Another door slams shut....

My folks are definitely not moving here. I pretty much knew they wouldn't but there was that tiny inkling of hope that they would.

Now WHY do I about this?

I got a call from my younger sister. The one who just got married in May? Well, she called to let me know that she and her husband were going to buy a new house. ACTUALLY, it's going to be a group purchase. My parents are going to rent out their current home, put some money in, and live with my younger sister and my new BIL. It'll be a better living environment for my Dad. He's got bad knees and my folks' current home only has upstairs bedrooms. My sister's new home will have a bedroom and sitting area on the bottom floor that'll belong to my folks.

So...due to the fact that they'll be living with my sister...I don't see my folks moving out here.

I'm a little perturbed. A little left out. A little hurt. The final realization of it. It's my own problem. I know. I feel like a little kid again hoping to get some attention from my parents. I know I shouldn't expect my parents to move near me. But like I said before, I had hoped they would.

Maybe it's a good thing though. There's a slim possibility that the Hubs will get a new job. And it's possibly on the East Coast. Now that my folks' are definitely going to stay in San Diego, there's no tie for the Hubs and I to stay here where we're at. We can move freely out to the East Coast if need be.

[slam]

No more baby...for sure...

This weekend we removed the last physical piece of babyhood from the Bear's room.

The crib/toddler bed. He's had his big boy bed for about 4 months now but that toddler bed was still wedged in the corner next to the bed.

The Hubs and I broke down the toddler bed and put the pieces up against the wall in the guest room. We plan on selling the crib at a garage sale --> whenever THAT happens.

My little guy's room looks so much more spacious. We took one of the oak sidetables from the family room. A table we weren't really using except to put old magazines on. I put that table into my Bear's room as his nightstand.

Some might say that his room is sparse. Empty.

But I think it rocks. A bedroom is for sleeping. But that's my own humble opinion. What's in his room? His full-size platform bed. His night stand. And his tall dresser. Oh yeah...and his basket of books along with his stuffed animals. That's it. Period.

Now what do you have in your children's bedrooms? Toys? Books? A bunch of stuff? Or is it bare like my little guy's?

Clean car, clear mind?

My car is clean. Like CLEAN. Why? Because I couldn't stand it any longer and got it washed. By other people. Not just me spraying my vehicle down.

My car has been vacuumed. My car has been waxed. The sections that are black on the exterior have been conditioned and are shiny. My tires are shiny. The rims (yeah...right....) were wiped down so there's no grungy brake dust and mud on them. I even got the "new car" scent!

I feel less muddled. I've got a mucho-clean car. I know it won't last. The kids will be bringing in the sand and crumbs this afternoon when I pick them up. I know. I know.

But for now? In my garage? It's CLEAN!

School is almost over!

The Princess' summer school is almost over. Friday is the last day. And I haven't signed her up for anything else. YET....

I have been looking around on the computer to figure out where there are July classes that are still open. Classes that aren't far from home. Classes that'll keep her occupied and happy.

My first option is a 5 day class at a dinosaur museum. Interesting. Full day class from 9am - 4pm. But about 25 minutes drive away.

My second option is a swimming class at the YMCA. Fun. Physically exhausting. But only a half hour long. But it's for 2 full weeks. 10 full classes.

Which one would YOU pick?

Me? I'm opting for the 2nd choice. The swimming class. It's going to be at 9:40am, Monday through Friday for 2 full weeks. Then there's another 2 week session following. I think I'll be able to get her into THAT too. So she'll be able to get 4 weeks worth of swimming lessons before the regular school session starts.

I think that the swimming classes will be more beneficial for my Princess than the dinosaur museum. She doesn't know how to swim. And she needs some consistent training to get her into a groove. She likes the IDEA of swimming but just hasn't had an opportunity to get lessons. I think this'll be the BEST choice for my girl...

How about you? Did you take lessons as a kid? Did you take lessons at the Y? Or from your parent? Or from some other program? Or are you still a non-swimmer?

Childhood friendship

Every weekday afternoon it's the same.

I go pick up the Bear from "school".

Generally, one of his friends will see us first.

"Bay-ew! Yo Mama heew!"

I love to hear his friends announce my arrival.

"Tha-s my Maw-mee!"

I love to hear the Bear's daily response.

Today? His regular teacher was just about to step out for a break. She saw me walking across the main room to the 3 year old class. She continued to stand there holding the door open.

"I've got to see the daily announcement."

I stand in the doorway and peer in to locate my little guy.

"Bay-ew! Yo Mama heew!"

The Bear looks up. RUNS over to me.

"Tha-s my Maw-mee!"

It all hugs and kisses. Then I hear the friend who made the announcement.

"I need a hug!"

The little friend walks over. He and the Bear hug each other.

Two other little guys run over and each gives the Bear a hug. Then they wave to him as they walk back to what they were doing.

"Bye! See you too-maw-woah!"

The teacher looks at me and smiles.

"Those 'Tweener' kids are SO close!"

"Yeah....it's funny how much they enjoy each other."

I just so enjoy watching the Bear and his friends. It's all HUGS and smiles now. I wonder when that's going to change. You know. How boys stop hugging each other? But for now? The wear their hearts on their sleeves. No baggage. Just the affection of one friend to another. It's GREAT!

Plans for the weekend?

Next weekend is 4th of July weekend.

Can you believe it? The year is already almost halfway over.

With the 4th being on a Tuesday, I just got an email from the higher ups that we are 'officially' taking Tuesday AND Monday off.

But guess who is still going to have to work? Yeah. Me.

The only good thing is that I am only going to work for HALF the day. If my guys get their work done on time. That's the only contingent.

But right now I'm waiting to hear from one of our clients if they expect their normal Monday deliverables on Monday or on Wednesday. Hopefully they'll say Wednesday is okay but I think the guys can finish the work up on Monday. I think....

But the Hubs and I are going to have some time away from the kidlings this weekend. My ILs are picking the kids up late Friday afternoon and bringing them home to their house. We'll pick the kids up from their house on Sunday afternoon. The thing is? The Hubs and I are going to drive up there on Saturday morning. Why so early? So we can spend the day at our FAVORITE mall. We're going to walk around leisurely and actually LOOK at things. Then we'll be spending the night at a resort. We'll lounge around the pool and have a nice dinner and then a nice breakfast. That's going to be a treat to ourselves. Woohoo!

Now what are YOU doing for this weekend? Is it going to be a long luxurious and relaxing 4 day weekend? OR a normal weekend, one day back at work, and then another day off?

Treasure Hunters...did you watch it?

I watched it and nearly busted a gut with all the laughing I did.

Thankfully I had taped the show so I didn't miss any of the ridiculously funny moments.

Crawling under the rocks. Taking apart piles of sticks. The "logic" used to open the combination on the steel box? HILARIOUS! That hick team really cracked me up.

I didn't much care for that "family" that was outright MEAN to the other teams. Stealing a clue from another team. Outwardly mocking other teams. But this was also the team that 'prayed' before they started another day. Hmmm.....

I can't wait to watch the latest episode here tonight. I will definitely be taping it once more.

Are you going to watch it? Let's see if the Genius Team comes in 2nd to last place again! HA!

--------------------------------------------------

It was even FUNNIER than I thought it would be.

Staying IN the mine for 11 hours?

After being at the Tower Rock for how many hours, they leave to get something to eat? Why didn't they go through "drive-through" on the long trek OUT to Tower Rock?

And that one family that is undercutting the other teams? They created another scene with two other teams. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Anyone who watched it will know what I meant by that.

And the Grad students? Those girls are strong! They picked up their fallen teammate and didn't complain!

But WHY didn't the Air Force team try to cover up that hole they dug up?

LOADS of summer laughs with this show!

Such a sap...

ME! I am such a sap!

Why? I just adore that Liberty Mutual commercial they've been running.

You know the one I"m talking about. It's that one where it shows individuals helping other individuals out. The man picks up the kid's toy off the ground. The lady pushes the man out of the way before a bunch of boxes fall on him?

It's the fact that one person's consideration. One person's concern for another can influence another person. Someone who sees the kindness. [sigh....]

I adore the fact that THAT can happen. That people can shows kindness to strangers. That one person can influence others without thinking about it.

Now do you show kindness to strangers? Just because? If so....THANK YOU!

Snippets for today

Today is Saturday so here are snippets from our day!


We scheduled a haircut for the Bear. I walked in to let the gal know that the Bear was there. The Bear and the Hubs sat down. The Princess and I walked out.

"Come on Daa-dee. Wets go! Come ON!"

The Bear is waving to my husband to get up and follow us.

"No Buddy. You're getting a haircut."

There was a bit of crying and complaining as I continued to walk away to grab a coffee at the Stawbucks.

The Princess and I came back to find the Bear in a chair getting his hair done.

My husband? Standing right next to the Bear. Holding his little boy chin still.

Yes. The Bear is still a little skittish when it comes to getting his hair cut. He didn't have a happy face at all. He was Mr. Blank Face.

When he finished? He looked over at me.

"Good job Buddy! You look good."

I gave him a thumbs up. He gave me a HUGE grin. And then gave me a thumbs up.


*************************

I did some decorating today. Put some of that decorative window film on some small oddly shaped windows we've got in our guest bedroom.

The windows? There are three of them. About 18 1/2 inches across. About 19 inches at the tallest section. But they've got this soft arch business at the top. And the windows are not symmetrical to the wall of the room. The left-most window is about 1.5 feet from the nearest corner. The right-most window is about 3 feet from the nearest corner. And the windows are at about 5 feet up the wall.

So you see my dilemma. Their location makes a window covering selection VERY difficult. I don't see putting a cellular shade on there for such a small window because I'd have to do an outside mount. The fact that those windows aren't symmetrical in the room just make me crazy.

Due to their location, we don't necessarily have to cover them. But the windows face Southeast so we get sun in them ALL day long.

And right now? In the summer? The sun starts coming up 4:30am. By 5:30am, the sun is streaming into that room.

So below you can see the pattern I selected. The light going in the room now is softer. More muted.

Once I put the film up on two of the windows, I could already tell that the room would be a lot cooler.

And the family? They all ended up laying on the guest bed as I installed the film on the windows.

"Maw-mee? Wha yew deeewing?"

"Mom, why are you spraying water on there?"

"Wha's dat?"

"Why are you pushing it down with that card?"

Yes. I had to answer 100 questions as I'm trying to put the stuff up. But it's up and it looks GOOD!


*************************

We went out to get me a new cell phone. Mine was not holding a charge for very long.

As I was standing there getting all the changes done to my new phone, the kids were laughing and giggling and running arund behind me. I turn around and they're using the Hubs as their personal play thing. He was standing there like a Raggedy Andy doll. They were throwing his arms up in the air and watching them fall down. The two kidlings thought this was the FUNNIEST thing.

Thank goodness the kids were having a good time while I 'took care of business'.


*************************

It was so nice being able to have an early dinner and then hang outside for a bit.

I brought out the bubbles so the kids could run around. On a mission. So they could get tuckered out!

Thankfully, we had some Gymboree bubble solution left. Those bubbles last a LONG time. Even when they land they don't pop. They'll just sit on the floor, the wall, or whatever.

The kids had a blast popping the bubbles in the air. Stomping the bubbles on the ground. AND watching the bubbles float up. Up. UP into the air until they couldn't see them anymore.

Bubbles are cheap fun.

I LOVE it!


*************************

So it was a good day. How is YOUR weekend going?

Did you see Prince this morning?

Prince was on Good Morning America today!

I'm just watching it.

He's in this fabulous pale pink suit with a dark turquoise shirt underneath. He looks good for as old as he is. He still looks young. He still can move. He can definitely still jam.

And he's got Sheila E with him still!

They just did "Let's Go Crazy!"

WOW!

Working with not my regular equipment

Today I have had to use my personal home desktop to get my work stuff done.

Why?

My laptop has a BLACK monitor. Yeah. I know it's already black normally. But it's black when I turn ON my computer. That's right folks. A dead monitor.

I tried a couple tricks that I'd heard about. Opening and closing the screen. That worked. Once.

So right now I'm listening to musac.....while waiting for someone at "d-e-l*l" to pick up their customer line.

We'll see what happens. What we can work out. I mean it's an older laptop - an Inspiron 1150. I guess it's a bit over 2 years old. I got it already used by a couple other employees. It's definitely a hand-me-down. REALLY. Compared to some of the spiffy new models that the latest new employees got? Geez! Mine is a relic!

At least I've been able to access my work email but I don't have ALL the files that I need. The VPN that we use for work isn't working on my desktop computer. ARGH!

We'll see what happens AFTER this call.....

*****************

I'm off the call now. No resolution.

That's right. Nothing. Nada.

You know what I have to do? Call another department tomorrow.

Why?

Because MY computer's warranty expired. EXPIRED! May 12, 2006.

Did you read that? The warranty expired just over a month ago. Kind of like how a car ends up needing tons of repairs after 100,000 miles.

So tonight I'll be removing the monitor off my personal computer, which is also a Dell, and try to hook it up to my laptop. And detaching my monitor from my CPU? Not so fun. I've got to haul my CPU out of the desk and unscrew the prongy thing and all that and then push the CPU back into the desk cabinet.


But on a lighter note? I received the Lands' End kids school uniform catalog today. The clothes in there? The skirts and pants? VERY cute! I know that anything I select from there will last the entire school year and still look good. Additionally, they've got girls stuff in SLIM! Just what the Princess needs! So I'll be school clothes shopping tonight. Yeah...I know it's still summer but you parents with slender kids KNOW how difficult it is to find clothese that actually FIT in the waist and the length.

Little bit of this

I haven't had a ton to say lately. I think that with work and all, I have been completely brain tired at the end of the day. So my fingers haven't been moving along to create entries as of late. There's stuff going on in my brain (other than work) during the day but it hasn't made its way onto here. OY!

I really like the new coffee lids at Mickey D's. That little flip over top? It actually stays in place when you flip it over!

Had my oil changed at the dealer the other day. And they forgot to reset the oil life guage. Again! I've had my oil changed over there three times. They've managed to forget to reset the thing TWICE!

My car is DIRTY! The road to my son's daycare was being repaved, so we had to use a dirt road for the last two days. I'm thinking of getting it professionally cleaned because it is a big ol' mess!

One of the newer girls at work is annoying me. She's been making comments about getting 'bad' data from my guys. But the source where my guys are getting data is NOT the best. I've been biting my tongue so I don't lash back at her. I don't want to say anything bad and regret it. So hopefully with my last email where I attached a file that was run yesterday for Monday data AND attached a file for Monday that I ran today...it'll show her the discrepancies.

My daughter is tan! This is the most brown she's ever been. At school they've been running through the sprinklers after they eat lunch. She finally told me about this and I sent her off to school with her bathing suit & a towel in her backpack. The other little girls had been changing into their swimsuits to run through the sprinklers and my girl was just running through in her clothes! Silly girl of mine!

We had our first night with our new bed linens and it was NICE! It felt so luxurious in our bed!

I have got to get on the ball and get my daughter signed up for more summer classes. The sessions she is in right now finish up at the end of June. I still have to figure out whta to do with her for July.

But I have to tell you that the FALL session (aka FIRST GRADE) starts August 7th! Yeah!

Summer tv is boring, boring, BORING!

I feel boring, boring, BORING!

I'll find some inspiration to write soon. I will. I know I will!

Then there's the other bump in the road

Yes. There was another bump that we've just finished up with.

The bed thing. The child in our bed thing. The family bed.

My son is now back in his bedroom. Sleeping. Alone.

How did we fix it?

Actually, it's all kudos to my Mom.

When the Hubs and I were having our weekend alone, my Mom put the Bear into his bed. You see, my Mom and Dad like to sit in bed and read and chat at night. So the Bear would NOT be comfortable in the bed with them. They'd end up keeping him up. So that's why my Mom tucked him neatly into his bed.

Once the Hubs and I got back home (after 2 nights in his bedroom), the Hubs tucked the Bear into his bedroom. And that's where he's been since.

I didn't want to mention it sooner because I didn't want to jinx the situation.

But we're all happier. And ALL sleeping better at night.

YEAH!!!!

A bump in the road

My son is basically potty-trained. But he still goes #2 in a pull-up. NO surprise there. My daughter was the same.

About 2 months ago, my son suddenly was having accidents at school. 4 out of the 5 days he was there. Just out of the blue! It was when he was napping that he was having these leaks. I'd have to bring home his wet linens home in a plastic bag every day. Pretty tedious.

Then two weeks ago, he just as suddenly stopped having accidents. Just like that.

So for the last two weeks I haven't had to bring home a plastic bag full of pee'd on linens. Yeah!

Just a little bump in the road, eh? Whew! I'm so glad that's over!

chronically late

We have a person like this.

Someone we know who is chronically late. Late for everything?

That's my BIL.

He was supposed to be here at 12pm.

It's now 12:55pm.

A little indulgence

I bit the bullet. I bought us some.....bed linens!

Some might think it crazy. Bed linens. But the Hubs and I have been using the same few sets of inexpensive sheet sets for the last 6 years. We don't even use a comforter or blanket that's made for our king size bed. We've been working with the queen size blankets and comforter that we had when we first got married.

After we got our GIANT bed, we ended up having our kids and I wasn't working. The bed linens we had were fine. They worked. So I never bought any additional items for us.

But now?

I ordered a king-size comforter filled with goose down. A duvet cover. That's a big indulgence for me as I've always used the inexpensive comforters that didn't require any kind of protection in my eyes. A couple of nice sheet sets. AND a box spring cover. Our bed frame doesn't work well with those flouncy bed skirts. A box spring cover. Go figure! No more looking at the pattern on the box spring!

All our stuff is supposed to arrive early next week. I am SO excited! He-he-he! Excited over bed linens? Yup! I'm tickled by simple indulgences like that. I buy the kids stuff right and left without a blink of an eye but for us? Takes me FOREVER to get us something. Now finally....we get to look at a NICE bed! Woohoo!

Comment on Tuesday...

We know some parents whose daughter had a birthday on Tuesday.

Yes. That was "Damien's Day".

This daughter? She turned 6.

HA-HA-HA! She turned SIX on Tuesday!

We haven't talked to these parents yet but I wonder how the day went for them....

Making Mommy Laugh

This morning...

Princess: "Mom! Feel here!"

She's pointing to her arm. I stroke her arm. She laughs.

Princess: "Do you feel them?"

Me: "Uh. What honey?"

Princess: "The SCREWS!"

Me: "The...screws?"

Princess: "Yeah! The screws on my arms!"

Imagine the confused look on MY face.

Princess: "The bumps on my arms. That means I'm cold!"

Me: "Oh! The goosebumps!"

Princess: "Goosebumps?"

Me: "Yeah baby. Goosebumps...."

New adventure for the Princess

This morning, the Princess started on a new adventure.

Summer school!

She has been bored to tears staying home with me. Being here just with me while I work. Definitely, not fun. But she made the most of it.

We got to the school about 7:50am. Kids slowly were getting dropped off. The younger kids had one parent hanging around waiting for the 'official' start of the day.

This summer school was not being held at the Princess' regular school. This was at a private school down the street from her regular school. So it was going to be something new for her. New teachers. New kids. New environment.

It's only for a month but it'll be great.

For the next two weeks, she'll be in the following classes: (1) Painting (2) It's a Zoo (3) Math (4) Swimming.

Then the following two weeks, she'll be in the following: (1) Dr. Seuss (2) Games & Fitness (3) Cooking (4) Computers!

It's going to be an awesome experience. She was so excited last night and this morning. But turned a little shy this morning when she got there. Once she gets comfy, she'll be great.

I got her in there because THAT is the kind of summer experience that I always dreamed of. Not just staying home. I'm so excited for her. I can't wait to talk to her later on today about all that she did today!

Oh yeah...the funniest moment last weekend...

The most funny moment for me occurred at the reception.

It was when the Hubs' grandpa did his speech.

He gave his warmest welcome everyone. Congratulated his grandson & his new wife. Then sent out his regards to some missing people.

I would like to send my love out to a couple people who couldn't make it here tonight. Jesus and Priscilla. My daughter and son-in-law....

I looked over at my SIL and she had her head down looking at her lap in embarrassment. I have no idea what the Hubs and my BIL were reacting as their grandpa made his speech.

I was just about to crack up laughing. Jesus and Priscilla are the Hubs' parents.

It was too funny that Grandpa CALLED them on their lack of attendance.

You see, Grandpa and Grandma made it out to my BILs wedding. My BIL who just got married in April. My BIL who got married in Florida just before a honeymoon cruise. For some reason, my ILs did not fly out for the cremony even if they didn't want to go on the cruise. That's what the Hubs' did. He flew out and spent the day before with everyone and attended the wedding ceremony the next morning before the cruise set sail and then flew home.

Then my ILs didn't make it to this wedding...AND they don't plan on attending another wedding in October in the Windy City.

It's not like they have a whole lot going on. They don't have a TON of responsibilities. It's just the two of them at home now.

I mean, the Hubs and I had to juggle attending 3 weddings that occurred within a total of 7 weeks. All the wedding required travel. Since we had about 9 months to plan our schedule, then we were able to swing attending the various ceremonies.

But my ILs? Just didn't happen.

I wonder what my MIL did when she heard about her father's speech???? HA-HA-HA! [snort-snort] HA-HA-HA!!!!

Time away from the kiddos

This weekend was SO much fun.

The flight out was uneventful, which is good.

My BILs wife (Sarah) was actually on the same flight!

It took about 30 minutes to get our rental car.

Hubs: "Avis certainly isn't trying harder, are they?"

We then made our way out to pick up the Hubs tux. He'd been measured here at our local affiliated tux shop a month ago. The Hubs had printed out directions off the internet but those directions left off one important turn. According to the printout, we were supposed to merge on a particular street after we got off the freeway. Uh, it was either a left or right turn. We chose left. And that was the wrong choice. But we eventually made it to the tux shop.

The lady manager helped us. She looked up my husband's name.

LD: "What name is the wedding under?"

Hubs: "Mark X and Lisa Y"

LD: "Okay. Here is their sheet."

Hubs: "Okay..."

LD: "Your tux is in your home town."

Hubs: "Well, the wedding is tomorrow. Can I get a tux today?"

Thankfully, the lady manager measured my husband and got him a tuxedo. No big deal.

Have you been keeping track? That's already 3 negative events and we had just gotten to our destination!

Because of the well-known traffic in the Windy City, we didn't bother checking into our hotel. I mention this because it turns out our hotel was literally less than 5 minutes from the mall. We went directly to the church so we wouldn't be late for the rehearsal. We located the site and realized we had about an hour. There was actually NO traffic on our way out! So we opted to grab some food to eat at a nearby Outback.

We got to the church just as the Hubs cousin and his fiancee were parking. We walked in with them. We only had to wait around about 15 minutes for the rehearsal to begin. What took me by surprise was the priest.

"That looks terrible! What are you all doing!"

He actually said this when the group didn't do exactly what he told them to do. He said it loud and with negativity. My husband wasn't phased. His entire family wasn't. But for me and the other married in girls (Sarah & Deb) who weren't from there were taken aback.

Me: "Wow! He's really got some attitude!"

Hubs: "He's a Chicago priest." Then my husband just shrugged!

No big deal to him. The Hubs went to a Catholic High School when he lived there so he was used to sassy priests.

The rehearsal dinner was fun. Sarah & my BIL along with Deb and Wendy and their spouses (who are brothers) sat next to us at the dinner. It was great having that time to catch up with them. I hadn't seen Sarah since before she got married to my BIL. I hadn't seen Deb in about 6 months. I hadn't seen Wendy in 5 years. So there was a lot to catch up on.

The Hubs and I left and checked into our hotel. We were beat.

The next morning we ate breakfast there at the hotel. They actually had a nice spread. Not just a continental breakfast with bread, bagels, and coffee. They had cereals, teas, juice, fruit, yogurt, croissants, donuts, and a waffle maker! It was nice to have a good selection. And we were able to eat a leisurely pace rather than rushing since the kids weren't with us. There was no drama to deal with.

The Hubs was supposed to meet with the rest of the crew at noon, so we just drove around and did some shopping after breakfast. We found the wedding reception site which was 5 minutes from the hotel.

Well, you all know that the Hubs got ready and met the rest of the guys at noon. That left me to get ready at a snail's pace. I brought two dresses with me. Thankfully I did bring two dresses. The black dress that I had originally planned on wearing (and hadn't worn since last year) just wasn't working. I had to wear a particular low-plunging bra with it and control top pantyhose. And I forgot the pantyhose. So there were bulges in the WRONG places. YUCK! I put on the brown dress and it worked. Yeah!

The wedding was really nice. This was the first time that I'd attended a wedding where the priest stood between the front pews and the bride and groom faced the congregation. We were actually able to take photos and see their expressions.

I ended up driving to the reception by myself. The wedding party all went in a trolley.

The reception was a great event. I was at a table with Sarah, my SIL (Hubs' sister) and her best friend, my Hubs' uncle and his family. What was nice was that I sat next to Sarah and my Hubs' aunt, who both enjoy food. So I didn't have to watch what I ate. My SIL is a picky eater, so I don't really like eating with her.

They had an open bar. Not just beer and wine. Mixed drinks too! I'm sure that tab on that was HUGE! My husband's family can drink. Like seriously drink. When I found out it was an open bar, I expected to see a fight or argument of some kind. That's what normally happens with the Hubs' family at social events when drinking is involved. But nothing happened! It was pretty shocking really. Everyone was on good behavior.

The site had host staff walk around with platters of bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms. YUMMY! They also set up an appetizer table with cheeses and crackers AND large shrimp and calamari! The Hubs never saw the shrimp and calamari. He and his brother and his cousin were sitting at the head table drinking beers and eating bruschetta. He didn't happen to notice that people were congregated on the dance floor milling around something. Go figure!

They dropped off a bottle of red and a bottle of white at each table before they served dinner. Salad with some yummy raspberry dressing. And then a family style meal. Huge platters of mashed potatoes, sliced beef with mushrooms, chicken breast with a creamy sauce, penne pasta with a marinara sauce and some other things. Soon after we got cake and were served coffee.

Then the festivities began. The dancing started. And it didn't stop until almost midnight. The bride danced almost the entire night. Even the Hubs got on the dance floor. My husband doesn't dance. He only dances after he's had a lot to drink. And I guess he'd had a lot to drink. And he danced a lot! So it was fun. But I didn't necessarily need a partner to dance because everyone was dancing. Even the kids! Actually, the kids were the first ones to overtake the dance floor! What was great was the DJ was playing music from the 80's.

Around 9:30pm they set out a dessert table. A dessert table? Yes! It had a couple coffee decanters. Cheese cakes. Pastries. Strawberries and bananas. Next to a chocolate fondue thingy. It was yummy stuff. Especially since we'd all been dancing up a storm by then.

All in all it was a fabulous trip. A beautiful wedding. A fantastic reception. It was a good time away from the kids. A nice little weekend to let off some steam and reconnect as a couple....

Can't be happening

103 degrees.

Humid.

Cloudy.

Suddenly windy.

Clap of thunder.

Downpour!

For all of 3 minutes.

Stop.

Downpour!

For one more minute.

Stop.

It's still 103 degrees.

UGH!

Apparently, there was a microburst in our town. Enough wind on the far side of town to knock down about 7 power lines. So there were 1000's of people on the other side of town without power...when it was 103 degrees.

UGH!