I need to bring some Scooby Snacks...

So Abby can throw them on the stage! Today my brother and I are taking his daughter Abby (2 1/2) to see the REAL Scooby Doo LIVE on Stage at the Monroe Civic Center!!! I can't wait! I just have to get through 4 1/2 hours of wooorrrkk first. I will post afterward to tell you what Scooby's like in real life!

Thanksgivings Resolution, etc

I thought I'd take this opportunity to list my Thanksgiving resolutions:
I want to keep the house neat.
I want to cook more often.
I want to stop procrastinating.
I want to pray more often, 'cause the Lord knows I need it!
I want to stop worrying.
I want to do all the nice things for people that I think about doing but never actually get to.

There. Now I want to list a few of the things I'm thankful for:
I'm thankful for the opportunity to start a wonderful family.
I'm thankful that I have a job, and I feel that I have job security.
I'm thankful that I have friends and family who are great people.
I'm thankful for Chloe, Oliver, and Mally who bring me great joy.
I'm thankful that God has control and doesn't leave everything to my fickle pickle brain.

Everyone, please remember that it's NOT Chirstmas yet, and Give Thanks on this overlooked holiday! It's not just a stepping stone to Christmas that allows us to prime our stomachs.

I'll try not to let you down...

again. It's just that I have not made the time to work on this blog! Right, I could've made time, but I chose other things. I think I'm back on the right path. While I don't have anything great or profound to say right now, I will just leave you with a picture of Mally, who while continuously growing in size is NOT growing in maturity. But I hear that could take a few years. Look at that muddy face!

Good Times

Chris and I recently returned from a trip to Houston to visit our friends Andy & Heather. It was one of the best vacations we've ever taken! Thanks Andy & Heather (and Mike!) for letting us stay with you guys, driving us around Houston, and introducing us to Sicily's Pizza and the dinner theater. We know it was all a ploy to convince us to move to the area! We caught a few baseball games while we were in town: one great 11 inning Astros game (and we saw the roof opening!) and two little league games to watch Mike's awesome baseball playing son, Clay. We also went to a HUGE outdoor flea market and only saw, like, one tenth of it. We went to Splashtown Sunday, and it was a blast! Sunburns aren't so great, though. MOM! I'm bringing you to an Astros game!! How about September?! Here's a picture of Chris and me at the 'Stros game.

Four years!

Today is our four year anniversary and Chris left me the day before! Yep, just up and went...to a coaching clinic in Baton Rouge! Four years we've been married! Here's a picture of our wedding day and a more recent one. See if you can pick out the STRESS wrinkles. Just Kidding! It's been GREAT! I love you, Chris.

Oh liver!

I spend so much time talkin' 'bout Mally these days Oliver and Choe are gettin a wee bit jealous. They are, and always will be, my number one kitty-witties. They don't believe me when I say it, so I'm posting pictures so they can see for themselves. Chloe (gray) was our first. She arrived on the doorstep at Chris apartment when we were engaged (pregnant as a pregnant lady, but hiding it well) and forced Chris to feed her leftover turkey. Oliver came a few months later with crusties in his eyes and a look that we couldn't turn away. He was just a kitten, and Chloe didn't like him. But she learned to-now she loves him! They are both fat, and I love 'em that way. Chloe is sometimes affectionately called "Chloe the Hutt." Oliver is my "witta man." He's a mama's boy and Chloe's a daddy's girl, no doubt! Oliver also likes to wear capes like a Superhero. In his spare times he goes by O. Liver, saving all the bugs Chloe wants to kill. She never guesses that it's him behind the disguise. Anyway, I could go on forever about, chlosey and oviler, Closet and Olivia, Chloseyoseyosenfree and Oleyolioxenfree, but I'll do that another time....

Miscellaneous

I made Wesley a Batman cookie cake for his birthday. And Mally!

Mally-bu's Most Wanted

Mally is growing up so fast! When we took her to the vet she weighed a little over eight pounds, but we know she's gained some weight since then. We had to go to Petco and buy her a new collar! She can sit on command, but she knows I'm going to ask her to sit every time she sees me get a cookie, so she just goes ahead and does it! She has to put her teeth on everything, including my hair, if I let her. And she loves playing outside and finding crawfish in the mud. One picture is of Chloe with Chris, who is her daddy--not Mally's, she says! Chloe and Oliver will swat Mally so hard she flies across the floor. They're getting use to her!

Oh, Mally!

She's our new baby girl! We acquired this little angel pup Tuesday night, through a friend of a friend. We were told (by the person who was told by the person giving her away at Walmart [oh, the horrible Walmart pup giveaway] that she is full blooded black lab. We're pretty sure she's a lab mix. She loves her new toys and she's so smart! We're kennel training her and she hasn't had a single accident inside yet (cue: knock on wood). I'm having trouble working on the whole dominance thing because I'm not a very firm person (muscle included), but we'll get it down! Although the picture shows her razor-sharp, menacing teeth (!), she is really quite sweet. I've never had something fall in love with me so fast! We took her to the vet this morning and she was so upset in the car. We think she probably felt like she was changing homes AGAIN, but I let her sit on the floorboard and she was better and went to sleep, snuggling my foot. Our cat Chloe has informed me that she will not be speaking to this puppy, but Oliver has gotten a little closer. He still backs away when Mally tries to play, though. They'll come around. We welcome any training advice.

My Alter Ego

I hope none of you meet her. My husband did, accidentally, when he forgot to type the .blogspot in my blog address. She's nasty. Yes, yes, I should have checked to make sure no one had an "allaboutdenise" webpage before I titled my blog, and now poor innocent friends of mine may be invited to do intimate things with a DIFFERENT Denise.
Anyway, vegetarian friends: I'm not sure if you've been introduced to a vegetarian frozen dinner line called Amy's, but if you haven't, I believe it's worth your time. Amy's has my top 5 favorite frozen things in the world: Spinach Pizza Pocket, Cheese Enchilada Meal, Pesto Tortellini Bowl, Mushroom & Olive Pizza, and Spinach Pizza. An added plus is all natural ingredients. In the dishes that call for meat a nice tasty tofu is added. You can pick these up at your neighborhood Olde Wheat Barn (and some other places that I won't name because I want you to come by The Olde Wheat Barn).

And now, the feature presentation...

Our home. We love it! And we notice that we do not watch nearly as much tv now that we have a little back yard. I've kicked Chris' tail in Badminton a few times, but he's definately kicked my tail in bicycling! I think Badminton is a more honorable sport, agree?! Anyway, I want to send a shout out to the new babies in blogtown!

Don't Give Up On Me, Baby...

I can't remember the words to that song.... I know most of my readers have probably stopped reading my blog (there's only so many times you can read the same post), but hopefuly I'm back on track. Chris and I are buying a house and hoping to close on it by next Wednesday. If you're good, I might just post a picture later.

Help Wanted

Here's the deal: Chris and I are seriously considering looking for a house to buy, but we need encouragement. We feel that buying a house is a huge step that will determine our placement for quite a while. As you know, Chris is working in Delhi and I will be commuting to Ruston for another year. The most logical location would be West Monroe. Should we go for it? It makes sense to us in many ways and we're excited, but when we get excited we usually make impulse decisions. I know a lot of prayer is needed on our part to see if this is the step we need to take, but I'd like to hear what anyone else has to say, too, good or bad.

A Big Oversized THANK YOU...

...to Dr. Campbell. I made straight A's! But I'm taking Genetics next quarter, so start prayin'.

On to another subject: The Delhi Charter School softball team won their game last night thanks to the girl's natural talent and my husbands good work! Congratulations!

Later to come: some pictures from our field trip to Sci-Port!

I know it's not failure, but...AARRGH!

All I needed was a 90. That's all, just a simple little 9-0! My average in Cell Biology is an 89.3! A few little tenths of a point would give me an "A" in the class, and I was in class EVERYday! Professor says at the beginning, "there is NO bonus in this class." Come on...

Back from the Big "D"

Chris and I were in Dallas this weekend for the annual NNFA-SW show (National Nutritional Foods Association). We stayed on the seventeenth floor of the Adam's Mark Hotel (loved the view). Although some of the seminars were pretty good, the highlight of my trip was eating at Chaparral on the 38th floor with the big wigs of a vitamin company (they have panoramic views of the city all around). I had Chilean Sea Bass in Bouillabaisse with peppers, mussels, and scallops (delicious!) and Chris had filet mignon (the best he's ever had). We tried a new wine, Reisling, and it was really good! Then we went to the industry party where the business folks let loose. I guess they save it for the weekend! I told my bossman that if he wasn't nice to me I'd post a picture of him in his costume on my blog. Blackmail at work--its how I get by! So keep your eyes open. Chris and I tried to go to this little courtyard/park/monumenty thing outside our hotel but it was so cold we only had time for one pic before our hands froze and we ran back inside. I know my outfit doesn't match. Oh well, I have finals this week, so I should probably dedicate some time to studying, or watching tv. Bye for now!

This is EGGcellent!

For those of you wanting to learn about osmosis, I've got an EGGcellent experiment for you! Soak an egg in vinegar for 48 hours, then gently wash the shell off. Put the egg in syrup for 24 hours, then in water for 24 hours and observe it all along the way! Too lazy? Here it is:

See the second egg has gotten so small because it was placed in a hypertonic solution! The water moved out into the syrup to make the concentrations the same, and in the third picture it moved back in! You may not can tell, but that third egg is HUGE!

There's your biology lesson for today!

No real title for this one...

Chris and I just left a Louisiana Tech baseball game. As I was watching the game, I remembered how much I love to watch baseball, especially at Tech. The stadium is much improved and the view is terrific. Bonus-the train can toot by a few times during the game! I love it! I love the announcers and the cold bleachers. I also love how some people bring their doggies, cute golden retrievery doggies that behave so well! I want a doggy...chris...

As an aside for all you anonymous commenters (and you know who you are), comments is the option to click, not criticisms. So Dennis, my hair color has been and always will be (until gray)brunette!

Chrenise Update

Hey, if Brad and Angelina have Brangelina, why can't we have Chrenise?
Here's the update on us: Chris just got through with basketball season, so he's home free by sports for the rest of the school year. He's not coaching softball this year because he's going to concentrate on perfecting his LATAP portfolio so he can become completely certified to be a GREAT teacher. It's apparent that this is where he should be. God is opening so many doors; He's actually opening french doors that lead to verandas overlooking mountains and oceans--it's that obvious. We are taking his classes to Sci-port in Shreveport later this month (I'm a chaperone!), and we get to ride the bus together all the way! Chris will actually drive the bus, but I get to yell at the kids to "SIT DOWN while the bus is moving!" In my world, school is going fine but taking too long. I found out last week that I'll be observing in a library next quarter for 100 hours! It'd better be elementary school! I am also awaiting news of "special permission" to graduate next winter, which I would love, rather than in the spring, which I would almost be willing to cut off my little toe to avoid. The Olde Wheat Barn is super busy which, hey, is good for business, but not good for the little hours I work to get things done. Our little kitty-witties are doing fine. Websters dictionary defines "fine" as "sleeping until they get hungry and eating until they get tired." I actually stole that from our friend Andy who says that about his fat rat! That's enough update for today.

Jack Prelutsky

author of Scranimals

Recommended Reading

The book store at the Factory Outlet in Arcadia is going out of business, so all hardbacks are $2 and paperbacks are $1. I came across an awesome children's book called Scranimals (author escapes me). Its about these hybrids made by mixing a fruit or veggie with animal, like a hippopotomushroom or a potatoad. There's a poem for each "scranimal," with great vocabulary! Highly recommended!

Limited Time Offer Expired

I've deleted my last post. The longer I left it up, the more embarrassing it became! Hopefully soon I will have more time to post, so keep checking!

How do you do this?

I have no idea what I'm doing. I didn't get online to make a blog!