Laura Vegas

i have been a terrible blogger … i know, i know. the last few weeks i got out of my blogging groove … so i'm working on making up for it. i have lots of layouts and cards to share … so look for them this coming week. in the meantime … thought i'd do a little random updating.

• the girls are officially done with awana (the kids night at the church). they both did great at awana … finishing up their books and getting awards. this was alyssa's last year since she will be going into jr high (omg … how can that be?). but she has put in to be a leader-in-training … so we'll wait and see if she's selected.
• they are also done with choir. they did their big performance last sunday … a week ago. lots of practices leading up to it … even 3 hour saturday rehersals. on the big day … they had to be there at 7:30 in the morning. they performed their musical for all 3 services. alyssa had a drama part … and did great and remembered her lines and said them loud. and sarah had a solo … which she sang beautifully. i was actually surprised that she wanted to do it … she loves to sing in her room with the door shut … but tends to be very shy in front of people. and when she sang … it even caught me off guard a little. i know her voice … but it sounded just so sweet and little. so proud of both of them.
• sarah is also done with softball. had the last games … had the closing ceremonies … had the pizza party. it was a good season. her team didn't do great … but they had fun and showed definate improvement by the end of the season. sarah pitched a few games … she really loves to pitch even though she's still learning to get it all the way over the plate. she made some awesome plays in the outfield … and also at second base a few times. at the last game … she made an unassisted double-play. all on her own … no one helping … from the outfield and over to third base. it was awesome!
• joe is just about done umpiring. on average, he did about 3-4 games a week. fitting it in with working nights, sleeping some during the day, getting up early to go umpire, assisting with sarah's softball team, and then sleeping a little bit before going back to work. right now, he's doing 1-2 games a week for another leaque … so not quite so busy.
• the girls still have another month of school left … being year-round, they don't finish the school year until the very end of june. but there has still been lots of year-end stuff going on … probably because there is a track that just finished their year this past week. we had the "art faire" this past week … where all the classes display some of their art work and projects from throughout the year. sarah had some fun stuff displayed … loved seeing their paintings and drawings from when they had an artist come in their classroom and teach them. alyssa's class didn't have anything out … guess her teacher wasn't big on craft stuff. lol! but seeing all the jr high projects on display … geez, we are going to be super busy next year with the amount of projects they're required to do!

i'm still thinking these photos are looking overly-sharpened … not at all what they actually look like. i saw someone else mention this on her blog … so i know it's not just me. but you guys told me they look fine to you … so i hope they do. lol! and can i just say … with the changed that typepad made … it takes me longer than ever to post. the typing is super slow … is anyone else having this problem?!?!

and here's some totally useless, random stuff … just because.

• gas is $4.29 a gallon here … i cannot believe it. last weekend the van needed to be filled … but i told joe to only put a little bit in because the gas was almost $4 a gallon. i figured maybe if we just filled it a little to get by … that it might go down a little in cost within a few days. that ended up biting me in the tush. lol!
• and don't get me started on groceries. i'm a good shopper to begin with … i never buy anything unless it's on sale. but i was noticing last night just how much some of these prices have gone up. a regular sized bottle of vegetable oil was $8.00 … you have got to be kidding me?!?! it was on sale for $5.00 … but that is still absurd. luckily, i did not need any … lol! i'm thinking we are going to start living off of top ramen … i bet i can "rachael-ray" up some top ramen …  "20 ways to cook top ramen"!
• and speaking of the grocery store … the one i go to is being remodeled. in a big way. i hadn't been in there for over a week … and i couldn't believe what they have managed to get done. they also managed to move everything in the store around … everything. it really threw me off … took me longer to get through the aisles. but it's kind of exciting too … takes me back to my grocery days. remodeling was always a ton of work … but lots of fun too. but really … all i really want to know is … "where is the nut topping for my ice cream?". i can't find it … it's no where. i actually went and bought a jar of regular peanuts … and then chopped them up in my mini food processor … and then toasted them in a frying pan. probably a little drastic to do all that … but i can't have ice cream without my nuts!
• i need glasses! i have had this constant headache for about 3 weeks now … it lasts all day. just this extreme pressure … i feel it right behind my eyes. and i've been squinting a lot … my eyes just hurt. i have always had perfect eyes … but then again, i havn't had my eyes checked in about 15 years. i don't know why … just havn't. so i went in today … and i need some glasses. i do a ton of reading and working on the computer all the time … so that's when i've felt it the most. went in to pick out some frames … that was hard. i'm not even a big sunglasses person … i've been wearing the same dorky pair for years. the chick there was so helpful though. i was really leaning towards one pair … but she told me they made me look like a librarian. lol! i was totally going to link what mine are going to look like .. but i can't figure out how to link now on this new typepad stuff. crap! oh well … you'll have to wait to see. i'm hoping this will help solve my headache problem .. but i have to wait a week to get the glasses. lol! oh … and the best part … the glasses cost me all of $5.00! good insurance for once!
• remember how i was so excited to pick up where i had left off with "melrose place"? well, i did it. i had 27 episodes to go till the end of the series. i recorded them all .. and within a little over 2 weeks, i watched them all. yes, that would be almost 14 hours of tv! but i did it. on one of my vacation days … i watched 5 episodes while i scrapped. i feel so accomplished … i can now say that i have officially watched the entire 229 episodes of "melrose place" … for the second time in my life. i know, i know … i have such lofty goals for myself! lol!

guess that's it for now. enough random stuff to bore you with. lol! hope everyone it having a great holiday weekend. no plans here … we never do anything on memorial day weekend. joe's working all weekend (the joy of grocery). and i have some assignments to work on. and i also promise to get working on getting some stuff ready to share.