Author Archives: Elisabeth

About Elisabeth

The joyous and sometimes odd adventures of a former English teacher and her trusty sidekicks, Jared the Hottie Husband and her two Italian Greyhounds, Stinky Stevie and Bonnie Boo. Recently the adorable baby, Princess Evelyn, has joined the clan to shake things up!
Sep8

A fun practical joke

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A fun practical joke

Sometimes, we just need to have fun.

To be honest, I don’t really like practical jokes. Most of the time, I think they are dumb, lame, or a waste of time. I really get annoyed with April Fool’s day especially. If it’s hurtful or slightly mean, I really don’t want to get involved. I’m more into the type of jokes that make people laugh or smile only.

Today a great situation popped up when we saw a friend’s blog. She and her husband are pretty much the only other couple from church who don’t have human children yet- just the four-legged variety, so we get along fabulously. Her husband decided to go military not too long ago, so that’s become a big part of their life lately. Sandi posted this on her blog, and while Jared and I had dinner tonight, we realized we had some rubber duckies, and it was only 8:30 PM!

So we concocted a plan.

We collected our duckies, some post-it notes (I’m a teacher, so I always have them on hand!), and did us some doorbell ditching. And though normally I don’t condone doorbell ditching, we both agreed that Sandi’s laugh was exactly the reaction we hoped for so it was totally worth it. We even got an honorable mention on her blog. 😉

I wasn’t really having a great day today, but making somebody else laugh by being a little silly definitely helped make me feel better, too!

Sep7

Cupcakes!

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Cupcakes!

So, I got to go back to work today. Apparently the district wasn’t concerned about the 45% fire containment over in the neighborhood where I used to work (since they were letting residents back into their homes) and whatnot, so they got to go back to school in their fire zone. And we got our school back now that it and the high school weren’t being used as shelters anymore.

This might sound like I’m unhappy about this situation, but actually, I am oh-so-glad school is back in session. It makes things more normal, less scary from these fires. And I am happy that the vast majority of those residents were able to go back to their homes. (By the way, I am being sincere about this!)

Back to the point. We were back in school today, and the air was just a little heavier than usual because of how so many people know somebody affected by this crazy wildfire season. It just adds an extra layer of “What if?”s and worries to the air, even if you were aren’t directly hurt by it.

 

Then one of the counselors brought a surprise to share with everyone.


Normally, I am not crazy about food smiling back at me, but this cupcake just made me happy.

Look at it! Doesn’t it make you smile , just a little?

Something as little as a cupcake can make your whole day a little brighter. Especially if it has cute little candy eyes and a silly, simple smile!

Sep6

Happy to have a home

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Happy to have a home

When so many in Central Texas are now going without theirs. Reminds me to be grateful for so many small things.

Today’s highlights:

1) I got a four day weekend instead of a three day. I would rather it NOT have been because my school’s community had fires and turned the neighboring high school into a evacuation shelter, but trying to be positive, right?

2) Despite having a fire in nearly every direction of my house for the past two days, our home and immediate community has remained safe. It all got a little close to home about 7:30 tonight.

The view from our cul-de-sac at 7:30

Apparently an apartment complex just a mile away from caught fire. Last check was 3 of the buildings were on fire…. I can still hear the sirens 2 hours later and smell that horrible, burned smell in the air….

The happiest thought of all would be to have rain here ASAP!

Sep5

22 bags of leaves in the yard…

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22 bags of leaves in the yard…

So, I felt the urge to clean up the backyard today. Maybe because we’ve had a three day weekend (that might end up turning into a four day weekend due to the fires). Or because today is the first day in a long time that’s been less than 100 degrees (92 is the new 72, y’all!). Or even because I’ve been pretty lazy this weekend and wanted to do SOMETHING.

Whatever the reason, the backyard really needed some cleaning.

Looking at the following picture, you might think that it’s fall time in a normal place.

Mid/Before Shot

But no. It’s all thanks to this miserable summer we’ve had. The trees all over the place are dying.

Our maple is completely gone- it was never meant to withstand such harsh conditions.

The maple is so dead that it’s starting to split. We need to chop it down soon before it gets dangerous.

And now our Arizona Ash tree is tempted to give up, too. That combined with the leaves from the live oaks in March that we never got around to cleaning up made our yard one messy place.

Some people claim that it might rain again soon. At this point, I hold the belief that rain is a mythical creature, like dragons, unicorns, phoenixes, and the magical wizarding world of Harry Potter. But just in case it actually does rain again, it probably would be good to clean up this potential fire hazard before it gets all moldy and heavy and wet.

So we got to work.

Have I ever said how much I love this guy?

So, after 4 hours of raking, leaf blowing, and bagging, we ended up with the grand total TWENTY TWO bags. 22. Very full, big, black bags of leaves.

This, by the way, isn’t including the area directly next to the huge live oaks, which we have lovingly dibbed “The Forest”.

 

After all this work was done, everything was put away, and we had showered to rinse out all the nasty dirt and grime, Jared asked me, “So, how do you think the backyard looks?”

My honest response? “Uhm… Not really great. But I feel better about it.”

The “After” shot

He just had to laugh. I’m sorry, but can you blame me for that response? Between the lack of rain, the extreme heat, and being buried underneath the leaves, we really don’t have much back there anymore except dirt.

But as I said, I still feel pretty good about it. I came, I almost conquered.

Until I wake up tomorrow morning lacking the ability to move my arms because they hurt so badly from all that raking.

 

Sep4

Pray for rain.

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Pray for rain.

Central Texas has had a record breaking summer when it comes to being hot and dry.

And after a long, dry, hot summer, on windy, hot days like today, this happens:

Here’s the neighboring Bastrop County fire.

Fires have happened in several locations near our neighborhood. The largest is the Bastrop fire, but the entire area where my previous school is has been evacuated. Hundreds of families are displaced while they try and fight a fire there. Just now on the news, it’s been reported that 25 homes have been destroyed. The thought ties knots in my stomach. All those families and friends our in our thoughts tonight.

So, next time you stop and pray, remember Texas. We really all the positive thoughts, prayers, or karma you can send our way…