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.

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.

Texas + time change = tired girl

It's 7 p.m. and I'm going to bed. I am done. I am tired. I need sleep.

I don't know if it's the Temple partying, the excessive driving, or the 5 a.m. running, but I'm exhausted. And I need to reserve my energy for the prom this weekend. Bought my red hose today.

Everything's bigger in... well, you know

What a great weekend! Memaw and I got to Temple around 8 on Thursday night, and I arrived back in Siloam just after 6 last night. In four days we attended two parties, had one of our own, walked a 5K, attended a flag football game, witnessed a dance-off and multiple kid fits.

It's weird how, the closer you get to home, the more work and the daily grind begin to creep back into your life. Thankfully I get to go back to Texas in three weeks for Thanksgiving, and before that I go to Boston, an 80s prom, and have a Branson shopping trip with Alisa.

For now, please enjoy another entry in the Brady and Mini-Me dance-a-thon. And all the pics from this weekend are here, in case you don't have Facebook.



(This makes three family members dancing to this song. Memaw, you and Lon are next!)

World's most annoying song

The song of the weekend, the Ting Ting's "That's Not My Name." We've all been singing it since Friday night. Ugh.

That's what she said

What a fun weekend! Texas is always so much fun, but I dread the eight-hour drive home tomorrow. Luckily I'll be driving back in three weeks for Thanksgiving. And again a week later.

Jen and I had fun in Austin today at Race for the Cure. We had several folks ask to take a pic of us. I think it's because we are so pretty, but it could have had something to do with our shirts.





Memaw and I are departing about 7:30 in the morning. I'll update in more detail tomorrow night.

Kitchen sink? Perhaps.

I'm currently packing for Temple. I know I've got too much stuff, but I never know what we'll be doing, and since I'm not flying this time, I can take as much as I want. Except Memaw, the garage sale queen, called to ask if there'd be room for her to take a large duffel bag in which to carry back all of her treasures (read: cheap crap no one else wants). If my car smells like old socks on the way home, I will NOT be happy.

Evidently our Friday evening plans have been hijacked by another doctor party. I swear, Lon and I need to invest in some sort of doctor-to-English dictionary before we embark on yet another evening of medical jargon. Perhaps I can find someone to play doctor with me before the evening's over.

Big time in Little Rock

It was a great weekend in the capitol city. The hotel was first-class all the way, from the three valets who scampered to park my Toyota to the turndown service and chocolates on the pillow, the Capital Hotel exceeded even my bratty expectations. As I told Estella, I just felt fabulous walking through the front door.



The Race was great as usual (Little Rock has the best RFTC of all those I've done, except Jen's not there), and we finished a full 30 minutes under last year's time, which is miraculous considering how hard it is to walk while sandwiched among 50,000 other people.



Estella and I met Joe and Kevin for dinner at Ya Ya's on Friday night, which was yum yum, and we had a fabulous brunch of fried green tomatoes and lox and bagels on Saturday before my return to NWA.

This morning I left off the deodorant and perfume in preparation for my annual boob smashing extravaganza, but they called me when I pulled in the parking lot to tell me the machine was broken, so I get to skip smelling nice on Wednesday now too. I didn't have time to do yoga with Pam today, but I did do six miles on the treadmill to make up for the excessive calorie consumption of the weekend.

In a mere 10 days I get to go to Temple. Wahoo! Can't wait.

Oh, and Taylor texted me today to ask if he could borrow a pageant dress for powder puff homecoming on Friday. Yes, I will be attending, and yes, there will be video. Especially of halftime, when they'll be performing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance. Heh.

Dancing with myself

It always astounds me that there are people in this world willing to go out dancing alone. Sure, as a professional who travels, I've forced myself to get a table for one at restaurants. I'll sit in a coffee shop alone and drink a latte. I'll even see a movie by myself. I don't normally feel the need to have others to keep me company in my activities.

But who are these people who boogie by themselves?

Oh sure, society encourages us to dance like no one is watching, but seldom do any of us actually do that. We dance like everyone's watching, and we only dance with the safety of our friends in tandem. Perhaps we need the camaraderie of awkward hip shakes. Or maybe we take comfort in knowing someone else knows the lyrics about apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur.

I guess alcohol is the ultimate weapon for letting down the guard, but I saw so many people this weekend who needed to have theirs lifted back up.

Like the chick at the piano bar in Austin, who valiantly tried to get others to dance with her for several hours. No one did. Not even her embarrassed husband. Or the other husband she tried to dance with, before his wife drug him away. Seriously, when the whole place is making fun of you, don't you give up?

Or the poor guy playing shuffleboard on Saturday, whose wife just left him after 15 years. How do I know that? He told Lonnie, me, Jen, Jen's classmates, the server, some chick walking by, and the one-man band (can't remember his name, but he has a page on MySpace, so I just called him "MySpace" for the rest of the night) who played the obscure country songs. Lonnie has his card. Perhaps they can hang out again soon.

Or the guy wearing the fancy white Hanes t-shirt late Saturday night, who danced to a beat no one else heard, all the while holding a cigarette in one hand and a beer bottle in the other. Song after song after song. After Jen and I openly mocked him.

I suppose you have to give props to someone with that much self-esteem. Or maybe just lack of self-awareness.

Nonetheless, here's to you, solitary dancer. Rock on.

Back in the Natural State

After nearly 10 hours in the car yesterday, I finally made it home and back to my own bed. It was so great to spend time with my family, but I'm happy to be home. I managed to drive over 900 miles with a mere warning ticket for speeding, so I'm thankful for that, especially since I couldn't manage to find my proof of insurance.

We had turkey, dressing and all the trimmings on Thursday in Temple. Unfortunately, Jen wasn't able to join us since she worked 7 a.m. 'til 7 a.m., but Lon and I did take her a take-out box and watched part of the Cowboys game with her and her cowboy-boot-wearing doctor friend. Oh, and I saw a 900-pound woman. Made me wish I'd eaten less pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

Brady spent Wednesday night in the hotel with Granny and me, with Peyton taking his turn on Thursday. I was shocked, but Peyt made it the entire night with no tears and no requests to go home.

I've spent most of the day in bed, sleeping in and then taking a nap. Dinner's in the crock pot, but with the house cleaned and the halls decked, all there really is to do is laundry. And rest.

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...

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.

Adventures in leadership

Have you ever been bone-crushing, wearing tired? There's that feeling, and then there's that feeling plus two days of physical and mental exertion on the "adventure learning course" and late nights of watching the Olympics and visiting with people you just met who feel like friends you've known forever. I am exhausted.

On Thursday and Friday I had Leadership Benton County retreat, which I totally had a bad attitude about, and I loved. We spent the mornings getting to know more about ourselves and each other and the afternoons sweating at Base Camp. I was lucky enough to discover that there were plenty of climbers (those crazy enough to climb straight up 25 feet on a ladder, then strap themselves to someone else do go down the zip line, aiming for a tarp while dropping a small cushioned brain... long story), so I got to stay on the ground and attempt to catch the brains, which was much harder than it sounds. But just as weird.

Our last challenge was to balance on a large platform that had some sort of teeter-totter function. Imagine 38 adults who've known each other for 36 hours and have been sweating like fiends bunching up on a big platform all the while keeping it from getting unbalanced. Oh, and someone started singing "Rock the Boat." It could have been me. Then, after talking about our feelings and what we've learned, I booked it home to shower, put on makeup, and change for dinner on Beaver Lake. And since I was not counting on needing to shower nor getting lost in my time plan, I was a few minutes late.

The lake house used to be privately owned, but is now owned by a foundation that uses it for leadership retreats. It's gorgeous, with a beautiful, relaxing view of Beaver Lake outside of the dining room windows. We got a tour of the house, including the bomb shelter and extensive tunnel system underneath. Evidently the man who built it was a bit paranoid. How sad to live in such a beautiful place and not be able to enjoy it.

On the way home I talked to Hope on the phone, who was at Dad's watching a movie. She wouldn't say her ABC's for me, but she was trying to count to 100 very slowly. When my dad told her she skipped 15, she yelled, "Grandpa, I'm talking to Arney!" I laughed and said, "Sister, you did miss 15." She then said, "Well, Grandpa messed me up." Hmmm.. only four and already with the excuses. I was kind of glad she messed up, since the rate she was going we'd only be to 80 or so by now.

So I had a great, if tiring, couple of days. I spent yesterday napping and noshing on the Krispy Kreme donuts I bought because the hot light was on when I drove by Friday night. Now I'm watching the men win basketball gold at the Olympics and getting ready for church. But I'm sure there's another nap in my future.

Tomorrow I'm heading up one of the Day of Caring events in town. It involves manual labor. I haven't exercised in nearly two months, but I choose to get over that in a mere five days. Thankfully I have another massage scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Four more days, then I'll be on my way to Temple. The Texas kind, not the Jewish kind. :)