Sweaty Saturday

T had a couple girls sleep-over last night. They went to dinner and saw some scary movie. Don't know what the heck they were doing but I kind of heard them in the middle of the night going up the stairs (they sound like a herd of elephants and have no concept of sleep). Chris yelled at them to be quiet -- had a hard time going back to bed after that. Chris & KJ got bagels for all of this morning and I went for a walk around the track by myself at KJ's school. Did 4 laps again which equals 1 1/3 miles. It was very nice and quiet. No one interrupting my thoughts. I've gotten some laundry done this morning and now the girls are cleaning up the big pile of shoes downstairs. We all have a very bad habit of just kicking off our shoes in the garage before we come upstairs (see picture at left -- this is what our garage looks like). Drives Chris crazy.

KJ, of course, wants to go to the pool today. I really need to do some grocery shopping. My kitchen cupboards look like Old Mother Hubbard's. Chris has some painting touch-ups to do in the bathroom. Really lovin' the new countertops/faucets! Might meet up w/ my pal Patti tonight. There's also some beer festival Chris wants to go to at Sloss Furnace's. I'm not much of a beer drinker so I might be the DD. ha!

KJ is playing a very mean trick on T. She took her cell phone and threw it in the toybox. T has no idea and keeps wandering around the house looking for it. KJ keeps sending her on wild goose chases saying, "maybe you left in your purse last night, maybe you left in at the movie theater, maybe blah, blah, blah."

Oh! Almost forgot! The coordinator for our trip called yesterday and asked if T & I wanted to see a play one night in London. Yes! He asked what our choices were out of the following musicals: Wicked, Blood Brothers, Les Miz, Grease. Before he finished saying Wic....T & I both yelled WICKED!!!! He said, don't you want to hear the other choices? NO! WICKED!!!! So he said majority will rule but if t & I really want to see WICKED maybe we can just go on our own. Crazy cool! She's dying to see the show. I read the book and positively hated it but everyone says it's not really like the book. We tried to get tickets when we were in Chicago for her photo shoot in January but it was sold out the one night we were there.

Meanderings

Just a couple of things:
*I saw on the news tonight that today is the 3rd anniversary of Natalee Holloway's disappearance. When we think of anniversary's we usually think of happy times, wedding anniversaries perhaps. Her poor parents, what they must have gone thru and will have to deal with the rest of their lives.
*In other, non-related parental news, Hulk Hogan disgusts me. Jail recordings have been released and he and his son are despicable. The entire family is obnoxious. Nick is serving 8 months in jail for almost killing his "friend" (who is now comatose) in a drunk driving, high speed car accident. The whiny brat is complaining that his cell doesn't have a window and is smaller than his walk-in closet at home (he's in isolation for his protection -- he's 17 or 18 and if he was released to the general prison population, they'd tear him apart). Anyway, Hulk Hogan was taped saying that the friend John wasn't a nice person and "God laid down some heavy shit on him" (basically saying the friend deserved to be a vegetable) and the Mom, Linda, was heard saying that John's mom isn't suffering as much as she, Linda, is. After all, HER son is in jail for God's sake (Gee, Linda. What about john?). After the academy award worthy performance the family gave at his sentencing, Nick and his dad have been discussing reality show deals WHILE NICK IS STILL IN JAIL!!! Instead of doing the time and taking his 8 months to reflect, repent and think about what he did to his friend, he's working on TV deals. Hulk Hogan's daughter Brooke had a mildly popular dance hit a year or 2 ago, she had the best song daddy's money could buy. Now daddy's buying Nick's TV career. Nice dad.

Summer's Here

What a nice summer day!
The girls & I went for a walk around the track @ KJ's school this morning. T & I could have kept walking but "someone" was hot & cranky (any guesses who it was??). We walked around the track 4 times (3 laps = 1 mile so I guess we did 1 1/3 miles). I've already warned KJ that we will be waking up early again tomorrow for another walk. She didn't seem too excited.
KJ finished cleaning her closet so we went to the pool for a couple of hours and visited w/ some neighbors that we only see in the summer at the pool.
Chris brought home hamburgers to grill and he's off to men's' lax practice tonight. I love the summer when we have no where to go and get a chance to chill in the evening and just chat w/ each other.
T's bugging me about driving her somewhere tonight. Whatever.

Wild Kingdom

This little gecko runs along the railing on the back deck every morning while I have my tea & poptart. Yesterday morning his neck was bright red. The other day he was stuck in between the window and the screen and he was very brown. Chris removed the screen so he could scamper off and he turned a deep blue.

Between the bird's nest on the front porch, the crazy teething squirrel who chomps on my gutters and the gecko (actually, I'm surprised the crazy squirrel hasn't tore him up yet), it's like Mutal of Omaha around here. Where's Marlin Perkins when you need him?

OMG part deux

KJ is in SO much trouble. The attic is accessible thru her walk-in closet. I needed to get out the luggage T & I will be taking on our trip so we know what we can take, etc. KJ's closet is such a total and complete disaster. I opened the closet door and was totally gobsmacked in the face! Holy crap! I have no idea what the hell she did in there. She spent the night across the street and I called over there like a crazy lady and made her come home ASAP. I made her take EVERYTHING out of the closet before she could put anything back in. She knows she's in trouble, too cuz she's hiding her face w/ the shoebox.

OMG

Now I know why I sleep on the couch so much. Chris was an absolute mess last night. He tossed and turned, moaned and groaned, he pulled all the blankets off me and he snored so bad. I couldn't take it any more so I moved to the couch and slept fairly well. I don't think I have a sleeping problem, I think my sleeping partner has a problem.

Bush -- Frat Boy

Say what you want about Bush and his politics, but he's someone I'd like to party with!!!

Air Force Graduation Pics

Gas Crisis

So I'm thinking I'm doing my part to cut back on my gasoline usage. My car hasn't left the garage since the girl's dance recital on Saturday. There are times when I'm driving all over B'ham, there are other times I don't leave the house for days (my favorite!). There have actually been times where my battery has died down and I need a jump 'cause I haven't used the car in days.
My cell phone doesn't work here at the house. I took it yesterday to the colonoscopy in case Chris needed it (his blackberry has been acting up and my phone has all of our friend's numbers, the girl's friend's numbers, etc. in case he needed them for an emergency or something). Other than that, I haven't used my phone since Saturday. Unfortunately, I left it on since Saturday. Today I ran around the house looking for the cell phone charger. I finally gave up and called T at her friend's house. She very calmly, very patiently said, "Mom. You don't have a wall charger. Remember? You took the car charger instead." Oops. My bad. Sorry T!!!

lollypopguildophobia

"lollypopguildophobia" is the fear of midgets. They may be small but i can spot one in a crowded market and cross the road or turn down side streets to avoid crossing the path and having them look at me. I am a grown man nearly 40 and they reduce me to a wreck.

I found this as I did a google search for "fear of midgets." Not sure if this is for real or not. Seriously, T has a major problem. I dunno, maybe she watched Wizard of Oz too many times when she was younger. Maybe one too many Oompa-loompa's?

I feel good! So good! (sing w/ some soul!)

Feel pretty good today. A little tender, nothing bad. Slept on the couch so I wouldn't wake Chris if I tossed and turned or got up to use the bathroom. Slept pretty well.

Countertops guys came out this morning to fix the backsplash; looks a thousand times better.

I've gotten some laundry done already, made KJ write out some more of her communion thank you cards, made our bed, and started a load of dishes in the dishwasher. I've already spoken w/ T. She's at the twin's sleep-over but is calling to see if she could go to the pool w/ a couple other kids this afternoon. Tracy, I think she's heading over to your pool; keep an eye on her, please. Give her a smack or two if you think she needs it! KJ was supposed to be hand-delivering a couple of her neighborhood thank you cards. She somehow ended up at Claire's and they invited her to chinese food for lunch and a manicure. Sweet!

I'm in desperate need of a shower. I'm nasty (and not in a good way!).

I really need to start laying out my clothes for our trip. I think I'm OK as far as flip-flops, capri pants and t-shirts. That's one good thing about our yearly spring trip w/ Chris's company -- I get most of my spring/summer shopping done early. I know I need some shorts. I think no matter what we wear, we're all still going to look like tacky American tourists.

Valerie, Meet your Colon. Colon, meet Valerie

Today was the colonoscopy. Supposed to be in Trussville at 6:15 AM. Unfortunately the alarm was set to PM rather than AM. I jumped out of bed at 5:55 AM, yelled at Chris, we ran around the house trying to brush our teeth and throw some clothes on and finally ran out the door. Chris was flying on the highway and we were only 15 minutes late.

So the whole colonoscopy is actually no big deal. I was totally knocked out and don't remember a thing. I remember the doctor coming in and talking to me for a minute, I remember the nurse saying "I'm going to give you your medicine now" and that's all I remember. I don't even remember getting my clothes back on, I don't remember the car ride home and I don't remember going to sleep in the guest room when we got home (the plumber was here today installing the new bathroom faucets so I slept off the anesthesia upstairs. He could have used a jackhammer to install the faucets, it wouldn't have mattered; I was out like a light.). I slept until 2 PM and then slept again from around 3:30 to 5:30 PM. Yesterday was much, much worse. Drinking that nasty stuff was horrible and not eating anything but lemon jello and chicken broth made me very weak and tired. So the good news is that the colonoscopy showed nothing. The doctor told Chris they did take a piece to do a biopsy. So I'll call the office tomorrow and find out what's going w/ the catscan, the blood work, the colonoscopy, etc.

That's about it in a nutshell KJ spent last night w/ a friend and they went to the library today while I was sleeping. T spent the night w/ a friend and tonight is a b-day sleepover. Peace & quiet in the house tonight.

Tomorrow the back splash is supposed to be fixed and then the bathroom will be all done!!! Yippee!!

T's Hip-Hop Dance Costume






Didn't think I had a pic of KJ in her dance costume but found one of her in her ballet get-up.

T getting jiggy wit it

T's bad self.

Nice day today. T spent the night w/ friends and Chris & KJ went to the pool for a bit. I joined them for burgers and dogs on the grill. Yesterday Chris bought National Treasure 2 so I watched that while I folded laundry today. I liked it alot. T saw it when it was in the theaters and said she didn't like it and it wasn't as good as the first one. We cooked a big fat steak on the grill, some baked potatoes and the first corn on the cob of the season. That's really about all we did today. Monday we have a few things in the house that need to get done. Chris has to touch up the bathroom walls where they scraped the walls trying to remove the all countertops, etc. It's always something.

Boogie Woogie

So today was the girl's big dance recital. We had a very nice time and both girls did really, really well. KJ was very serious and you could tell she was counting steps in her head. T did well too but I kind of expect that from her (from being on the dance team and auditioning for dance team and stuff like that). This was KJ's first time on stage but she handle it very well. She needs to smile a little more. Tracy & Joe sat w/ us (poor Chris sitting thru 4 hours of dance) but it was nice. These kids worked so hard all year. I really enjoyed seeing all the girls we know: Cassidy, Kate, Katie, T Keith, Mac Keith, etc. At the very end of the recital some of the more senior girls dedicated a beautiful dance to Alex, Hattie & Christian's dad who was killed earlier this month in a plane accident. Also at the end some of the girls and their mom's danced to "I gotta from my mama." Chris said it looked more like a Richard Simmon's sweating to the oldies video.

I have a couple pics of T in her hip-hop costume to post but you will not see any pics of KJ. She was being a turd-nugget and changed out of her costume when I specifically told her not to. Therefore, no pics of KJ. Zip. Nil. Zilch. Nada. Nyet.

We went to our favorite mexican restaurant and enjoyed mango margaritas. T & I came home and Chris & KJ went to Best Buy. He bought a new Garmin to replace the one stolen out of his car (she's yet to be formally named) and I think he bought a couple of movies (National Treasure 2 and August Rush) to watch since we have NO video stores in town anymore.

I think tomorrow we'll hang out at the pool and celebrate Memorial Day since I can't eat a damn thing Monday due to my impending colonoscopy on Tuesday. I don't think it would be much fun for me sitting at the pool Monday afternoon watching every one eating burgers and hotdogs so we'll just get some stuff done around the house on Monday. We have some painting and stuff to do and I think Chris has some yardwork he wants to tackle.

Dance, Dance Revolution

Spent almost 6 hours today watching the girls rehearse for their big dance recital tomorrow. Fortunately Tracy & Debbie P kept me company. I really liked KJ"s jazz routine; not so crazy about her ballet routine during the Wizard of Oz sequence. T's hip-hop number was really cool. Afterwards, the girls & I met Chris for dinner after his men's lax practice and now I'm trying to relax watching "Holes" on the Disney channel w/ KJ.

Last night we all went to the movies as a family but we didn't actually stay together. We all started off watching the 6:40 PM Indiana Jones and T was supposed to meet friends. They couldn't get into the 6:40 PM show but they got tixs for the 7:20 PM. So, T pulled a fast one and snuck into the 7:20 movie to be w/ her friends. chris, KJ & I walked down to Ben & Jerry's after our show was over. Unfortunately, they were closing. however, the guy took pity on us and opened the store and we sat outside eating our ice cream until T's movie was over. Anyway, I liked the new Indy movie, Chris not so much. There were definitely some great moments, a couple of long dull moments, too. I liked the fact that Harrison Ford acted his age. He wasn't trying to be a 20 year old. Shia LeBeouf was really funny, too.

So, the majority of our Saturday will be spent watching dance. I'm excited; the girls have worked hard for this. KJ, ever the drama queen; wants to know what color flowers we plan to buy her. She expects to be presented w/ flowers for every big occasion in her life for some reason. She's a wanna-be pageant queen deep down inside.

Class of 2012

The daughter from another mother T & Em F.

SouthPointe Sisters

So school is officially over for the year!!! Yay! I went up to the middle school today to help out w/ the 8th grade celebration. They had a great slide show and then the kids came out to the courtyard and tested the new popcorn machine the 8th grade class donated to the school. T and a bunch of girls are already at the pool; KJ's bugging me to head down there. Looks like rain though.

What an exciting, fun-filled afternoon!

Well, Chris & I spent most of the afternoon (I think it was close to 5 hours) at Brookwood Hospital. Everything is fine for right now, had some blood work done, had a cat scan, etc. I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Tuesday. Fun. I've been having a lot of stomach "issues" the last couple of months and really needed to have everything checked out (especially before our trip; there was no way in hell I was gonna survive that long plane ride in my current condition). I had an appointment w/ a gastroenterologist and he put a rush on all the tests so we can find out what's going on and take care of it prior to our June 10 departure date. This cat scan was different from the one I had when that cyst burst. I had to drink nasty stuff and have an IV drip.

Other than that, not much else is going on. The girls got out of school at 1 PM today; 11 AM tomorrow. Why even bother? T is having a couple of girls sleep over tonight (it's kind of a neighborhood tradition she started in 4th or 5th grade; she always has the girls sleep over the night before the last day of school; don't know why, she just does). KJ had a nice day at school today. They had a luau themed breakfast this morning. The kids planned the menu and told the other room mom what they wanted to eat. There was a sausage casserole, lots of fresh fruit, etc. Knowing she was going to eat breakfast at school, I let her sleep in an extra couple of minutes.

I know tonight is the American Idol finale. Don't really care too much.

Early Dismissal

Had so much fun @ Sips 'N Strokes last night. I was very, very surprised at how well my painting came out. It was really a lot of fun and much easier than I had anticipated. I would definately go again!

While I was gone last night Chris had daddy-duty (that's daddy "duty" not daddy "doody"). He picked the girls up from dance, took them to dinner, dropped T back off at dance and picked her up at 8:45 PM. KJ lost another tooth last night. That's 3 in the span of one week. She lost one on Sunday at the 2nd grade picnic when she bit into a cheeto.

Granite countertop has been installed in the masterbath. Unfortunately they mis-calculated on the backsplash and it's very low and I'm not happy w/ it at all. When we placed the original order in the showroom the salesclerk asked if we wanted the typical 4" backsplash and even when the lady came out and measured we discussed having the backsplash come right up to bottom of the mirrors. Other than that, it's looks beautiful. Now we just have to have the faucets installed.

Get my (drink) paint on!

Getting ready to go to "Sips 'n Strokes" in a few minutes. Should be fun. We're painting "Funky Martinis" tonight. This is what it's supposed to look like. I'll let you know in the morning how mine actually turned out. I'm thinking I might actually be able to do this -- I don't see any straight lines so I might be OK. If it turns out really bad, we'll just put it in the bar area downstairs where it's nice and dark.

Met Margaret this morning for breakfast at Panera Bread. We had a nice time laughing and gossiping. She's glad the year is over. The babies were good but we totally had some kooky mothers. A couple of our babies (OK, they're not really "babies" anymore; they've all turned 2) still aren't talking well or talking at all. I mean like nothing. No comprehensible words.

Today was the awards ceremony at the middle school. It was long and hot. Very long and very hot. But, it was very nice seeing the kids all growed up. As kid's names were called I'd think "OMG! T was in kindergarten w/ that girl" or "Holy Cow! Look how tall he's gotten!" I'm still having a really hard time accepting the fact that she'll be a freshmen in a few short months. I'm thinking it's a good thing they're going to the freshmen center rather than the senior campus. She /we can ease into the whole high school thing. Sat w/ a couple of mom's who also had boys on Chris's lax team. Graduation is Wednesday night and they are all totally Freaking!!! I've got a while to deal w/ that.

Daughters #1 and #2

Nice afternoon w/ Daughter #1. She didn't exactly play "hooky" today; she went to school, took her exam and called to ask if she could get checked out. So & so's mother was checking a bunch of kids out and could she get checked out, too. No problem-0.
She came home, we went to Zoe's for lunch, we ran to the spa to purchase a gift card for KJ's teacher as an end-of-year gift, we went to Barnes & Noble to buy some books to read on the plane (T bought her 9th grade required summer reading book to get it out of the way). On the way home we stopped at the bank and T ran into Publix w/ a big bag of change to dump in the coin machine. She got back over $40.
She's now down at the pool w/ friends. Technically, she's not supposed to be down there "un-supervised" until she turns 14 (July 1). So sue me. I'm a bad mommy.
Daughter #2 had field day today and is hot and cranky. What else is new? She has her lacrosse end-of-season awards dinner tonight.
Husband will be at tonight's City Council Meeting. The mayor is making a proclamation about the JV and Varsity teams winning the state championship. So, if you're bored tonight and have nothing to do ... go to the City Council Meeting and cheer the boys on!

Season Finale

So, what did you think of that Desperate Housewive's season finale???

What's your theme Song?

Do you remember a couple years ago there was a commercial where the 80's band "Survivor" (they sang Eye of the Tiger -- Rocky's theme song) followed this guy around and sang "Glen. Glen-Glen-Glen." It was kind of like his theme song. Well, I think between the JV and Varsity State Championship and now the U15 and High School Boys Elite division wins @ Bagataway in Atlanta, Chris's theme song would be "We Are the Champions."

all good things must come to an end

another nice day in Hooville. Since T's dance class sucks so bad (according to KJ), she had practice today @ 12:30 PM. I thought KJ's 2nd grade picnic was at 2 PM. However, at 2 PM KJ and I were the only ones on the school playground. Turns out the picnic was 4 - 6 PM. So, we went home and had a little nappy. We did go to the picnic at 4 pM and had a nice time. The point of the picnic was for the 2nd Grade Quest kids to get to know the other 2nd grade kids prior to 3rd grade.

Heard from Chris this earlier tonight. He tried to pull a fast one on me and told me they lost today. Not the case. The U15 won their championship game and the Black Elite team won their game also! The Red "Rising Stars" team played their hearts out and lost in a braveheart situation. Sounds like the boys also tried to douse him w/ some gatorade. Chris said the team the U15 beat hadn't lost a game in over 200 games. He said the boys were crying, the parents were crying and the parents kept saying, "don't they know who we are? we're so and so. We can't lose." I'm so proud of the all-star team(s)!!!

little people

I can't believe I totally forgot to mention this in last night's post about the new Narnia movie. My oldest child has a crazy, intense dislike of "little people." Midgets, dwarfs, horizontally challenged, height-deficient, whatever ya' want to call it. Seriously. She freaks out. Maybe dislike isn't the correct word I should be using (I'm sure if she actually met a midget or little person, she would probably like their personality). So last night in the movie, one of the central characters is a little person. T just about lost her mind. Every time he appeared on camera she covered her eyes. At the end when the little girl hugs him, T was gripping the arm of her seat so hard and was just about jumping out of her skin. It's the funniest thing to watch. We got in the car and KJ said, "I thought you were gonna piss in your pants." I almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard.

In other un-related news, we walked around the Summit a bit last night before the movie started. KJ & the Magster were spraying each other w/ perfume in Urban Outfitters. I asked KJ if they were spraying the Betsey Johnson perfume or was it something else. Maggie said, "no it wasn't Betsey Johnson. It was called Tester."

Super Softball Saturday!!!

So KJ had the 10:30 AM Game and lost. And she was very glad to have lost. She said she didn't think she could play another game.

We went to Tip Top grill for a bite to eat and had some nice mother/daughter/daughter time. T had the 1 PM game and lost, too. For some reason, even though they lost, she played again at 3 PM. She's so solid at shortstop. She didn't hit great today but she played well otherwise.

After several hours at the ballfield we picked up the Magster and headed over to the Summit for some shopping and dinner at Johnny Rockets. We then went to the 8 PM showing of the new Narnia movie. What a very, very long movie. We walked out the door at 10:45 PM. I wasn't very crazy about this movie. I liked the first one a little better. This one was very dark (both metaphorically and cinematically speaking). There were a couple of good previews: can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie, the Hulk movie looks OK, there's also so stupid looking Chihuahua movie coming out by Disney and Kung Foo Panda looks dumb too.

Chris has his big lax tourney this weekend. Sounds like they're doing really well. The U15 played 3 games today and won all 3. The Red "Rising Stars" team played 2 games and one both. The black BamaLax team won their game, too. Not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow.

Where 2 Next Ladies?

Just sitting here waiting for T to call. She's at the movies w/ friends and asked if I would pick them up afterward. Like I have nothing better to do.

Busy day -- joined some ladies for lunch today @ California Pizza Kitchen. Knew a couple ladies, met a couple for the first time. Had a lot of fun; thanks Tracy for the invite! Need to do that more often! After lunch I hopped over to Learning Express to pick-up a gift card for tonight's b-day party.

KJ had a 5:30 PM softball game. She played until 6:30 PM whereas I then took her to the girl scout end of year party at the Fun Zone (by the way, was that the proper use of the phrase "whereas"???). From there she went to Peyton's sleep-over party. She doesn't know it yet but she's got the 10:30 AM game Saturday AM. It's always creepy when Chris & I are on the same page but as I was taking her to the Fun Zone, Chris called and said, you may want to get some aspirin in her to ward off a potential migraine situation. The funny thing was I usually keep some of her aspirin in the glove compartment and the minute we got in the car to head to the party, I looked to see if she had any in there. I was pulling into the CVS parking lot when he called. Crreeeeepppppy.

So, KJ has the 10:30 AM game, T has the 1 PM and possibly 2:30 game. If KJ wins her game, she will also play @ 2:30 PM (highly unlikely -- she may not suck @ dance but her little softball team this year sure does). Looks like I may have my last ballpark chicken basket of the year after all. Yum.

Hurray 4 Friday

Tried to Blog last night but I had a hard time logging on.

The girl's softball games were cancelled last night. So we ended up having taco night, T baby-sat for the little girls down the street and I went to our last Europe meeting before our trip. We've got our flight info and our hotel info for Rome & Florence. We went over the itinerary; I didn't realize we were taking an evening cruise on the Seine while in Paris. Don't know yet where we're staying in Paris and London. Really can't wait for our trip. I haven't started packing or anything like that but I have started to think in my mind about what I need to bring.

KJ's got a busy night tonight: softball, girl scout end of year party AND a sleep-over. I think she's got softball Saturday, too. T has softball tomorrow (possibly a double-header). She's got a dance rehearsal Sunday afternoon and KJ's got her 2nd grade picnic. I really can't wait for all this crap to end. We are all in serious need of some down time.

I love the rain...

...but I know my playschool friends aren't enjoying it today.

I'm sure the girls softball games will be cancelled tonight which means they'll try to re-schedule for Friday or Saturday and really screw me up.

I'm scheduled to cover KJ's class today while her teacher goes to a planning meeting. There's less than a week of school, what exactly are they planning for?

I really, really need to go grocery shopping today but I hate loading the car up in the rain in the parking lot.

Humpity Hump Day

I dunno. What else can you say about Wednesday's?? Wacky Wednesday? Wild Wednesday? Today might actually end up being a "wet" Wednesday.

The granite place came out today and measured for the new bathroom countertops. I am SO stoked!! The bathroom will finally feel finished. It looked "ok" to everyone else but we had a vision in our heads and it just never seemed complete. Installation will take place a week from today. New countertops, new fixtures. Whoppee!! Next up: kitchen floor re-do and possibly, just possibly, a new kitchen set. We've had this set since before T was born. Actually, we bought it November 1993 and she was born July 1994.

I haven't seen my co-worker/partner-in-crime since before I left for Cabo so we've made plans to meet for bagels next week before playschool gets out so she won't have to drag Ella w/ her. Personally, I don't care. I love Ella and haven't seen her in a long time. She's such a cutie-patootie! So all my playschool teacher/friends will be finishing up the year. I hope y'all get some nice, thoughtful end of year momentos. We'll have to plan a swim party @ my pool soon!

Busy weekend w/ the girls coming up: Friday KJ has her end-of-year scout party and a friend's sleep-over. Saturday both girls will have softball games and Sunday KJ has a 2nd grade picnic (she's been in the Quest program since Kindergarten and in 3rd grade they will be assimilated w/ the rest of the school so this is an opportunity to meet other kids/parents). T has asked if she could have a bunch of girls over Saturday night (you know how it is: it's their last weekend as middle-schoolers!). Looks like T's jazz class will have a rehearsal on Sunday afternoon. The girls were sucking eggs last night. Not good w/ only a week to recital. It's ok for the little ones to mess up, it's cute. Not so cute when a bunch of 13, 14 & 15 year olds screw up. I asked KJ last night if her teacher mentioned anything about them having to practice this weekend and she said, "No. We don't suck." KJ. KJ. KJ.

Bele Chere '08

Cowboy Mouth -- “...on a bad night they’ll tear the roof off the joint and on a good night, they’ll save your soul.” — Cake Magazine

Yay!!! We just found out that one of our favorite bands, Cowboy Mouth, will be at the Bele Chere Festival in Asheville, NC this summer! Very, very Cool! We first saw Cowboy Mouth a few years back at the Crawfish Boil and they're such a good rock 'n roll band. Chris's men's lax team plays at the Bele Chere festival each year and we try to go w/ them if we can. It's the largest, free street festival in the country (world??). All sorts of food vendors, crafts, etc. The guys play lax during the day and then we hit the festival at night.

Feed Me Seymour!!

I really can't wait for the the Sex & the City movie! These are pics from the London premiere. One question: what in the hell is SJP wearing on her head???

dropped some coin

Met Chris for lunch today and then we picked out the piece of granite for our bathroom countertops. Everyone kept telling us to go w/ Baltic Brown but it had a lot of red in it and really big circles, almsot polka dot looking. We ended up going w/ Tropic Brown (see pic @ left). Then we went to some plumbing fixtures place to buy faucets for the 2 sinks and a faucet for the bathtub. The faucets we liked were almost $800 total and the countertops will run a little over $1200. There goes our Stimulus check!

Gossip girls

I'm stuck here watching Gossip Girls because T is TiVo'ing it and KJ is TiVo'ing "Around the World in 80 Days" on the Disney Channel at the same time.

Gossip Girls has got to be one of the worst shows on TV. Not one of the actors looks like a high school student, especially the lead character. She looks like she's in her late 20's/early 30's. Not only that, but I have never seen an actress speak w/out actually moving her mouth. She's so wooden and stiff, she looks like a ventriloquist's dummy. I've seen ths show twice and she's had the same pained expression on her face each show. She looks constipated.

Monday Morning in May

(left) The master bedroom in my dream beach house.

"Enjoy the journey, enjoy every moment, and quit worrying about winning and losing." -- Matt Biondi

Watched the Devil Wears Prada last night and ended up sleeping on the couch. I started off in my own bed like a big girl but had a hard time falling asleep. I find if I go to bed and fall asleep before Chris, I'm OK. If I go to bed after him, his snoring and heavy breathing keeps me up.

I don't know how it happens or why, but I have a TON of laundry to do. I did a couple of loads yesterday but the laundry room looks like the dirty clothes baskets exploded. I can't keep up.

No where to be tonight, tomorrow's gonna be busy w/ both girls having dance and both girls having softball games.

I haven't watched American Idol at all this year (actually, we haven't watched the last couple of seasons) but that one contestant's "stage dad" intrigues me. They said he kept water from the boy as punishment. I've been watching "I know my child's a Star" on VH-1 w/ Danny Bonaducci (spelling?) and those mom's have a one-way ticket on the crazy train.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day. I know I did! Chris & KJ made me my favorite breakfast -- french toast in bed! Princess #1 was still sleeping but she did wake up to give me their group gift, Sirius Radio for my car. Very cool. We had a really nice family dinner late this afternoon and I took a little (ok, it was big) nap. I also caught up on some laundry. I know, I know. It's Mother's Day and I shouldn't be doing laundry. However, it really needed to get done.

Yesterday was a busy Day -- KJ had a double header starting at 10 AM. Immediately following their last game, they had a pool party at the coach's house. T had an 11 AM game and after her game she and Chris went to the mall Mother's Day shopping. Immediately following KJ's swim party, she had to go to a gymnastic birthday party for one of her little friends. Unfortunately she started to get one of her headaches and cried really bad. We left the party early, I took her home and she slept the entire way home in the car. Chris carried her into the house and she slept some more.

My brother called me Friday while we were at Chris's lax games so I couldn't really talk. I called their house this morning and spoke w/ my sister-in-law. Apparently my crazy little niece somehow wiggled out of her cast and handed it her mommy & daddy this morning. So, my brother spent part of the day taking the little nutty buddy to the doctor getting her arm re-cast.

So, mine & T's Europe trip will occur 30 days from yesterday. Crazy, huh????

Tucker Beam Day

Very emotional last couple of days.
Today was Tucker Beam day @ KJ's school. He's a 2nd grader bravely fighting his 2nd bout of cancer. The entire school participated in a HUGE walk-a-thon to help raise money for his medical bills. It was an absolutely unbelievably, beautiful day. The kids began the day in the gym and were able to communicate w/ Tucker via webcam (he's @ Childrens for treatment and was unable to make today's festivities). The children sang to him (KJ's class sang 'This Little Light of Mine' which makes me cry like a baby on a good day), waved to him and proudly showed off their "I walked for Tucker" t-shirts. Each class walked around the track behind a banner they had made w/ sayings such as "Tucker, You'll Never Walk Alone." Parents came out in full force, grandparents, the High School cheerleaders, the High School dance team, the middle school student council, the lunch ladies, the custodians and I even recognized children and parents that attended different elementary schools. The blood mobile was there for donations (I tried but found out I am severely anemic -- which would explain why I'm exhausted all the time and have no energy). I think the original goal was to raise $10,000. I keep hearing they raised around $27,000. The show of support for this little boy and his family was unbelievable and I was very proud to be a member of this community.

Safe & Sound

Everyone's safe and sound after all this crazy weather this afternoon. Right around 3 PM I rec'd the comcast call that the kids were in a lock-down situation and the school district wouldn't let the buses run. I didn't mind because at least I knew where the girls were rather than riding on the bus in bad weather. Finally, KJ's teacher called me from her cell phone and said although the buses aren't running, I could check her out if I wanted. So, I ran down to both the elementary and middle schools and picked up the girls. KJ said they were in the boys bathroom for "hours" and the tile really hurt her butt. I spoke w/ KJ's teacher later tonight and she said they were in lock-down until approx. 4:40 PM. I'm glad I got the girls, I wasn't worried about KJ being upset or anything, I just didn't want them sitting there unnecessarily.

KJ was supposed to have her last lax game tonight (and a softball game, too!) and T was supposed to try-out for all-stars. Because everything was cancelled due to the bad weather, we had our first family dinner in a long, long time. I love the stormy weather but I also love it when all my chicks are safe & sound in the coop.

Rough morning

T & I just got home from a funeral of one of her friend's dads. I had never personally met the man and had only met his wife a few times but T wanted to show her support for the girls. T danced w/ the oldest sister on the middle school dance team and has been in a couple of school plays w/ the middle sister. KJ dances w/ the youngest sister. I kind of felt like an impostor since I didn't really know them but T wanted to go.

I can honestly say I have never been to a more beautiful, moving service in my entire life. The church was packed and the choir was incredible. It was truly a celebration of this man's life. There were 2 big screens set up and pictures flashed on each screen -- images of Mr. K as a kid, on his wedding day, graduating from college, w/ the girls, his airplane, etc. Friends and co-workers spoke and it sounded like he was a warm, fun-loving, wonderful man. They all had stories to tell and several commented on how much he loved his wife and 3 beautiful daughters.
Those poor girls and their mother. She can only be a year or two older than me. I just couldn't stop thinking about them...not having your dad around to teach you how to drive, not having your dad walk you down the aisle on your wedding day, not having your dad see his first grandchild for the first time. One of the nicest things said today was directed at the girls. A co-worker of their father's said, "one day a man is going to enter your life and he's going to remind you of your dad. That's the man you marry." I thought that was so sweet.

Yes, Chris drives me insane most of the time (and I'm sure he can say the same about me) but I can't even begin to imagine my life w/out him. When the girls were younger, they would get sooooo upset when he had to go on overnight business trips. It just about broke his heart whenever he had to leave.

Today was definitely one of those days that made me stop and think. I mean really think hard.

Crimson Chin

The shit always hits the fan when Chris is out of town. Tonight T got off the bus and we ran up to the high school to pick-up some of her dance team stuff. Then we ran to get ice for her lax party. She was supposed to bring drinks, ice and cups. So we loaded up the car and headed to KJ's softball game. She couldn't find her cleats or her softball socks. They're probably still in Chris's car from her lax game Friday afternoon (which has been sitting @ the B'ham airport parking garage since Monday). So, she just wore regular sneakers. So we get to the game and T & I stay for about a half an hour before we have to leave the game and take T to her party. We're in the car for exactly 9 minutes taking T from the ballfields to the lax party at a neighborhood club house when a mom from the softball team calls to say KJ's been hit in the face. I literally throw T out at the curb, throw ice and drinks at her and rush back to the ballfield. Apparently I didn't need to worry. She got back in the game immediately, made a double play and got another girl out at first. Then she smacked the crap out of the ball her next at bat. Maybe she needs to get hit in the head more often.

Granola

Good morning.

Start your day off right; think happy thoughts.

The scripture says, "guard you heart with all diligence; for out of it flows the issues of life."

In other words, whatever you are intensely emotional about you will experience in your world.
God is Love,

Rev Run

Good morning.

Take time to slow down and smell the roses!

Life satisfaction is more likely for those with a steady stream of minor accomplishments than for those who express interest only in major accomplishments.

Slooow down :-)
God is Love,

Rev Run

Sitting here w/ my cup of tea and my pop-tarts watching the Today Show. Martha Stewart is doing a feature on handmade Mother's Day gifts. She's suggesting homemade granola. Granola? You're kidding me, right? No offense, but if Chris & the girls give me homemade granola as my Mother's Day gift I'd flip. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for diamonds or furs. A simple card is nice, some flowers, a gift card somewhere. But granola? No freakin' way. I think my family knows me and loves me a little better than that.

Chris has been in Dallas since Monday and comes home late tonight. So I've been doing the morning school run. The middle school starts a few minutes earlier than the elementary school so I drop T off first, then KJ. KJ hates this line-up and wants to be dropped off first. Just to shut her up, today I pulled into my friend Julie's neighborhood, opened the door and told KJ to walk the rest of the way (there's a path from the street straight to the elementary school). I drove really, really slowly and made sure the crossing guard saw her.

Busy night again tonight -- T has to be @ the high school to pick up some of her dance stuff that has come in, she has a lax end-of-season party and Hip-Hop at 7:30 PM. KJ has a 5:30 PM Softball game. I can't wait for T to start driving herself around.

I was flippin' channels late last night and started watching Braveheart w/ Mel Gibson. Mel made some pretty good movies before he got all wacky.

Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd. --William Wordsworth

Quiet Day in Blogland

Good morning!
Never let other people's opinion hold you back.
Only you know your potential!
Here are some facts.:
Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers.
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team..
Walt Disney was told he lacked imagination and one record company told the Beatles: "WE DON'T LIKE YOUR SOUND."
Keep going!
God is Love,
Rev Run

Not much going on today. Still doing laundry and changing sheets on the beds. Looks like a beautiful day outside. Tonight is our regular Tuesday night run-around. Wednesday's gonna be crazy, too. T has hip-hop, KJ has a softball game and T is supposed to go to her lax team end-of-year party. She's also interested in trying out for the girl's All-Star team that is going to a HUGE tournament in Atlanta. Chris also takes his boys to the Bagataway tourney so it would be fun if T made it, too.

Spoke to my mom & Brandon late last night. They were in their hotel room and Brandon got on the phone to tell me about the hotel pool. Apparently, he stayed awake the ENTIRE car ride yesterday. My kids (and me) would have been out like a light. Wonder how he'll do the rest of the trip today.

Ketchup / Catch-Up

"The mind has to explore every corner of itself, leaving no spot uncovered, because if there is a single dark corner of one's mind which one is afraid to explore, from that springs illusion." -- J. Krishnamurti

"Choose your intention carefully and then practice holding your consciousness to it, so it becomes the guiding light in your life." -- John Roger

Trying to catch up today. Mom & Dad, Steve & Brandon left early this morning. They have a long drive a head of them but I sent Brandon off w/ a little goody bag for the car and he's got lots of videos to watch in the mini-van.

Absolutely beautiful day today. Lots of sunshine!

We have a lot of food left-over from the weekend so I won't be cooking at least the next 2 nights. KJ hates left-overs so this isn't going to go over too well.

So yesterday JV and Varsity played (and won!) each of their State Championship games! Afterward we had our team party @ a BBQ place that opened up exclusively for us. It was very cool (and delish!). It was so wonderful to see all the boys and really visit w/ their parents. One of Chris's senior players was awarded the first EVER Alabama Lacrosse All-American award. Absolutely amazing. Who would have thought there would ever be a lacrosse All-American in the state of Alabama??? Maryland, NY, CT, VA, of course!!! But Alabama??? The other exciting news was one of the players from Huntsville was named as Academic All-American. He's a great kid and plays on Chris's all-star team. Anyway, at the party, the kids gave Chris and the assistant coaches really cool poster-sized collages of them coaching. It was very touching. They also gave Chris a plaque w/ the team photo on it, each of the boys names was listed and it read "State Champs" (whic;h was really risky! what if they lost??!!). Chris loved it! I think he plans to take the 2 state champ trophies to the store for display.

I can't believe the kids have barely 2 weeks of school. Our Europe trip is 30-something days away. April flew by; maybe May can stick around for a bit (although I am really, really looking forward to the summer!).

Check out my Slide Show!

"The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." -- Julia Cameron

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world." -- Lawrence G. Lovasik

So grammie and pop made it safe and sound. We're all anxiuosly awaiting my nephew's arrival tomorrow. Oh yeah. My brother is coming in, too. But who cares. It's all about the nephew. Joe & Laurie are driving in tomorrow and LCM & Dean are driving in from Cincy late tonight. I got my mani & pedi today and T got a mani and her eyebrows waxed. Thank god. They were starting to look like catepillers. The cleaning lady came this morning and I went grocery shopping so we have goodies to eat this weekend and tomorrow is the Mother's Day picnic at KJ's school and we've been invited to stay for some kind of reading thing. I really don't know what it is.

We've got lots going on this weekend. In addition to KJ's communion we've got a lot of lax to partake in. Lotta lax.

I missed the luncheon yesterday for the director of playschool. I still wasn't feeling great but I know the ladies had a good time. I heard Tracy's painting was beautiful and Tricia cried. That means it was really good. Lots of changes going on at playschool next year: Tricia leaving, Shawn moving, I don't think Teresa's coming back.

Tonight was Chris's last lax practice of the regular season. He lets the seniors get "last licks" against the underclassmen. There are a a couple of brothers on the team and the older boy usually chooses to beat up on his younger brother.