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.

NYE, Texas style

Jen and Lon had a great party to ring in the new year last night. I've been accused of crashing all of the S&W radiology parties, but honestly, I don't drive down when there's a party, there's just always a party when I'm here. That's totally different!

We had good food, good times, and a little too much champagne. Now we're being lazy watching football.

I crashed about 11:30 last night after cooking all day, but Lon and Jen made me wake up to toast 2010 and we stayed up 'til about 2:30.

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope the new decade is great for you. My resolution: to stop waiting for the ideal and to start enjoying the interim more. I'm so thought-provoking.

Rest of the NYE pics are here, if you don't have Facebook.

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.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I'm not quite sure why I bother to update this thing anymore, sporadic though it may be. According to my trusty web stats, I have fewer readers than ever. I've always known my life was dull, but evidently others are starting to figure it out as well.

My holiday plans have been hijacked by the possibility of winter weather. I mean, I'm all about a white Christmas, but can't it just be pretty on the trees and grass and leave the roads alone? I totally wanted tomorrow to just veg and finish last-minute tasks. Tonight I went to four stores in search of canned pumpkin so that I could make a cheesecake for Friday. I just hope it turns out okay after all of that schlepping around and heavy-duty mixing.

So, to the three of you who still read this thing, I am announcing a possible hiatus. Tomorrow afternoon/early evening I'll be headed south (so Memaw, if you're reading this, keep the couch warm for me), then Friday includes spending the morning with the kids and Vickie and then heading back to Memaw's for the traditional Hester Christmas fish fry. Saturday plans are still tentative, but Sunday I'm headed back to Texas, so I'll be out of pocket until the first of the year.

Hmmm... if I'm out of town for 10 days, are 37 outfits enough to pack? I'm sure I'll be throwing stuff in the car at the last minute since I'm headed out earlier than planned.

Just in case: Merry Christmas, everyone! Fleas on your dog. I leave you with a pic of Hope and me, at the Plunkett festivities last night.

Turkey Day

Eck and I have been in Texas for two days, most of which have been spent in the kitchen. Jen, Memaw and I cooked for hours to prepare our Thanksgiving feast (turkey, roast, mashed potatoes, wild rice casserole, sweet potato casserole, dressing, green bean casserole, homemade mac and cheese, hot rolls, cheesecake, chocolate sin, and pumpkin pie) and when everyone ate lunch and then dinner, we still haven't made a dent in it. I spent most of my life with no clue how much work and time goes into preparation for such a meal, so to all of those who slaved away and didn't feel the love, let me say, thanks for your work on Thanksgiving dinner!

Tomorrow I have big plans of napping (got four hours' sleep last night) and maybe exercising a bit, then we're headed home on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing my brother and his family on the way home.

Weekend recap

I don't have time for witty prose, but I did want to report that Alisa and I had a fabulous time in Branson this weekend. I ate too much and spent too much, but it was fun to spend time with her. We don't get to hang out, just the two of us, very often these days.

Now I'm doing laundry, baking cookies, making a grocery shopping list, and packing for Texas.

I'm also hurting from running yesterday. Granted, I walked more than I ran, and I totally skipped out on the last mile (hey, the course goes by my house, I get lazy), but I feel very old and achy. There's some serious Aleve p.m. in my future.

Hooray for vacation!

Norm!

I fell in love with Boston when I was here last October. Today, the magic continues.

I think I missed the best of the fall color this year by a couple of weeks, but it was gorgeous today. I ventured out of the hotel and about a block away to Boston Common, where I walked for blocks down Commonwealth and viewed the city's forefathers. I also saw much of Beacon Street and made my way past Cheers.



Since I left my camera charger in Texas (along with a t-shirt, my laptop and--strangely--my black bra), my battery died about halfway through my self-guided tour. I finally found my way to the mall, where I purchased a new charger and nursed my blisters over a yummy late lunch of lobster bisque and a crab, shrimp and lobster sandwich at Legal Sea Foods.



My pal Alisa texted me this afternoon to tell me that my prom outfit was scary and that I'm a dork for taking pics of my food. I have one word for her: touche.

Boston is just as fabulously wonderful as it was before. I'm so in love with this city! It's just gorgeous and full of history. Tomorrow includes another sojourn during my lunch break, hopefully this time with a fully-charged battery and more comfortable shoes.



Rest of the pics are here. More to be added, I'm sure!

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!)

Rain, rain go away

Lots going on, but nothing exciting. Except BON JOVI IS COMING TO TULSA IN APRIL. Woo-hoo!

Oh, and I go to Texas in less than a week. Yay!

Yesterday I did manage to get the LB scoop. I'm sure I'll share it at some point, but right now I'm pretending not to care. And Jennifer is working on a distraction for me, I hope. :)

God bless Texas

I'll write more details tomorrow, but suffice it to say that I had a really, really fun weekend. The best in a long time. We stayed out 'til 3 a.m. on Friday and 2:30 a.m. last night, so I'm tired and need to rest up for work. Here are some pics to hold you over until I can write all about our awesome weekend in Texas.

Jen and me on 6th Street in Austin



Lonnie and Jen at Pete's, a dueling piano bar



Jen and I had a great time.. Lonnie even had fun

It's finally Friday

Man, it's been a very long day. And a stressful one. But thankfully I drowned my sorrows in some Chinese food and the 20% off sale at Express. I might have purchased yet another pair of jeans. It's a sickness, really. But it's been years since I've found jeans that actually fit and don't create a muffin top. I now enjoy looking in the three-way mirror a little bit too much.

My self-esteem was too high when I was fat. I'm really full of myself these days.

Sure, I have to go through the entire stack of jeans at Express to get to larger sizes (who's a 0 long, anyway? Giselle doesn't live in Fayetteville), but at least I can finally shop there.

Jennifer is evidently dragging me to some new intern extravaganza at the hospital next weekend, so I'll do my best to land a cute doctor (not one who excessively text messages). She has assured me that I need to wear really tight jeans. I'm not sure if that's sage advice or merely sabotage. I am sure that it will be 900 degrees in central Texas next weekend, so at least my hair will frizz and be higher than usual. 'Cause in Texas, the higher the hair, the closer to God, right?

Speaking of closer to God, my plane lands at DFW, so I'm kind of pumped about seeing the new Cowboys stadium. I think it's out of my way, but I am very curious to see what $900 million buys these days.

Tomorrow I have big plans of sleeping in, yoga, napping, church, then dinner and a movie with my friend Lori (I'm not speaking in third person; I actually have a friend named Lori who is tall, sarcastic, single, and supremely cool.. sound familiar?). This is my last free weekend for awhile, so I'm trying to bank some sleep time. Of course, I do plan to nap all day at Lonnie and Jen's on Friday while they go to work like chumps. I'll need to recover from my 47-minute flight.

Hope everyone had a fabulous week!

Postcards from the edge, part deux

Chick from the tanning place,
Thanks for putting down your nail polish long enough to do your job. And yes, I'd like for you to clean the bed before I get in it, and so would the health department. Oh, and by the way, I don't speak French, but I'm pretty confident that the "x" in St Croix is silent.
Lori
-------------------------
Dear LRIB,
Woo-hoo! Thanks for the charming e-mail. And yes, I'll be your Facebook friend, or whatever else you'd like. I even might learn to like the outdoors for you. Few other men could convince me to stand in a circle and remain silent while others assemble plungers and green balls. But it totally made sense at the time.
Lori
-------------------------
Mother Nature,
I'm all for seasons, but really... does it have to be this friggin' hot? I'm melting. I did NOT buy $30 makeup so that it could drip off my face onto my $400 handbag. If I wanted this much humidity I'd move to Texas.
xo,
Lori
-------------------------
Dr. Love,
Thanks for the very nice lunch at the very nice restaurant. If you were trying to impress me, you performed admirably. Wish I could have stopped thinking about LB while I was eating my expensive crab cakes. And ordering the dessert for me and telling me I needed to eat something? Bold move, but my thighs disagree. Still very, very sweet.
Lori
-------------------------
Lawyer boy,
I suppose I was naive to think that, even though I invested nearly a year in our relationship, I could get over it in a matter of days. It sucks how much I miss you. It sucks even more that you haven't called. Obviously I overestimated how you feel about me, and underestimated how I feel about you. And you wonder why I have trust issues? I hope you're happy. No, that's not true. I hope you're as miserable as I am.
Sad girl

Tuesday update

Ooh, bad, bad day at work. But I've since walked four miles AND done yoga. So now I'm zen and sweaty and ready for bed (after a shower).

Two days 'til Texas!

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...

Oh, Christmas tree

The halls are all decked. The house is all clean. Even my garage is clean, as are all of my closets. It's been a productive if not restful first day of vacation.

I did a new color scheme on the tree this year, red and gold. It's been gold and silver for three or four years and I was ready for a change. Please ignore that I need window treatments. I mounted my iPod kitchen station this morning, so I suppose I'm officially staying. It's been in the box for 10 months.

In 15 hours, I'll be headed south to Texas.

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

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.

Oil change, attitude change

Today was a rare day. I had a brunch meeting in Rogers, got my car serviced in less than 30 minutes, and renewed my car tags in less than 5 minutes. If it hadn't been for my 4 p.m. meeting, it would have been the perfect work day.

I'm leaving tomorrow at noon for Texas. After three meetings of course.

Oh, and that crush? Things are looking up.

I am in such a good mood.