Bruce's Birthday

Bruce's birthday was yesterday but the Bryce's hosted a birthday party for him at their house on Sunday afternoon.

Mom and I had been to Stillwater to the Ham-Bilyeu Family Reunion on Saturday and drove down to Frisco on Sunday morning. Everyone else came up from Lorena on Sunday.

This was the first time that Parker (6 months) and Landry (5 months) had been together since either of them has been able to "do anything". It was fun watching them lay on a blanket together. Parker, who is an arm flapper, was continually clubbing his cousin with his waving arms. In order to combat that, we switched them so that her feet were at his head and vice versa. That resulted in Landry rolling on her side with her feet in his face and she was chewing on his fist. Neither action phased him in the least.

After a delicious lunch, Bobby took Jon, Chris, Brodie and Bruce on a ride and showed them where Deion Sanders lives and well as Torii Hunter and a couple of other pro football players whose names I can't remember. The boys were impressed, not only with being able to see these 'houses' but the fact that their Uncle Bobby has hung out with some of them.

While the guys were touring, Ashton and I went to the pool while Megan and Erin fed the babies. That Ashton is a fish...she takes after the Botts and Bennett girls in the pool, might we have another competitive swimmer in the family?

After returning from the pool we had cake and ice cream (Bobby made a very tasty peanut butter frosting) and then Bruce opened presents and cards. Ashton made Bruce a birthday card of her own, featuring phonetic spelling, a hot air balloon, blue shirts (she picked out the two blue shirts they got Bruce), two birthday cakes, more balloons, a butterfly, a lady bug, a sun, carrots, a tomato plant and flowers. It is just precious.

Did You Know?

DID YOU KNOW? ( a friend sent these to me and I thought I'd pass them along).

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.


For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
panding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-
row openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box. well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

Slow summer, Not....

I thought things were supposed to slow down once summer came! That doesn’t seem to be the case this year though. And, I can’t believe it’s the middle of June already.

Actually I think the reason things don’t seem to have slowed down is that I’m trying to get ahead of the curve for next year. I’m trying to get as much of my three media guides (equestrian, basketball, tennis) updated and done as I can this summer.

This weekend is the annual Ham-Bilyeu Reunion in Oklahoma then on Sunday, Erin’s hosting a birthday party for Bruce. Mom and I will leave on Thursday afternoon so she can have some time to visit with Stillwater/Perkins friends on Friday. The reunion is on Saturday then on Sunday morning we’ll get up bright and early and trek to Erin’s house.

The next weekend I will leave for Tampa and our annual CoSIDA Convention. The convention will be at the Tampa Waterside Hotel & Marina and that’s where I’ll be staying as well. Sounds like an awesome site and Tammi (Texas Tech) will be my roommate.

After that, I’ll be home until Mom, Becky, Sara and I begin our road trip on July 26. First stop will be Jennifer’s, then on to Reese and Heather’s, then who knows what route we’ll take.

Sometime during the summer, I plan on doing a little trim replacement and painting on the outside of the house. Now, if I could just decide what color to paint (that’s the main stumbling block, that and the fact that it’s soooooooooooo dang hot!).

Sorry I don’t have any good stories to tell like Erin and Jennifer do. Guess Bruce and I are just too boring!

Awesome Mother's Day

Even though I had to work on Mother's Day, it was an awesome one!

All my 'chicks' had checked in by noon. Jennifer called before she went to church with her girls on Sunday morning. Heather and Megan and their families came over at 9 a.m. They brought brunch over (two breakfast casseroles, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, OJ and chocolate milk. That was a special treat. I talked to Erin before I left for town.

The girls all went together and got me a "Grammy" bracelet. For those of you that want to see which one I'm getting, I chose the Vicky bracelet. Can't wait to get it!

On my way into town to tennis I stopped by and visited my mom. She had one of her back muscle spasms and wasn't feeling too great.

Heather's oldest son Jon celebrated is 18th birthday on Saturday. We're all going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.

I'm off to Tulsa on Wednesday. Both of Baylor's tennis teams have advanced to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament so I will go up to cover them.

Later!!!

A break in the action, summer travel

After spending three days last week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) driving back and forth to College Station for Big 12 Tennis Championships, I actually will have a weekend off. Well, at least a weekend with no Baylor stuff. But, alas, there's plenty of stuff to do at the homestead.

I've got a few traveling things coming up. On May 14 & 15 I'll be in Dallas for Big 12 Conference meetings, then on to Tulsa (driving up there) for the NCAA Tennis Tournament. Hopefully I'll be there until the 20th (that means one of the teams are playing in the championship match).
Things slow down a bit after that, that will be my last official Baylor sports obligation for the year.

June 28-July 2 I'll be in Tampa at our annual sports information director's convention.

Then from July 26 - August 10 we will making the first annual "Botts Female Road Trip". I have a personal goal of visiting all 50 states. There are only eight states that I haven't been able to check off: Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and Alaska. I mentioned to Bruce that I wanted to take a trip this summer and told him I wanted to go to New England, stopping by West Virginia and Maryland. He wasn't interested in going so I enlisted my mom and sisters.

First stop will be West Virginia to visit Jennifer and her family, then on to Ft. Meade, Md., to visit my nephew Reese and his wife Heather. From there we'll make our way east and north with plans on hitting Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine and any state that we pass through on the way to those.

Besides going to the above states, we'd like to take a train into NYC, visit Ellis Island, and eat a real lobster dinner (not at a chain restaurant). Also, I don't think you can go through Baltimore and not drive by Charm City Cakes (they don't allow tours).

If time allows (depending on how much we putz around along the way), we may drive across NY to the Niagara Falls, then go into Canada, down to Michigan and then "swing by" Wisconsin. Not a huge priority but a possibility.

So, I will be able to check off at least five states on my 'yet to visit list", and maybe more.

I know of two trips that I will be making with the Lady Bears next season. We'll be going to Canada in late August to play two exhibition games. Then over Thanksgiving we'll be playing in a tournament in the Virgin Islands. It will be my first visit there.

That's enought gibberish for now.

The mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cup of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes'.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life...'

'The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.'

'The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house and your car.' 'The sand is everything else---the small stuff'. If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.' 'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with your grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.' 'Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' 'The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Sorry...

I'm sorry that it's been so long between postings. I thought that once basketball was over with I'd have some free time but that hasn't been the case.

We are hosting the Equestrian national championships next week and I've been busy putting together (literally) a 32 page program for the event. Luckily, I had started on it early but still it has been a very labor intensive project. I sent it to the printer today.

Now the next challenge will be hosting the event. This is my first season working with equestrian so I'm a rookie. Hopefully all of my hosting experience from other sports will help me out.

Bruce and I worked outside all weekend, cleaning up limbs, mowing, etc. We were sure feeling our age this weekend! Muscles that I didn't know I had (or forgot that I had) were making their presence felt. I just hope that I was able to stay out of the poison ivy. I have found out since we moved to Texas that I'm highly allergic to it.

I didn't work the Final Four this year and really missed being there. Although if I had worked it, I never would have gotten the Equestrian program finished.

Megan and Ricci's son, Parker, was baptized a couple of weeks ago. Erin, Bobby and the girls came down for it so we all went out to dinner afterward. It was good to get most of us together (Bruce had to work).

That's all for now...hopefully I'll post more often from now on.