still under the weather...

I woke up this morning---still sick. In fact, call me crazy, but I feel like my cough is getting worse even AFTER I got meds from the doctor. I sound like an 85-year-old-male-smoker. Not even kidding. It's completely disgusting. JR even told me he's never heard such a deep cough from a female...niiiice. I'm sure he loves saying that about his girlfriend. SO, I'm on day 4 of this sickness mess and day 5 is quickly approaching (yes, I took off work tomorrow too). Some people may think I've got it made....sleeping in, staying in from work, being waited on, laying around watching TV, etc...WRONG. I'm about to go crazy. Let me assure you that I would MUCH rather be at work. No doubt.

Tuesday nights are fun for me though because I get to look forward to American Idol, so I've been planning my naps around 7 pm. You better believe that when 6:57 pm rolled around, I was on the couch, orange juice in hand (I've had approximately 3 gallons since Saturday), anxiously awaiting my show, when all of a sudden... boom. The station blacked out. ALL of the stations you ask? Nope. Just the ONE station I want to watch. WHY NOW???? Just my luck.

It did come back on around 7:30, but I still had to miss the first half hour of my show. Quite a bummer.

On a lighter note, I must share a story about my sweet mother.

This Thursday, I'm supposed to play Bunko with my teacher friends. My friend Heather and I are hosting this month. We're having it at Heather's house and I'm in charge of making the food for dinner. Since I've been feeling so terrible this week, I didn't know WHAT I was going to do about the food. I mean, who knows if I'll even feel well enough to GO Thursday night, muchless have food prepared for 12 people?! I had pretty much decided that I would go to the grocery store tomorrow night, get all of the stuff, and cook, no matter if I felt up to it or not. That way, even if I'm unable to go to Bunko, I'll at least have food for them to have.

Well...

my wonderful mom absolutely insisted on cooking the meal for me. She went to the store for me, bought the ingredients, and is at home right now cooking. I didn't ask her to do this and when I tried to talk her out of it, she wouldn't hear of it. Is she fabulous or what?

Talk about someone who has the heart of a servant...

some Henry time, a bulldog victory, and me being too sick to enjoy any of it!

Kris, Rob, and sweet Henry were here this weekend. This was the first time I'd seen Henry since Christmas and he's doing so many new things! He went to the MSU basketball game on Saturday and loved every minute of it. In fact, Mom and Kristen said that he cheered the whole way home from the game. He's already a bulldog fan! Here are some adorable pictures of my little man.
Moving on to the fabulous basketball game...
Of course I always love a good MSU win, but I especially love it when our opponent is Ole Miss. I was optimistic about the game, but never would have guessed that we'd DOMINATE the way we did and win by 20 points. GO DAWGS! JR's parents were in town for the game, so I of course enjoyed spending a little time with them after the game.

Unfortunately, I woke up Saturday morning not feeling well. I decided last minute not to go to the game, hoping I'd feel better after a little nap. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. I was sick (sore throat, coughing, fever, etc.) all day Saturday and Sunday. My stubborn (and rather idiotic) self went to work this morning, but I left at 9 when I realized that I was running fever. I DID NOT need to be there. Seriously...what was I thinking?? I went to the doctor, and FORTUNATELY I don't have strep or the flu. It's an upper respiratory infection (fun huh?). I still feel pretty rough right now, and I went ahead and took off tomorrow too. I figured I need all the rest I can get. Sweet JR took such good care of me all weekend, bringing me juice, medicine, cough drops, crackers, etc. (all without me even asking him to!). It's so nice to be waited on!
Hopefully this sickness nonsense will be over by Wednesday. I'm a terrible patient! PLUS, my dear Candy is coming to visit this coming weekend, and I've got to be 100%!
OK...I'm off to take yet another nap. Have a great week!
LT

What a powerful message

If you're at all familiar with the Rick and Bubba radio show, then I'm sure you heard about the unfortunate accident that happened recently. Rick Burgess' youngest son drowned last weekend in their swimming pool. I simply CANNOT IMAGINE. Any tragedy like this is horrible, but for some reason, this particular story has really hit me hard. A friend of mine from school told me about Rick speaking at his son's funeral. Once again, I CANNOT IMAGINE. She told me that it was one of the most powerful messages she'd ever heard. I was hesitant about listening to it, but I'm so glad I did!

I found it on Youtube a little while ago. It's in 3 different parts, and I'm posting all of them here. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE A LITTLE TIME AND WATCH. I'm so glad I did.

PART 1:


PART 2:


PART 3:



It gives me chill bumps just thinking about it. WOW.

a must SEE and must EAT!

In celebration of our day off of school yesterday (thanks MLK!), my friend Heather and I went and saw 27 Dresses. So very cute. Piece of advice: don't try to take your significant other or ANY male. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single male in the entire theater and I know for a fact that if I had somehow convinced JR to go with me, he would have either: a. fallen asleep or b. walked out. It was definitely a smart decision to go with a girlfriend. Trust me on that one.
My second advertisement of the night involves food. Perhaps you've heard of these delicious soups
from Progresso. And you're not misreading the can, folks, each serving of this yummy soup has only 0 Weight Watchers points (note: one serving is half a can. Half a can does nothing for me, so I consume the entire can. Does that make me a pig? Maybe, but I don't feel guilty about it. Anyway, I suppose if you eat the whole can like me, it would count as 1 Weight Watchers point (??)). I'm by no means a serious Weight Watcher, but know about the points system, and I try to be somewhat conscious of my daily points consumption. Maybe when my will-power truly kicks in, I'll become strict about it. There are several different soup flavors available, but the only one I've tried is the Southwestern-Style Vegetable. SO...whether you're trying to lose weight or just stay on track a little like me, give it a whirl! I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
Enjoy your Wednesday- half way through the work week! Woo hoo!

Hey! What about US?

So, I had really hoped to post pictures of the beautiful snow that was highly predicted today. I was really looking forward to seeing snow for the first time in YEARS, but...

WE DIDN'T GET ANY!!!!

I mean, WHAT?

Is Starkville the only city in Mississippi that was forgotten?

I'm going to pout some more now.

oh goody...

So there's apparently this tag game going on and now it's my turn. Thanks for tagging me Claire! You know I love stuff like this. I am to choose my favorite number and make a list of that many random facts about me. I don't really have a favorite number (isn't that sad?), but I think today I'd like for it to be 9.

Here are 9 things you may (or may not!) know about LT:

1. I have never had a speeding ticket.

2. My closet is color-coordinated. I feel sorry really for people who don't do this. It's truly life changing.

3. My older sister Kristen is 2 years and 2 months older than me and my younger sister Heather is 2 years and 2 months younger than me. They are both fabulous.

4. I often get told that I look just like Minnie Driver. Opinions?

5. I was named after both of my wonderful grandmothers. Laura is my mom's mom's middle name and Ladell is my dad's mom's middle name. I'm proud of my name. I think family names are the greatest.

6. I can say the alphabet backwards in record time.

7. I was 6 weeks premature and had complications as an infant. No fear...I turned out to be as perfect as they come. ;)

8. Here's a good story for you: my sophomore year of college, I lived in a dorm. My roommate and I had bunk beds and I slept on the top. One morning my roommate had class and I didn't so I slept in. Being the fabulous and considerate person that she is, she didn't want to wake me while she was getting ready for class so she dried her hair in the hallway. When she finished, she quietly set the hair dryer on the floor inside our room. Following me so far? Later that morning when I woke up, I jumped from about the 3rd step from my bunk, landing DIRECTLY on the prongs from the hair dryer (you know...the plug that goes into the wall?...yep...THAT'S what I'm talking about). The metal prongs went directly UP the middle of my right foot, (which was excrutiatingly painful I might add). I didn't have to get stitches, but I was on crutches for a couple of weeks and I have lovely scar on the bottom of my foot that I enjoy showing people. I bet THAT'S a random fact you didn't know about me!

9. I fell in a fire ant bed when I was 2 years old and have scars (which actually just look like holes) covering both of my legs. They're lovely. I'll be happy to show all of my scars to you someday. :)

If you're under the assumption that I am accident-prone and clumsy after reading about these interesting life experiences I've had, you, my friend, are correct. If only you knew.

I don't know about you, but I have no major plans set for this nice long weekend (gotta love MLK!), and I'm looking forward to relaxing and hanging out with JR who actually doesn't have to travel this weekend! I hope your weekend is as fabulous as mine hopefully will be.

Oh yeah. I'm supposed to 'tag' some people now. Go for it: Heather, Katey, Candy, and Adelia (and anybody else who wants to join in)!

for your entertainment only.

....just trying to kill some time before Idol comes on...enjoy!

(thanks MSKS and Claire!)

1. How bad is your road rage? I guess it depends on how big of hurry I'm in. I'm not a fan of ignorant drivers though.

2. What is the best and the worst movie you saw last summer? what? I can't remember a single movie I went to see last summer. Too long ago.

3. What's your least favorite thing about your job? the ridiculous amount of paperwork we're required to do. WHO KNEW?

4. What's something that you find annoying - but other people don't? When people crack their knuckles. Wal-Mart.

5. Name three things you did last summer you'd never done before? allowed people to set me up on a couple of blind dates. Can't think of 2 more things I did out of the ordinary. I'm very predictable and non-spontaneous.

6. Do you like nuts in your brownies?I used to hate them, but now it doesn't really bother me. I prefer them nutless though.

7. So - are you pumped for The Dark Knight or what? I have no idea what just happened.

8. What's your favorite thing about your top four friends? That's a really stupid question. a. I can't choose 4 'top friends' and even if I could, I wouldn't be able to pick out one thing I like about them.

9. What do you put on your pancakes?syrup. I'm like Buddy the Elf.

10. Have you ever contemplated exactly what sleep is?no, but I know it's something I love to do more than anything.

11. Are you an "over-analytical" or "go-with-the-flow" kind of person? I used to be way too over-analytical, but I think I've become more go-with-the-flow over the past few years.

12. Have you ever punched someone out of anger? no, but I'd be lying if I said I'd never wanted to.

13. What would you say if someone told you to describe Coca-Cola? it's much better than Pepsi products.

14. What's your least favorite thing about your car? It has no spinners (I agree with you on that one Claire).

15. Are you wearing anything around your wrists?a watch on the left wrist and a ponytail holder on the right wrist. I'm so predictable.

16. So are you any good at Guitar Hero?nooooooo.

17. Did you like your roommates in a college? Excellent roommates.

18. What's your favorite search engine? I just use google.
19. Chris Rock or Chris Tucker? I get them mixed up.

20. Doesn't Pepsi taste so much better than Coke? absolutely not. (see #13). Diet coke and Diet DP are my faves.

21. Do you get along with your siblings? yes. They are my favorite people.

22. Do you sit or stand while taking a shower? Please leave me a comment if you actually SIT while taking a shower. I must know.

23. How late did you stay up last night? about 10:15. Yes, that's later than usual, but I had to watch the end of the MSU game. GO DAWGS!

24. What was the first thing you thought this morning? I wish it was Saturday. 5:30 is too early to be getting up.
25. What did you do last night? Ate potato soup with JR (he's a fantastic cook) and flipped between American Idol and the MSU basketball game.
26. Do you think you will be in a relationship three months from now? I sure hope so.
27. Have you ever told someone you loved them and meant it?yes. I tell my family daily.
28. How's your heart lately?It's still kicking!
29. What were you doing this morning at 7am? probably making copies in the workroom at school.
30. What were you doing this afternoon at 12pm? math with my students.
31. What was the reason you last laughed? My assistant and I had a good laugh at a student today. She sits close to the mirror in my classroom, and she spends most of her day admiring herself. I don't think I'll ever be able to give her a new seat because of the daily entertainment she brings me. You really have to see it to understand the humor.
32. Have you ever talked to someone when they were high? not to my knowledge
33. How many red lights have you run? none intentionally. I would never do such a thing. Once in college, I ran a yellow light and was pulled over because the cop said it had turned red before I got through it (the only time I've ever been pulled over actually). No ticket was issued b/c the officer knew my dad. I love Tommy T.
34. Have you ever cried while taking a shower? that's really none of your business.
35. What was your least favorite grade? I don't remember too much about grade school sadly, but I remember 5th grade being kinda hard.
36. What were you doing at 12am last night? sleeping hard.
37. Have you ever, in any way, been betrayed by someone you trusted?yes
38. When was the last time you were given flowers? my sweet boyfriend sent some to me a couple of months ago for absolutely no reason. Attached to the beautiful bouquet: a gift certificate for a massage. He's good.
39. Is there anything that you are craving right now? TCBY BUT STARKVILLE DOESN'T HAVE ONE ANYMORE! GRRRR...
40. Do people ever make mistakes when spelling or saying your name? Laura doesn't cause a problem, but you should see the way some people spell "Tomlinson". Some examples: Thomlinson, Tomblinson, Tomilson, and my personal fave; Tomcrosbo.
41. Have you ever started a sentence with No offense, but…?yes
42. When was the last time you saw a police car? today actually.
43. Did you ride in someone else's car today? nope. Just my good ole altima.
44. Have you made a mistake in the past week? who hasn't?
45. Who was the last person to text you? Candy. She texted me to tell me that she saw a white mustang with a pink stripe, a cartag with "Brandi" on it, and a leopard tag cover. I think that's totally disgusting.
46. Do you miss someone? of course.
47. Is there anything you regret about your past? quite a few things actually, but who doesn't really?
48. What was the last movie you saw? I don't know...maybe "We are Marshall"???? That's such a great movie.
49. Are you sleeping somewhere other than home Saturday night?nope. I love my bed.

Time for AI!

Until next time...

and the moment we've all been waiting for...

Tune in to the season premiere of American Idol Tuesday night AND Wednesday night at 8/7c.

It's audition time!

much ado about nothing.

I have had several complaints lately about the picture I posted from my last entry. Lots of people have requested that I blog again ASAP because that monster of a picture was apparently causing nightmares and in some cases, severe panic attacks.

Slight exaggerration perhaps, but frankly, I'm sick of looking at that picture everytime I look at my blog, so I'm here to do us all a favor.

Allow me to recap the last few days of my life, partially for entertainment, and partially just to give me something to blog about.

Rewind a couple of days to:

Thursday afternoon.

Setting: School; approximately 12:35 pm

I notice the weather looking a little sketchy outside. I was aware that there was a chance of rain outside, but apparently I was somewhat oblivious to the fact that we were under a tornado warning. Apparently I missed that memo. When I realized the seriousness of the weather, I knew we were in for quite an eventful afternoon.

Luckily, all of those monthly tornado drills we're required to do paid off, as my students knew exactly what to do when the tornado bell began ringing. You remember these drills from school? You know...fetal position-against the wall-packed in together like sardines-hand protecting head...the whole deal. (I hated doing that when I was in school!). What my 21 little angels didn't know is that they'd have to stay in this position for an hour and a half! Ever spent that amount of time with that many kids being told that they had to be still and couldn't move or talk? I wouldn't recommend it. Seriously. It was miserable. After about an hour, I was wanting to beat my head against the wall and I was starting to question my decision to become a teacher. I'm only kidding (well, sort of). I was actually proud of my students. None of them freaked out or cried like many of the other kids in the school. Mine were just complaining of being hot and tired of sitting there. Who could blame them? They could have cared less about the weather. Thankfully, nothing ever got really serious here and by the time our fun hour and a half spent in the hall was over, it was time to go home. What a day.

Friday was pretty uneventful until that night when JR and I went to Stromboli's with my friend Heather and her husband Tom (I love them) and had some of the most fantastic pizza I've ever had in my life. Ever eaten there? What I don't understand is why I never ate there in college. You would have been amazed to see how much pizza 4 people consumed in a matter of minutes. I was hurting later that night, but it was well worth it.

Saturday, I spent most of the afternoon in New Hope (Holla Jenny!) at a baby shower for JR's sister Laura, who's expecting her first child in May. I was also able to see JR's other sister, Mary Martha, who just announced that she TOO is expecting and will be due in August. Congrats to both!

Sunday (today), JR and I drove to Greenwood to eat lunch and spend time with his family. I, once again, ate so much that I was hurting. We had a great time, although it was too short. When I got home, I had just enough time to go for a quick jog before heading to Nana's to eat with MY family for dinner. The theme for today: FOOD.

Yeah, I probably won't be eating this week.

Have a great one!

LT

Oh my...what will I do?

Claire blogged about a couple of the presidential candidates recently, so I thought I would throw in my opinion about one particular candidate.

Let me preface this by saying a couple of things. First of all, I'm NOT politically knowledgeable. I wish I were. I've really tried to get more into politics, but in all honesty, there's A LOT that I still don't understand. Secondly, let it be known that I don't have a problem with having a female president, nor am I completely opposed to having a Democrat run our country. While I have supported W since the beginning of his presidency, I agree that there are some things that need to be changed.

At this point in the race, I have no clue who's going to get my vote. There isn't a single candidate that I think needs to be the leader of our country. I'm honestly a little worried. What worries me even more though, is the thought of HILLARY CLINTON becoming that leader. I am not a fan, folks. She thinks she is God's gift to America and I honestly want to vom everytime she comes on the TV (which is about every minute or so these days). This morning she was interviewed on Fox and Friends (shout out to my friends Steve, Brian, and Gretchen!) and when I heard her voice, I couldn't get to the remote fast enough to change it.

I may leave the country if HRC does become our next president. Maybe I'll go to Australia or China or some tropical island some where. Anyone care to join me?

Hey, I have an even better idea...why doesn't Britney Spears run for President! I'm more likely to vote for her over this other one.

hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Excited? Hardly.

I know, I know...I got over 2 weeks off so I shouldn't complain. Being a teacher, and getting such fabulous breaks, I've learned that the longer you're out of school, the HARDER IT IS TO GO BACK. Let it be said that every single day of my Christmas break was F A N T A S T I C. I loved it. I kinda want to go back to Dec. 21 and do it all over again. Oh well... life goes on!

Here's to a great first week back at school (hopefully!)!

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions. Let's be honest...how often do people really stick to them? I've decided to change my ways a little this year and give it a try. I don't think my resolutions are unreasonable, but it will take a little work and a lot of will power. Here goes...short and sweet:

1. stop biting my nails. It's a disgusting habit that I've had nearly all my life. I've tried numerous times to stop, but it never fails...everytime I stop, it's only a matter of days before something will make me nervous or stressed, and I start it up once again. Why can't I just QUIT? My nails are rather strong and grow rapidly if I just allow them to do so. Ever since I began teaching, I became extremely aware of how easily germs are spread, and some would even say that I'm OCD about washing my hands. So, the time has come my friends. No more nail biting.

2. I'm not going to say the usual resolution of "go on a diet" or "lose weight." Sure, I'd love to drop a couple around my middle area (who doesn't want to, right?) , but I'm taking a different approach. I already exercise fairly regularly and I don't eat bad. So, I'm going to try to just exercise more (maybe training for a 1/2 marathon would be a good motivator!) and snack less....snacking is DEFINITELY my problem. If I can stick to these little rules, maybe I well shed a couple. I'm planning on taking a beach trip with my friend, Heather, when we get out of school in May. I guess I better go ahead and start thinking about "bathing suit season" NOW (YUCK!!!).

Notice: my resolution is NOT to 'give up Mexican food'...I'm not stupid enough to think that I could actually stick to that one. Duh.

3. be more selfless. Enough said.

Looking back at these, I'm realizing that they're not so "short and sweet" as I said they would be...sorry about that. But, I think they're good and reasonable resolutions, don't you? We'll see what happens.

Finally, I must tell you where I spent an hour of my afternoon today. JR had the brilliant idea to take me to a baseball park so we could 'throw a baseball'. Me? THROW A BASEBALL? WHAT? I haven't held a glove since I played softball back in the day..(no, I'm not posting a picture from way back when...don't get any ideas MSKS). But, he wanted to do it desperately, and I wasn't opposed to it, so we went. After all, the weather was unseasonably warm today, so I definitely wanted to be outside. Max came along too and he ran around the field the entire time. He was in heaven. I look forward to one day actually having a yard for my pup.

Mental picture for you: me...baseball hat...baseball glove in hand...acting like I knew what I was doing. Don't worry, I warned him of what I thought was a lack-of-ability before we began, but he claims he was impressed! Haha. I was sure he'd get so frustrated with me by the end of our afternoon. Instead, he used every possible opportunity as a learning experience, and I think he actually enjoyed acting as though he was my coach. What a patient person he is.

He said that we're going to the batting cage next time.

Hmmm...we'll see about that.

Have a great week!

LT

I love LOVE these girls...

I don't have to be told how blessed I am to have such great friends. This is something that I'm very aware of. I'm not exactly sure what I've done to deserve such amazing friends, but for some reason, God has given me several of the best.

A couple of my oldest and dearest friends were in town yesterday. Claire was here from Birmingham and Meredith was here all the way from Alpine, TX (she's a true cowgirl at heart). I don't see either of them nearly as often as I would like, and it's been MONTHS since I've seen both of them at the same time. What a treat. The 3 of us basically spent the entire day together and it was fabulous! It really made realize how much I took for granted the times I was able to see them everyday. We had a great day doing whatever we wanted to do.

Aren't they cute? :)

Don't ask....(I guess you kinda had to be there for this one)...

We visited Mere's sister Emily (top 5 FUNNIEST people I know) and sweet Sarah Beth yesterday too. SB is a DOLL!

What a fun day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN!

Happy Birthday to my fabulous big sister! I won't reveal how old she is today. Hint: I'll be 27 in March and she's 2 years and 2 months older than me...you do the math. :)

This is one amazing girl. I've never known someone who could balance as many things as she does while giving 100% to them all. Kristen is such a great mom and wife, (not to mention what a great sister she is too!).

She just signed a contract to join the Women's Clinic here in Starkville when she finishes her residency in a couple of years. Even though I have no clue where I'll be in 2 years, it still excites me to think that we may possibly live in the same town again!

I'm so proud of her!!

Have a great day Kristen! I love you!

A New Year's Extravaganza!

My New Year's Eve was spent doing something a little out of the ordinary. I didn't attend an overcrowded party with a glass of champagne in hand to toast in the New Year, as many people do. Nope. I did something that, in my opinion, was far greater.

JR and I began our night in Tupelo. I took him for his birthday dinner and he chose to go to Red Lobster. I had never eaten there until he and I started dating, and while it's somewhere that I wouldn't really choose, I don't mind going at all. I've been pleased everytime we've been and could probably eat about 8 of those yummy cheese biscuits. I'm just glad his favorite restaurant isn't like Barnhill's or Captain D.'s or somewhere. If that were the case, I might have had a serious problem going.

ANYWAY...the food was good and we left R.L. around 7. Want to know where our next destination was? GRACELAND TOO. Perhaps you've heard of this fantastic little place in Holly Springs, MS. If not, maybe you should click here or here, or maybe you should just google it and you'll find all kinds of goodies. JR couldn't believe that I had never been and he's told me for months now that we had to go. I must say, when he told me that we were going there New Year's Eve, I got a little excited. I had heard JR and Heather both talk about this place so much. They are both "Lifetime Members,"which means, they've been there at least 3 times and never again have to pay the whopping $5 to take the tour. It also means that their picture has been taken holding one of Elvis's guitars and is now somewhere on the wall in this museum-like house. It's pretty big time. Heather and Trey were actually there about a year ago and they brought along their little Sophie. Heather felt compelled, however, to tell Mr. MacLeod(the homeowner and 'tour guide') that their dog's name was PRISCILLA! Haha. Of course, the man fell in love with Sophie immediately. I love that story.

I can't sit here and try to explain to you what this place was like. There's no way I can do it justice, nor can I possibly begin to describe this Elvis-crazed man. PLEASE. If you've never been, you must PLAN TO DO IT SOON! It's worth it, I can assure you. Oh, and to make your life easier, he's open 24/7, so feel free to go at 3 am if you'd like. If you don't go, then at least check out some of his sites on the internet. Below, you'll see a picture of the front of his house, a picture of me and JR taken inside one of the rooms, and then a fantastic one of me and Mr. MacLeod (I'm planning on blowing it up to at least 8x11 and hanging it on my wall. I love it).

Oh yeah...one more thing I failed to mention. He has a son named ELVIS AARON PRESLEY MACLEOD. It's true. He actually named his son after Elvis's FULL name. Wow.

I hope you had a great New Year's! Did you remember to eat your black-eyed peas today?