pinkish/gray cloud of smoke we can see from our balcony, we haven't been affected.
• We are so busy it's unbelievable. True, some of it is "needless" busyness, like game/movie nights with Becca and Pete, or jewelry parties at my Aunt Cheryl's house, but then there are also the 8 am-2 pm mandatory school trainings on Saturdays (Oh like today?) Yep.
  
• It is cooling down here. We're only getting to the high 90's most days now, and believe it or not, we can actually feel the difference. I guess we're becoming true Texans.
• My kids (students) are completely enamored with New York. They keep asking me about New York City, even though I've told them several times that I am NOT from NYC. Even so, they ask, so I tell them that it's dirty, polluted, and people are rude. But - bless their hearts - they refuse to believe that such a place could exist where people don't hold doors for one another, or are scared to make eye contact while walking down the street for fear of being shot/mugged or having to interact with another human being. ...Aren't they just precious? :)
• Many of them have also never seen double-sided tape, nor do they know how to use it. One huge football player in my second period class could not have been more serious when he asked, wide-eyed, "Miss, did you bring this with you from New York??"
  

And now, I'm off to get ready before we go see Contagion with B&P. Can't wait. Miss all my NY-ers like crazy though. :( But we'll see [most of] you in only about a month!!! Whoo hoo! Thanks for getting married, Rach. :)

~Hooks

Sorry I Didn't Get to This Yesterday...

Ok, we'll start off with the gross picture so the post can only get better... This is my pinky toe. That white part is a GIGANTIC blister. I can't even walk right. :(


I am so tired, so all I'm just going to post pictures of my classroom. The first (and second) day was great! The kids seem pretty cool and willing to please if you show them you care.

And finally, a walking-out-the-door-at-6:30pm-picture taken my by new friend Christina (pictured somewhere above) to prove that I actually made it through my first day of school...swollen feet and all.


This post (after the toe picture) is dedicated to my parents. I wouldn't be where I am today with you guys. (Or should I say "y'all"...) I love you!

~Hooks