All I can say is . . .

...if Friday had a face I would kiss it.

This has been a super crazy week at work and I can't wait to get out of the office.  We had a client event Wednesday night and I'm still recuperating.  I don't drink at client events so it wasn't that I was hung over or anything, it was just a lot of work.  I mean a lot.  I got home late and that threw my whole sleep cycle (which is "delicate" to begin with!) off and I didn't fall asleep until 4 AM.  And the alarm clock went off at 6.  So Thursday I was working off 2 hours of sleep and it wasn't pretty.  My eyes were so red and I had the worst bags.  I was a complete Zombie that day.  Fortunately I was cozy in bed by 9:30 PM Thursday and slept great.  I feel good today and definitely have more energy than yesterday!

KJ had a fabulous time @ Prom last weekend despite the crazy wind and extremely cold, unseasonable temps!  Her hair and make-up looked gorgeous, her dress was perfect on her (a couple of gay guys told her "your boobs look FANTASTIC!"), they had a wonderful dinner at 3 Forks, on to Prom @ the Hyatt Regency and then went to a post-prom party.  Next weekend we'll be at our Girl's weekend and the following weekend is FloMo's prom. 

KJ arrived in NYC safe and sound and is (obvi) having the time of her life.  Last night they saw Sponge Bob on Broadway and walked around Times Square.  Today they had real New York pizza, black & white cookies and rented bikes in Central Park.  Say what you want but Cos girls know how to have fun! 

In other news, my roses (well, technically they are Cosmo's roses because he's really the one that takes care of them) look fabulous this spring!  Cosmo did some maintenance and they came back with a vengeance!  Very lush, very full, very beautiful deep rich color.  One rose bush is a vibrant pink, the other two are a deeper pink. I'm so ready to get my patio décor out but the weather has been less than stellar the last couple of weekends.  And apparently this weekend is supposed to be ugly, too. 

Spring into Summer Already???

Busy as a bee the next couple of weeks.  I think we're are booked until July and then August will be taken over with moving KJ to Ole Miss and all the good stuff that comes with that . . . shopping, packing, unpacking, etc. 

Tomorrow is Marcus' prom and I love KJ's dress.  It's very casual, very flowy and has a pretty print.  She is also going to Flo Mo's prom May 5 and I love that dress, too!  It's a V-neck, more streamlined silhouette, with tiers.  She's getting her hair and make-up professionally done again this year for her  prom, not sure what she's doing for Flo Mo's. 

Although she had senior photos done last year a couple of times last year (at the studio the yearbook uses for those dorky cap and gown pics) and with a local studio, we wanted some fun things for her graduation announcements.  Her friend Averie is really into hair and make-up and her sister Madison took the pics earlier this week at TWU and they came out awesome!  I kinda like them more than the expensive fancy professional portraits I paid an arm and a leg for! 

Next Friday she leaves for NYC for a few days and the week after that we're having our girls weekend in Ox with friends.  Coach has some traveling to do this month and next and we also have Freshman Orientation @ Ole Miss in May.  Graduation is mid-June so I've taken some vacation days to be with my family and then the girls leave for Iceland for 10 days.  KJ will be spending some time in B'ham with T again this summer.  Coach has already bought their Slossfest tixs.  She luvs, luvs, luvs having an older sister with her own apartment. 

T has been keeping busy this spring, too.  They've gone camping a few times, she had a bachlerette party in Nashville, she's getting ready to move into a house, etc. 

Back-to-School

Today was KJ's "last first day of high school!" Can not believe that little nugget is a high school senior!  She's excited to finally be a big bad senior.  Despite moving once in middle school and once in high school, she actually has enough credits to graduate in December.  She thought about starting some college classes in the spring but we told her not to rush, she has plenty of time for "adulting".

Operation Recuperation is going incredibly well. Excellent in fact. I had my hysterectomy on Friday, July 21 and by Sunday I was 100% back to normal. I was very lucky my doctor was able to get everything via laparoscopic and all those fibroids were in my uterus which made removal easier.  I'm not going to lie, Friday night was kinda rough (because I hate being on pain meds, I don't take advantage of the drip) and I laid in bed trying to sleep but kept thinking "oh snap!! Are the next 4-6 weeks going to be this awful??"  Thankfully, no. I didn't sleep at all Friday night and was up early Saturday walking around. I was released Saturday afternoon and took it easy when I got home.  I am so incredibly blessed to have an amazing husband who takes exceptional care of me!!  Poor thing has had to take care of me after 2 c-sections, gallbladder surgery, etc.  He's really wonderful. 

So basically I've just been chilling the last couple of weeks. Its been both very hot and very rainy so I do try to get out of the house when I can now that I have to okay to drive.  A couple of weekends ago we went to the Perot Museum to escape the heat and saw an awesome 3-D movie about dinosaurs.  Afterward we had a wonderful lunch at the Rustic (which was also seen on the most recent episode of #RHOD). Last weekend was the annual hot air balloon festival in the park by our house. We walked over Friday night to watch the "glow up" and went back early Saturday morning for a pancake breakfast and watch the balloons take off. Yesterday Cosmo and I walked around Grapevine Mills and did a little shopping.  He's had to travel a bit the last two weeks so he's glad to be home and just relax.  We also went to the Star in Frisco to watch the MLL championship game. Holy cow.  Jerry Jones doesn't do anything half-assed. The facility is gorgeous and we had a nice dinner at one of the restaurants in the new complex.

Between fall lax, our birthdays, our anniversary, our cruise and some other plans, we're going to have a very busy Fall.  I think we're planning a trip in November to meet up with friends for an Ole Miss game so that will be fun.  I don't think we have any major plans for Thanksgiving and we're toying with the idea of having Christmas in Birmingham with T. She has some tentative plans to go to Europe for New Year's so it doesn't make sense for her to drive here. The girl does not sit still. I swear she has ants in her pants. They drove up to Kentucky for a long weekend of hiking and to view the eclipse in its totality. She said it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. This weekend she's flying to NYC to spend Labor Day weekend with friends.

I Survived!!!

The Annual Cos Fam Jam Christmas Festivities have officially concluded.  Grammie and Pop fly out this afternoon thus ending our lodging responsibilities.  I sure hope we get good reviews on Yelp from all our guests!  All told, it was a GREAT week with our families.  Lots of fun memories, lots of silliness, lots of good food.

Saturday KJ had a volleyball scrimmage in Frederick.  They played well but the coaches are still figuring out who goes where.  And that's what scrimmages are for.  KJ was the setter on her high school team, on the travel team they're trying her out at liberaro.  She's such a good, all-around player.  She'll do fine where they put her.

We left directly from the game and headed to my MIL's.  It was about 7 PM when we got to the home and had a nice visit before heading to Lynn's for pizza with Lisa and the kids.  Poor Kyler was horribly sick but Kayleigh was her usual silly self.  We spent the night at the Sheraton (gotta love being in the hotel business!  We haven't paid full price for a hotel room in years and years!) and headed to NYC after a great breakfast.

We met Joe, Laurie, Paige, Britt and Dan in front of FAO right at 11 AM and had a wonderful, low-key day.  We walked thru FAO, all along 5th Avenue, St. Patrick's Cathedral and had lunch at Rockefeller Center.  We walked around Times Square and headed over to Columbus Circle to see the decorations at the Time Warner building and we walked around the Christmas Mart and found our favorite waffle kiosk.  We walked around Central Park and played for a bit in the playground.  We left the city around 5 PM and were in our house by 8:30 PM.

Monday I had a doctor's appointment and did a few things around the house.  Monday night Cosmo and the girls went to the Caps game while I picked up my parents @ Regan.  I hate driving there and always get lost on my way back.  I wish they would just fly into BWI!  Tuesday I did my grocery shopping while T drove my parents around for last minute errands.  Wednesday the girls baked and wrapped presents all day and KJ went to Christmas Eve mass with my parents after our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

We probably started opening presents around 8 AM and had our favorite sausage casserole for breakfast.  I don't know why I only make that once a year.  Russ and Barb arrived around 1 PM, Joe and Laurie and Paige arrived around 2 PM.  The ham was HUGE and delicious but, as usual, I burned the crescent rolls.  I was SO mad!!!!

Friday we headed into DC and went to both the National Archives and the Museum of American History.  I hadn't been to either museum since the first time we lived here.  The Archives were amazing and I loved the First Ladies exhibit at the American History museum (I especially loved the china patterns!).  The weather was spectacular and we ate lunch outside at the cafe at the National Gallery of Art overlooking the Sculpture Gardens and the Ice Skating rink.
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/visit/ice-rink.html?from=home-page
We met Matt and Kristin at Carmine's for dinner and had a wonderful time catching up.

Joe and Laurie were walking out the front door Saturday morning when my bro and his fam pulled up in the driveway.  The timing was perfect.  And thus, Round 2 began!

My mom made her famous broccoli pasta for dinner and we just relaxed all day.  I never got out of my pajamas.  I was very, very tired and took a quick nap after lunch.  My brother brought his dog Toby and Trixie wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.  I mean, she actually sat on the couch and turned her back on him.  She wouldn't even acknowledge his presence.  In all fairness, he's still a puppy and she had never had another pet in the house before.  She was just like, "My house, my humans.  Be gone."

Keep it in your Pants

I don't even know where to begin.
I am so utterly disgusted with Anthony Weiner. And his wife, too. I have not seen any of his infamous sexting photos but I do think the guy has a major set of balls.
He is so confident and so smug in some of his recent interviews and sadly, the guy is totally right. Look how many disgraced politicans have been given second chances -- Mark Sanford, who shamelessly used tax-payer money to court his girl friend – without asking his wife and children what they thought of the whole affair, is going to run for congress in South Carolina. Marion Barry, former Mayor of DC. Not only was he caught on camera doing drugs, he was charged with failure to file tax returns and pay taxes, has numerous traffic violations, stalking an ex-girlfriend, and has made racist remarks. And he was RE-ELECTED!!! And let's not forget the Mac-Daddy of them all, Mr. Bill Clinton, and Hillary's suspicions of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" that has been conspiring against her husband since the day he announced for president. While I'm all about forgiving, I'm not about forgetting and re-electing. http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/07/29/anthony-weiner-sex-scandal-staten-island/2595617/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/25/respect-huma-abedins-decision-tellusatoday/2588203/

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/07/26/anthony-weiner-huma-abedin-what-normal-about-this-relationship/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/07/25/the_overrated_huma_abedin.html

HoliDaze

Hope everyone had a wonderful, happy, safe holiday spent with loved ones!  We had such a great time in PA and NY and although I love to travel and be with my family, it's kind of nice to sleep in my own bed. 

We took our time driving up to my brother's last Saturday and woke up early Sunday to go to church w/ them.  My parents came down and we all got to see Mr. B and my cousins John and Rachel in their Christmas performance.  Afterward we had my mom's side of the family Christmas gathering and it ended up being a really nice day so the kids broke out the lax sticks and had a throw around.  After lunch and presents we went back to my parent's house but stopped at Candy Cane Lane on the way. We were absolutely exhausted so we slept in a little bit on Monday and the girls went sledding during the day.  At night we played a fun game of Mexican Train and my aunt and uncle came over for a bit.

Christmas morning was low-key until the kids came over.  Miss C got an American Girl doll and lots of fun accessories.  Mr. B was really into his Lego's this year.  T got lots of monogrammed stuff and lots of AOPi things and a Tory Burch bag, KJ definately had a Hello Kitty Christmas.  Cosmo and the girls took great care of me and bought me the big lens for my camera.  I was THRILLED and couldn't wait to try it out!  After lunch the kids (and Uncle Cosmo) went sledding again and we shot off some guns (Mr. B got a .22 for Christmas and let everyone shoot off a couple of rounds).  Pop got out the pistol too.  KJ was very, very accurate with the .22 and T did better with the pistol.  As girly-girly as my girls can be, they also like getting down and dirty.  It's so funny.  I swear, KJ looked like Miranda Lambert with the .22 in her hands. 

We headed out to NY bright and early Wednesday morning and ended up spending the night at my mother-in-laws because the weather had gotten pretty bad.  We also did a trip down memory lane and showed the girls our first apartment, our first house, my parents old house and our high school.  Thursday we made our way into Mid-town and spent a wonderful, wonderful day doing the touristy thing.  KJ made us all go into Chanel, Dior and Michael Kors and was dying to go into Tiffany.  Cosmo ended up buying his girls trinkets at Tiffany -- hey!  It's all about that blue box!  We did Rockefeller Center, Times Square, FAO Schwarz, a little walk through the Park, the windows on 5th Ave, Bryant Park.  You name it, we did it.  Friday morning we went to The Cake Boss's bakery in Hoboken and the original plan was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have pizza at Grimaldi's.  It was a little colder than we thought and spent more time than we had anticipated at the Freedom Tower.  On our way home we stopped to take some pics in Battery Park and got some gorgeous shots of the Statue of Liberty at sunset.  No matter how many times you see Lady Liberty, it's still a thrilling sight.  You can't NOT take a picture.  Gets me every time.