This kid is adorable---he could sing "Hey Jude" on American Idol!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgrrQwLdME8
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Just poke me with a fork...
...because I'm done!! It's nearly 8 p.m. on Sunday night and I just finished cleaning up the kitchen from dinner. I'm tired! I've been working since Thursday---feels like non-stop.
Mindy and 3 friends came in this weekend for the Music City Marathon. Only Mindy and one other girl ran it. The confusion actually began last Monday night when Mindy called home crying (and she doesn't think she cries that much...). Apparently, she had missed the deadline for online registration for the race. Now the only alternative was to have someone go down to the convention center and stand in line with thousands of other runners. Guess who got elected? To make a long story short, Butch pulled a few strings and got it taken care of for her (and me). He had everything she needed delivered to his office. He went to the airport to pick the gang up on Friday night about 5:30. From there, he had to race downtown to the convention center so that Mindy's friend (who had registered) could pick up her race package before they closed at 7.
The Music City Marathon is the 2nd largest in the country after Boston (as reported on our news). Over 32,000 people were in it---with 23,000 running the 1/2 marathon (13 miles) which is what Mindy did.
I took Mindy and her friend down to Centennial Park Saturday morning at 6. Their start time wasn't until 8, but it's a good thing we left early. The traffic was like nothing I've seen here. After sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, they decided to walk the rest of the way in the rain. It took me about an hour to get down there.
The plan was that I was then going to try to see them and get some photos at mile 4 which was in front of Christ the King Church. I had to park several blocks away, but luckily, I found a good spot to wait. I would never have seen them amidst all those people, but they saw me. All that trouble for 3 seconds. Luckily, I got one good shot (see photo below). To show how crazy it was and how many people there were, I heard some racer yell, "Barb Eads". Never saw her and didn't recognize the voice.
Butch went down to the stadium for the crossing of the finish line and he too was lucky and saw them right as they finished. They did it in 2 hours and 35 minutes (11 minute miles). Mindy said they never stopped or walked---totally ran all 13 miles. They had the blisters to prove it.
They all went downtown to celebrate. Despite the blisters, Mindy wore heels (and was really suffering this morning). I'm proud to say that I taught her well. You have to sacrifice comfort to look good.
Being very happy empty-nesters, we are unfamiliar with the schedules of these 20 somethings. They stay out half the night, sleep until noon, eat, hang out, nap from 4-6, eat at 7 and out again around 8. Thus the late-night kitchen clean-up for me.
It's been fun having them here. 2 leave early in the a.m. and Mindy and race partner leave about 5 p.m. tomorrow. I'll definitely be ready to kick back.
I'll post the picture tomorrow. I tried to just download it from Snapfish, but it keeps coming out "tiny".
Mindy and 3 friends came in this weekend for the Music City Marathon. Only Mindy and one other girl ran it. The confusion actually began last Monday night when Mindy called home crying (and she doesn't think she cries that much...). Apparently, she had missed the deadline for online registration for the race. Now the only alternative was to have someone go down to the convention center and stand in line with thousands of other runners. Guess who got elected? To make a long story short, Butch pulled a few strings and got it taken care of for her (and me). He had everything she needed delivered to his office. He went to the airport to pick the gang up on Friday night about 5:30. From there, he had to race downtown to the convention center so that Mindy's friend (who had registered) could pick up her race package before they closed at 7.
The Music City Marathon is the 2nd largest in the country after Boston (as reported on our news). Over 32,000 people were in it---with 23,000 running the 1/2 marathon (13 miles) which is what Mindy did.
I took Mindy and her friend down to Centennial Park Saturday morning at 6. Their start time wasn't until 8, but it's a good thing we left early. The traffic was like nothing I've seen here. After sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, they decided to walk the rest of the way in the rain. It took me about an hour to get down there.
The plan was that I was then going to try to see them and get some photos at mile 4 which was in front of Christ the King Church. I had to park several blocks away, but luckily, I found a good spot to wait. I would never have seen them amidst all those people, but they saw me. All that trouble for 3 seconds. Luckily, I got one good shot (see photo below). To show how crazy it was and how many people there were, I heard some racer yell, "Barb Eads". Never saw her and didn't recognize the voice.
Butch went down to the stadium for the crossing of the finish line and he too was lucky and saw them right as they finished. They did it in 2 hours and 35 minutes (11 minute miles). Mindy said they never stopped or walked---totally ran all 13 miles. They had the blisters to prove it.
They all went downtown to celebrate. Despite the blisters, Mindy wore heels (and was really suffering this morning). I'm proud to say that I taught her well. You have to sacrifice comfort to look good.
Being very happy empty-nesters, we are unfamiliar with the schedules of these 20 somethings. They stay out half the night, sleep until noon, eat, hang out, nap from 4-6, eat at 7 and out again around 8. Thus the late-night kitchen clean-up for me.
It's been fun having them here. 2 leave early in the a.m. and Mindy and race partner leave about 5 p.m. tomorrow. I'll definitely be ready to kick back.
I'll post the picture tomorrow. I tried to just download it from Snapfish, but it keeps coming out "tiny".
Monday, April 21, 2008
It Doesn't Hurt to Ask...
This has been a great day---well, mostly.
I went to the Estee Lauder counter this morning in search of makeup that might possibly make me look younger. No luck there. The only promotion going on was the "buy" type where you have to pay an additional $27.00 to get some samples in a tacky purse that even if you thought it was cute enough to carry, everyone would recognize as the "cheapo" Estee Lauder promo. So, I acted all disappointed and asked the sales clerk if they had any of the "free" ones left from the last promotion. She said that they had sold out of that, but that she'd see what she could do. Well, "could do" meant the jackpot for me!!! Here's what she added to my bag: eyeshadow duo (that I nearly broke trying to figure out how to open), 3 assorted lip glosses to match the pencils I just bought, eyeliner, 2 lipsticks that also go with the liners, mascara and a sample bottle of Advanced Night Repair (I guess she was out of the super-duper advanced night repair). I met Butch for lunch and all that free stuff made him happy too. After all, he's the one that taught me to keep asking until they say "no"!!
When I got home I had some great news via email.
Connie and I started up a new book club recently. The book we read this month is called Miscarriage of Justice (sorry, can't underline or bold on here). The author is a local judge, so I decided to email him and ask him to come to our book club for the discussion. That was just yesterday that I emailed him and got a response this afternoon. He said, "I'd be honored to come to your book club". Yippeeee!! Of course, I'm pretty excited because all it took was an "ask".
Connie came over to walk this afternoon and called to my attention that I had given the author the wrong date! Gee thanks, Connie!!! That's what I love about her---she "catches all my boo boos"! And of course, by the time we got back from our walk, everyone else in the club emailed me and each other causing all kinds of confusion.
What an idiot I am!!! That's what I get for feeling all smug and self-assured. I had to email the author back with my tail between my legs and admit my mistake. I hope he doesn't throw the book at me!!! A little book club humor....
I went to the Estee Lauder counter this morning in search of makeup that might possibly make me look younger. No luck there. The only promotion going on was the "buy" type where you have to pay an additional $27.00 to get some samples in a tacky purse that even if you thought it was cute enough to carry, everyone would recognize as the "cheapo" Estee Lauder promo. So, I acted all disappointed and asked the sales clerk if they had any of the "free" ones left from the last promotion. She said that they had sold out of that, but that she'd see what she could do. Well, "could do" meant the jackpot for me!!! Here's what she added to my bag: eyeshadow duo (that I nearly broke trying to figure out how to open), 3 assorted lip glosses to match the pencils I just bought, eyeliner, 2 lipsticks that also go with the liners, mascara and a sample bottle of Advanced Night Repair (I guess she was out of the super-duper advanced night repair). I met Butch for lunch and all that free stuff made him happy too. After all, he's the one that taught me to keep asking until they say "no"!!
When I got home I had some great news via email.
Connie and I started up a new book club recently. The book we read this month is called Miscarriage of Justice (sorry, can't underline or bold on here). The author is a local judge, so I decided to email him and ask him to come to our book club for the discussion. That was just yesterday that I emailed him and got a response this afternoon. He said, "I'd be honored to come to your book club". Yippeeee!! Of course, I'm pretty excited because all it took was an "ask".
Connie came over to walk this afternoon and called to my attention that I had given the author the wrong date! Gee thanks, Connie!!! That's what I love about her---she "catches all my boo boos"! And of course, by the time we got back from our walk, everyone else in the club emailed me and each other causing all kinds of confusion.
What an idiot I am!!! That's what I get for feeling all smug and self-assured. I had to email the author back with my tail between my legs and admit my mistake. I hope he doesn't throw the book at me!!! A little book club humor....
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Incredible
You have got to see this kid---he is incredible---and one of my most favorite songs. I'm trying to learn how to post a video directly to my blog, but it doesn't look like I've gotten it right yet. You'll have to copy and paste the following link into your browser. I promise you it's worth it!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dN52EtrQI&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dN52EtrQI&NR=1
Little Annoyances
Okay, who does this? If you are eating the crackers anyway, what's another 20 calories? There's only one person it could be that would leave one lonely cracker in our cracker container. The same person that shakes exactly 12 peanuts in the palm of his hand and eats them one by one (he can make them last for an entire 1 hour show), and eats exactly 2---1" scoops of ice cream in the evening. Such control. I admire his self discipline. It's actually annoying.
But, in all fairness, I'm sure there are a lot of things that I do to annoy Butch too. For example---this happened a few months ago and to me is pretty funny. Talk to Butch and I'm sure you'd get a different response. Here's the story: About 10 or 12 years ago, Butch installed those floodlights that come on when anyone walks near them. Great security measure, right? Except, they have never worked. Low and behold, a few months ago, he came in after work and said, "that's odd, those lights are working after all this time". It occurred to me that I had flipped a switch near the front door that I had flipped off years ago as I didn't know what it went to. That evening, when I had turned on the outside lights, I had also flipped this one on inadvertently. All these years, just because I flipped a switch---Guilty! I rest "his" case!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Decimation and Destruction
My sister, Jeanne, posted on her blog about the problems she's having with moles and voles. Well, I will not be outdone! I have serious squirrel problems. I've actually seen the little f*****s carry off my tulips---not to mention the tile they've chipped off the pool. Top this Jeanne:
This is what it looks like from a distance. Here are a couple of close-ups:
Here's the other side that has been completely decimated:
On a positive note, the squirrels haven't discovered my woodland shade garden.
This is what it looks like from a distance. Here are a couple of close-ups:
Here's the other side that has been completely decimated:
On a positive note, the squirrels haven't discovered my woodland shade garden.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Lost Weekend
Maybe you remember the old Ray Milland movie where he's an alcoholic and has this nightmarish weekend (Mindy, you might want to check it out to see what happens if you over-imbibe too much). Wellllll, I just had my own "lost weekend" of sorts. Steph and the girls came in---need I say more? Seriously, it was good having them and one-on-one time with Steph is rare. But, here's how it was supposed to go down.
The girls called me in the fall (Morgan to be specific) and asked if they could come for the Overbrook school play in April. She made it clear that they wanted to spend the weekend with their friends "and would I be upset if they didn't see me much?" I was totally okay with that. In January, when I brought them to Nashville for the play, "High School Musical", I found out that they are technically considered "unaccompanied minors" and it costs an extra $100 each way. I decided to spend another 42 bucks and let Steph come too.
Fast forward to this past Thursday night when they were supposed to arrive at 7:20 p.m. I was then to drop them off at Overbrook where they would meet up with friends and not see them the rest of the weekend. Those plans were immediately foiled when their plane was late. By the time I picked them up, it was nearing 10 p.m. Morgan couldn't reach any of her friends, but was sure that they were all at Mellow Mushroom in HIllsboro Village. Nope, no one was there. We ended up going directly to her friends house and picking her up to spend the night with us. We were home by 10:30 and pretty much called it a night.
Friday morning, I was back in "mom" mode and cooking breakfast for all at 6:30 a.m., only to discover that Butch had "false-fronted" the eggs. (You know, when you leave the eggs in front that you see while taking from the rear, therefore leading the next "cook" to think there are more eggs than are actually there. Of course this leads one to recognize that Butch regularly makes eggs--and I must admit, he makes a mean soft-boiled one!) As it turns out, sharing 3 eggs amongst 5 people isn't all that hard when you add potatoes, sausage and toast (okay, had to ditch the toast due to mold). Still a satisfying breakfast for a last minute venture. Oh, and I French-braided Blair's (friend) and Morgan's hair. Cooking, eating and hair all before 7 a.m.
Okay, this is already getting way too long. Let's just cut out all the in-between crap and say that the entire weekend consisted of coming and going regarding the girls---school, friends, pick ups, drop offs, etc. and Steph---lunches, hair appointment, and shopping. Hard to believe that with 5 cars in the family we'd have car issues, but we did.
I'm used to a much more calm existence now. When weekenders (or even weekdayers) are in the house. It completely throws me off schedule. I realize that everything I do in the morning is noisy. I try to be considerate, so that means, no treadmill, no going in my scrapbook room prior to 8 a.m. (a time I've negotiated with Mindy), no unloading the dishwasher and no "un-compacting" the trash compactor. That leaves reading and getting on the computer. That's okay, but to me those are "fun" and somehow "naughty" activities to do before the work is done. Plus, once I start to play, it's harder to return to the work. I'm learning how "old" and "set in their ways" really comes to be. I certainly don't feel old (and I resent Steph's friend Merrill using the term "geezer" when referring to me and my friends), but I am definitely set in my ways!
About those "false-fronted eggs"---I couldn't even yell at Butch because he was at the Masters in Augusta. He had a great time. I asked him if he learned anything from the pros and he said "yeah, I learned that I don't know how in the hell to play this game"! Maybe he better stick to the eggs.
The girls called me in the fall (Morgan to be specific) and asked if they could come for the Overbrook school play in April. She made it clear that they wanted to spend the weekend with their friends "and would I be upset if they didn't see me much?" I was totally okay with that. In January, when I brought them to Nashville for the play, "High School Musical", I found out that they are technically considered "unaccompanied minors" and it costs an extra $100 each way. I decided to spend another 42 bucks and let Steph come too.
Fast forward to this past Thursday night when they were supposed to arrive at 7:20 p.m. I was then to drop them off at Overbrook where they would meet up with friends and not see them the rest of the weekend. Those plans were immediately foiled when their plane was late. By the time I picked them up, it was nearing 10 p.m. Morgan couldn't reach any of her friends, but was sure that they were all at Mellow Mushroom in HIllsboro Village. Nope, no one was there. We ended up going directly to her friends house and picking her up to spend the night with us. We were home by 10:30 and pretty much called it a night.
Friday morning, I was back in "mom" mode and cooking breakfast for all at 6:30 a.m., only to discover that Butch had "false-fronted" the eggs. (You know, when you leave the eggs in front that you see while taking from the rear, therefore leading the next "cook" to think there are more eggs than are actually there. Of course this leads one to recognize that Butch regularly makes eggs--and I must admit, he makes a mean soft-boiled one!) As it turns out, sharing 3 eggs amongst 5 people isn't all that hard when you add potatoes, sausage and toast (okay, had to ditch the toast due to mold). Still a satisfying breakfast for a last minute venture. Oh, and I French-braided Blair's (friend) and Morgan's hair. Cooking, eating and hair all before 7 a.m.
Okay, this is already getting way too long. Let's just cut out all the in-between crap and say that the entire weekend consisted of coming and going regarding the girls---school, friends, pick ups, drop offs, etc. and Steph---lunches, hair appointment, and shopping. Hard to believe that with 5 cars in the family we'd have car issues, but we did.
I'm used to a much more calm existence now. When weekenders (or even weekdayers) are in the house. It completely throws me off schedule. I realize that everything I do in the morning is noisy. I try to be considerate, so that means, no treadmill, no going in my scrapbook room prior to 8 a.m. (a time I've negotiated with Mindy), no unloading the dishwasher and no "un-compacting" the trash compactor. That leaves reading and getting on the computer. That's okay, but to me those are "fun" and somehow "naughty" activities to do before the work is done. Plus, once I start to play, it's harder to return to the work. I'm learning how "old" and "set in their ways" really comes to be. I certainly don't feel old (and I resent Steph's friend Merrill using the term "geezer" when referring to me and my friends), but I am definitely set in my ways!
About those "false-fronted eggs"---I couldn't even yell at Butch because he was at the Masters in Augusta. He had a great time. I asked him if he learned anything from the pros and he said "yeah, I learned that I don't know how in the hell to play this game"! Maybe he better stick to the eggs.
Okay already!
I know, I know, I need to update my blog---as if I have nothing better to do. Well I guess, really I don't. So, later today.
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