super bowl fun

last friday before the super bowl, all the little people had super bowl day at school.  the different grades were assigned to dress in the colors of the broncos or the seahawks.  then they competed in different games in the gym before heading to the classrooms for parties.

reed was a bronco.  little dude got a good roll on his football toss and scored a point for his team!

wes was a seahawk.

(sam, wes, collins, and bristo)

(wes, sam, and sam)

i didn't manage to get any pictures of william, but he was a bronco, too.  after the punting competition, the seahawks squeaked out a win.  it definitely wasn't a drubbing like the actual super bowl.  but at least there were no wardrobe malfunctions to be concerned about, and i did have one kid come home happy!

i finally went

i've always wanted to see las vegas.  i have never had the chance to go, and it was on my list of places to visit.  but when it came time to plan a vacation, i never really wanted to go!  it didn't exactly seem like my idea of a fabulous vacation.  but don't listen to me.  we spent two summers ago running from bears and a giant bull moose in the tetons.  obviously, i'm not meant to be a travel planner.  anyway, chase decided to go to a conference in las vegas last week.  i figured that was the perfect opportunity for me to tag along and knock this city off of my list.

let's just say that las vegas is quite an interesting place.  the layout of the actual casinos didn't match what i had envisioned.  i figured that there would be some sort of separation between hotel rooms, restaurants, shops, and the actual casino.  but, nope.  you get straight off of your elevator from your room and walk right out into the casino.  into the cigarette smoke.  into the cocktail waitresses wearing tight, black shirts for dresses.  with platform heels.  and every place is designed to completely confuse you.  the layouts are chaos, and the lighting and ceilings are painted so that you couldn't figure out what time of day it was if you tried.  i guess that's all part of their plan.  confuse you so you'll just stay there, sit down, and start spending money!!

anyway, we arrived late the first night.  by the time we checked in (at the lobby in the smoke filled casino) and found our room, we were starving.  we made our way downstairs to find something to eat and ended up at an asian place.  it looked ok, so we walked in and sat down.  we were starving, remember.  it was almost midnight in mississippi, so it was a ways past supper!  the guy brought us the menu.  y'all, it was in chinese.  or japanese.  or some sort of language where they use little symbols for letters.  it was too late to go find another place, and at that point we probably would have eaten the napkin and chopsticks for a meal.  so we seriously just asked the waiter what he recommended.  not that we even understood what we were getting, but we said ok.  he brought us back some sort of noodle dish with shrimp and a sizzling platter of beef in a peppery sauce to put over rice.  at least i think it was beef.  could have been anything.  it was fabulous.  maybe i just need to tell the waiter to pick me out something everywhere we go!

on the way back, we checked out the lobby in the wynn.

and we also passed by this part of the casino and both fell out laughing.  (first read the sign.  then look in the background.)  grandmaw and grandpaw like to the spend the dollah dollah bills, y'all!

the next morning, we started at the end of the strip and worked our way down checking out the different hotels and shops.  not before chase went down and got some coffee, though.  he asked the concierge where he could go drink it and get some fresh air (the smoke....have i mentioned the smoke?).  i promise i'm not lying when the guy answered, "oh.  we don't have that here."  no fresh air.  dude wasn't lying either.

so as i said, we walked along and checked out the different spots.  each place has a "theme" and maybe some sort of attraction.

(and it was short sleeve weather.  nice break from the 7 degree weather here!!)

the venetian was by far (far, far, far) the best one out there.  they had the best layout, and the gondolas were cool.  and the ceiling painted like the sky.  doesn't take much to impress this mississippi girl.

not to mention these fun, little espressos at a gelato place off the water.

they made you completely jittery after about 30 minutes.  add that to my red eyes from all the smoke, and i just fit right in!  well, i would have if i had taken off a layer or two of clothes.

let's be honest.  all these casinos sort of started to run together.  but, there were a few cool things that stood out!  new york, new york had the brooklyn bridge, the statue of liberty, the empire state building and a roller coaster.

the bellagio had a chinese money tree, some cool gardens, and a ceiling to floor chocolate fountain in their patisserie.  yum.

you may have spotted that yellow m&m bag in chase's hand.  they had an m&m store.  i'm not one for shopping, but i can handle an m&m store!  walls of m&ms.  every color you can think of.  and all kinds of flavors you've never heard of.  perfection!

afterwards, we headed to lunch at a very cool mediterranean place.  estiatoria milos.  in case you ever go, you should look this place up.  they gave you a 3 course meal, and it was all soooooo good.  of course, i was the only person in the joint with a t-shirt on, and chase looked a little out of place in his golf shirt since every other dude in there had on a jacket.  but hey....it was lunchtime.  and they still took our money!!

one thing i should mention about las vegas is the sidewalks.  you'd think a sidewalk would go straight beside the road.  but you'd be wrong.  these sidewalks make all kinds of curves and swerves.  i was so aggravated by the end of the week because i could have gotten to where i was going 20 minutes ago if they would just let me walk in a straight line!!!  also, people are just weird.  we got behind these guys for a stretch.

power rangers?  transformers?  no idea.  people just dress up in costumes and ask to take pictures with you.  for money.  there were creepy looking costumes everywhere.  mickey mouse, bert, ernie, elmo, sexy little bo peep.  i kid you not.  and there were also the card flickers.  people stood all along the sidewalks and at every intersection slapping cards together and handing them out.  at first i was giving them a polite "no thank you," but it got so annoying that you just had to completely ignore them.  it's hard for a southern person to just walk by somebody and pretend like they don't exist, but i got pretty good at it after a while!  we also decided that the card flickers needed some marketing help.  if you are handing out cards to your strip club on the street in a t-shirt that says "girls, girls, girls," it might be a little better if it was a pretty girl instead of an old guy with a pot belly.  uhhhh....gag.

we saw the fountains at the bellagio one night.  it was a cool little show.

we had planned on seeing a cirque du soleil show at our place, but they called us about 3 hours beforehand and said that it had been canceled.  so, plan b.  there was no plan b.  we had to figure something out for that night.  and quickly.  we walked by the box office at the venetian and asked them what they had going on for that night.  i picked up a little sheet about "rock of ages" and started to read the list of songs that was in the production.  i was sold.  seriously.  google it.  you would be sold too.  of course this is coming from someone who remembers every single word to every single song she's ever heard.  anyhow, chase is not a last minute decision maker.  i somehow talked him into buying tickets to a broadway show (that we had not the slightest clue about) based on nothing but the soundtrack!  and let me tell you....it was AWESOME!!  we bought tickets in the nosebleeds, and as we walked in to sit down an usher grabbed us and said, "hey, you want to sit down front?" so we ended up on the 9th row in the middle.  now the content was very much in the adult category, along with some of the language, but the music....the music was fabulous!  and the actors were all great!

we also saw the beatles cirque show at the mirage while we were there.  again we walked in, and an usher said, "hey, you want to move down closer?"  chase was petrified that they were going to drag him up on the stage or something, but we moved down to the 4th row despite him!  now this production was not quite like the other show!  i didn't really "get" it.  my artistic interpretation skills are sorely lacking.  they did some really cool things with some trampolines and roller skates with ramps, and there was a stupid, crazy man doing flips on a death trap/see-saw thing several hundred feet in the air.  and let's not forget all the insane people hanging from ropes and doing flips above us without safety harnesses.  i wonder how many broken necks have occurred amongst these people.  at one point, a man came dropping from the ceiling dressed as a giant blackbird.  he then proceeded to fly out over the audience RIGHT AT ME.  i hit the floor.  the whole audience, and it flies at me.  stupid birds.  i can't get away from them!!  it was a good show to see, and i'm glad that i saw it, but i might not have to ever watch another one!

i came home a few days before chase, and as i walked off of the elevator (into the smoke) at 545am to get to the airport, there were still people living it up.  drinking.  playing slots.  trying to get that roulette wheel to land on their number.  i was baffled.  just go to bed, people!!

i think it was made quite clear to me on this trip that i'm not really the las vegas type!  there were some great shows and some great food.  it's always fun to get away with your husband on a kidless trip.  and, i'm very thankful that i had the opportunity to go! but if i could turn this picture into a scratch and sniff for you...

go ahead and take a whiff.....

ahhhhh....

cigarette smoke.

been there.  done that.  very grateful.  but it won't hurt my feelings if i don't ever go back!!!  :)
 

keyboard festival

william participated in his first keyboard festival this week.  these things have changed since i was little.  i remember doing a few of them, and i walked into a room with a judge and a piano.  that was it.  now, however, they are divided into groups.  you have to play in front of the entire group and whoever the group participants brought with them.  we had a group of about 30 kids.  add up the parents and siblings, and it was quite a large number of people in attendance.  it didn't bother him a bit.  he was ready, and he did great!  got a superior and a blue sticker on his certificate.

i, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck.  not for william.  he was fine.  but i felt soooooo bad for the kids that forgot their music and messed up and had to start over and had to go sit down to regroup and start over again.  could not handle it.  i was sitting there with my eyes closed just willing them to play the next note.  i didn't even know these kids!!  poor little people!

anyway, we made it through, and i got a picture of the cutest two pianists there!

(on a separate note, when did these two grow up?)

i don't have a video of him playing "holy, holy, holy," but he also played "joyful, joyful" while we were there.  i did have that one on my phone.  however, i'm not smart enough to figure out how to get it in the right format to post it on this blog.  therefore, it's on Facebook if anyone is interested!!


until next time...

fashionista

it was 1988.  or somewhere around there.  second grade.  math kits.  lost teeth.  a broken arm (well, for me at least.)  somethings never change.  second graders are still going at the math and losing teeth and breaking arms.  but you know what else second graders like?  birthday parties.  i was no different.  back in the 80s, birthday parties were a heck of a lot slightly different than these gigantic affairs that are put on today, but we all still liked to go hang out with our friends and eat some cake!

i remember this one party so clearly.  paige was having a birthday.  it was at the antique mall.  a tea of some sort.  "great!  i like tea!" was my only thought.  however, when saturday morning rolled around my crazy mother told me to put on a dress to go to this birthday party.  hold up...what?

if you know me at all right now, then let me tell you that i was the exact same way at the age of 8.  i don't like clothes.  i don't want to dress up.  i don't want to shop.  give me a t-shirt.  period.  unless it's sunday morning, i've got on tennis shoes.  it makes no difference to me if everybody around me has on skinny jeans, some sort of sparkly shirt, and a pair of knee high boots.  i'm perfectly happy in my t-shirt.  i don't feel the need to fit in with you.  leave me alone.  hallelujah.  amen.

so....back to saturday morning before the party.  the conversation went like something along these lines:
DK: "here.  wear this dress." (think blue floral, white panty hose, white shoes with a buckle.)
me: "i don't want to."
DK: "you have to a wear a dress.  it's a tea."
me:  "i don't care.  i can drink tea in blue jeans."
DK: "you cannot wear jeans to the antique mall.  this is a dress up party."
me:  "nobody cares what i have on.  i do not want to wear that!"

this went on forever as it always did, and then my mom changed her tactic.  she decided to let me wear jeans and TEACH ME A LESSON.  everybody at the party would laugh at me because i had on jeans.  i would be the only one that had on jeans at a party filled with little girls all dressed up in frilly, floral stuff with big collars and panty hose.  (i'm hyperventilating just thinking about it.) i would never, ever forget how terrible and out of place i felt.  this would be the turning point!!!

yeah...that little plan of hers backfired.  i showed up to the party dressed in my jeans.  i am certain they were white guess jeans with a cute little triangle on the back pocket (because you know i do care about my jeans!) topped off with keds.  i can't remember if i was into the slip-on keds yet, but you know i was happy as i bebopped into that party NOT wearing a dress.

emily: "why do you have on jeans?"
me: "because i didn't want to wear a dress."
courtney: "what???!?  that's not fair!!"
cobern: "yeah.  my mama MADE me wear a dress."
me: "my mama told me i didn't have to."
mandy: "that is so not fair.  your mom is so cool."

and there you have it ladies and gentleman.  the turning point.  the point in life that i realized that i just needed to wear what i want.  it was also the point that my mom just gave up.  i think.  ha!!

anyway, i give you that background information so you'll know that i have hated to shop for clothes for as long as i've been alive.  unless it's jeans or tennis shoes, i will walk into a store, take a look around, and then i just walk out.  i can't do it.  one of my friends used to own a clothing store.  i would go sit in the dressing room, and she would bring me stuff.  i would put it on, walk out, and she'd say yay or nay, hand me something else to try on, and that was that.  she's moved on from that store, so now that's why i have my own personal shopper when i have to have clothes for a function.  wedding coming up and need a dress....call ginger.  i have a dress for this thing, but i need some shoes....call ginger.  going with chase to a work thing....call ginger.  then she sends me the links for different outfits, shoes, etc.  i click.  order.  done.  it's fabulous.  everybody needs a ginger.

last week i hit her up to find me a few things.  she did, and then she sent me a picture of some shoes.  her comment was "get some like this.  it doesn't have to be this exact one...just something like it."  well that means i have to shop on my own.  goodness.  i found what i wanted, and they came to my door.  i opened the box, and i wasn't one bit surprised to find two different shoes in one box.

this is what happens when i have to shop.  i wanted the shoe on the top.  (preferably two of them.)  instead i get two totally different shoes.  chase told me it would be a cool fashion statement to walk around looking like boy george.  but, i give up.  after all these years i have decided that it's just meant for me to wear tennis shoes.

 even zappos thinks so!

back at it

there's nothing that welcomes you to the new year and back into the routine like looking at the thermometer to see that it is 7 degrees outside.  poor william was outside at 730am (without my knowledge) trying to do his chores.  i heard him hollering "this windex just won't work!!"  it was kind of neat to watch it turn into a powdery substance, but it was not neat enough that i cared to stand out in the 7 degrees and watch it.  i made him come in and put the vacuum in his hands!

anyway, with all the frigidness in these parts, we have had to find to something to do.  you can only play legos for so long.  so we spent a whole lot of time at the library during the last week of christmas break.  william found an old mystery series, and he worked his way through that shelf.  wes cleaned them out of all the frog and toad books, and reed knows right where to go to find his favorite froggy books.  i even managed to make it through a novel or two.

one of the best parts of library day(s), is the snack afterwards.  chips, rotel, and tea from pepper's is never a bad idea!

we started back to school today.  and while everybody at our house is glad to be back into a routine, i think i might miss my library sidekicks.  and i guess i'll have to get that snack to-go this week!  happy 2014! 

goodbye, 2013!

we had a ball this christmas! 

and now we are ready to ring in the new year!

goodbye, 2013!

i cried.

it started like any other day...school drop off, gym, the daily trip to kroger.  but, that trip to kroger is where things got interesting.  somewhere in the midst of that kroger trip, my wallet got lost/stolen/just disappeared.  i am a very organized person.  i'm not saying that i couldn't lose something, but it's not in my nature to lose things.  especially important things!!  so i did what everybody would have done.  i called my deli lady to come help me! :) doesn't everybody have the cell phone of the lady that gets your turkey?  no….well, i do.  and bless her bones, miss charlotte is one of my favorite people.  she helped me looked in the store.  she helped me look in the parking lot.  she just helped me look.  but we looked for nothing….it was gone.

i left my phone number at the customer service desk in case someone turned it in, but i knew it was for naught.  and as i drove home and thought about somebody's grubby hands all over my stuff, i felt sick.  i felt violated.  i felt angry.  i cried.  i'm not a crier.  sure, i cry at movies, and hand surgery brought on more than a few tears, but i'm not a situational crier.  i don't know what came over me.  i think it bothered me that i just didn't have any idea what happened.  part of me would have felt better if some guy had come up and just said, "give me your wallet."  at least then i would have known what had happened.  i was also bothered by the fact that i NEVER have any money on me.  like ever!  360 days out of the year i have two whole dollars to my name.  i have had to tell my neighbor that i don't have change for $10 before.  never have money.  but this day, i had $60 in my wallet.  reed had been on a field trip to memphis a few days prior, and i had gotten some money out of the bank in case i needed it for something.  now somebody's grubby hands were all over my money.  my poor husband could not understand why i was crying.  "would you calm down?  it's just a wallet!" that didn't help.  but i got it together and sat down in the kitchen to cancel two credit cards and one debit card.

let's back up.  bancorpsouth has some fancy new website.  instead of just letting you login to pay bills or balance your checkbook, you have to change your password for their new secure site.  well, you can't just change your password…you have to call them to do it.  for the love.  the day before my wallet went MIA, i spent one hour and ten minutes on hold for a lady who changed my password in 90 seconds flat.  obviously, everybody is having issues with the new password law.  or they only have one lady working the phone line.  so, the next day i sat down and looked at the number that i was supposed to call to cancel my debit card, and guess what???  it was the same freakin' number that i had called and waited on hold for over an hour.  i cried.

and then i just hung up and called the other number for the other card.  "we're sorry.  all representatives are busy.  please try again later." click.  how in the $%#! am i supposed to get anything done if i can't talk to a person on the phone.  why is this so hard??!?   guess what?  i cried.

so….i get in the car and drive to the bank to take care of one of the cards.  it's the one that we use only for medical/pharmacy stuff.  anyway, i sit down across the desk from a lady and tell her my story. she says ok.  she asks for my i.d.  well if i had an i.d., i would still have my wallet and not be in need of her services, right?  so then she asks for my social.  and then she gives me a weird look, and she says, "this account only has your husband's name on it.  so, i'm not going to be able to help you."  i cried.  y'all, i lost it right there up in that bank.  "somebody is walking around with my wallet.  i have called every single customer service number that i have only to be told that nobody can help me.  now i'm sitting across from a living, breathing person, and you can't help me either??!? what on earth do you want me to do?"  i'm not sure she had ever seen such a display.  her eyes got wide and she told me to call chase and have him call her right then.  so when he called, she said, "i'm not supposed to do this over the phone, but my goodness, your wife is sitting here crying, and i just have to help her." haha.  maybe i should try this crying thing more often!

after doing the same thing at the other bank (because remember nobody has a customer service line that actually offers customer service), i had to go to the highway patrol to get a new license.  i almost cried before i walked in because we all know you can't get out of there in less than an hour.  but i had to tell God "thank you" when i walked out of there only 4 minutes after i walked in the door.  i'm sure that will never happen again, but i'm certain He felt sorry for me at that point in the day!

i was spent the rest of the day, and my stomach still hurts when i think about somebody with my stuff.  chase has assured me that they took my money and tossed the rest of it.  he says they have no need for my lenny's card, my sam's card or my barnes and noble card.  true, but it was mine.  and it's distressing that SOMEBODY'S GRUBBY HANDS WERE ON MY STUFF!

then...

several different things happened that shined some perspective back on my situation.  the most recent being the death of a police officer here in town who confronted a bank robber.  a 38 year old husband and father to two young kids.  a cancer diagnosis.  a car wreck.  a friend's mom who was struck with a brick and suffered a broken hip during a robbery.  a three month old little girl who lost her life to RSV.

perspective.  today i am grateful for perspective.

as i sat in the kitchen confronted by these situations, i thought about the meaningless pieces of plastic that i was so worked up about.

and i cried.