Apparently My Profile Picture Sucks

And thank goodness for that! We were hanging out in the concession stand Saturday night, working a very slow playoff game, and I’m not sure exactly how it happened, all I know is all of the sudden one of the teenagers was going through my photos to pick a new profile picture.  Because mine wasn’t very flattering.

So I’m looking around at everyone – what do you mean? I love that picture! It’s an awesome picture!!

And I got “you know, kudos to you for using natural light.”

All I know is that more people should speak up when a profile picture isn’t good!

But, do it in a nice way! And that teenager really was so sweet!  Later that night I tagged her on Instagram and asked if the one I picked was better – she agreed, so whew, I have a replacement! I’ve been trying to figure out where all I have the old picture so I can replace it! 🙂

Okay, I have two replacements.  I’m pretty much afraid to make any decisions on my own at this point!

Oh! You want to know what is not my profile picture? 

That is me at the start line of my very first 5k run!  It was a last minute decision… like 3 days before the race I decided to do it!  I’ve never run that far before, it is 3.1 miles and I run about 2.7 most mornings.  I had no clue what I was doing.  At all.

And, I am so shy that I was in line and these two girls were talking and included me in the conversation, and I ended up scooting a bit out of it, cause nerves and insecurity!

At the end of their conversation, they introduced themselves.  To each other!  They didn’t know each other, they were just there in a shared experience!

AGH! I have got to learn how to do that!!

But that’s not the point!  Spoiler alert, I lived to tell about my race!

I finished!

Not only that, I finished in the top 5 of my group!  I was pretty darn proud of myself and now I think I’ll have to do another one!

Of course, if you follow any runners at all, it’s all about the meals.  The meals leading up to the race, and naturally the post race meal.  And boy was I thinking about a post race meal!

And then I remembered that I didn’t run but less than 1/2 a mile more than usual – LOL, it’s not like I burned an extra 1,000 calories that day!

So, I compromised.

Cowboys vs Broncos OR How I Lost My Voice

This weekend was one of my best!  It definitely goes in the memory jar!

Saturday Mr. T and I did the yard work and ran some errands and Mr. T goes “I’ve had fun spending the day with you.”  Wow, talk about my heart overflowing!  Later in the evening we spent some time with the rest of the family.  Sunday we got up and my sister and her four kids joined us at church.  Mr. T and I had lunch and then the fun began!!

BA picked me up at 2 and we headed to the stadium for the Cowboy v Bronco game!!

Traffic was horrible!  The game had to be sold out based on the traffic we were wading through, and then when we finally got to our parking area – it was full! They had overbooked.  We managed to make up our own parking space and headed up to the suite.

BA and I waiting for the elevator. Yes, my hair is purple.

I got there just in time to see the Cowboys score!  BA and I got our seats and a few plays later he grabbed us some drinks and I fixed us a plate to share.  The food at the stadium is so much better than you would expect!  I love the macaroni and cheese… it would cost me a fortune to try and make it at home, so I make sure to get my fill when I’m there!

Real view from our seats.

See this head in the ball cap, it becomes important later on! This is your teaser!

Can you see how big that screen is?!? I know that I comment about it every time I write this post, but still! It’s huge!

We were behind in the 2nd quarter, and it was tough.  It was so cool to watch Peyton Manning play, though, not going to lie, I was really excited about this game just so I could see his performance.  And he didn’t disappoint – did you see that Quarterback sneak?!?  No one was expecting that!!

At half time, BA and I did go move his truck to a real spot.  We figured at least one person would leave, and they did!

World Famous Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders doing their annual half-time “pink” performance in honor of breast cancer awareness month.

Had to get a close up, as requested by Mr. T!

We were into the 3rd quarter and I couldn’t wait anymore.  Remember that baseball capped gentleman from earlier in the blog?  Well, that was Stoney LaRue.

If you live outside Texas, you probably have never heard of him – and well, based on my Facebook comments, there are plenty of people here who haven’t heard of him.  He is one of the best voices in Texas County.  I’ve been in love with his music for years, and it was all I could do not to totally fan girl, but I calmly got up when he got up to refill his plate and drink and told him that I apologize, and don’t want to disrupt him watching the game, but could I please get a pick?  He was so flippin’ awesome!  I had talked to his wife earlier, we bonded over the buffet selections (and by the way, she is gorgeous!) and she was super sweet – but he blew me away.  Such a gentleman!!

Forgive my goofy smile, but really, it was all I could do not to jump up and down and hug all over him!

My throat is a little sore today, and I do have a voice, but it is a bit scratchy! But it was a great game and there is nothing like watching it with others that jump up and down and scream with you!  And I was up and down and yelling and high fiving everyone in the booth… until the very end.  We may have caused Peyton’s very first interception of the year; however, the one that Romo threw just broke my heart.

Sometimes the loss is so much more painful after a great game! Both the Cowboys and the Broncos played a great game, it was so exciting and I am so blessed that I was able to be there to watch it in person – but oh my goodness… my Cowboys are just heart breakers!!

Are You Ready For Some Football?!?

I know I am and based on some of the posts I’ve read by a few of you – you are ready, too!

We had our first regular season games this week, and boy were they exciting! I did watch the Redskins/Eagles game Monday night so that I could see how our division was playing… and well… I’m not sure if the Redskins just really suck or if the Eagles are that good!  I know that the new offense seems to be working for the Eagles… which I’m not happy about!  The nice thing is that several of my fellow bloggers are just as passionate about their teams as I am mine – so this will be a fun season and I predict that trash talk will abound! (Yes, I’m talking to you Surviving the Madhouse and Me, Myself and Kids!)

Now, onto the team that really matters!

Our game against the Giants was interesting.  My favorite part had to be when the announcers were talking about how the negotiations with the players union resulted in fewer practices, and obviously the fact that there are fewer practices are why both teams suck tonight.  (I might have paraphrased that a bit.)

I will say that, as always, our defense looked GREAT!  We have some great veteran players and a few rookies that are showing some potential.  There was one point where a botched play on offense took us off the field in a highly emotionally charged state and a few minutes later, Romo had cooled down and gone over to talk to the player that goofed and gave him encouragement.  That’s not an action we’ve seen him do very much, and is a sign of a great leader – so maybe he’s finally coming into his own.  (At least, that is my very dear hope!)

As great as our defense looked, that is not what my friends and I text about most when watching the game.  The most common phrase used when we are going back and forth is: “Don’t tell me! I’m still behind!”

I’m not the only one that gets behind during the game!  I did have to laugh that the phrase came up in two separate text messages!

For all you ladies that love football as much as I do!

And, for all of us Cowboys Fans that know exactly how this feels:

I Pulled a Muscle in my Bum

It’s been a super busy and fun weekend.

Honestly, I have no clue what I did Friday night – I’d like to say it’s because I was partying so hard I have no memory – but alas, the reality is that my memory has never been good and is getting worse.  I think we just hung out at home.  Yeah, let’s just say we hung out at home!

Saturday I got up and enjoyed a cup of coffee whilst watching the Pioneer Woman and then got Mr. T up so he could shower.  Papa came and picked him up and they went to repair the fence.  Apparently Cassius (Lee’s boxer) has been jumping the half fence and landing 5′ below in the easement and then visiting the neighbors yard. The neighbors weren’t all that happy to have him visit.  Maybe he has bad breath.   While they were gone I cranked the tunes and got the house clean!  It felt great!

Dad and Mr. T worked until 3:00 pm and dad dropped him back off so he could shower and we went bowling! It was so awesome!  There were 9 of us total, and the guy behind the counter was super cool and worked with me and told me which package was most fiscally responsible and he goes “It comes with ‘six’ shoe rentals, if you get my meaning” (Dude, you are going to save me money with a party package and give us all the extra shoe rentals we need at no extra charge – yeah, I hear ya!!)

My lovely bowling shoes! And now that I think about it – I don’t remember taking my socks back out of my purse… they may still be in there… huh.

It was so much fun!  I’m a crappy bowler, but I don’t let it stop me! Also, I bowl overhand.  I wasn’t aware that this was odd until this event!  I tried to bowl “properly” and go underhand a couple of times, but it wasn’t comfortable.  Oh, and there was the time I almost fell but didn’t!!  I was so proud of myself for not falling – cause hey – it’s me, a klutz,

and a slipper floor – it’s guaranteed I will wipe out at least once.  But I didn’t fall!!

Of course – the effort it took not to fall – well, I pulled a muscle in my bum, my derriere, my gluteus maximus.  No joke.  I pulled a muscle in my butt.  Fortunately, it only really bothers me getting in and out of the car, or sitting down.  Or anytime my butt is needed in an activity.

Mr. T was the big winner! He left the rest of us in the dust!

Me and My Amy

Check out that form!

I know you’ve seen this one, but it’s a great shot of me and the BD boy!

Part of our group.

It was fun, though, and we all went out to dinner afterwards at a cute little Mexican Restaurant – and they had the jumbo Cowboy football schedules, so score! I got one for my fridge.

(Hey Holly – it has the Redskins on the opposite side! I’d send you a pick, but the Redskins suck!)

(Oh, hey – MMK – the Eagles suck too, just making sure that you knew that!)

Man, I love football!

Anyway… Sunday we got up and headed for church, and as soon as I pulled into the parking lot I remembered – they weren’t having classes today, they were having some type of potluck thingy, and I didn’t have a dish.  Sigh.  We turned around.  (Yes, I’m sure I could have stayed, but I don’t like to partake if I don’t participate.)

So, we drove back home – with a quick detour at Denny’s!  The plus side was that Mr. T and I got to enjoy a lovely breakfast together.  It rocked!

Yummy!

Even more yummy!!!!

Then we headed home to change clothes and over to Grammy and Papa’s house.  Mr. T and Papa had to finish fixing the fence and mom wanted my help rearranging the furniture in their bedroom.  This sounds easy, right?

Wrong.  Their furniture is heavy.  I’m not talking about challenging to move, I’m talking about the fact that their bed is so heavy that I almost had to go get a jack out of the garage just to lift the bed long enough to get the sliders underneath!!  Fortunately, mom and I are stronger than we look.  It took a couple of hours and enough sweat to fill the swimming pool, but we got it accomplished!

Quick break for lunch and checked the progress of Papa and Mr. T and they were close… so I went out and helped.  Now, I have been welding a hammer since I was little and it was embarrassing. I messed up in four different places… Ugh.  Oh well, I was too worn out to do more than just grab another nail! Then we were able to put up some chicken wire and voila! Cassius should not be able to escape!

Please, cross your fingers he doesn’t escape.

Mr. T and I made it home and I saw him sit on the couch and I was like “get your butt off my couch!! Go shower!!”  He giggled and goes “Look at my ankles.”  “Oh my goodness!! Get off my couch!! You have a dirt line that is five shades darker than your skin – GET OFF MY COUCH!!!”

In an effort to put a good spin on things, during the drive home I told Mr. T “It’s a good kinda sore, it’s a sore than comes from having fun and working hard!  Shows we really participated this weekend!”

Yup, that totally happened, I tried to convince myself and T that these sore muscles were a good thing!  I think he was too tired to call my bluff!

Oh – he walked through the room so I asked him what we did on Friday night:

We rented GI Joe 2 and had an at home movie night!

Steve

I have two names.  Well, technically, I’m sure I have more.  There are 3 names on my birth certificate – and a totally different one on my social security card.  If I ever have to get a passport, I may be in trouble there, but until it presents a problem, I have no desire to fix it.  (Okay, I’ll tell you, I know you are dying to know.  My dad told my mom that she could name me anything she wanted, but he got to pick my nickname.  My mom gave me a great name and my middle name is my Grandmother’s.  So, my formal name is on my birth certificate; however, when dad got social security cards for all of us, he filled mine out with my nickname instead of my full name!)

Squirrel!!

If you’ve read anything on my blog, then I’m sure you know that I’m a single parent.  The bio father isn’t involved at all, but when I’m lucky, I do get child support.  That’s another long, and at this point, boring story.

I’ve read several blogs lately that deal directly and indirectly with this subject.  One was about how any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.  I truly believe this. (Check out Smirking Cat: http://smirkingcat.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/a-real-father/)  Yesterday I read a blog that listed 10 reasons why being a single parent rocks.  I cracked up; it was all so very true!  There are so many very reasons why this is a blessing and it’s easy to overlook that fact when mired in the day to day life.  (Check out Prego and The Loon: http://pregoandtheloon.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/ten-reasons-single-mommyhood-rocks/) Nothing against those of you that have a more traditional life as I totally respect that.  My parents have been married to each other, and only each other, for 40 years now.  That is just not the path that I have, my journey is different.

I am very fortunate that my son has wonderful men in his life.  My father and my brother have always been there for him.  More than a few years ago, I signed up for the Big Brother Big Sister program – and after a few years on the waiting list, we were paired with Rowland, who was amazing.  Sadly, in less than a year he had to move back to New Jersey to help his parents.  He still stays in touch, and he has been a great resource for Mr. T.  I also have a great friend, BA, who I had lunch with yesterday, and as we were leaving, he said that it had been awhile, so he’d swing by to hang out and see Mr. T.  He’s been a good resource, too.  Mr. T will text him and even invited BA and his daughter to his last birthday party. Mr. T’s babysitter for years and years is now as close as family, and she and her husband are a second home for Mr. T.  It’s just a given that he will spend Spring Break with them and spend several weeks during the summer with them.  He is former military and a strong, calm presence.  So, I am very blessed to have wonderful people in my life to help and be there for my son.

Some days I do feel that he is missing something.  The fact that I would get out in the yard to hit the ball with him, or toss a football, didn’t always seem to be enough.  Until the day that Mr. T gave me a new name.  He called me Steve.  I died laughing and asked what on earth was he talking about?? He goes “you are both my mom and dad, so I figured you needed a ‘dad’ name.”

My heart was overflowing.  I have a dad name.  And I answer to it, too.

I’m giving myself this award today, I’ve earned it!

Cowboys Won and other stuffs…

Yes!  The Cowboys won!  I was at the stadium to see it! As of the game Sunday night, we are technically back in the play-off hunt.  After the Redskins loss Monday night, technically we’re even better in the playoff hunt.  Yes, I keep saying technically, cause I have to add that disclaimer when I’m talking about my Boys… They’ve let me down so many times these past couple of years!  But, we beat the Eagles, so I’m happy.  BA and I had a blast, we were able to get to the stadium early enough to partake in some of the tailgating and then, since I’ve only ever walked in, turned left, gone up the elevator and entered the suite I made him walk through part of the stadium with me.  And, since I had such a blast, I will share some pictures with you!  (PS, I am not rich enough to afford suite tickets – or even just the parking pass that allows us to park just feet away from the doors, they are a gift from a client of mine.) (PPS, BA is my boy BFF, we aren’t dating, even though you’ll see him pop up here frequently cause he’s my buddy – we call it the Adventures of Kate and BA.  Okay, now you’re ready.)

Picture of me and BA at the game – I tried to get the stadium in the background, but it’s just too big!

View from our seats in the suite.

Caught a shot of Romo on the big screen!

I had to get some shots of the world famous Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders for Mr. T. He’s 14 after all, he’s way more interested in the cheerleaders than the game!

The players coming out on the field. Let the game begin!

I was also creative this weekend.  About 15 years ago I made a wreath for my mom’s office. She’s hung it up every Christmas since then – but this year she called and told me “the wreath needs to be refreshed”  LOL, that was her word “refreshed”.  One of the balls had fallen off, one was hanging by a strand – it was pretty darn scraggly!  So, I popped all the old balls off – only broke one in my hand and sustained a tiny cut, so I was proud of myself! Cause, if you haven’t figured out by now, I’m not the most graceful of people! I ran to Hobby Lobby and bought all new ornaments and such.  Then, I proceeded to call my other craft buddy Erica and while she was fixing the wreath she made last year for their door, I fixed the wreath for my mom.  We did crafts together over the phone… this is not the first time we’ve done crafts together on the phone!  She lives on one side of the metroplex and I live on the other – so it’s just over an hour drive for us to see each other.  Which, in the scheme of my world, isn’t that bad, but it’s still a long way!  And, I had to pick T up from school later than evening so I didn’t have time to make the drive.  But that’s okay, we talked and shared and laughed and then shared pictures of the finished project.  Now I’m going to share with you.  And, check out Erica’s blog Graced by Emilie, it’s fun to follow her life!

Awesome pick that I bought – kind of a sequined disco ball thing.

New balls and accessories to decorate the wreath.

Finished project!! Disclaimer: the sequined disco ball things look so much better in person!

Have a great week everyone! Sending good energy your way!!

Time Warp

Second week in a row that dad has given me the results of the game before I was done watching it!

I am very blessed that I have a DVR with my cable.  They don’t – and don’t tell mom – but I think she might get one from Santa this Christmas.  Dad called me on his way to my grandmothers house to see if I had finally finished watching the game… technically no, because channel 11 went out, it froze, and when I tried to jump channels and come back to it, the screen was black.  Apparently that was why he was headed over to Grammy Skeeter’s house, her channel 11 was black and she thought she messed something up – and having spent a lot of time in Denver, missing the Bronco’s game wasn’t an option.  🙂  Anyway, he told me how it ended – game winning FG in OT.  Yeah, that’s what I figured would happen, but at least it gave me the score to put on my board without having to look it up.

The point of the story, is that I love that my dad will text me instead of always calling.  Drives my mom nuts, but he has figured out that I’ll answer a text much faster than a phone call.  But, his ability to text me has given away the ending to the game the last two weeks!!  I guess the second point is that I need to stay closer to real time when watching my Boys play. We’ll be in the same room for the Thanksgiving game, so he can’t give away the results!

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only days away?   And I re-read my post 3 times checking for errors, having a school teacher follow your blog is a lot of pressure…

Cowboys vs. Eagles

I’m a Cowboy fan.  Have been since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  Of course, we moved away from Texas when I was in the 6th grade, so I was introduced to other teams, but at heart, I am and always will be a Cowboy fan.  Even though our offense this year has holes that the largest defensive linemen can find and drop our QB on his butt, our defense, as always is pretty spectacular and in the last game our special teams kicked some booty!! Our defense has been pretty good these past couple of years, D Ware anyone? 🙂 But, I digress.

Here is a picture of me and BA at the Cowboy’s vs. Giants game last year.  He’s my boy BFF.  And no one can ever tell him I posted this!!

I was given tickets to the suite and a parking pass from one of my favorite guys in the industry.  Needless to say, General Admission holds no appeal after having experiences the suite at Cowboy Stadium.

 

Here is a shot of the world famous DCC doing the kick line on the huge HD TV hanging over the field.  (These shots were taken on my phone… thus the poor quality!)

 

Here is the view of the field and the TV from my seat.  It was an amazing experience.  And at the end of the game, I was told to pick a game for this season that I wanted to see and they’d get me passes again.  Rock On!!

Now you have the background: Huge Cowboy fan, check; Adventure with BA, check.  The game we picked is the Cowboy’s vs. the Eagles game.  I prefer divisional games, and it fit well with our schedule.

That is until today!! Today I got the theatre performance schedule for Mr. T (second performance this school year, doing The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – and as I haven’t seen any of the movies or read the book in years, I’m excited, but again, I digress). Not only does he perform Friday night, and have 3 performances on Saturday, he has 3 performances on Sunday! Sunday is a day of rest, Sunday is the Lord’s Day, either way, I’m not happy about school functions on a Sunday.  I’m even less thrilled that it conflicts with me going to the game.

So, I called my dad.  I hate calling my parents to ask a favor, but they are only 10 minutes away, and if you’ve read a previous post, you’ll understand that I’ve frequently dropped everything to help them out, so I don’t feel as though I’m taking advantage of them!  Dad, can you and mom go see the last performance and then take Mr. T home afterwards? I’ll be at the stadium.  Naturally, he doesn’t mind.  Helping out others must run in the family.

An hour and ten minutes later I had to go “dad, mom’s beeping in, I gotta go.”  An hour and 10 minutes, with my dad, listening to him discussing politics.  I would have to believe that the CIA could classify this as torture and he could coerce the most hardened criminal to give up information.

A little bit later, I got a text from my brother “what did you say to dad? His politics and crap are fired up like crazy… he’s gonna drive mom up a wall” whoa… what? Don’t pin this on me!! “I didn’t say anything!! I listened to him very politely for an hour!!” To which my brother responded “I need to move back out”  LOL.  (Side note, my brother is 27 and has congestive heart failure, and had to move back in with mom and dad, as he can’t be on his own while they try and get him on meds.  There are lots of big words and terminology that I could throw out there, but trust me, it’s best for him right now.)

So, now you know, my dad should be used to torture terrorists, but he’s a great guy and he’ll pick Mr. T up from his last performance so I can still go to the game.  Yup, my priorities are straight!