A little bragging...

I went to the post office yesterday to get the mail and noticed a rather large envelope addressed to my son. No one ever sends my son mail, so I curiously opened it and glanced inside. As soon as I saw what it was, I ran back to the car with a huge smile on my face.

My son asked me why I was grinning like a crazy woman and I handed him the envelope. He asked me what it was and of coarse I told him to open it and find out...but be VERY careful opening it. He looked at me strange and opened it carefully.

As soon as he got it out of the envelope he screamed. I was expecting this, but it still startled me and made everyone else in the parking lot look in our direction. haha

"OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!" My son screamed and his eyes fixated on his "mail".

I know you're thinking...what the heck is it??

He was awarded with The Presidential Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence!



The PAEOAE (as I am calling it) has been around for about 27 years that awards students for their academic success. One of the criteria for this award is high scores on standardized state and national tests. Many parents have no idea what these are because their children attend public schools, but when you're a homeschool mom, you have to take your child in for these tests. It's a very big deal. Well, my son, whom I am extremely proud of, has scored (on every test) in the 99th percentile. Which means that he scored better than 99% of kids taking the test.

Anyway, Dustin (and I) are very excited that he was awarded the PAEOAE! Way to go Dustin!! We are so proud of you!!

Video Blog

Wow, it's been a long time since I have blogged. I have been really busy with my novel - editing takes so much time.

Well, I thought I would try something different today - a video blog!



Have a great day!

Attacked...by a what??

I was attacked today while hiking in the woods behind my house. Don't worry, I'm okay...didn't get hurt.

I was hiking down the hill, carrying my camera, minding my own business and listening to the creek running. We've had so much rain lately that the creek is running fast. It was a nice warm walk when all of a sudden an animal burst from the bushes and ran out in front of me. It startled me and I screamed. Yay, I know, I'm a wuss. LOL

The next thing I know, this...creature was hissing at me and circling around me through the tall grass. I'm looking around trying to see what it was, but it was camouflaged fairly well.

It jumped out in front of me again and growled. It looked like a freaky turkey puffing up its feathers. It started dancing back and forth all the while hissing at me. This strange little bird did not intimidate me in the least. I was certain that it was a female guarding its eggs and I was concerned that I was very close to its nest and I didn't want to step on its eggs. So I stopped and looked around. No eggs in sight.

I turned on my camera and snapped a picture of it as it started running towards me in a mad rush. I took a step towards it so that I could get another picture and it ran behind a tree...still hissing. I shrugged and continued my walk and this strange little bird stalked me through the bushes and trees a good ways.

On my way back up the hill, I did not catch a glimpse, nor did I hear, my little attacker, but I did manage to get her portrait...


Who knew a grouse could be so aggressive??

Back to the Routine

Wow, what a great vacation getaway with my husband! I won't even go into details because I think it will bore you all, but I will say that I had an absolutely wonderful time. It was very relaxing and I didn't have to worry about anything at home- it was all taken care of.

My husband and I spent every moment together enjoying each other - yeah yeah, in more ways than one. *wink*

We were so relaxed and at peace and on the way home...


Yup...the car broke down. We were 100 miles from home when it happened and we had to have it towed. My husband suspects it's either the fuel pump or fuel filter, but regardless, we had to have it towed 100 miles on a holiday weekend. What an ending to our vacation! LOL

We had fun though and enjoyed every moment of our trip, but at this moment I'm exhausted and taking it easy. In a few days I might get the energy to post pictures!