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Last year when my dog, Hank, died, I was devastated. We had him for almost six years, and he was very much a part of our family. Every step that I took, he was there with me. I have missed him enormously since he died.

I thought I wanted another dog, and have suggested it to Briar, Brad and Tim several times with resounding NOs from all of them.

My mom’s shih tzu recently had puppies, and I have thought about bringing one of them home. I’ve grown pretty attached to one of them. I’ve just never been really crazy about small dogs. While I like to pet him and play with him at Mom’s house, the thought of constantly tripping over him and listening to shrill barks isn’t appealing – I like the deep woooof of a “real” dog.

Anyway…. Tim called me yesterday to tell me that the daughter of one of his friends has a mastiff (which is the same breed as Hank) she wants to give away. He is two years old, house-trained and is not only the same breed as Hank, but has the same coloring and markings.

My first reaction was YES!!!! However, after thinking about it a little more, and actually shedding some tears at the thought of losing another beloved pet, I’m leaning more toward no. Briar and Brad still say no. I’ve got till Saturday to make up my mind. So… is the time right or not? Any thoughts????
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Friday night I took Briar, Brad and several of Briar’s friends to the movies in Paragould. They decided to go see Halloween II, which I wasn’t very excited about.

Luckily, my husband doesn’t work far from the theater, and he met me there when he got off work. We left the teens (Brad says they are too old to be called boys and that I shouldn’t do it anymore) there and went to Wal-Mart to walk around and pass the time until the movie was over.

The drive to and from Paragould with five teenagers was very entertaining. Here are a few things that I already knew, but have been confirmed once again…

All “teens” talk at once, but everyone seems to hear and know what everyone else is saying.

Teen boys like their music extremely loud, and want to sing along (with their own made-up lyrics) at the top of their lungs… while head banging.

If it involves horrendous smells or someone getting hurt (not seriously injured… just a bit of pain) it is VERY funny, and the more it hurts and the worse it smells, the funnier it gets.

Any and all food placed in front of them is instantly devoured.

Even though they are teens now… boys will still be boys.

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The first day of school has come and gone. I really missed having an open house this year. My youngest entered the eighth grade, and they stop at seventh grade at Hoxie. Of course my eighth and 10th graders were NOT ready for school to begin.

I picked Brad up, but Briar had football practice, so I didn’t get to talk to him right away. I asked Brad how his first day was when he got in the car… “It sucked,” was his response. Which wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

Brad has only one class with his “best” friend, but was excited to have a study hall and to have Mrs. Davis for homeroom… even though they don’t go to homeroom very often.

I believe he was a little unprepared for Mr. Hackworth. If any of you had him as a teacher, you know what I mean. He was one of my favorites, though, when I was in high school, and I’m sure he will soon become one of Brad’s favorites, too.

When I picked Briar up from football at 6 p.m., he just said, “Eh, it was school.” He did, however, make a couple of new friends. He has a tough schedule this year, but is very positive about it.

Even with the time they’ve had getting up early for football practice, I don’t think they were prepared for the school day. They were both exhausted last night. They were in bed by 9:30.

Once we’ve adjusted to the school schedule again, I think we’ll have a great year.

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I was thinking that I need to blog more often!

Since my last blog summer break began, my mom’s dog had puppies, my brother became engaged, my husband wrecked his dirt bike, Briar had surgery and my youngest child became a teenager ~ and that’s just the highlights.

The TD also upgraded our computer systems during this time. We have some pretty amazing computers right now… I’m still enjoying learning all the new little things that they will do.

Briar, Brad and I went to see the new Transformers movie Sunday afternoon. It was awesome. The movie lasted more than two hours, but it flew by – very action packed and quick paced.

I hope I can convince them to go see the new Harry Potter movie with me this Sunday, but they aren’t much interested in it anymore.

Briar and Brad are also lifting weights this summer through the Hoxie School football program – and will begin full practices at the beginning of August.

I apologize for all my rambling on, but I think this brings me up-to-date.

Just out of curiosity… how many out there are reading The TD blogs? Also, I’m interested in any suggestions for our Blog section or anything you would like to have us write about.
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Today is my 37th birthday... yes, I said 37th. My husband invited several friends over Saturday night to help me celebrate. We hung out, played cards and sang karaoke... lots of fun.

Growing up I had skating parties, pizza parties, sleep-overs and a very well-planned surprise party – I don’t even remember how old I was – I was in the fourth or fifth grade.

I also remember getting a cassette tape recorder for my birthday one year. My mom and dad had recorded a tape beforehand of them, my grandparents, uncles and aunts and brothers sending me birthday wishes and singing "Happy Birthday" to me. Unfortunately I lost it somewhere along the way, but I would give just about anything to have that cassette today.

On my sixteenth birthday you would have thought I had robbed a flower shop as I left school. I had balloons, stuffed animals and lots of flowers – sixteen sugar cubed roses. I still have the sugar cubes.

My Papa and Granny Tate always called to sing me “Happy Birthday.” They never missed one while they were alive. My PaPa Tate died on my 23rd birthday.

My family carries on the tradition, though, both of my brothers and their kids, as well as my mom and dad, always call to sing (or tell) me happy birthday. I’m looking forward to it! Aren’t birthdays great!

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I have recently become an active user on Facebook, a “social networking” website. When it was first suggested that I join, I really didn’t think that it would be something I’d enjoy.

I joined anyway, though, and love the interaction it provides. It is a fun way to keep up with family and friends. We are able to write to each other, send each other virtual gifts, take quizzes, play games and more.

Shelly Tomlinson, a former TD employee, recently “tagged” me with a message, 16 random things about me, and thought I’d share mine...

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 people (or however many you want) to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

16 random things about me

1. My kids think I have no sense of humor – it’s not that, they just aren’t as funny as they think!

2. I don’t read as much as I would like to.

3. I hate cold weather! Give me sunshine any day.

4. I desperately want to go back to college...

5. I genuinely love my job.

6. Huge Cardinals fan!!!!

7. I miss my grandparents a lot.

8. My brothers always try to get me to tell who is my favorite... I couldn’t pick if my life depended on it... well, maybe I could…

9. I’m a night owl.... I usually go to bed around 1 a.m.

10. My husband named my son Briar after a character on the movie “Next of Kin.” I didn’t like it at first, but it has very much grown on me.

11. I’m a crossword and sudoku junkie!

12. I love movies, television shows, books, etc. that focus on supernatural beings... give me vampires, demons, witches, warlocks, ghosts, etc., and I’m a happy girl.

13. I HATE reality TV, with the exception of American Idol of course.

14. I really want another dog – mine passed away in Aug. I miss him a lot, especially when I’m home by myself. My husband and kids don’t want another one, though.

15. My favorite food is potato salad... but no one ever makes it.

16. My favorite color is green... it has nothing to do with the fact that I went to school at Hoxie either.... I just like the color.

Anyone else want to share?

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The 2008 Summer Olympics are finally underway. There are several events I like to watch - track and field and gymnastics are my favorites, but the rest don’t really interest me.

There are some sports (if you can call them that) that I cannot believe they have made into Olympic events. To me, they are a joke, I mean Badminton – come on! There are a few others I feel this way about, but I’ll leave it at that.

On the other side, I’ve found that I can’t stop watching the “real” sports. I have watched some of the basketball and gymnastic preliminaries, but I have really been drawn to the swimming – which I have never really enjoyed watching.

I even found myself jumping out of my seat and cheering last night as the USA men’s 4x100 relay swim team came from behind to beat France for the Gold, setting a new world record. It was amazing… especially after the French said the only reason they were there was to “smash the Americans” in this race.

Is anyone else out there watching? What are some of your favorite events?

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My sister-in-law, Georgetta, called me Friday afternoon because she had a cut on her head that she thought would need stitches. Of course my first question was, “What happened?”

Well… here goes…

My brother, Blake, went out to his shop, and the door was jammed. He opened the big doors and tried to get the regular door open from the inside, but couldn’t. He asked George to help him, so she tried to pry the door open. When she stopped, Blake walked to the back of the shop – to get a running start – so he could jump into the door and bust it open.

In the mean time, George decided to do more prying and asked Blake to wait a minute. He was already at the back of the shop, though, and didn’t hear her. She was down in front of the door prying away as Blake ran and jumped into it.

Needless to say, Blake flew through the door knocking it into George.

She actually did need stitches, but wouldn’t go to the hospital. She also has some bumps and bruises, but she is okay.

It is one of those things that isn’t really funny, but I couldn’t help laughing as she told me the story … Luckily, she laughed with me.

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My aunt, Pat Melton, passed away this morning after a short battle with cancer. Although it is always hard to lose someone you love, I'm thankful that she is now at peace and won't be suffering anymore.

As a kid, I loved to visit her house. She was always smiling and made you feel at home. She made the best baked beans I have ever eaten, and they always had the best toys or gadgets to play with (and still do - just ask Briar or Brad). I actually used my first computer at her house many, many years ago.

Aunt Pat was a huge NASCAR fan; she even won the Mark Martin truck that was given away a few years ago after the NASCAR season.

She loved life and her family and lived every day to the fullest. She was one of a kind and will definitely be missed.

Others in the office were talking about nicknames today. It got me to thinking…

A nickname is a name of an entity or thing that is not its proper name. It may either substitute or be added to the proper name. It may be a familiar or truncated form of the proper name, such as Angie – for Angela.

I’m also called Ang a lot. I guess that would be a nickname for a nickname. I don’t know. In school I was called “Big Ang.” Looking at me now you would think it is because I am big… I wasn’t then, though. They called me that because I was very small.

My husband called me AJ until we got married and I was no longer an AJ, and my Granny Tate always called me Hannie.

My little brother, Blake, is better known as Possum, and my older brother, Rodney, is either Hot Rod or Cougar.

Briar and Brad are #1 and #2, my niece, Kylie, is Booger, and Jarah is Tiger or JJ. My nephew Drake is Big D, and Grace, my other niece, is Gracie. I think nicknames are supposed to be shorter than the original name, so I’m not sure what happened there.

Anyway, you get the picture.

I’ve shared some of mine … feel free to share yours, too!

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