Thankful...

Once again I am at odds with myself.  I hear /read all of my friends posting about things they are thankful for... friends, family, good health, sunrise, sunset... you know.  All of those wonderful things (and I'm not being sarcastic... really!)  It makes me feel guilty that I do not do the same... but I just cannot bring myself to be so... what's the word?  Traditional?  Maybe.  Normal?  Probably better.  I am VERY thankful for all of those things, but as most everyone knows - I rarely express my thoughts quite like everyone else. 

I wrote a blog last November about a few of the things I was thankful for (here's a link if you want to read it: http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/103603/view/131911.html )  I thought maybe another list was in order for this year...

1.  The automatic gate opener... just imagine - I used to have to GET OUT OF THE CAR to open the gate every time I needed to go somewhere.  THEN... I'd have to get out of the car to SHUT it again.  How did I manage to survive all those years with that kind of torment????  Thankfully, now I don't have to brave the rain, heat, wind... sigh... technology is my friend.

2.  Reading glasses.  Ok - let me get something straight right off the bat - I am NOT thankful that I need reading glasses.  I went FORTY YEARS (good gosh how did I get so old??) without needing glasses of any kind... well - I did need sunglasses (preferrably pink ones with rhinestones) but that's different.  All of a sudden, after turning 40 last December, I cannot read my magazines so well at night when I go to bed.  That really stinks, by the way.  I finally broke down and got a pair of reading glasses (the weakest ones, at least) not too long ago.  WOWZER - what a difference it makes.  I have learned, though, not to try to walk around with them on - it just doesn't work so well when the floor looks like it's closer than it is!

3.  Toilet Paper... enough said.

4.  The Beatles.  Gotta love 'em (and if you don't, I don't wanna know!)  John, Paul, George and Ringo are with me every day on my iPod and on my wall.  No... no poster.  But I do have a Beatles calendar this year.   She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah...

5.  Ambien.  It is simply amazing the amount of things I can get done in a day when I sleep more than 1 1/2 hours each night.  Who'd have thought? (I'm a much nicer person, too - just ask my children!)

6.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  Omgosh if you haven't tried one of these, you HAVE to!  I don't know how they work, but with my 3 sons, 4 dogs, & 2 cats, I don't CARE how they work...black magic for all I care!  I used one to clean my glass-top stove yesterday... it had a stain that I had been scrubbing at off and on for 6 months (I had let something with milk in it boil over and it permanently attached itself to the stove... smelled good, too!)  It didn't even take a lot of scrubbing to get it off with the Magic Eraser.  Cleans pencil & pen marks off the walls, too.  Now, granted, I'm not sure WHY I have pencil & pen marks on my walls.  I thought that by the ages of 11, 15 & 16, the boys would have outgrown writing on the walls.  Not that it happens OFTEN or anything... but I guess I was WRONG.  AND I'm pretty sure the teenagers have little to do with it anymore...

7.  Sirius Satelite Radio (in my car).  I'm afraid I'll never be able to live without it again.  I'm addicted.  SOOOOOO many channels to choose from!  Did you know that Martha Stewart Radio has a show with the Pet guy from the MSL magazine (Marc or something like that)??  He's kinda... interesting.  I'm pretty sure he wouldn't approve of the living arrangements for my pets, being that I don't have luxury condo's for them and all, and don't feed them gourmet dog/cat food.  I'm also pretty sure he'd be horrified for all of the critters that are slaughtered by my pets, too (skunks, mice, snakes, armadillos (????), squirrels)...city boy that he is.  hee hee

8.  Air Freshener/Febreeze.  Oh dear Lord, if you don't have one, you have no idea of the stink of some teenage boys.  The smell in Jake's room is enough to knock out a gorilla some days.  I think he goes through a can of Febreeze every couple of weeks...  I don't think the carpet will ever be the same, regardless.  I don't even know HOW many air fresheners he has in there... the plug in ones, the Renuzit thingies, the motion sensor one.  Heaven forbid he go to sleep with door shut... when his SHOES are in there.  Last time he did that, some weird, green, living-funk smell escaped under the door and infected the whole upper floor.  I don't know how he breathes.  I'm sure this will have some sort of long-term effect on his lungs...possibly his brain, too.  Weird thing is - Justin's room doesn't stink at all.  hmmmm.

So there you have it... things I am very grateful for.  I also should add color printers, camera lenses, pink roses, cordless phones, spray starch, Johnny Depp, fluffy kitties, and chickens with Phyllis Diller hair-do's... but I don't have time.  :)

...thoughts on the eleven-year-old boy

You know... I am not surprised by many things that my boys do or say.  I pretty much expect 2-year-olds to have tantrums... and teenagers to look at me like I'm stupid... and curfews to be broken ever so slightly (but Mom - the clock in my truck says it's 10:57!)... but my youngest son, at 11, does surprise me at times.  It must be kinda confusing being 11.  On the verge of adolescence, but still really a little kid.  On the other hand - maybe it would be FUN being in that in-between area... still being able to CHOOSE if you're going to be a big kid or a little kid?  I remember that I still played with Barbie's, loved to play baseball with the boys, had just started babysitting away from home, and started 7th grade when I was 11.    Oh gosh... that says it all, doesn't it?!? 

Anyway... here are some of the things my CURRENT 11-year-old does that surprises me:

1.  Writes on himself.  Markers, pens... legs, feet, hands, arms...really doesn't matter.  I do not understand WHY, even though I've asked him.  Apparently he gets bored at school sometimes.  I ask why he doesn't draw on paper instead... he says I don't understand.  Yesterday he came home with a Pedro mustache drawn on his face.  HE didn't draw it... another boy did. Because he had drawn one on him.  OK then.  Perfectly sensible.  (sigh... can't BELIEVE I didn't get a photo of the Pedro mustache before I made him wash it off - what was I thinking???)

2.  Sits on the couch upside down reading a book (head hanging off the seat of the couch, legs in the air...you get the idea).  I'm pretty sure I used to do this, too, but that doesn't make it any easier to comprehend.  And why did he wait until NOW to start doing it?  He's been reading nearly all his life... are the stories more interesting upside down? 

3.  Drops things on the floor at random times... trash, shoes, books, remote controls... whatever he happens to have in his hands - as soon as something else catches his attention - poof - dropped right there.  When I ask him 'why???' - he actually doesn't realize he's done it.  Sheer lunacy.  He used to have a longer attention span.  I think.  Hmmmm.

4.  Girls.  OK - I know it's normal... but a little disconcerting that all of a sudden he LIKES them.  Does that just happen in 6th grade?  I don't remember the other 2 talking much about girls - but that could be because they had each other to talk to and didn't chat with me about it much.  Oh well... I guess it had to happen. 

5.  OK - this one kinda stresses me.  He is obsessive about deoderant & colognes (puts on deo 3 times/day and about drowns me out with Axe body spray...) but isn't real big on brushing his teeth yet (althought I make sure he DOES brush 2x/day!!!).  I tried to tell him that stinky-breath cancels out cologne & deoderant.  Hopefully one day he'll listen.  It might take a girl telling him he has bad breath, tho.

6.  Hides his dirty socks.  I find balled up socks in the STRANGEST places.  Not just under the bed & in the closet... places he had to FIND to hide the socks... places that it woud have been easier for him to put them in the laundry than there... like behind towels in the linen closet.  Or behind the VCR in the TV cabinet.  Or under pillows on the couch.  I've even found them under his mattress.  The boy has a serious aversion to the laundry room.  Or maybe he's leaving little presents for me... stinky-feet presents?  Maybe wants me to think of him while he's away at school each day?  Wishful thinking, I know.

None of these things make me particulary ANGRY... sometimes it's aggravating, but mostly just...interesting and a lot of times funny.  He is a great kid... still tells me he loves me several times each day.  Makes me laugh all the time (sometimes at the same time he makes me want to strangle him.)  He's got an AWESOME sense of humor - as shown in his choice of Halloween costumes this year.  He wanted to be something "different" but we couldn't think of anything in time.  So he decided to buy a silver skeleton mask and a black, hooded cloak and just be a scary guy.  At the last minute, he ran back upstairs and got the finishing touch to his outfit... a plastic afro.  It was hysterical - Justin & Jake were calling him the "African King."  I thought he looked like one of the aliens out of the movie "Mars Attacks" (I think that's the one, anyway.)   

Sure wishing he could stay this age for longer than he will...

Ode to Sonic Route 44 Fountain Cokes (without any rhyming)

So... over the last year or so I've started drinking Coke.  It started with insomnia... (it's funny how 2 hours of sleep at night affects your mind & body, don't you think?) and I was desperate for caffeine.  Until then, I rarely ever drank sodas/cokes/ soft drinks (whatever you want to call them) - even as a kid.  This has all changed now.  Mind you - I STILL don't drink most things... I abhor Dr. Pepper; Sprite remind me of stomach flu; Pepsi tastes like watered down Coke...you get the picure -  I only drink Coke.  Classic Coke.    Mmmmmmm...

Just for reference - my favorite thing in the whole world is a Route 44 fountain coke from Sonic.  Sigh...what could be better?  The ice... ohhhhh, the ice.  Why can't everyone have ice like that?  We looked into getting an ice maker that would make "Sonic Ice"... it was $600.  Guess who doesn't get a Sonic Ice ice machine???

Unfortunately for me, the longer I drink Coke, the more I notice the differences in the different TYPES of Classic Coke.  It's disturbing, really... why don't all of the bottling options taste the same?  Bottling options?  Does that even make sense?  Do they call the factory where they put the Coke in cans a "Canning Plant"?  I've never heard of Coca Cola Canning - just Coca Cola Bottling.  How strange.  Sorry...getting off-subject.

This is where I started - canned Coke.  It costs the least and is the easiest to recycle.  Didn't take me long (especialy once I discovered Sonic fountain cokes) to realize that there's something ODD  about the taste of Coke in a can.  Don't get me wrong - when there's nothing else available, this will do... but it is a FAR CRY from a Sonic fountain coke, which as I'm sure you know, is the Holy Grail of all drinks.  I can't quite pin it down, but I'm sure it has something to do with being in a metal can - can drinks taste "aluminumy"????

This is coming a bit closer.  Quite a bit, actually.  But STILL not nearly as satisfyingly yummy as Sonic fountain coke.  There's still something missing - it tastes... sharper, maybe?  I finished a fountain Coke a little while ago and felt like I could still use a little more caffeine.  So, I poured a bottle of coke on top of the remaining ice (my fountain coke was from Charlie's Country Store (the Exxon station just South of town) this morning - they have ice that is SOOO close to Sonic ice and a 44 oz drink costs a LOT less, too!)  Let me just say that the difference between my last drink of fountain Coke and my first drink of bottled Coke was shocking - depressingly shocking.  Of course, I'm still going to DRINK it... but sigh... to have my own Coke fountain would be glorious.  I wonder could it be that fountain cokes have more SUGAR?  LOL - ya think?

BTW - just so you know - this is NASTY.  I do not understand how anyone can drink it.  Every now and then I'll accidently end up with Diet Coke and when I taste it, I just want to shave my tongue!  Grody.  And then there's the after taste...(insert me shuddering here)  And it stays with you forever!  I WISH I liked Diet Coke... I really do - I could really dig the low calorie thing.  But it tastes NOTHING like Coke... NOTHING AT ALL.  I refuse - so there!

I only have one thig to say about Coke Zero...

IT'S A LIE!  (no, no - it does have zero calories - they're not lying about THAT.  But it does NOT taste like Coke.  Blech.)


This concludes my dissertation on Classic Coke. Tune in next time to hear my opinion on glassware (well - cupware would be a better description... basically if my Coke doesn't come in a styrfoam cup - FORGET IT- the ice will melt before you can drink half of it... and the bottom falls out of the paper cups... oh, nevermind!)

Oh my gosh this is YUMMY!

I was a busy, busy girl last night! I baked 2 loaves of Pumpkin Bread and 2 loaves of Chocolate Chip Banana Bread... my family LOVES me when I bake!  :)

I tried a new recipe for Banana Bread... it is FANTASTIC!  It almost reminds me of pound cake - so rich and smooth.  I know not everyone gets as excited about banana bread as I do... but it is REALLY worth trying!  It exchanges cream cheese for about half of the butter... I used low fat whipped cream cheese and it worked perfectly (it was all I had, but I think I'll ALWAYS use it.)  I also used "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter - for Baking" and I think I'll be using it for all of my baking from now on - YUM!  SO much better than margarine!  The recipe calls for nuts... but YUCK-O - I do NOT like nuts in my bread...so I put about a cup of chocolate chips instead.  How can you go wrong with chocolate????

Cream Cheese-Banana-Nut Bread

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (1 1/2 pounds unpeeled bananas, about 4 medium)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (or chocolate chips...untoasted!  LOL)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

BEAT butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

COMBINE flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla.  Spoon batter into 2 grased and floured 8x4" loaf pans.

BAKE at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning (this is important!)  Cool bread in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.  Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.

MAKES 2 loaves.

Maybe a window shade would help?

Stephen King talks to me.  Really... he does!  Not all the time (thank Goodness!) but he DOES talk to me.

In our master bathroom, the toilet is located in a tiny little room -  I guess it's called the "powder room"... all it has is the toilet, a cabinet above it and a window.  This window looks out into our side yard.  The side yard has trees.  Trees and grass.  It's a pretty view... in the day time.

I drink a lot of water.  I mean a LOT of water.. all day, every day.  This means I tinkle a lot (... I know tinkle is a silly word, but "urinate" is not in my vocabulary, ok?)  Night time is no exception.  I have to get up to tinkle AT LEAST once every night.  Sometimes twice.

Night time "out in the country"... because "out in the country" is where I live... is DARK.  There are no street lights.  There aren't any other houses in view from the windows of our home.  When you look out the windows - you see black... or a cat face staring back in, but that's a different story. 

Because I drink a lot of water, it is inevitable that I must use the "powder room" at night.  Mostly this is ok, because I am still 95% asleep.  I may run into the wall or door frame but not all the time and I seldom remember it.

Sometimes... sometimes I am more awake... and Stephen King talks to me.  Sometimes, while I am tinkling (sorry, sorry - TMI, I know!) I hear things outside the window.  Wind?  Raccoons?  It's those nights that he speaks...

SK - "Ooooh - what's making that noise?"
ME - "I don't know."
SK - "Why don't you look out the window and see?"
ME - "I don't think so."
SK - "Why not?  It's probably just a raccoon."
ME - "Probably.  But it's DARK out there - I'm still not looking."
SK - "... but you know you want to LOOK..."
ME - "No I don't."
SK - "It's not like it's the Boogeyman... or a Vampire... or a rabid wolf."
ME - "Of course not... I think."
SK - "Oh, just go ahead and look."
ME - "No."
SK - "You're probably right... I wouldn't look either.  What if it IS the Boogeyman?"
ME - "There's no such thing as the Boogeyman...???"
SK - "Of course not... but what if there IS?  What if his face is RIGHT THERE at the window?"

This is where I panic and desperately claw my way out of the bathroom and dive into bed (making sure my feet are UNDER the covers and NOT leaking over the edge of the bed)... waking up Kelly, who asks, "Stephen King again?" 

Winning Games = Happy Cox Family

All is good in the world of the Cox's when we have a good sports weekend.  No one is depressed... no one is sulking (well...not about football anyway)... no one is ranting at people who aren't here.  This is all VERY good for me, Mom...the one who ends up trying to pick up the pieces of the broken-hearted children who don't want to be cheered up after their team loses.  Oooh - did I say children? Hmmmm...how about GUYS?  Because, really, I have to include Kelly in that, too - if the 'Horns were to lose, he would NOT want cheering up, either.  Boys.

Jake started the weekend off with a bang last Thursday.  The MFHS JV Football team beat Hays Lehman 14-0.  Jake even got his name in the paper (which rarely even mentions the JV team!) when Coach Woerner said, "Outstanding blocking by Jake Cox, Herman Ortiz and Justice Ribera lead Hall into the end zone."  Yay Jake!!!

Friday night Zed and the Varsity Mustangs won big against Reagan, too - winning their game 51-6. 

Saturday started off great with Jackson's soccer team winning 5-1 against the River City Rangers.  RCR shouldn't have even had a point (officiating mistake) but that's ok.  This was the Eagles' first game of the season and they played GREAT!  It is going to be fun watching the rest of the games.

Of course the big excitement of the weekend was the UT/Tech game Saturday night.  Longhorns didn't look as strong as usual, but it turned out that 3 of them (including Colt McCoy) had the flu... but they beat Tech anyway!  Hook 'em!

We'll leave our successful sports weekend at Saturday night... because, well... then there was the Cowboy game Sunday night, and who wants to talk about THAT?   OOOOH - but I did win my game in Fantasy Football again... I'm 2-0 now.  Much to the annoyance of my husband and sons.  Hee hee...

Make it stop...

I am afraid to go downstairs.


They're waiting... at the door at the bottom of the stairs.  At the door to the porch in my bedroom.  At the window sill in the living room.  They follow me.


"Make it stop," they say.


 It started last night.  Molly-cat usually spends most of the night outside with Lewis-cat.  It started raining about 11pm.  Molly scratched on the door to be let in (I'm starting to think that the pretty French doors in my bedroom that lead to the back porch were not such a good idea...)  She came in... meowed...meowed again... I was half asleep so I shut the door and got back into bed.  She immediately scratched at the door to be let back out. 


Lewis was there - he said  "MAAAWWWWRRRRR" - Lewis doesn't "meow" - he MAWR's.  It's pathetic really.  He didn't want to come in.  He just wanted to complain about the rain.  "Make it stop, please," he said. 


Molly ran back out onto the porch - looked at me, looked at the yard and said, "meOW!"  I shut the door and went back to bed.  Impudent little wretch.


She scratched at the door again.  I ignored her for a while, but then got up and let her back in so she woudn't wake Kelly up (dangerous for all involved).  This happened at least every hour all night.  Ever have an argument with a cat at 3am?


Then, this morning, I let her in (still raining) before I took a shower.  She followed me into the bathroom, complaining loudly.  I sat on the floor to pet her - she would have NONE of it.  I went and opened the door again - she ran to the door, but just stood there looking out, looking at me, looking out...you get the idea.  Molly has a VERY large vocabulary for a cat.  I'm not sure exactly what she was saying, but I figure it started out with something like "I'm losing my patience with you - MAKE IT STOP" and went downhill from there.  I probably don't want to know what she really said.  She woudn't go out, so I shut the door and went back to take a shower.  She followed me.  I sat down again and tried to talk to her - she hissed at me.  Then, completely unprovoked, bit me on the foot, complained some more then bit me on the leg.  I jumped in the shower to protect myself.


After my shower, I put her outside...which was a little disturbing because Lewis was at the door just STARING in at me.  He didn't say anything - I guess he'd given up on that.  But I was getting the message anyway - MAKE IT STOP.  I went into the living room - and there was Molly at the window - STARING in... "Make it stop NOW."  Even now I can feel them thinking at me...and it's getting ominous.  I know that if I were to walk down the stairs, there would be mad little cat-faces staring in at me from the doors and windows... "Make it STOP..."


Kinda reminds me of "The Birds."