A Big Willy

This isnt as dirty as it sounds...

I have a sweet thing to say but I need to preface it with some explanation. Scott's kind of famous for saying things that sound dirty, but aren't. For example, we were playing a board game with...well shoot - I don't remember if it was Stacie and Looney, or Courtney and Terry. Either way, Scott got a chill down his spine and he looked at me and said "Brr! I got a little willy!" Haha! I told him that wasn't anyone else's business but ours. We all tease him mercilessly about this, and it was quite some time ago.

Then once, the dog was on the couch, and he said "Just jerk her off." Ewwwwww!

So that's the backstory. Today Scott (just now) brought me a Diet Dr. Pepper and some back-up shoes (see below). I kissed him through the car window, and he kind of bristled and said, "you just made my stomach JUMP!" Haha, yay! I still got it!!!! Then he emailed me and said that I gave him a "big ol' willy too."

As in...a big chill down his spine. LOLOLOLOL! But it would sound a lot different if you didn't know the back story.

Hi, DeeDee! Did you especially love this story??

Sunday, Clara came home with a HUGE knot on her head. She'd had a soccer game and got kneed right on the side of her noggin. I swear, it was like a golf ball or an egg was growing right out of her. POOR baby :( It's finally getting better, but her head is really tender. It's hard for her to wash or brush her hair still.

Sunday evening we celebrated Dad's birthday. My sisters, the sons-in-law and I got him a really cool fire pit. It's really big, square, and has about, I dunno...4 inches of slate pieces all around the edge. I think he likes it! He better...Steph and I went to Lowe's, Home Depot, Outdoor Kitchens, Hearth House, Garden Ridge and Target looking for the perfect one...only to go back to the first place we went to purchase the first one we liked. Go figure. OH well. He's our daddy! He's a great daddy!

James always wants to play with his besties, Jackson and Lane. The other day I tried to call their mom, Courtney, and couldn't reach her. James was up my butt asking over and over if they were coming over, and I told him I couldnt get a hold of their mom to ask. Yesterday, he said "Um, Mommy? You should try to call Courtney again today. Maybe you'll finally get the hang of her." :)

So, after my terrible mishap with my pants yesterday, I was sitting here at work, and the strap of my shoe broke. I wasn't walking, or even standing. I was sitting at my desk with my legs crossed, absolutely no pressure on my right shoe whatsoever. And it just broke! I just slammed the damn thing in the trash...and then slammed the other one in the trash behind it. Whatever. I left work and walked through the parking lot with bare feet and stapled pants yesterday. I was dressed no better than a hobo. My hair and makeup were better...but my clothes. Man.

So I bought some new black shoes yesterday. I didn't really give them a good go at the store because I had James with me, and I was in a hurry. Too bad, because this morning when I got ready for work, I put my new shoes on and they're at least a size too big. I have two tissues stuffed into the toe of each shoe and they're still not fitting right :( Will I ever get it right??? I absolutely cannot wear these shoes again, and I'm going to have to buy new ones.

Here's a fun fact about yours truly!

I have gained so much weight (in spite of the weight loss blog that may or may not exist - BUT DON'T ASK) that today I am wearing Spanx (nothing new here), with capri pants that are soooooo tight I popped one of the two buttons AND AND AND the poor seam in the crotch finally gave up and ripped so I had to, ahem, STAPLE it back together. Yes, staple.

Have you ever in your life???

I give this post an "ohhh brother" and a "gaaaaaaaah."

Here's a much better fact: I quit smoking 20 days ago and I have saved 56 dollars on cigarettes :):):):):):):):):)

What have I done?

Through her elementary school years, Clara would periodically ask me to come have lunch with her. Sit with her and her friends, bring her McDonald's, and just enjoy lunch with her. I did it a few times…I think I even did it once last year. Maybe. Once.

I do know that she asked me a few times toward the end of the year, and the weeks flew by, and I never made it. Every now and again, she'd say…"so when are you going to get to come have lunch with me?" And I'd say, "oh…probably next week, I think I can take off work then." And I just never did it.

Yesterday I picked her up from school and realized - she's too big. She doesn't want that anymore. I just knew. But to make sure, I asked her. Of course, her answer to my question was a very shy, reluctant "no." She hates to hurt people's feelings, it's hard for her to be honest with me sometimes if she thinks it will make me sad. Which it did, but I knew it was coming.
What have I done? Where did my baby girl go? Seriously…I don't have a baby girl anymore. She is cool, she is grown up, she is independent. She is her own person and no longer really an extension of me. I know she'll always be my daughter, but she no longer really NEEDS me. Sure, she needs my money. But there is nothing she can't really do by herself.

I feel awful. I mean - really, really awful. I feel like something is gone, and I guess that's because something IS gone. I am so glad that I've learned from Clara, but I'm devastated that I had to. I rushed her to grow up. I couldn't wait for her to walk, to talk, to run, to learn..and now, she's just slipping away. I learned from raising her not to rush James. To be more patient. To know that even though I haven't really slept through the night in 2 years with him in the house, one day, I will, and this will be GONE. His little baby three-year-old self will be gone, just like my little baby Clara is gone. And my young lady is here now. I ADORE this young lady, but I just am having a hard time forgiving myself for letting the time fly by.

Am I nuts? Am I the only person who feels so guilty about her children growing up? Does every mother second guess everything she did, and wish she'd done things differently? Better? I know I sound whackadoo but sometimes it hurts me so much I feel like I can't take it.
As hard as I try to convey my feeling in writing, I just can't on this. I always always always ramble…but this time especially, I feel like a blabbering idiot. I can't write down how I feel from start to finish because it's not a start to finish kind of thing. See what I'm saying? Blabbering. I'll quit now. I just miss my girl :(

What have I done? Why didn't I have lunch with her more? WHY?

People review - my husband!

The whole reason I hooked up with my husband was so I could get free karate lessons for Clara and for myself. Look what I get for being greedy!

Just kidding. About both. BUT REALLY. The reason I went up to Scott at the bar that night was because I knew he taught karate and I wanted to ask him about getting Clara into class. Well, four and a half years later, and neither one of us takes any classes at all! Clara really doesn’t have time right now, soccer takes up enough of her life as it is. But there is no excuse for me! I can get a private lesson in the living room…so why aren’t I?

I don’t know. First, I’m definitely more into the private lessons. I have taken group classes from him in the past, and let me tell you – it is not fun to call your husband “Master” in front of other people. Also, I remember when my mom and I got giggly in class. We both got a stern look from the Master. It’s reeeeeeeeeally hard not to say anything when stuff like that happens. I know he has friends whose wives take classes from them. But Scott is meaner than them, probably. Honestly – I’m more afraid of how I will react in front of students and parents than anything else…because…he’s the boss at the karate school, and I know for a fact I won’t have any say-so up there at all. Don’t get me wrong – he’s a good guy –it’s the reason he does what he does instead of working for someone else. He has to be in charge.

Back to private lessons. Why am I not taking them? I have access to THE most talented martial arts instructor in the country right at my fingertips, and I am not taking advantage of this. He really is something else. You should see him in action. You should see him teach. The parents are charmed (yes I have seen more than one karate mommy look at him in adoration…it’s true!), the kids are simultaneously fearful and in awe, as well as eager to please and respectful of him. He just has a way with teaching. It’s the real reason I am with him. I took one look at him teaching Clara and I knew!

So, not only is he the best instructor you will ever find, he’s just so talented! He moves with the speed of lightning, and has almost knocked my block off on more than one occasion when I’ve come home late at night, and he wakes up groggy, not remembering that I’ve been out. The last time that happened and he showed up in the hallway with some kind of weapon, I told him he better keep his phone by the bed from now on when I’m out, because I’m calling at least once before I walk in the door.

Well, when I started this post, my point was about karate lessons and this has kind of turned into a people review. So, I’ll just go ahead and say it before I go on another tangent. I am going to start private lessons! Every Friday afternoon I am going to have a private lesson and then we are all going to a family dinner. Does that not just sound fantastic? I think Friday is going to be my favorite day of the week from now on.

Although I have TONS more I could say about my husband, I will leave most of them for another day since this post is already so long. I’ll just stick to the karate part of him, and let everyone who reads this blog (all two of you, plus probably Scott – I’m sure I’ll direct him here since I wrote specifically about him) how amazing he is at what he does. Both the karate part and the business side. There is no way in a hundred lifetimes I could start and keep my own business. He works all the time. Even when he’s not working, he’s working. It’s true. The things he has to come up with blow me away. I don’t know how he keeps track of everything. I don’t even know what all he has to keep track of! It’s insane, really.

So, in conclusion, I highly recommend Scott if you ever want to take martial arts lessons.

I promise that’s not all he is about, and one day I will go into the other incredible things that make up who my husband is.

What kind of a monster must I be?

So, James never ever ever ever goes to sleep well. It's a battle every single night, and usually on into the middle of the night to KEEP him asleep and in bed.

Last night was no exception. I put him in my bed, where he likes to start, knowing I would move him to his bed when I turn in for the night. I went in there time and time again and told him to close his eyes. Each time, he responded by animatedly flipping over to his tummy and squeezing his eyes shut as tight as they would go. Only to open them right back up and hop around on the bed as soon as I was gone.

I happened to be in the kitchen when Scott got home, and he came in and said, "you should see our little boy."

"Is he STILL UP?" I said with a sigh.

"Yeah, he's reading a book, he looks like a tiny adult in there."

"Grrrr. I told him to GO TO SLEEP!"

So I went in the bedroom and sure enough, he was adorable. I watched him for a few moments, and then approached him slowly. As soon as he saw me, the book went FLYING and he flopped down and squeezed those eyes. Timidly, he opened them and looked at me, and I looked at him, trying not to bust out laughing.

Then he said in a tiny little scared voice..."what are you going to do, Mommy?"

Hahaha! What kind of a monster am I? What am I going to do? Like...what did he think?

Well that was adorable x 100 so I said, "what do YOU think I should do?" and he said, "I think you should snuggle with me."

And...so that's what I did. :)

I am DOOMED.

So, I am counting my calories (today).

Scott made me some eggs this morning and I called to find out how many and if any were just whites, or whatever.

Me: How many eggs did you make me this morning?

Him: Like, well, two..or it was probably closer to three.

Me: Three? Really, okay.

Him: And a yolk.

Me: Okay bye.

I sat there for a sec and thought to my self…why on earth would someone ADD an extra yolk? You’re supposed to take away the yolks!

So I call him back.

Me: A yolk? You put an extra yolk in there?

Him: Yes, a yolk.

Me: Not a white?

Him: No, a yo – yes it was a white.

Me: Okay, so three eggs plus a white?

Him: No. Two whites and one yolk.

Me: Okay so one egg plus one white. That’s pretty different than your original answer of three eggs plus a yolk.

Him: I HAVE TO GO!

So…he feels bad for snapping at me, he was on the other line and I kept bugging him about eggs. So he emails me.

Him: i made a total of 5 eggs. With one egg yolk. Sorry I was short, I hope you don’t hate me!

Me: i dont hate you but you are still confusing me. so five eggs plus one extra yolk???? or four egg whites plus one whole egg? please dont get frustrated with me...youve not told me the same thing twice yet, and i'm counting my calories.

Him: a total of 5 eggs including 1 egg yolk. Or 5egg whites and 1 egg yolk Or 4 egg whites + one egg white and one egg yolk. does that help at all. :) or is it still confusing

Me: if you say a "total of five eggs" then that sounds like five EGGS, meaning entire eggs! What you did was make one egg and four whites. And then…Clara and I split that, right?

Him: Right.

OMG!!!!!! NO WONDER I AM SO OVERWEIGHT!!!!!! See what happens when I try to be good and count my calories!?

Avatar - capable of breaking wind!

So James likes me to draw an arrow on his forehead and he pretends to be Avatar. I'm not really familiar with this cartoon, but it's some kind of Japanese martial arts weird thing that James loves.

Anyway, the big deal about Avatar, well, he is an air bender. Or, to James, a wind breaker. So, James likes to dress up like Avatar and break wind. :)

Clara had two games this weekend and won both. I went to the first one and she made several saves. The other team didn't get one single goal! The best block she made was on a penalty shot...the other team made a GREAT shot right over the heads of all the girls...Clara jumped up and caught it! It really was an awesome save.

Also, this guy on facebook sent me a message. It said "my name is ugur I am turkey. do you make friends my friend?" HAHAHAHA! I most certainly do make friends (my friend) but not with turkeys named ugur!

What am I doing wrong?

I thought I was rockin on with my bad self. I got an espresso machine since I fell in love with the double shot on ice with a splash of skim milk while in Vegas.

I got the whole bean Starbucks coffee.

I ground the coffee up in my magic bullet.

I followed the directions to a T.

It tastes not yummy :(

Whaaaaaaaaat? What did I do? Did I grind the beans too much? Did I hover excessively? Does a watched espresso machine never brew well? WHAT?

Inteep the African

James has an older brother. He is actually the person who gave James his football jacket. Yes, it's true. I only found out last night. His name is Inteep and he is from Africa. I can't wait to meet him

What do you think?

I just tried to call a client at work. I picked up the handset on the phone, punched in the number and waited, waited, waited...and the phone never rang. In fact, the dial tone never went away.

Then I realized. I had dialed the number on my desk calculator. The numbers are even reversed. And still.

What do you think is wrong with me?

Big girl

I love my big girl room.

I've never had a big girl room before. It's so pretty. With its blue walls, pure snow white duvet, white framed mirrors, crystal (esque) lamps with square white shades, perfect wall art (that I did all by myself) that throws a splash of orange into the mix...it's just wonderful. Just, well, don't tell my husband that it is a big girl room. He really likes it.

Okay I think I'm ready to tell you. I haven't smoked since I got home from Vegas. No, I take that back. I smoked one cigarette on Saturday night at Adrienne's house. With Hairy. Hairy let me bum a smoke. And then, at my mom's (and dad's - but I just call it my mom's), I took two drags off my sister's Marlboro Ultra Light. And...I thought it was yuck! I really did! This is not to say that I am over it or this is easy or that I don't WANT to smoke anymore, this is just to say - I might actually be done smoking. You notice I did NOT say that I have quit smoking. Because, well, chances are, I haven't. I don't want to fail AGAIN so I am not saying that I am quitting. I know, I know...what a great attitude to have in something! But, for realzies, I have "quit" before and never quit. So I'm just not saying it.

I hope my children inherit my don't-challenge-yourself-or-believe-that-ya-got-it-in-ya attitude. Yes, I hope they go through life aiming for a little less than mediocre and landing just right above it in most things, thereby (LOL, I sure did just say "thereby") being pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed. Because if you aim for the top and you fall even a little short, you're gonna be sad. So, do what I do. Shoot for right below average! It will change your life!

OFCOURSEIAMKIDDINGIWANTMYKIDSTOAIMHIGH.

BYE!

This morning sucked.

I had to get up super early because I did not bathe all weekend (THAT'S RIGHT, FOLKS, I'M SHANNON, I'M DISGUSTING) and I had painted my heart out and was covered in (mostly dark blue) paint from head to toe. I needed time to soak in the tub. So I was already tired.

Then on my way out the door I dropped my coffee cup and shattered it all over the kitchen. I mean alllll over. There was glass across the entire kitchen, from the coffee pot, through the eating area, and to the back door.

And then when I squatted down to pick it up, my damn zipper came undone because my pants are too tight.

BYE! BYE! BYE! I'M SO DONE WITH TODAY!!! BYE!!!!

CHOKE!

Uhhhhh so....

Clara took her 5th grade reading assessment and it shows she reads as well as a second grader. Yes, this is the same kid who got a perfect score on her TAKS or whatever it's called.

What's up with that? Was she distracted? Did her brain melt over the summer? Am I a terrible mother who let her only daughter lose her ability to read???

Well, gives us a goal and something to work on, right? Because if there's one thing we need, it's MORE FRIGGIN' THINGS TO WORK ON.

Bye!

Nothing to write :(

I feel like I have nothing, even though that cannot be true...right?

Let's talk about Vegas. But not TOO much, for as everyone knows...what happens in Vegas, blah blah blah.

Day 1. I wake up at 4am and get everything ready to go. Courtney and I are planning to pull out of her driveway at 5am sharp. I was kissing everyone goodbye and the cat was last. Kissed him and turned to leave the bathroom and WHAM!!!! I slammed my face into the corner of the door. My eyelid and cheekbone immeidately start swelling and I can tell I'm going to have a black eye. yay. We arrive at the hotel at about 9am. Courtney the rockstar talks the front desk guy (Rey was his name) into letting us check in, oh....SIX HOURS EARLY. What a relief! And we got connecting rooms so the four of us were able to hang out the whole time :) We put on our suits and went to the pool. We got a lot of attention from young hotties for being the old ladies that we are. I am not kidding! We had a group of three young fellas that I am still not convinced were old enough to be holding the beers that they were. Whateva. They were darling and fun. And what fat old bag doesn't like young male attention (even if all I wanted to do was lick my thumb and get the mayo off the side of his cheek and slick down his cowlick)?

Adg and I took off for the room after a couple hours and left Kristen and Courtney to fend for themselves. I fully expected them to come shortly after I settled, to take naps of their own, but NO. No sir, no ma'am. Like...three hours later, they come STUMBLING in, yelling and carrying on with such tom-foolery that you have never heard in your life. Honestly. I have never seen Courtney like that. Just a-gigglin and a-slurrin and a-dragging my sleepy butt out of my bed. "TIME TO GET READY! WE MET A BUNCH OF GAY PEOPLE! THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN! WE ARE MEETING UP WITH THEM~!!!!! GET READY GET READY GET READY!!!"

Well, I got up...and we got ready...four hours worth of gettin' ready. We headed down to some rinkydink place and shared nachos and had salads...and everyone was ready to poop out. Well, everyone except me. That's all I'll say about THAT. :) So we head back to the hotel and almost make it to our rooms when a crazy group of beautiful people stop us in the hallway. "Where are you going??" they ask. "Do you want a shot? We drank all the tequila but we have whiskey!" And one of them launches into some WHACK story about waking up next to a hooker, running from the cops and the hooker's pimp, you know - the usual. BUT anyway, there are a few girls in the group, making us feel more comfortable to hang out with these people. They were there for a wedding and were all five crammed into one room. We did take a shot of said whiskey and Courtney went ahead to the hotel while Kristen and Adrienne and I headed downtown with our new friends. I am telling you, each and every single one of these people was so adorable. The guys were soooo cute, and yet had no hesitations about acting like absolute dorks. The girls were the kind that you love to hate. Skinny, gorgeous hair and skin, awesome clothes...but they were SUPERDUPER NICE!!! We couldn't hate them! OH! But we didn't leave until we'd been shouting with laughter in the hotel hallway for at least 15 minutes and some poor old guy came out in his undies and gently reminded us that there were "OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!!!!" at the hotel. Sorry sir!!!

We went to some (I think local) hangout called Griffin's that night. It was this rad lounge type place...all dark and red and fiery. We talked and drank and had an absolute ball. These people were so fun :) I don't even remember why we left that place (maybe because it was in the wee hours of the morning) and walked around downtown a little bit. Walked. Ha! More like weaved in and out...hootin' and hollerin'. Either way. It was kind of an anticlimactic ending to the night...we sort of just went back to the hotel rooms and went to sleep.

Day 2: Coffee, coffee, coffee! More like, double shot of espresso on ice! Maybe another. Me swearing off beer and cigarettes for the REST OF MY LIFE. Heading down to the pool to chillax and read my book about a serial killer who terrorizes people in the mountains of...Montana I think? Courtney and I ordering our first bucket of beer right before noon, after we'd finished a couple of smokes. We didn't last at the pool very long that day - Court was the first one up, she had some work to do. I had had so much caffeine I knew I couldn't take a nap, but I also was FREAKING hot and didn't want a sunburn, so we all headed back into the room. I laid down on my bed while Court clicked away at her laptop on hers, and passed the hell out with a bag of chips next to me and a few M&Ms on my belly watching some girly movie on TBS. Three hours later...we're all waking up feeling GREAT!!!!

More espresso, more getting ready, then we share a limo with our new friends. I'm telling you, these girls were cuter the next time around. Anyway, we all went to the strip together, the four of us went to Dragon Noodle Co. at the Monte Carlo (where Scott and I were married and shared our first married people meal!) and had sushi, and then met up with the group after dinner. Did I mention that we traveled all the way to Vegas to meet people who live in San Angelo? That sounds about right, doesn't it?? Anyway, it was Sunday night and we were having a hard time finding a club that was open, believe it or not! We ended up at some hotel, Planet-Planet-Planet Hollywood I think, where THEY HAD KARAOKE!!! Did you guys know that I ADORE karaoke? Well, I do!!! So does Court. While everyone stood around picking their noses trying to figure out where to go, Court and I signed up and sang What's Up by 4 Non Blonds.

By the time we were finished, the rest of the group had at least figured out that we needed shot(s). So we had shot(s) and then hiked to Tao. We were informed that it would be ROCKIN that night and that we jsut had to be there. We met some interesting fellas on the way, some British Columbian guys (or Irish, i dont know, i couldnt tell) who were there for a bachelor party. We learned that the groom was into animals and that his bride-to-be was a zebra. Only he said it like ZEBB-RA and Courtney was ever so confused as to what that was. He also asked her where he could find a coyote and li'l Court told him we wanted to go to Coyote Ugly too! Only...no, he actually was looking for a coyote. We learned some things, such as don't spin around, you will get dizzy (thank you kristen) and we learned that our darling new girlfriends were not shy - I know that one of them had on red undies and one had on blue...that's all I'll say about THAT.

We made it to Tao...CLOSED.

We wander aimlessly (I know I keep changing tenses...shut up about it okay?) until we find a group of people who appear to be on a mission! We asked them where they were going, and they informed us that they were going to Lavo. Whatever, where ever that is. We follow. We find it! They charge our sucker selves 10 bucks each to get in, and then they charge our sucker selves 9 dollars a beer. Yipe! But! We do get to finally, finally, finally get our dance on. They had a couple of scantily clad female dancers dancing on the bar, and I thought it would be just hilarious to stand under and behind one and have my picture taken gazing at her, um, rump. Unfortunately, she saw what was going on and came at me with all she had...and it made for a picture that was almost immediately deleted!!! DELETED!!!!! Also. It was dark in there - and after I looked at the picture with the flash, I'm not fully sure that she was actually a SHE.

After we were dripping with sweat (well just me) and out of beer, we decided to take off and find better things to do. We wandered again, finding 99 cent margaritas and ordering 16 of them (limit of 2 per person, so we ordered the max), going through a casino for one of the guys to throw money on a table and win a few hundred dollars, adn then somehow the girls got separated from the guys. We thought the best thing to do would be to find a bar near our hotel and let them know where we were. What better place to go than Glitter Gulch? Well, almost anywhere...because it was 20 bucks to get in and 2 drink minimum! NO THANK YOU SKANKALICIOUS DOORMAN! We stood there figuring out what to do and some crazy drunk weirdo (no, it was NOT me) comes up and starts just running his mouth with nonsense. After about five minutes, COurtney and I could no longer take it, so we excuse ourselves, stop by the 24 hour cafe at the hotel, and head to our room. The other girls, apparently, stopped at McDonald's and then did the same.

Day 3: I wake up and assess the damage. Not only am I sporting the black eye I talked about earlier, but I now have two new scrapes on my face. Don't know how, don't know when, don't know where. I think one of them might have been when we tried to build a people-pyramid on the street downtown and I had at least 3 people dogpiled on me, including a 6'7" (ish) fella. But whatever, I am not sure. More espresso. Packing. Swearing off beer and smokes again. Finding the coupon for a free beer in our coupon book. Redeeming the free beer while having a smoke. Then, just waiting, waiting, waiting. 335 rolls around and it's time for the bus to pick us up for the airport. It starts POURING, lightning, thunder, flooding in the ever-lovin' desert!!! Whatever, the plane boards on time, and then the captain (or whatever you call him - pilot?) announces that there are 40 planes ahead of us and we have to wait. GAH! No sooner than the captain/pilot turns off his intercom, the old man behind me PUKES CHINESE BUFFET FOOD ALL UNDER MY CHAAAAAAAAIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Worst. Smell. EVER!!! Evereverever!!! We were given pre-filled coffee filters to hold over our noses and little packets of flavored Splenda to sprinkle about ourselves. So then it smelled like sour vomit AND coffee AND french vanilla! Oh well, I mean, it was only three hours. The best part was when Court said, "Shannon, you should probably put on your shoes. There are chunks all under your seat." What are you going to do, but laugh? That's what we did. I thought we were going to die we laughed so hard.

My little fangers are tired but I wanted to tell you about Adrienne's shiny things, Raul/Paul and also the shuttle ride from the hotel to the airport. Remind me, mmkay?

Unda pictures

My boy started school today! I was sad that I couldn't take him...Scott was the one who dropped him off. :( I didn't even get to see him all dressed and ready to go. He was still in his "undas" when I left.


Lately James has not been letting anyone take his picture. As soon as you point a camera at him, At our house we have a tradition of taking Clara's picture in front of the fireplace before EVERY first day of school. Well, James was totally ready to take his place as Big Boy of the Fireplace and have his picture taken. Since I had to leave before he got dressed, I took a couple of unda pictures :)


Sunday afternoon James, Scott and I went to the store. Clara didn't want to come. She likes having the house to herself. Can you imagine? Anyway, when we got home she asked if she could spend the night with Grandma (Scott's mom). I told her that she could not, because I didn't know if Grandma had to work the next day or not (Monday was a holiday), blah blah blah. Clara was DEFINITELY sad but she didn't argue too much and she never said anything else...and about five minutes later Grandma called just about begging me to let Clara spend the night. She didn't know I'd already said no, but how am I going to tell Grandma no? Clara is one lucky gal that she has so many people who love her like crazy :)


Last Friday at work, Scott informed me that we were having a date on Saturday, and that I didn't have to do a thing but show up and look purdy. So that's what I did, and we took James to Grandma's (Clara was with her Maryland grandparents) for the entire night, and Scott took me to downtown Fort Worth to see Four Day Weekend and dinner. Have you ever been to FDW? OMIGOSH. It is so much fun. It is a live improv show...the guys in it are GENIUSES. I highly suggest you see them sometime. Tickets are like 20 bucks each, and TOTALLY worth it. We had so much fun! Thanks Peadle :)