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what's up with all the cool backgrounds?

i was using "cutestblogontheblock" but now there are errors on the page and i can't get another nifty background.

what do you guys use?

i need suggestions...

Awww, CRAP!!!

have you ever been excited, but a bit um...shall we say, worried about first impressions? like, maybe you forgot to put away the folded underwear on the couch and the preacher's wife just dropped by to deliver some fresh brownies...do you let her in the house & invite her to sit - or stand like a bodyguard in the door to keep her from seeing your human-ish-ness?

that's where I am right now.

my sweetheart neighbor, Mindi, has just introduced me to her friends in the blogging world & while I'm loving reading her blog, my mind panics! could it be that i still have some lame (although at the time I thought it was pretty) Christmas background still up??? awww, CRAP! i have to get over there and change it before any of Mindi's hip friends see it and learn about the real Laren!

so, hopefully, the onslaught of readers won't be offended if there are a few reindeer lingering on the site. i plan to update more frequently. i vow to blog at least weekly. maybe weakly.

and go see Mindi - she's amazing. i'm green with the envy of 'how does she do it?" and you will be too!

wanna know a secret?

well, let me take a look at the calendar...

yep - it's wednesday. so, that means we are officially at 11 weeks.

11 weeks is one week shy of the so-called "safe sharing zone" but truth be told our doctor said that when he heard a solid heartbeat 2 weeks ago the chance of miscarriage drops from 25% to less than 1%. I told him that 96% of all percentages were made up. He didn't laugh.

point being - we are pregnant!

and i am one sick woman. sick in the morning. sick in the evening. ravenously hungry & yet, nothing sounds good - except my husband's incredible homemade hamburgers. seriously - he's had to cook me 3 in the last 2 days.

you know what else? i suffered from post-partum depression after stroman's birth and had been taking some medication for it. the doc and i were discussing if i needed to keep on something. there are dangers for the baby if the medication was continued into the third trimester. i told him i had decided to just tough my way through it for the benefit of the baby.

he informed me that he would guide his patients to keep on their meds or find a safe alternative if being off the meds meant they might turn to recreational drugs or excessive alcohol to squash the pain of depression.

and i jokingly said, 'the only redeeming quality i have as a mother is that i'm not a crack-whore."
again, he didn't laugh.

note for next pregnancy...be sure to find a doc who gets my jacked-up sense of humor.

no offense to the crack-whore fans of my blog.

knock. knock...

anyone still there?


i agree, it has been forever! glad to see you again & i hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.


i didn't.


sick. massively sick. the entire time. for 3 weeks now. sinus infection. stomach bug. and generally, a ticked off attitude.

it got so bad that when drew left for his final football road game of the season, i called my mom...explained the situation and cried when she said she would head to roswell that afternoon. a mere 5-hour drive! for me! sick, stinky, exhausted, me. i was worthy of a 5-hour drive! okay, it was probably those grandkids that were the bait, but let me feel overly loved for crying out loud!



back to the point.



i've discovered - with the help of my overly honest husband - that i would enjoy holidays much, much more if it weren't for all the people...people everywhere. dreadful. it's hard to discuss why i don't care to leave the house much to the very people who kinda make me wanna stay in my house. but then, you might call. perhaps i should just show up. we know what i think about phone calls.



this isn't just because i was ill. remember last year? this! i was serious about this for MULTIPLE REASONS!

but this year - we are having Christmas in Roswell...the kids will actually open gifts at home for once and the roadtrips will be limited. we can partially blame the economy. partially blame the distance to all the various relatives. mostly, we can blame me.

more to come this holiday season!

We Won!!!

Here's the write-up from our recent football trip to Alpine...

Broncos open season with 24-14 victory
Staff Reports

ALPINE, TEXAS (Staff reports) - Class is now in session at the New Mexico Military Institute, and the Bronco football team has already passed their first test, downing Sul Ross State University 24-14.

Head coach Jeff Lynn and his Bronco footballers traveled to Alpine, Texas this weekend, their first of four straight road games, to face the Lobos in the season openers for both squads.

Adding a bit of hype to the match-up, Drew Bridges, NMMI's new offensive coordinator, is not only a Sul Ross alumnus, he also coached there from 2002 to 2006.

After an auspicious start of, "one, two, three, punt," for their first three offensive series and only one first down in their first four possessions, it looked like it could be a long night for coach Bridges and new freshman QB Ryan Perez. Perez was 0-4 in passing, and the NMMI running game had netted only three yards in eight tries. Adding insult to injury, Sul Ross managed to score a touchdown on their first possession, and narrowly missed a 36-yard field goal on their next. At the end of the first quarter, Sul Ross led 7-0.

The fourth straight NMMI punt started the 2nd quarter, and after two Sul Ross first downs drove the ball deep into NMMI territory at the 34-yard line, the Bronco Black Swarm defense got a huge stop on a fourth-and-4. This seemed to inspire the offense, as they put together a 15 play, 66-yard drive into the end zone, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run on fourth down by Darien Crawford. Freshman kicker Brandon Posey, from Rio Rancho High School, tied things up at seven, with a successful point after.

At halftime it was tied, 7-7.

The Bronco 'D' again got a quick stop of the Lobo offense, after the kickoff to begin the second half. Linebacker Ronald Pierre picked up his first sack of the year on a third and 13, and again the Bronco offense responded to the inspired play of its defense. This time they put together a 17 play, 75-yard drive, eating 6:30 seconds off the clock. QB Ryan Perez threw a 5-yard strike to Darien Crawford for the touchdown. Posey again made the point after and the Broncos were now up 14-7. At the end of the third, the score was still 14-7, but NMMI was threatening to score again.And score again, they did, only five plays into the fourth quarter.

Running back Anthony Landrum punched the ball in from the 1-yard line, completing another 75-yard drive by the Broncos. Posey hit the point after and it was now 21-7. A forced fumble by the NMMI defense caused by safety Travis Silafau and corner Ty Hendrix set up NMMI's final score, a 35-yard field goal by Posey.

Sul Ross' final score was set up by some poor punt coverage and missed tackles, allowing the Lobos a start from the NMMI 42-yard line. The Lobos needed only five plays themselves to score, but it was perhaps already too late, as only 3:44 remained after an 8-yard touchdown run. A final drive by the Bronco offense left no doubt about the offensive capabilities of the Red Strike offense and erased any uneasiness of its initial shaky start. They took the ball from their 29, all the way to the Sul Ross 1-yard line before time ran out.

"We've just got to learn to come ready to play and start out strong," said head coach Lynn, with a slight smile and look of relief on his face. He'll have some time to help coax and coach, as the Bronco are off next week. Their next game will be 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, against Cisco Junior College in Midland, Texas.


The BEST parts of the trip: winning, singing with the kids in the car on the 5 1/2 hour drive, spending the night w/ Mr. Bic and Miss Meredith, seeing Ava & the Wrights, the kids napping on the way home.

Now, the honest truth from the trip. I miss Alpine. I miss the area. I miss the people. I miss the weather. I miss the whole stinkin' place. I didn't realize it until we were driving into town. The stadium is an important part of my history with Drew. Watching him coach the Sul Ross Lobos was a huge part of our dating. I'd go to a game, he'd coach, we'd go out after. And Alpine is where we set up our first home. Welcomed home our son. Found friends. Fell in love with a church family. And I miss it.

But now we are in Roswell & learning to find our way here.

Last night, we joined a church.

Here's to making new memories!

really, my life is so messy that i lost a blog entry....

the following post is actually from the week of mother's day. i never published it. just found it...oddly enough, while i was waiting for a load of socks to dry.



yesterday marked a day of incredible amounts of self-induced stress. i was finishing up a project and was blind to everything but the task at hand. blind to my son, 15 months, climbing onto our bed and sliding off on his belly. (okay, not blind, but a good enough typist to watch his death defying feats and continue to work.)

at one point, i almost gave up - the kids had found my last nerve and were jumping like it would save my soul. at just that moment, my husband rode up on his white steed and swept the kids out of the house for 3 hours!

and that helped me finish my work. it did not enable me to visit here, here, or here. no matter what the blog traffic trackers say.

drew took the kids to the park...where i can just imagine cydney was everywhere (cyd: "first, i did the climbing thing. then i went on the ropes all the way to the top and then i went down the slide. ober and ober. and there were some boys that dad said not to play with. so i didn't.) and stroman was cautiously approaching the swing, a device that makes him cackle (think my cackle, only cuter) with sheer delight.

i was about to wrap up the work & realized it was 6. NO DINNER PLANNED. crap. he saved me & i didn't even manage to defrost? crap. so i continued to work.

HERE'S THE DREAMY PART: cyd walks in from the park and comes to me holding a take & bake pizza. "Happy Mother's Day, Mommmma. We got you pizza!" Solid. They took care of dinner.

"I've got wine!" He's holding several bottles of one of my favorite brands. Lovely. Just what I need.

"Stroman," says my hubby. "Bring momma her bag."

Little comes to me with a terribly small black bag. "MaMa," he shoves the bag at me, kinda sideways, as if he wants to pour out the contents.

I dig. A little dismayed. Inside, a beautiful ring - early Mother's Day gift! What?

OUTSTANDING! I had mentioned, in passing, that I really enjoy beautiful jewelry, but hadn't ever purchased for myself. AND HUSBAND WAS LISTENING!!! A picture of it? Not now.

I'm going to tell you what I was mulling over in my busy head right before I heard the garage door open. really, 3 hours at the park? as i continued to type, i wondered what could have happened? did they run into friends? was there an accident? did someone crack a skull & drew just wasn't ready to break it to me?

nope - he was taking care of me. just like he always does.

note to self : wash that lovely man some socks.

Damn Calendar

i realize it is the end of July & this is only my second post in 2 months. you might not be disappointed, but i am. my goal was to have at least 4 - hopefully 10 posts for this month. mainly because we have so much going on and it's fun to share...like when your aunt edith and uncle ernest used to make everyone come over for liver & onions and they just happened to have the slide show from their trip to the mountains up on the wall in the den.

so grab some popcorn and settle in - we're going to do a run-down of whatsagoinon.

the end of may, we were the photogs for a fabulous wedding down at cibolo creek ranch south of marfa, texas.lovely backdrop, fabulous people, tasty dining & several large glasses of wine made for a terrific wedding and weekend. note that the bride was patient through a downed AC in her suite, a small afternoon rain shower that turned into a full blown hail storm only hours prior to the ceremony and the stress of not seeing the love of her life the entire day of the wedding! she was classy through it all. and this couple made drew and i feel more like guests than hired help. if i were to remarry drew, this is the dress i would want. she was stunning...



More to come...that's a threat.

i apologize...

do you ever go through a phase where you feel like all you do is apologize?

i'm in it. deep.

the lab i use for photos has been painfully slow fulfilling orders...tense calls about the whereabouts of photos.

i apologize.

i can't seem to get my cell phone to work for more than, oh, say, 45 days...without some strange glitch that leaves 25 messages/calls lost in space. i never know until someone makes a second pissed off call to me. 

i apologize.

i traversed to the local post office to mail some packages. i hadn't filled out address labels before approaching the window - b/c the last time i mailed a package, let's see...here's how it went down. cyd was tugging on my jeans, asking if she could say hi to the people standing directly behind us. sure cyd. me: "yes, she is very outgoing." (filling out the label while holding stroman who is screaming because i won't let him down to tear all the posters off the walls and set the mailing boxes on fire. stroman grabs the pen i'm using and suddenly the label has a strange diagonal line from the X in TX. hey, maybe my customer won't notice the 10 inch mark across the package. maybe.)  in response to the delightful comments from the couple behind me: "yes, she's really only three. yes, she is very tall for her age." (step up to the window...yeah! our turn. the pain is almost over!) a quick tally of the packages results in this: "what? $45? how is that possible?" 

turns out, i had filled out the priority mail address labels, which can only be used to mail things priority. apparently, priority packages get a deep-tissue massage and are gently laid on piles of soft blankets in warm, fragrant rooms while first-class packages are stuffed into a dark closet laden with old packages. one has a runny nose and an unusual cough. another is a chain-smoker. that's what causes the price difference.

so, i didn't want to make the same mistake, but i thought i might need priority shipping to get the packages to my customer who was already ticked because of the slow lab turnaround (see note above) as fast as possible. this time, stroman in stroller. cyd out of town. and a line of 20 behind me. the postal worker looks over the packages and cites the lack of labels. we clarify that in fact, first-class will work just as fast as priority. i fill out the labels. slap 'em on while juggling the toys that stroman is propelling from the stroller. i go to get my wallet. 

nothing.

after extensive digging, an old, crusty checkbook surfaces. THANK GOD THE USPS WILL STILL TAKE A PERSONAL CHECK!

finally i escape from the postal services clutches.

to those in line behind me who had to personally witness this process.

i apologize!