The Times Dispatch Blogs

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.

Discuss this post at LawCo. Talk

In addition to being the Advertising Consultant for The Times Dispatch, I am also an Independent Beauty Consultant for AVON. I LOVE make-up! I think I actually love make-up more than SHOES, if you can imagine that!

I am also a huge fan of “What Not to Wear” on television. Carmandy is the make-up guru on the show. I’ve discovered that I use a lot of her same tricks & tips on putting on make-up. Now, I’m not saying I’m an expert. But, I have worn makeup, daily for 25 years. ☺

So, I thought I’d pass along a few tricks of the trade:

1. Please make sure your foundation &/or powder is the right shade for you! Don’t apply to the inside of your wrist, to match the color. Instead, apply a dab to your neck (just below your jaw line). If you don’t see streaks, then you’ve got a winner!

2. When applying eyeshadow, use a vanilla or very light shade of pink or gold to apply right under your brow & also on the inside corner of your eyes. This brightens & opens up the eyes.

3. Apply mascara to your bottom lashes first. Then you won’t get mascara mess on your eyelid.

4. If you have very dry skin or wrinkly skin, do not use a lot of face powder. Just a light dusting of translucent powder to set your foundation. Also, for this face type, try to use a cream blush. It doesn’t settle in the “cracks” as badly.

5. Only put emphasis on one feature at a time. If you are doing a dark or smokey eye, then use a pale lip color. If you want to do a deep or bold color on the lips, then go light on the eyes. If you try to do both at once, it can look clownish.

6. When doing a smokey eye, you don’t have to use only browns & blacks. Depending on your eye color, try a dark navy or steel gray. Also, dark plum & copper shades work great!

7. Waterproof mascara is harsher on the lashes. It’s harder to remove, and can cause your lashes to break & dry out.

8. Red lips are still IN! Just make sure you find the right shade of red for your skin tone.

9. Please remove your makeup before bed! It really does make a difference in the way your skin looks.

10. Use moisturizer, with a sunscreen, year around.

11. Keep your eyebrows groomed. You don’t have to go to the salon. It’s really easy to take care of this at home. There are tweezers, waxes, eyebrow tape, etc. The shape should be as follows: The inside corner of the brow should line up, diagonally from the inside corner of the eye. The arch should line up by going diagonally, from the pupil of the eye (up and out.) Finally, the outside corner should line up, diagonally from the out side corner of the eye (up & out.)

Just remember...
Beauty comes from within! But, a little lip gloss never hurts!

Discuss post at LawCoTalk

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.

--
Discuss this post at LawCo Talk

Do you ever wonder why they say the “average” size for a woman in America is a size 10/12? Really??? I know a lot more women, myself included, who happily fit into the size 14 to 18 category. It’s quite funny to me that a “size” is actually used to describe a person anyway. Especially since every clothes designer uses a different scale. A size 12 in one brand would be more like a size 8 in another. While you can lay on the dressing room floor & squeeze your gut in to try and wiggle into a size 18 in another brand. Then, comes the joy of trying to get up from that dressing room floor! There’s some exercise! I mean, let’s face it, most dressing rooms are smaller than a closet. On a rare occasion you can find a large dressing room, complete with a bench or a chair. Ahhh… those are nice!
Since, I too am more of a curvaceous/voluptuous woman (let’s not use the words fat or fluffy), I feel your pain. Quite literally, at times. Don’t you just love “elastic?” Seriously, I do love clothes, accessories,and especially shoes!! Yes, I am here to admit it, I am a shoe addict! It’s very hard to find cute, trendy, fashionable items in “women’s sizes.” If you can find it in a size that you can actually breathe in, then it is usually very “matronly” or makes you look much older than you are, or actually makes you look “bigger” than you are, just because of the way it is made. Hmmm…. Now for every one of you lucky ones who truly are a size 6 or under, you might be saying “Why don’t you fat girls just lose some weight & then you can wear the same cute clothes that we can?”
Well, my answer to that would be, “Why don’t you skinny girls just enjoy a box of Twinkies every once in a while & then try to zip your jeans?” ☺ I do not hate nor wish any ill towards skinnier women, I really don’t. I am just looking at it from a plus-size prospective, and adding a little humor to it. ☺

Let’s all just be healthy! My wise words for those who are standing in front of the mirror & cursing your thighs, would be this:
Try to get some form of exercise every day. Try to drink lots and lots of water. Try to avoid eating “fast food” 3 meals a day. Smile, enjoy life, enjoy your friends, enjoy your children, enjoy every day. Finally, put on your size 18 jeans with some fabulous high heels, shiny lip gloss, and just be YOU!

In closing, here are a few funny thoughts…

“The hole is the least fattening part of a donut. Unfortunately, you have to eat the rest to get to it.”

“Potato chips are crunchy, like lettuce. So, they ARE diet food.”

“I’m in shape. Round is a shape.”

“DIET” is a 4-letter word.

A fat-free “diet shake” is really good (when you dunk Oreos in it & chase it down with some “cheese-doodles.” ☺

Discuss post at LawCo Talk

I had a few firsts last week. I went to Chicago, stayed at a Hilton, attended a Pampered Chef National Conference, rode in a taxi and attended an executive banquet. It was all such an awesome experience.

I was also away from my family for four whole days, which is a definite first. My youngest, Alison, would not even speak more than a hello and a goodbye till the third day I called. Shelby wanted to know everything that I saw and did every day.

The drive to Chicago included Linda Aiken of Jonesboro and Carrie Trego of Trumann, and they were entertaining. I drove for the first 300 miles without even realizing I had driven that long. I had no idea of how to get to Chicago, so I relied heavily on the girls and Carrie’s GPS.

I was in awe at how organized the whole thing was. We stayed at the Chicago Hilton and Pampered Chef arranged to have a line of buses at our beck and call (it seemed) to take us back and forth from the Hilton to The McCormick Place. There was a bus leaving every 15-30 minutes.

The McCormick Place is huge with lots of big rooms and little rooms and a theatre, and sets right there at Lake Michigan, so pretty.

It was so neat the way they had everything arranged right down to the nametag that we all had that told us exactly where we were to be, at what time, on each of the three days. They even fed us breakfast and lunch two days, and then we had the executive banquet at the Sheraton Hotel. They put on shows and gave out so many awards - vases, jewelry, etc., and also gave us a couple of the new fall items.

I will be making plans to go again next year, for sure.
--
Discuss this post at LawCo. Talk

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.
--
Discuss this post at LawCo Talk

March Madness is upon us once again. The 65-team field for the 2009 NCAA Tournament was announced on Sunday.

It was a down year for the Southeastern Conference and that was reflected in the tournament selections. Only three SEC teams made the tournament and they were lucky to get that many teams in. LSU, the regular-season conference champion, is seeded only eighth in the South Regional.

Now, on to the predictions.
First-round winners

Midwest Regional: Louisville, Ohio State, Arizona, Cleveland State, West Virginia, Kansas, Boston College and Michigan State.

West Regional: Connecticut, Texas A&M, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, Cal and Memphis.

East Regional: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas and Duke.

South Regional: North Carolina, LSU, Illinois, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Syracuse, Michigan and Oklahoma.

Second-round winners

Midwest: Louisville, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State.

West: Connecticut, Washington, Missouri and Memphis.

East: Pittsburgh, Florida State, Villanova and Texas.

South: North Carolina, Gonzaga, Arizona State and Oklahoma.
-
Discuss post at LawCo Talk

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!

Discuss this post at LawCo. Talk

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?

Discuss this blog at LawCo. Talk

Congratulations to the Arkansas State Red Wolves on their 18-14 upset win over Texas A & M last week. It was good to see them finally get a win against one of the “big boys.” Several times over the years, ASU has come close to beating a big-name opponent, but could never quite pull it off.
***
Congratulations are also in order for Hoxie senior football player Derek Johnson. Derek was named first-team preseason All-Arkansas, as well as being named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in last Sunday’s edition.
***
The NFL season kicks off tonight with the Washington Redskins visiting the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It’s good to have the NFL back, but there just aren’t any real marquis matchups on the first weekend.

A couple of former Razorback players will make their pro debuts in the Monday night game between the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos. Darren McFadden, the fourth pick in the NFL draft, is expected to be a star with the Raiders. Due to injuries suffered by the starters, ex-Hog Payton Hillis is expected to get the start at fullback for the Broncos.
—
Discuss post at LawCo Talk