KISS it

I have much to say about my trip to Texas last week, but not enough time to share it at the moment. So I'll leave you with the following things I learned on vacation:

1. Children are expensive and make a lot of laundry
2. They need a new word to describe Cowboys Stadium; "gargantuan" isn't big enough
3. "Schlitterbahn" is German for "total lack of body awareness"
4. The amount of time spent waiting in line is directly proportionate to how unhappy Lonnie will get
5. When men find out you can cook, they invite themselves over for dinner
6. It takes two hours to paint four little boys' faces like KISS, and ten minutes for them to tire of it
7. Twin beds weren't meant for sleeping a deaux
8. "Despicable Me" is a great flick
9. I'm really, really glad I didn't go to medical school
10. It is possible not to check work email for four days

More later. Rest of pics are here, here, and here.

3 little monkeys, sittin' on a bed

You think these three are related?

Happy Easter!

Just returned from my great trip to Texas. The boys had so much fun, and it was great to get to spend some time with Lonnie and Jen as well.

I hope all of you had time with family yesterday and that you took a moment to remember the reason for Easter: the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. He lives!

The rest of the pics from this weekend are here.

Cutest thing ever

Just got back from the mailbox and this made me smile. How cute is that? I'm sure his parents made him do it, but still.... cute, cute, cute.

Avatar

The boys have been wanting to see "Avatar" all week. We planned to see it at the IMAX in Austin, but it was sold out for days, so we did the 3-D version in Temple. It actually wasn't bad.

Happy birthday, Hope!

Six years ago this beautiful, loving, always talking child came into our family. Things 1, 2 and 3 did a tribute for her from Texas (yes, Avery is always like that). Happy birthday, sweet girl. We're glad you chose our family.

Happy, happy day!

So excited about the start of football season! I had nearly given up on the 'Boys last night, but they managed to pull out the win. I'm afraid it's going to be another long season, Dallas fans.

In a few I'm headed south to pick up Chance and Hope (and maybe Taylor, if he's really, really bored) and go hang out with Jen, Lon, and Huey, Dewie and Louie. I'll spend tonight with Peep and Meem, and that's always interesting. Their house is like a zoo when we're all there. It's Beaver's birthday, so we're headed to his party at 2 p.m.

Tomorrow I'll be on Nebo with Scott, Alisa, and Grey. Not sure what we're doing since all our best laid plans got either rescheduled or are tentative due to weather. Nevertheless, I haven't seen them in months and can't wait to just chill and eat.

Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Peace and quiet? Not quite.

I'll admit it... I can be a bit neurotic. I cherish my privacy. I adore my peace and quiet. Don't get me wrong... I love being around people. I can be the belle of the ball (hence my "woo" gift), but when it's time to go to sleep, I need stillness, coolness, and zero noise.

A mere 60 minutes or so into our Avery sleepover last night, he awoke screaming. I don't mean mere crying. I mean tantrum-level, please-don't -call-the-cops-I'm-not-beating-him, screaming. After trying to get him to calm down for a few moments, I gave up and hauled the drama queen off to his mom.

This morning, after six hours of sleep, I decided to indulge in solitude, taking a bath and reading a book while my grandmother slept in. Should've locked the door, because my GM barged right in and carried on a conversation. Mostly about what time I'm getting up (do I look like I'm still in bed?). All modesty aside, who thinks it's okay to enter into my sanctuary while I'm unclothed? Just because she changed my diapers doesn't mean I'm okay with that. I'm really, really not.

Luckily I found a way to go to Wal-Mart alone. Those 2 minutes in the car were sheer bliss. Yeah, it's gonna be a long three days.

Now I'm off to roll some dough and make my cousin Lon some chicken rigatoni so he'll stop whining about it.

Tuesday in Texas

After several hours in the car, we finally made it to Temple. The trip didn't seem quite as long as last time. I'm not sure if I had clearer expectations, or if listening to my grandmother tell the same stories over and over again made it seem shorter, but I'm guessing the detour to Cheesecake Factory helped a lot.

All three boys wanted to come back to the hotel and spend the night for some reason, and since I'm not insane, I told them that they could take turns and one of them come over each of the three nights that we're here. Peyton disqualified himself from the who-can-act-the-best competition early, so Peep finally flipped a coin and Avery won the right to spend the night in a mediocre Hampton Inn with an 84-year-old and a spinster. Brady and Peyt were both crying when we left. It's been awhile since boys fought over me.

My GM has been riveted to the TV for hours, awaiting the results of Dancing with the Stars. Interestingly enough, I doubt she watched five minutes of presidential election coverage, but these results were quite important to her. Guess the oval office is not quite the prize that a mirrored disco ball is.

Jen took Memaw to the ER about an hour ago to have her weird puss-filled eye checked. Pink eye. Guess I need to wash my hands...

Deck the halls

Another weekend has come and gone. But thankfully, I'm on vacation for a whole week, so tomorrow can be a sleep-in day. I probably won't be able to, but it's good to know I have the option.

Last night I worked at a charity event and got home at 1:30 a.m. which is, needless to say, a long time past my bedtime. It was a fun evening, but kind of challenging to work at the blackjack table for two hours. My muscles hurt from standing up so long and my head hurts from counting chips. Luckily it was for a great cause and no one noticed that I don't count too well under pressure. Vegas is safe from me for awhile.

I spent today finishing the holiday decorations that I started yesterday. Now I need to spend tomorrow cleaning my casa and packing for my trip. My week will be filled with three T's: turkey, Thanksgiving, and Temple, Texas. Tuesday morning I'll head south to spend the holiday with Lonnie, Jen, Huey, Dewie and Louie, and my aunt and uncle. My grandmother is riding down with me, so I'm praying for patience during that eight hour drive.

I'm still tired from last night, so I'm already in my PJs, catching up on my DVR.

Boo, Texas!

Tonight I uploaded pics from my camera since my Chicago trip. So here's a random assortment of photos from the past couple of months.

The zebras from mine and Amanda's zoo trip



Peacock



Avery's pre-birthday party



The boys, watching a WWII documentary... they're OBSESSED with Army stuff



Brady, on our way to Austin



Royal Stadium at the University of Texas

Happy birthday, Avery!

Today is Beaver's sixth birthday. I can't believe how much he's grown!

(I have some pics from last weekend when I was in Texas and we did a pre-birthday party, but I haven't downloaded them yet. Soon... I promise!)

The eyes of Texas

It's finally here... the moment I've been dreading... time to pack up, kiss the boys goodbye (if they'll let me), and drive eight hours back to home and reality. It's been a really fun and relaxing weekend and so great to see Lon, Jen and the boys, but I really hate this long and boring drive.

On Saturday we mostly relaxed and watched football. Jen was on call until about 11, then she came home and crashed until dinnertime. We had a little pre-celebration for Avery's birthday next weekend, complete with cake, cupcakes, and donuts for dessert.

Yesterday we loaded up and went to Austin for lunch and a little tour of the major landmarks: the Texas state capitol and Darrel K. Royal stadium. The stadium was locked, but we were able to go to the gift shop, where you can buy a game-worn jersey for a mere $400. Shouldn't a new one cost more than a stinky one?

We had lunch at Macaroni Grill and went shopping at IKEA. That was my first trip to that store, and it was interesting. I felt like a mouse in a maze.

I plan to hit the road in a couple of hours and make a stop at the luxury outlet in Richardson to break up the trip a bit. I can't believe I have to be at work in less than 24 hours. And I'm praying I don't hit any of the Gustav traffic headed north.

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

It's like a whole other country

Well I've been in the Lone Star state just over 24 hours, and I've observed the following:
* 8 hours is a really long time in the car... turns out I'm not quite as good company as I thought
* I don't know if everything is bigger in Texas, but it's certainly hotter
* people from Texas are really, really proud to be from Texas.... there are stars everywhere
* hitting Dallas traffic at 5 p.m. is not a good idea, even with GPS
* boys, no matter the age, like to talk about sports and body secretions

I've seen Jen for about two hours of the 24 I've been here. She had to go in at 5 a.m. this morning and will be there until about noon tomorrow. Tonight she had to do CPR on a four-year-old who was hit by a car. He didn't make it. That kind of makes things at my job seem a little less important.

Our day started around 6:15, when Lon started getting the boys up to get ready for school. It was a battle of what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, fixing hair and brushing teeth. Brady and Avery start school at 7:40, so after dropping them off, Lon had a meeting at work, so Peyton and I hung out and watched cartoons and some unfortunate Wiggles wannabe that was really annoying. Oh, and the same episodes of SpongeBob over and over.

Peyt and I met Lonnie for lunch in Temple. While driving over there, Peyton was being really quiet, so I looked back to see what he was doing while we were stopped at a light. He appeared to be reading my "People" magazine. But upon closer inspection, I realized what he was actually doing was staring at the girls in bikinis on the "90210" ad.

Tonight we did the grand tour of Temple and Belton, including the high school football stadium here that's bigger than the one at my university. Guess everything is bigger in Texas.

Brady's birthday party

Yesterday was Brady's birthday party. The kids had a blast. Brady's really into anything Army right now.



Hope loved the pool, but wouldn't take off her life jacket.



Peyton hates it when I take his picture, but I caught him a couple of times yesterday.



Chance, Brady and Avery jumped off the diving board about 100 times.



Chance and Brady were born 7 weeks apart. They don't see each other often, but they are still great buds.



Brady even swims in his Army hat, including diving off the diving board.



This pretty much captures how Peyt felt at the end of the day... worn out.

Texas-bound boys

I've mentioned before that my two favorite cousins, Scott and Lonnie, married well above themselves. The beautiful and talented Shannon took some great pics of Jen's family this past weekend. Feel free to check them out. Huey, Dewie and Louie have never looked so handsome (or so well behaved)!

Graduation, v2.0

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've been working on a video project for a friend during every spare moment. Plus, I'm trying to catch up on some sleep. In the interim, enjoy some more pics from Jen's graduation.

Dr. Jen, Medicine Woman

Congratulations to the incomparable and amazing Jen, who received her hood tonight in preparation for medical school graduation tomorrow, which makes her irrevocably Dr. Jen from now 'til eternity. She even took the hypocritic oath, or whatever that's called. I was bored by that point.

The cookie cake; it looked better before a semi cut me off in Conway and it slid into the floor. That's why the "o" and "n" are missing. But it was still yummy!



For some reason, someone thought it would be smart to send three small boys and an 84-year-old with me by myself. In a parking garage. In downtown Little Rock. Yikes!



Jennifer being hooded. The red and white's for UofA. The green for medicine. The blurry photo is because I was too far away.



Jen with her most influential person. Really, she owes it all to me.



Dr. and Mr. Hester. Hahahaha.



The perfect pic of the whole family. Brady's wearing her cap, Peyton's pulling her honor cords, and Avery's actually being good.



More tomorrow; I've been up since 4:30 a.m. and am too tired to write any more.

Balancing act

Life, like an ecosystem, is a delicate balance. Too much of any one thing throws the whole thing off. It's a series of give and take, this and that, and trying to keep all your balls in the air. While riding a unicycle. On roller skates. In the rain.

{Disclaimer: I made a "C" in each of my two science classes in college, so I'm not quite sure about the ecosystem analogy. But I'm sure Jen can correct me if I'm wrong. Or Lon can get out his "Science for dummies" book he reads to prepare to teach Biology.}

Perhaps this is the reason I have a love/hate relationship with traveling for work. I love that we have offices near friends and family. I hate that many of my trips are so tightly scheduled that I feel like the Pope. It would be much easier if I had a personal assistant who could call everyone and make them grateful for 15 minutes of Lori time.

In a few moments I'm leaving for Little Rock. My plan is to have dinner tonight with Lon, Jen, Huey, Dewie and Louie; coffee after that with Joe; a lunch meeting tomorrow for work; dinner tomorrow night with Brent and Dave after a work meeting at 5 p.m.; lunch on Tuesday with Alisa, Shauna and Amy; a Tuesday afternoon visit with Ashley and the twins; stop by the Fort Smith office to check on things; dinner with my grandmother; and Chance's baseball game at 7:30. After that I'll come back home in time to unpack and fall into bed, exhausted. Oh, and somewhere in that time I need to figure out how to get some work done.

Anyone else want a piece of me?

P.S. Dad, lest you feel left out, remember that I'll be seeing you for hours next weekend. Aren't you lucky?

George Clooney and the Ducks

My friend Lindsay (who should be sainted, by the way) and I just got back from taking Huey, Dewie and Louie to the movies. We saw "Leatherheads," which was a decent flick (George Clooney and John Krasinski in tight pants... who's complaining?), but there wasn't enough football to keep the boys' attention for long.

Before leaving the hotel we caught the famous "duck walk" at the Peabody. Those ducks have more fans than most people.



Now I'm hanging out, watching OT of the national championship game and thinking I should be sleeping.

By the way... Peabody beds are NOT as great as promised, and definitely not worth $189 a night. But at least I can think about McDreamy tonight.