Save the Excuses and Look up Dog Videos

So, remember My Ex, who wanted to mend our relationship?

I was open to it and worked hard to remain open, because really, all I wanted to do was slam that door shut.  Lock it.  Throw away the key.  Add a chain.  Lock it.  Throw away that key.  Then put up bricks.

But, instead, I left the door open.

He set up a time to call me.

And didn’t call.

A few days later we connected.  Blah, blah, blah.  The discussion was had about how no one has time for anything anymore.  If it’s a priority, you make time for it.  I made it clear, I will never hold it against him if he misses a call, as it shows me where on his priority list I am.  It shows me how important this is to him… or not.

So, then he sets up a time for a second call.

And maybe a 3rd call is set up.

After a certain point I’m all:

Now, blog friends, let me fill you in on a secret.

I was really rooting for My Ex.  I really, really wanted him to follow through.  I know that in the past I have provided many opportunities for him, I’ve opened the door and he hasn’t been able to step through.

But…

I really, really hoped this time would be different. As hard is was for me because I wanted to board the door shut,  I was championing his cause to my friends – I knew he could do it! He seemed really sincere and like he really wanted it!  I wanted it for him!  I can’t tell you how badly I wanted him to be able to make this work.  Not for me, but for him.  I felt he really needed this and it would be good for him.

In the end, I had to give up.  The second time it went 2 weeks past the time he set up to call, and he hadn’t, well, I can only hold my pom-poms so long.

He showed that mending the relationship was not a priority for him.  He showed it every time he didn’t follow through.  Every missed phone call and every unanswered text. No response is a BIG response in my book.

It is what it is – but I wanted to provide closure for y’all! Sometimes your phone will betray you and FaceTime your Ex and it will lead you on a grand adventure full of intrigue, mystery and suspense!  But, most days you’ll just use it to look up dog videos!

 

The Day I Said a Bad Word

There are two things y’all need to know about me.

First, I don’t use much bad language.  I’ve seen all the meme’s:

But I’m from the school of thought that is more:

(and the “-Me” credited in that quote is not Me, I found that on the internet and couldn’t track it back to the original source!  If you said this, let me know!)

And the second thing you need to know about me is:

Yes, I’m that person!

Now that you know these two things… let me tell you how they relate.  And if foul language offends you, well, you shouldn’t have clicked on this blog when it is clearly about a day I said a bad word!

So…

The other day I got a text from my buddy, Bert.

So, that happened. My phone betrayed me.  It accidentally Face Time’d my Ex.

And I said a really bad word!!

And while I’m saying all the bad words in my head, I am sending my Ex a text and literally it says

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you, I was asking Siri to beatbox for me!”

Because that doesn’t sound fake AT ALL!!! 

But, he called, and I answered, and I kid you not, told me all about his day – like it hadn’t been years since we had talked!  Like it hadn’t been years since we had talked and he had said he was going to call.  And never did!

Okay, so this is my Ex from a long time ago, and while we weren’t together long, it was an intense relationship, and while I had the utmost respect for him, he and I both will admit that towards the end, well, we were young, tempers were strong.

For the most part, it’s been fine.  We work in the same industry but not in the same State (most of the time) and while we have run into each other at functions, it is rare.

And let me tell you, I swear I could be a secret agent, I am awesome at ducking and eluding capture!!

At least, I am, until my phone decides to betray me!!!! 

Back to the story.  My phone betrayed me.  I talked to my Ex.

For like an hour.

He wants to mend our relationship.

Not get back together, I was able to determine that in that phone call, but just to mend our relationship.

I know that inside my head I was reacting like Dean Winchester – “no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no no.  No, no. No”

What came out was “Sure, uh, let me process all this, but I can be open to it”

So that just happened.  And so far I’ve been really grown up about it.  A few friends that I’ve talked to have commented at how grown up I’ve been and how I’ve been handling it so very well, really mature about the whole thing actually.

I changed the ring tone for my Ex to dogs barking… cause he could still be a dog!

But no one needs to know that!!! 🙂

 

 

 

The Golden Apple

Loved this blog by Spirit Lights the Way!  I have read a few of my blog friends who are reaching for their authentic selves and discovering some push-back, and this shows us all why it’s important to keep to our true path! Love the line about stop worrying about our reputation with acquaintances! If you don’t already follow her, go stop by and enjoy The Golden Apple today and take a moment to just be mindful of who, and where, you are!

Source: The Golden Apple

Vegas Baby!

I survived my 40th birthday party, and despite what the commercials tell you – what happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas, especially since I have a blog! And, I’m going to fit all of the adventures into one post – so it will be long – try to hang in there!

First off – my practice packing came in handy! I managed to pack for the entire trip and still had plenty of room left over!

 Thanks to all of you who provided packing tips and tricks – I’m really happy to now be the kind of person that can pack a bag and go!

 

We had a total of 10 people, most of which had never been to Vegas, so the goal was to make sure they had a trip full of memories while we celebrated my birthday!  I had a list of “If we do this, then these items are all around it”.  So, if we go to Caesar’s to see the Fall of Atlantis, we should walk over to the Bellagio to see the fountains.  Several items all grouped together to consolidate travel time! I knew that Karen really wanted to ride the coaster at New York New York, and there was a new Hershey World open for those that didn’t want to ride or spend the time gambling.  The goal was to eliminate any “What should we do?” questions and have plenty of options to throw out when the question did arise! I was prepared! Which, if you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, you’re probably not surprised by that fact!

The flight was uneventful – which is always a good thing! We landed and checked our bags with the bell man since it was too early to check into the hotel and then we headed across the street for a lunch buffet.  You have to be able to say that you had the buffet at Circus Circus – that’s just a must for any Vegas or Reno trip!

Best birthday present – free shuttle to and from the airport!

After checking into the hotel, we went to the Strip to catch the free show at Caesar’s, then we grabbed a bite to eat and walked over to The Bellagio.  We checked out The Conservatory, which was a beautiful display consisting of over 83,000 fresh flowers! It was amazing! I tried to get another group picture while there – and boy, did I get a couple of sour looks!  So, fine – don’t join in the group picture! That was the last time I asked for one!

Party Bus the bellman found to haul all 10 of us to The Strip!

Mom and Dad in front of the aquarium at Caesar’s.

Free show at Caesar’s – The Fall of Atlantis

That fire was hot!

 This is how you cross the street in Vegas… overhead walk-ways!

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Once it was dark, we headed out to catch the famous fountain show!  Two of the group decided to head over to Paris and go up to the observation deck to watch from above, since no one else was invited, I figured it had to be a little romantic get-away! 🙂 Nothing says romance like Paris!

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The next morning I was up and invited everyone to meet for breakfast, and half the group took me up on it.  It was so yummy! We took advantage of some of the coupons the hotel gave and ate at the pub – nothing is better than eating at local places!

Hello Wicked Vicky stack!

The half that didn’t join us went to Denny’s.  And I quote “It was a bit more expense, but tasted just as good as the one at home.”

Really? A restaurant that you can eat at all of the time, and has locations in every city and they all create food from the same menu tasted just like at home? Do tell!  I giggled over that the rest of the trip!

Even though half the group decided to eat breakfast separate from us, I did a group text and invited them to the next thing we were thinking about doing – and they said “No thanks, we are headed to a casino”.

That was the casino that I had mentioned that we should hit first, as there were several activities that we all could participate in, but um, okay – you guys just go ahead.

The rest of us were still talking and I sent another text asking if the others wanted to get together later, catch a show or something.

To which the response was “No, we are good – we will just catch up with you later.”

Okaaaaaay.  I’ll stop asking if you want to do things together – and per your request, I’ll just wait until you are ready to catch up with me.  It’s not like it’s my birthday party or anything!

Yes, my feelings were hurt a bit, but it was also embarrassing! Hard to explain to mom and dad that half the group went off and didn’t invite anyone else!  Then, I felt horrible when my parents thought it was their fault! They thought the others didn’t want to hang because of them! I reminded my parents that the parents of the others are with us frequently, so that can’t be the reason, and if that was the reason, then I didn’t want to play with them, either! A day and a half later I was told it was a misunderstanding and they didn’t mean to not invite the rest of us, they just thought I would want to keep to my schedule.

I could see that reason if they had invited others and not just me, but I wasn’t the only one they didn’t invite.  And, they stuck to my schedule, I didn’t!  My whole trip was very much go-with-the-flow and do-what-feels-good!  On the other hand, everything I thought would be perfect do to on Day 2 – they did! And pretty much in the order I suggested it!

Fortunately, it didn’t mar the mood – our group had so much fun the rest of the day!  Mom, dad, Kevin, Sandi and I went downtown and had so much fun exploring! And, Sandi and I crossed Zip Line off my bucket list!

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Slotzilla even wished me a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me! 🙂

Then we played around in the Fremont district, and thanks to Nancy at My Year(s) of Sweat, we had the best lunch ever!  Half the fun of going out-of-town is to eat local and she suggested a restaurant that was one of the best we all had ever eaten at! Afterwards we walked through Container Park, which was a park made out of old shipping containers! It was amazing!!  And yes, I played in the big tree house!

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I don’t know if I ever had a better day!  We went back to our hotel in the afternoon to rest and then play in the pool – and guys – I walked right past RJ Mitte!! I really wanted to stop and see if he’d take a picture of me, but I also wanted to give him his privacy.  In the end, giving him his privacy won out – but if I had seen him again, all privacy was going out the window!

Walt Jr. in Breaking Bad – RJ Mitte

My Tweet proving it was him! 🙂

Mom and dad took me to a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday, and then Dad, Kevin, Sandi and I went back down to Fremont to catch the light show… which was disappointing and exciting at the same time! I was expecting more of a lights and laser show – but it was actually a broadcast of a Bon Jovi concert!

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The next morning after a late breakfast, we were playing in the hotel and ran into some of the others that had declined to join us the day before, and well, they were just too tired and sore and worn out to do anything.  So, the same half of us loaded up and headed out! We hit the M&M store, Coke store, Hershey World, and probably half a dozen casinos to just wander around and check out.  It was pretty fun! And, yes, we played even more in the casinos! And, the beautiful fireplace shown… that was in a bathroom.  A bathroom!  I love the opulence of Vegas!

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Sigh, then it was time to head back. While we were waiting for my free shuttle birthday gift to show up, tons of people were headed to EDC, a techno rave that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts every year.  Apparently it had a unique dress code… And while I was trying to discretely take some pictures, the four almost naked girls caught me – and agreed to pose!

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Then we loaded up and headed back to the airport.  I fell asleep briefly on the plane, just long enough to snore for everyone! It felt good to get home and sleep in my own bed, but, it felt even better to make some great memories! I am so very fortunate to have wonderful friends and parents that make my life so rich and full! And, a great sister that house and pet sit for me and my parents! That took a lot of  stress off knowing that she was there watching over things!

I heard from Travis before we got on the plane.  He had spent the week at Mascot camp, and he did make it home safely.  A dozen different schools were at the college for camp, and he was the only boy! 🙂  He did win the “Most Spirited” award – one of the few individual awards presented at camp! That was greatness, and he said that he had a really good time, so that makes me one happy mom!

If you made it this far – thank you for sticking by me!  And I hope you enjoyed my recap of Vegas Baby!

So, Maybe I’m a Bit Sentimental

So, maybe I am a bit sentimental.  Or, maybe it’s just this time of the year.  I love the holidays, once we hit October 1st, I’m on a high the rest of the year (of course, some of that could be the candy and breads and other goodies!).

Halloween is super fun, Thanksgiving is a great time to renew my vow to live a life of gratitude, but Christmas, Christmas is all about the family life I’ve made.  Not just the nuclear and extended family, but my friends that have become family, too.

We put up our tree yesterday.  I know it seems early; however, Thanksgiving comes late and well, it’s a lot of work to put my tree up and I want to enjoy it as long as possible! I’m sitting here with a nice bowl of chili, watching the Cowboys and letting the glow of the lights on the tree take me away! (And, well, because doing three things isn’t enough, I’m writing this blog post, too!)

Tons of memories are made this time of year, and in our family, our traditions have traditions! Every year when we were growing up, mom and dad would let each of us kids pick out an ornament for the tree.  You could track our lives via the ornaments and year after year as we were putting our special ornaments on the tree, one of us would occasionally hold up an ornament and go “oh, I remember when…”

I’ve carried this tradition on with Mr. T, and yesterday was filled of moments “Oh, this was when you did this” or “I made this back when…”

Our tree is nestled in the corner of the living room, out of the way but still visible from every angle.

Here is the little stained glass church that was one of my childhood ornaments.  It is the first ornament to go on the tree, period.  Nothing goes on until I have placed this little guy.  I absolutely love this ornament.  I don’t remember when I got it, but it will always be my favorite!

Look! It has my name!  All the way back from 4th grade!! Which also gives away my approximate age for those of you good at math!

Merry Kissmas! I got this ornament when I was a teenager – and you know you’re as old as me if you recognize the character!

Here is a new ornament!  My friend Kari sent this to me all the way from Alaska!  It’s entirely too awesome for words!

I bought this for Mr. T’s first Christmas – isn’t it adorable? I did have a traditional baby’s first Christmas ornament that was a beautiful blue china rattle sent to me by my friend Melissa; however, one year we dropped it and no amount of glue was fixing that!

First off, yes, there are candy canes all over our tree.  I load the tree up with peppermint and mint chocolate candy canes.  Everyone has gotten used to this and almost everyone who visits automatically grabs one off the tree to enjoy – including me and Mr. T!

Nestled among the branches and candy canes is Elmo, the first ornament that Mr. T picked out all by himself.

Here we have a cloths pin reindeer that Mr. T made when he was little.

Even Spongebob and Patrick get in on the action.  And, to be clear – those are two separate ornaments, I realize now that it looks like they are attached, but they aren’t.  We also have Shaggy and Scooby doo and on the other side of the tree in a perpetual battle you will find Spiderman and Dr. Octopus.

Putting up the ornaments gives me time to reflect on years past, think about the upcoming year and to spend 30 minutes with Mr. T where all we have to do is enjoy each other and sing along with Christmas carols playing in the background.  We laugh and joke, reminisce and make plans and let the stress of the world melt away.

And then I put up another one of my ornaments… it pretty much speaks for itself!

On a slightly related note – I now have to go search for Supernatural ornaments – cause I think that I’d enjoying looking at this every year! Maybe when I write my letter to Santa I’ll ask if he can just wrap up Dean Winchester and leave him under my tree!

Blogging About Friends and Family

The other day I read this post “Should You Let the Cats Out of the Bag?”

I did giggle a bit as I read it because I related to several of the issues that come up when you blog about family and friends.

Do I use fake names? Check

Do I modify some of the details (that don’t impact the story)? Check

Do I ask if it’s okay if I tell the story? Check

I know my mom reads the blog, so trust me when I tell you that my blog is a constant stream of judgement calls.

So far, so good, right?

NOOOOO.  Guess who is the one person I never checked with to make sure they were okay with a starring role in my blog?  MR. T!!!

Yes, that’s right, I can feel the “Mother of the Year” award slowly tightening like a noose around my neck…

Last night after dinner I looked over at my beloved son, of whom I’ve shared so much and crossed my fingers!

Hey, does it bother you that I blog about you?

The quizzical look I received did not bode well.

Why do you ask?

Great, now I have to admit that it never dawned on me to see how he felt about having his life shared.  Wonderful.  Could it get any worse?  So, I told him that I’d read this blog about checking with family and friends, blah, blah, blah, and I figured I’d better check with him.

He just chuckled and smiled at me.

I guess I’m good.

Happy Birthday to my Brother

I’ve debated all morning long about writing this post.  There are several reasons not to:  I don’t want to upset my mom, I don’t know if I want to drag out my emotions and stomp all over them again and maybe others are tired of the subject matter.

So, mom, you probably should just stop now.  I’m not sure what I’m going to write, but if you must continue, probably should wait until you are off work.

These are my thoughts and emotions and I’ve shared everything else, I think that I want to share this with you, too.  And, if you are tired of the subject matter, I’ve decided that I’m actually okay with that!  It is okay if I write something that doesn’t connect with you because while I’d love to have a connection with every single person that reads this, it isn’t humanly possible.  Maybe I’ll connect with those that need to read this post today, and that is all that matters.

This morning in my prayers I said an extra one for my family today, and then I told my brother Happy Birthday and that I really missed him.  And I cried a little.  Lee would have been 29 today and after five months, it’s still hard that he is gone.  I deal really well with it on most days, most days I can see that I am getting stronger and able to handle his absence in my life, but I knew that today I wouldn’t be able to, that today I would struggle and today I will allow myself time to grieve.

It helps to have great family and friends in my life.  I’ve got a friend who is staying with me and willing to do anything, another friend that is coming over later to see me and another that told me if I needed, she would load up the kids and make the hour plus drive to be with me.  What blessings I have in my friends!  I am so very fortunate to have those around me that love and support me.

I’m very blessed, but they can’t fill the hole inside me.  They can comfort me when I cry, but they can’t stop the tears.  They can say the right thing and offer up the appropriate platitudes; however, the words aren’t a band-aid that immediately works on my heart.

Having said all of that – let me say this to anyone who has a friend that is grieving – don’t give up.  Keep showing your support, hold your friends when they can’t do anything but cry and keep talking.  While you can’t ease my pain, you make it tolerable.  You let me know that it is okay to have days where I struggle (and just as importantly it’s okay to have days when I don’t) and that there is no time limit on grief.  Whether it’s via text, phone, email or in person, the efforts that we all make towards each other shows our love.  The compassion and connection that we make with each other is what matters most in this life.  I probably won’t remember half of what you have told me, but I will remember the feelings you left me with.  I will remember that you were there when I needed you and in turn, I will be there for you.

And today I will allow myself to grieve just a bit that my brother isn’t here to celebrate his birthday and then I will celebrate that I had as many birthdays with him as I did.  I’ll play a little ZZ Top as he got me that CD for one of my birthdays and I will be okay.

(Image courtesy of liveluvcreate.com)

If you don’t know the story, click here to read Then He Kissed the Back of my Hand.

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:

A Single Step

Saturday marked the 4 month anniversary of when we lost my baby brother, Lee.  Nine months prior to that he had been diagnosed with viral congestive heart failure, and that diagnosis started me and my family on a journey.  It was a journey of knowledge, of discovery, and of love.  It was a journey that frequently left us with more questions than answers and with tears of joy, frustration and eventually, of loss.

There were days when things looked wonderful – when we knew that all was going to be okay – and then came the day when we realized that things would never be the same again.

One foot in front of the other and continue on with the journey.

An important reminder to enjoy the path.

This weekend I literally put one foot in front of the other as I continued on my journey.  My family participated in the American Heart Association’s Annual Heart Walk.  There was no greater way to physically represent this journey than to walk a mile on behalf of my brother.

Let me stop a moment and give a huge THANK YOU to those that contributed to my fund raising efforts.  There were times that I was stunned when I would get an email telling me who made a contribution.  I tried not to have any hopes or expectations, but I figured that a couple of my friends would break down; imagine my surprise when I had friends and family members that I did not expect stepping up to the plate.  I struggle to fund raise, always have, and this was not different.  My jaw dropped when I hit $100, my mind was blown when I hit $200 and I was near tears at the generosity of my friends and family when I hit $275!!  I have thanked each of you individually; however, I’m sure my words were inadequate. I can’t express to each of you how much I truly appreciated your generosity.  An unexpected side benefit was that I got to know a little bit more about some of you, as you shared your story with me and the fact that you opened your heart in addition to your wallet gave me great comfort.  Again, thank you.

Back to my journey!  Friday night the family gathered at my parents house and we had dinner and picked up our shirts for the heart walk.  We were walking with the local hospital, at which my mom works, and she had picked up our shirts and taken them home and customized them for us.

Our customized shirts!

Saturday, very bright and very early, we were up and on our way downtown to the Stockyards.

Go Team Lee! 🙂

From L-R: Mom, me, Roshonda holding Bella with her sons in front of and behind her, Amy holding Joshua, Dad, Sam, Mr. T, friends of Jayman and Samantha and ending with Jayman (not releasing names of the minors that I don’t have permission to!)

Before the walk started it was amazing to have people from the hospital come up to us and stop to talk about Lee.  We might not have recognized each other, but they knew who Lee was.  I had one nurse bring me to tears as she told us how much she enjoyed getting to know him while he was in the hospital.  It was a very blessed moment.

Joshua enjoying the bounce house before we walked.

Jayman and Samantha and their friends.

Selfie before the race with Mr. T

Starting line!

My view for most of the race – 🙂

My partners. Bella is already asleep!

Mr. T crossing the finish line.

Me crossing the finish line – obviously I had a hard time getting me and the finish line in the frame!

We finished the race! We earned these muscles! And yes, that’s dad throwing up bunny ears, because we don’t grow up in our family – a thought that pleases me greatly!

I found a train for Joshua to ride after the race – he loved it!

Sweet! Our walk was recognized 🙂

And thus ends this chapter on my journey.  Thank you to all of those who have walked with me, mentally, emotionally and physically.  Even if I haven’t mentioned it – the support has been noticed and appreciated!

As this new chapter starts I look forward to you being there with me and I am so blessed to be part of your journey, too.

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!