This is Texas....Parker, Texas that is...

While our house was being finished we stayed at my parents for 5 weeks after Maison was born.  I had visited my parents often and we had stayed there on and off through our home remodeling but I had never been there long enough to notice several oddities in their neighborhood until we were there for 5 straight weeks...

My parents neighbor has a live nativity scene and when I say live I mean living animals that they purchased and care for all year long so that they can participate in the Christmas pageant at the church each year.  Ok...so anyone can feed and care for a few donkeys...right?  Uh, this guy not only has donkeys, he has a camel...are you kidding me?  Who buys a camel for a yearly gig?   Here is the camel hanging out with the donkey...

I mentioned in an earlier post that I took Maison to Bob Woodruff park almost everyday.  After a few trips I decided to venture to the trails that spawned off the lake.  One of the trails went on forever and along the way I found a peculiar sign..."No Horses Allowed Beyond This Point"

I've lived in Texas a long time and have ridden horses most of my life and I have never seen such a sign.  This trail is NOT a horse trail; it is a paved bike, run, skate, etc trail.  I have no clue why anyone would even think to take a horse on the trail much less need a notice not to take a horse past a certain point.  The sign was conveniently located about 10 yards from a huge picnic area and then another 20 yards or so to reach the lake that is always highly populated with walkers, runners, children on the playground...so why on earth would anyone take a horse there?  I thought this sign was so odd...yet the more I walked on this trail and the further I went I now know why it was there.  Apparently some people DO ride horses on paved trails and let them 'do their business' on said trail.  I've run/biked/skated/walked on Plano trails for about 20 years and have seen a lot of 'dog business', 'duck business', and even a some 'unidentifiable business' (possibly squirrel or rabbit???), but never in my life have I seen horse poo up close and personal on a running trail....eeeewwwww!

So each day I either went a different route or went further on the trail than I did the day before...on several outings I noticed people picking pecans.  I'm not talking about 3-4 people...I'm talking 20-30 people.  Most of the trail I was walking on is part of the nature preserve.  I'm not versed in nature law but I don't think that is that legal.  Can you just take pecans from a nature preserve?  Uh, not like a sample but 5-gal buckets by the dozen?  I would have taken a picture or two to document the pecan pickers but there would have been a mass exodus towards the southern border so I decided to limit the pecan picking description to verbiage only.  

After telling my dad about the pecan pickers he told me that Carlos, our gardener, said Texas Pecans are 'big business'.  You can sell your picked pecans by the 5-gal bucket for money.  Who knew???  Apparently Texas Pecans don't go through any sort of processing before they are packaged and sold to the buyer.  Let's just say I won't be buying 'local' in the future...

The Pram Parade

While we were staying at my parents house I would take Maison on a walk every day.  We started going when she was about 2 weeks old just around their neighborhood and eventually we got confident enough to drive to Bob Woodruff park and walk around the lake.  I called this our "pram parade" because everyday for the first several days Maison wore a different Halloween costume and thus it was a parade of different costumes or characters.  Some days she was a pumpkin other days a white tiger or just a normal newborn in a hat and a onesie....it just depended on the weather and how tall she had gotten as to which costume/outfit she wore. 

       

Ok...so the 'pram' part of this post:

If I was a celebrity I would be getting paid millions for the following comments but since I have yet to be discovered I will give the disclaimer that I have not been compensated for the following endorsement:

If you are in the market for stroller you HAVE to get an UPPA Baby Vista...it is AMAZING and worth every penny!!!  The stroller has a pram attachment that is for a newborn that pops on an off with the click of one button.  The stroller then collapses with ONE HAND.  It has sturdy tires like a jog stroller that corners like a luxury vehicle.  If that wasn't enough to warrant the exorbitant price it has an attachment to work with our car seat and it converts to an umbrella stroller...but oh wait there is more....it grows with your family.  It can work as an umbrella stroller WITH the car seat attachment so one child can face backwards in the car seat and the other forward in the umbrella seat.  Wait one stroller carries 2 kids that is not marketed as a dual stroller?  I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT...thank you Mom and Shari for such a fab gift!!!!
 

Gators, Dogs, Cowboys, Cows...and Skeletons!

Halloween was quite eventful for a 10 day old...

We started the afternoon with the Florida vs Georgia game which was immediately followed by the Texas vs Oklahoma State game.  2 football games combined with my entire family, trick or treaters, and Charlie was a little too much stimulation for little Maison.  

To make matters worse we changed her 'outfit' about every 4 hours throughout the day to try to accommodate all the halloween costumes she received.  There were so many she started wearing them about 3 days before Halloween and wore some of the larger ones to the park after Halloween (see next post regarding the "Pram Parade").  On actual Halloween night she was a skeleton including a white skull hat. 

Here is the fam watching the Texas game and celebrating Halloween with our little spooky skeleton!

   

A New Madcow is born - Maison Marie Maslow

After 16 hours of labor, 3 hours of pushing, and a c-section, Maison Marie was born on Oct. 21st at 4:45pm.  Here are her very 1st pics...

                

Day 2, Thurs Oct. 22 - recovery and lots of visitors!  My parents, grandma, sister, and Heather all came to visit us.

        

Hanging with G'daddy, Nooey, and Aunt Shari

    

Notice the cute hat with the bow on it is only in one picture.  That's because Maison pulled it down over her eyes so many times that it eventually started to fray so we had to 'dispose of it'.  We ended up sending it to my parents house so their dog, Charlie, could get use to her scent.

Day 4, Saturday Oct 24 - HAPPY B-DAY BUBBA!

We were still in the hospital on Saturday so we missed celebrating Bubba's bday....Shari even beat me to singing "Happy Birthday" Marilyn Monroe style...bummer.  The hospital photographer came by to take Maison's newborn picture.  She scratched her face literally right when the lady walked in the door and we had to pay to have it touched up...what are the chances of that?  Here are her 'professional' hospital photos when she was 4 days old:

   

Day 5, Sunday Oct 25 - Going Home...kind of!

We were released from the hospital on Sunday and our house was still not finished so my parents graciously agreed to let us stay at their house until we could finish ours.  Here are the pics when we were leaving the hospital and arriving at Nooey's and G'daddy's!

           

Baby Showers bring...

I know that April showers bring May flowers so shouldn't baby showers bring babies? My friend Heather and our Admin, Vickie, hosted a work baby shower for me on Oct. 2nd and god knows we have had enough rain around here to bring something other than just flowers...and yet I hit 39 weeks today and still no baby.

Here are some pics from the baby shower...

1st pic is of Vickie, Liza, and me. 2nd pic is Heather and me

There are a series of other individual pictures of me and foreign co-workers. It reminded me of when Adam and I went to China to visit Jan and Jason. We were stopped constantly for people to take our pictures since they have never seen someone as tall as Adam and/or they had never seen and inappropriately dressed (sleeveless tanks and shorts...gasp!) blonde girl. They couldn't just take a picture with us as a group but would have to take individual pictures. Well this was the situation for the first 10-15 minutes of the baby shower. I had a photo session with pretty much the entire team. Considering how much I've loved being photographed during my pregnancy you can only imagine how uncomfortable this made me...

So today I hit 39 weeks and I still don't feel ready. We are on the LAST room of our home remodeling but we have lots of odds and ends to finish up and then a thorough cleaning and fumigation before I would even consider bringing the baby home. Despite the home crap, I still just don't think it is time. We have been so busy the last few months, my pregnancy has just flown by leaving little time to prepare myself for the child that is arriving in a week or less! As of today, I am still scheduled to be induced on Oct. 21st if I haven't had her before then. I go to the doctor on Friday and if there are still no signs of labor am I crazy to ask for an extension? Am I the only prego on earth that could use just one more week before the baby arrives?

What's amazing is that the baby is cooperating so far. With the way she kicks and tosses and turns all day AND NIGHT I definitely thought she would be fighting her way out (like I would be) and not just hanging out waiting to be induced....that's more Adam's style. However, we both are EXTREMELY late every where we go so maybe she is just following in our footsteps and will just show up when she is good and ready.

Where did September go?

After an extremely busy summer I thought I would be much better about keeping our blog up to date but with the house remodeling still on going and me being in the 9th month of my pregnancy unfortunately I haven't gotten much better. It turns out that September was just as busy as the summer...

Labor Day Weekend

The entire weekend was a blur. Saturday morning we drove to Austin with Shari and Robin to go to the 1st Texas game of the season against LA Monroe. We had decided that we would drive back to Dallas afterwards so that we could work on the house on Sunday. UT was blowing them out by halftime so we decided to leave at the end of the 3rd quarter. Everyone promised they would stay awake on the way home and they were all 3 asleep by the time we hit Waco. After dropping off Robin downtown and driving to my parents house in Parker (we were still staying there while our bedroom was remodeled) it was 1:30am. Needless to say I was exhausted after riding to Austin, tailgating, standing at a football game for 3 quarters and then driving 3 hrs back to Dallas.

Monday was labor day and my parents 41st anniversary so we went to their house for bbq after putting in a full day of house remodeling. My dad makes the best bbq...better than bbq places even in Texas...and he makes everything anyone requests. It was a great relaxing afternoon. Happy 41st M&D!

Tuesday was Adam and my 2nd anniversary. Adam surprised me with a breakfast of red velvet cupcakes and peanut butter cookies from a bakery near our house, The Greene Kitchen bakery www.thegreenekitchen.com, that we have been dying to try. They were fab! Some of the best ever! Adam took the day off and worked on the house with my dad and that night we went to dinner at Tre Amici. Great presents this year...Adam got a new kitchen and I apparently got a new master bathroom ;oP Happy Anniversary, Adam!

HK Paintings

Life is so unfair...it's not uncommon with twins for them to share several traits but to also have traits that are the complete opposite of each other. Well Shari seemed to get more than her fair share of the 'good traits'. She is a brilliant tax attorney/CPA/CFP and I can't figure out how to give a tip in a restaurant without having Adam 'check my work' AND she is a fabulous artist and I can't do anything more than a doodle. How did one person get all the analytical skills and all the creative ones? So unfair, I guess I got the crap left in the middle...stomp, stomp, pout, pout.

Anyway, I am reaping the benefits as Shari generously offered to paint Hello Kitty paintings for the nursery. We have loved HK since we were little girls and I wanted the nursery to include her without being complete HK overload so I thought a few paintings might be nice. We decided on a tropical/water theme for the paintings and Shari really outdid herself. Here they are before we sent them for framing...Swimming kitty, Hula kitty, Surfing kitty. Aren't they just perfect?

           

A Star is Born Baby Shower

On Sept 12, Jan, Kelly, Kari, Adrienne, and Shelley hosted a baby shower for me at Adrienne's house. The theme was 'A Star is Born' so Jan played Maria Menudos on the red carpet and interviewed all the guests as they arrived...it was hilarious! She really did miss her calling...she definitely needs to be an actress. Kelly and her sister, Kim, catered the event. Everything was delicious especially the chocolate chip scones. It was a fabulous day despite the rain - it was so great to see everyone!

It's Britney, Bitch!

Sept 18 was the Britney Spears concert in Dallas. Shari and I left right after work to go downtown in time to eat dinner before the concert started at 8pm. As you can imagine, the area around American Airline Center and Victory Park was a mess. We finally decided to go to Kenichi, a sushi restaurant, since it seemed to be the least crowded. Unfortunately it took forever and they had the most expensive water on earth. Some how I drank $30 worth of Fiji water that surpassed Shari's wine tab...excuse me, water costs more than wine? Anyway, we arrived at AAC at the perfect time...both openers (someone Debarge, and Jordan Sparks) had already concluded and Britney came on in minutes. We knew going in that this was pretty much a dance show/production type thing and not a 'real' concert since she lip syncs almost every song but we thought it was FAB! Britney is back in shape and arrived from the ceiling wearing a nude (yes, nude) leotard that had silver sequins carefully placed over her boobage and her privates. Due to the numerous lights and Shari's bad eye sight she thought she was in a full silver sequined leotard...that would be no. Miss Britney was shakin her bootie in the flesh, literally! She opened with Circus and went straight into Piece of Me. We had amazing seats (thanks Plat Amex, membership does have it's privileges...occasionally!) and couldn't have had a better time...ok, maybe if I wasn't 35 weeks preggy and could have partaken in the wine instead of the water. Or maybe if Britney had a 'hot mess' moment and screamed out "Merry Christmas" during the concert or said "What's up Washington" when she was in Dallas it would have been better because we would have witnessed a train wreck that for sure would be featured on Perez the next day...but no such moment happened. I guess Britney really has cleaned up her act.  Here is her grand nudie entrance:

They don't ask how pretty...Texas/Texas Tech

After a very late night at Britney we left the next morning to go to the Texas/Texas Tech game in Austin with Kelly. We had to leave early so that we could be in Austin by the time Florida kicked off against Tennessee. Of course we were running late and then Shari forgot her ticket and parking pass at her condo. We had to pick them up and take them to her office since she was driving separately due to having to work. We arrived at Kari's house with just enough time to get to Third Base where the Austin Gator Club watches games....it was packed city. There wasn't a seat in sight. We finally ended up at Joe's and watched the first 3 quarters of the Florida game before heading to the stadium to tailgate. Adam decided he was going to stay at the bar and watch until the end of the UF game and catch a cab to the stadium. I warned him against this since getting a cab on a game day and getting anywhere in the vicinity of the stadium would be a challenge. Adam showed up right before we left to go into the stadium because once he got a cab traffic was so bad he wasn't moving at all so he had to walk a few miles to stadium (hate to say I told you so).

The game was one of the ugliest I've seen. There were numerous turnovers, a bazillion penalties on both sides, and horrible calls by the refs. Colt McCoy had the flu and played like complete poo but despite all this somehow we won 34-24. The best I can say is 'It's a W, that's all that matters.'

We decided there was no way we could drive back to Dallas after the game so we stayed at Kari's. The next morning, Adam and I got up super early to drive back to Dallas. We stopped at Round Rock Donuts www.roundrockdonuts.com on our way out of town...and boy are they delicious! Adam had heard about them on Man vs Food on the Food Network and they definitely lived up to the hype and were worth waiting in the line out the door!

36 weeks and counting...

On Sept 24 we had our 36 week appointment with the doctor and received our first sonogram since 5 months. The baby was already 6 lb 13 oz and 19.6 inches! Apparently our little wiggle worm is not so little anymore.

I hit 38 weeks on Oct 7 and she's still hanging in there...maybe she is as opposed to all the construction dust as her mother and doesn't want to make her debut in an unclean environment? Or maybe she is just going to be fashionably late? It's definitely a race to the finish between the baby arriving and the house remodeling completing...it's still too early to tell who will come out ahead! Better place your wagers now!

The Summer 10

So obviously it's been a REALLY LONG time since I've updated the blog. Between Adam's injury, remodeling the house, and expecting our first child, the blog fell to the bottom of the priority list (ok, so it didn't even make the list)...

To catch everyone up on what's been going on this summer, here is our 'Summer 10' kind of like the Daily 10 on E!.

1. May 30th - Adam's injury, also known as "Death by Toilet"

I've heard of death by stabbing, death by gun shot wound, death by drowning...even death by chocolate but death by toilet? That's definitely a new one for me!

Adam and I are in super crunch mode trying to get the house remodeling finished before the baby comes in Oct so we spend every minute we are not at work or sleeping working on the house. The last Saturday in May, Adam and my Dad were putting up wainscotting in the dining room and Shari and I were getting ready to paint the study. Since I have to plan everything down to the minute detail, I had asked them to finish tearing out one of our bathrooms while they were waiting on the wainscotting caulking to dry. Adam and my Dad were carrying out the marble vanity, cabinets, etc. They had removed the toilet a few days prior and left it in the alley behind the house in black garbage bag. When Adam went to take the last few small items to the garbage he turned to go back up the driveway and caught his knee on the toilet that was broken and had an extremely sharp edge. He didn't know it had gone into his leg so he started up the driveway and ripped his leg open 7 inches!

We were all working in the house with the air compressors and fans on so we never heard him call for help. He ended up walking up the driveway and on to the back patio. When I saw him he was covered with blood because he was trying to hold his leg together as he walked. Luckily my dad and Shari were there to help get Adam into his truck and get him to the hospital.

Adam really did a number on himself...the cut was 7 inches in length, 4 inches across at the widest point, and went through his muscle and nicked his tendon. After 6 hours in the ER, 2 1/2 hours of surgery, and 54 stitches Adam was repaired. The first few weeks were horrible for both of us. Adam was in an extreme amount of pain and was in an immobilizer. He really couldn't move much at all. I got the joy of changing his bandages every day and at 5 months pregnant it was definitely not a fun task. Adam is NOT a good patient and has a very hard time laying around doing nothing especially when the house remodeling was still going on around him but some how we got through it.

As of the first week in Sept, Adam is still in physical therapy and can do stationary biking, the elliptical, and swimming. It will be awhile before he can run and play basketball again but all things considered, he is getting back to normal.

2. June 15th - It's a Girl!!!

We were so excited to find out that we were having a girl. Shari, my mom, and I all went into full decorating mode. We painted the room pink and ordered the bedding and all the furniture in one weekend. At the time, 8 weeks lead time for the bedding and furniture to come in seemed so far away, yet when it arrived this week it was like, "oh, the bedding and furniture are already here". We are waiting to go pick it up until our major home remodeling projects are finished because I don't want it to get covered in dust. Shari has been busy painting Hello Kitty paintings for the baby's room. I can't wait to see them...

3. June 19th - Happy Birthday Nannie

My grandmother, Nannie, turned 83 on June 19th. We celebrated with a party at my parents house. It was great besides the flower delivery fiasco....

I had arranged for flowers to be delivered from Island Tropicals which is a florist in Hawaii. Nannie loves Hawaii and especially the flowers there. On Wed 6/17 (yes, 2 days before her b-day), the florist emailed me and said they wouldn't be able to ship the flowers for arrival on Friday because they were closed on Thurs. Uh, how would they get there in time if they were shipped from Hawaii on Thurs anyway? I pretty much told them what I thought of their 'closure' and cancelled my order. In a lurch, I ordered flowers from ProFlowers.com because they would guarantee that flowers would arrive on her birthday by 5pm. When we arrived at my parents at 7:00 for her b-day party there were STILL no flowers. I called Pro Flowers who informed me that they tried to deliver the flowers but they couldn't get into the gate...which is complete BS since my parent's gate only secures the driveway and the guest house where Nannie lives. Anyone can reach the front door to the main house without going through the gate. So the 'not so nice' lady agreed someone would delivery them that night.

At 8:00pm there were still no flowers; so I called again, and again was told they would arrive that night. At 9:30pm they finally arrived and I was so embarrassed I wanted to die. It was the smallest bouquet I had ever seen (a total of maybe 7 flowers) and it included carnations...carnations? Really? Carnations don't even qualify as filler flowers. They are what people send when you are dead...I assume because if you are dead you wouldn't be insulted that someone sent you carnations. We had paid for a 'cotton candy deluxe bouquet'...and "deluxe, my ass" arrived!

Anyway, I took a picture of the flowers and emailed them a not so polite message of how mortified I was that and entire birthday party thought my sister and I had sent my g-ma carnations. They agreed to send a replacement bouquet so Nannie sat home and waited ALL DAY on Saturday and they NEVER arrived. I was beyond pissed at this point. So I fired off the rudest email I have ever written, telling these idiots that they "don't have much respect for customer service or the feelings of a 83 yr old woman sitting at home anxiously awaiting a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her b-day from her grand-daughters that NEVER arrived" and a few other choice words. Yes, I was so proud of my bitch out that I kept it and fowarded it to Shari and my mom. My mom was so happy to see that she raised me right.

4. June 21st - Happy Father's Day!

To celebrate Father's Day we took my dad to Tres Amici in north Dallas on Sat night. It was excellent...much better than any of us expected. It is a Italian steakhouse so we were all a little leery how they would pull that off but it was great. The highlight of my evening was the waiter offering me wine...I guess he didn't notice I was 5 1/2 mos preggy ;oP

5. June 26th - Spa weekend

Jan was in Houston for a month visiting so we decided to meet half way and do a spa weekend in Bastrop (outside of Austin). God knows with Adam's accident and all the home remodeling I could use some relaxation. We stayed at Lost Pines Resort and had spa treatments and laid by the pool. When we got back from the pool Kari wasn't feeling well and started to get sick. We all thought she got too much sun. She was a trooper and decided she would try to go to dinner with us only to get sick again before we were done eating and having to go home.  Around 4:00am Shari and I both started getting sick. We were both up all night. I was so sick the next morning that I was already throwing up when we turned out of the resort onto the highway. It was one of the worst drives from Austin back to Dallas we have ever had...yes, worse than driving home at 6am after a UT game and hours of drinking beer then red wine and driving back at the crack of ass to make a soccer game...so as you can imagine how horrible it was. By the time we got to Dallas my fever had gone to 100 and I pretty much could do nothing but lay in bed. I didn't start feeling back to normal until Tuesday. Unfortunately, we both ate crab cakes for dinner which is one of the few things we like and now the thought of one makes me have pre-vomiting noises. So much for a relaxing spa weekend with the girls...

6. July 4th - Happy 4th of July!

Since Adam and I were in the middle of our major home remodeling we decided only to have family over for the 4th. My dad made his famous mesquite smoked BBQ and the family came over to swim. When everyone arrived Adam and Dad were still finishing up the tiling in the baby's bathroom. Apparently we bought the world's strongest tile...it kept breaking the tile saws, and we have a crooked wall...what do you expect? The house is 30 years old. Needless to say, they were very happy to have a few beers and swim after several days of tiling hell!

7. July 8th and July 24th - Happy 25th S&M!  Happy 64th Dad!

Shari and I celebrated our 25th with the fam at my parent's house. My dad made us our favorite....lobster tails and twice baked potatoes. Shari gave me an entire wardrobe for the baby...dresses, jogging suits, footie pjs...even her first bikini! It was all too cute! I gave Shari tickets to the Britney Spears Circus Tour...yes, we are 15 and infatuated with all things Britney. We are going to the Sept 18 concert at AAC in Dallas. I will be 8 1/2 mos pregnant but I don't care...It's Britney, Bitch!

Baby's 1st bikini:

2 cakes so everyone is happy!

We celebrated Dad's b-day at Shari's condo on the 24th.  Bubba (my brother) gave him a trip to Vegas.  Here is the 'cake dance':

8. End of July - Gulf Shores Babymoon

Adam and I decided to go on one last vacay before the baby arrives in Oct. We decided we wanted to go somewhere with a beach that was super low key. We don't know how to relax (ok, I don't know how to relax and make it where Adam can't relax) if there are activities to do so Gulf Shores was the best for what we were looking for. Gulf Shores, AL is about 30 miles from Pensacola, FL. It has gorgeous white sand beaches like most of the gulf coast. There is absolutely NOTHING to do there but go to the beach, eat seafood, read, and sleep. We were there for 6 days and the biggest decision each day was what time were we going to go to Bruster's for our daily fix of ice cream. They have the BEST peanut butter ice cream EVER. It was PERFECT!

                  

9. July 31st - Charlie's Attack, Speechless

On Friday, July 31st someone called my cell phone at 7:30am. Adam and I were still in Gulf Shores so I was not about to get up to answer it. We had very bad cell coverage in our condo so you had to stand on the balcony to talk on the phone and could not get voice mails unless you went to the first floor. When I checked my phone I saw that it was from 972 (Plano) area code and it looked like a business number. I tried to get the voicemail and all I could hear was there was an accident and Charlie, my parents beloved sharpei, was some how involved. They were calling me because I'm the emergency contact.

I immediately called my mom who answered the phone crying hysterically and I could barely make out what she was saying. Apparently, my parents had put Charlie in the kennel so they could go to a grandparents class at the hospital on Thurs night. Since it was still over 100 degrees even in the evening my parents did not want to leave Charlie in his kennel in the garage because it was way too hot. Charlie is a very loving, yet spiteful dog so if you leave him home alone he tends to tear things up to show you how anger he is that you left him. So my parents thought they were doing what was best by putting him in the kennel overnight so they could attend the class.

Friday morning the kennel owner called my parents to tell them there had been an 'accident' overnight that 2 pitbulls in the kennel next to Charlie's had somehow attacked Charlie through the fence. They ripped off the meaty part of his face where it was hanging down 5 inches, chewed all the flesh off one of his hind legs, chewed the pad off one of his paws, and inflicted various other minor scratches and scrapes. To make matters worse, Charlie was missing 8 of his teeth. My mother immediately called the vet and asked the owner of the kennel to take Charlie since my parents were a good 30 min away from both the kennel and the vet.

When they got there the kennel owner showed them pictures of Charlie laying in a pool of his blood in his kennel. I guess to 'prove' that all 3 dogs were kennelled appropriately. I cannot believe someone would have the audacity to show pictures like that to the dog owners before they even know if the dog is dead or alive especially my mother who was as hysterical if one of her children had been maimed. The vet did not give my parents much hope but said he would do what he could to save him.

After 3 1/2 hours of surgery and hundreds of stitches (65 in his face alone!) Charlie was put back together. The vet asked my parents if they would feel comfortable caring for Charlie since he was so bad off he thought Charlie would recover better in his own home with those that love him. The poor dog was so pitiful when he came home. He was on 3 morphine shots a day which is 30 times what you give a human adult. Needless to say we were all just thankful he was alive.

My brother went to the kennel to find out how on earth this could have happened. The kennel owner gave a lot of answers that didn't add up. He showed my brother the kennels where Charlie and the pit bulls supposedly were and the openings in the fence were only about 1 1/2 inches. You couldn't even stick you hand through them so it is physically impossible that 2 dogs with block heads could bite another through the fence. Not to mention that the fence did not have any damage to it. The vet guessed that Charlie's 8 teeth came out when he was trying to bite his way out of the kennel to get away from the other dogs yet there was no damage? Also, the kennel owner said there were no scratches or bites on the pit bulls....so Charlie was attacked to this extent and supposedly didn't fight back at all? This doesn't make sense! My brother asked to see the pit bulls and the kennel owner said he sent them home...he asked to see the security tapes and the owner said there weren't any. The plot thickens....

It's now Sept and we still have no answers, no phone call from the kennel owner to see if Charlie survived, no phone call from the pit bulls' owner to apologize or make amends...nothing! Not even an offer from either party to pay the vet bills. To be continued...

10. August 22nd - Jason's 30th

Adam went to Raleigh to attend his brother, Jason's, 30th b-day party. He had such a good time visiting his brother and Lindsey. I was so sorry to miss out but it's just so hard to travel these days. Happy B-day Jason!

So that sums up the highlights of our summer. I'll hopefully be better about providing updates now that we are on the tail end of the house remodeling and my pregnancy...

I'm calling OSHA

The anti-christ has arrived at Alcatel! It all started a few weeks ago...when there was an awful smell outside my manager's office. It started out smelling like sewage and after 2 days I don't even know how to describe how it smelled it was so awful. By Friday we knew what was behind the smell that was coming from the filing cabinet...DEAD RAT! Yes, apparently rats can get to the 2nd floor, die, and nobody knows it until it reeks so bad you want to vacate the premises. Of course, I could never just accept the fact that there were rats in a building where I spend most of my life so I started asking around.

According to my admin...the 'rat situation' is a known issue and doesn't just affect our building but the other building that is also in close proximity to the creek. The facilities people apparently set a trap behind the filing cabinet and forgot to check it hence why there was a dead rat in the first place and why it stunk so bad.

According to the guys that work in the 'bat cave' (aside- the bat cave is an area of our building that has no windows, low ceilings, and kind of dim lighting and thus was named the 'bat cave'). These guys said the 'bat cave' has been renamed the 'rat cave' because THEIR area is where the rats are coming from. They are above the loading dock where all trash dumpsters are stored. There theory is the rats are coming into the building via the loading dock and get to the second floor through the pipes, air ducts, etc. They have had DOZENS of rats in their area to the point that all the females have left the 'bat/rat cave' and found new offices. The guys plugged all known access points to their area and they speculate that is why they are now in our area. As if that wasn't bad enough they found a 5ft snake intertwined in the window blinds in the lab downstairs...apparently he is here for the rats....are you kidding me? So at this point, I'm hysterical and pretty much told my manager the day I see a rat - dead or alive - will be the day I begin permanently working from home or the day I hand in my resignation with no notice.

So last week I was walking in the hallway downstairs and notice a trail of dead roaches. Not little ones, but the kind you hit with your shoe and it walks off with the shoe...THOSE KIND. Even though they were dead they still freaked me out. So again, I start asking around...and whatever they sprayed to try to kill rats is killing everything else. Some environmental, animal loving, person complained and no more rat poison was to be put out. As a replacement we got good ol' fashioned rat traps with peanut butter on them. They are everywhere. In the corners, in the break room, under the vending machines, under the mailboxes...pretty much everywhere you look. An exterminator comes by at 1:00 each day (yea! rat check at lunch time) to check the traps for victims. He has on blue rubber gloves up to his elbows and carries a bucket for the traps and a CLEAR plastic bag of dead rats. I saw this dude last Friday on my way to a meeting and literally almost lost my Chick-fila when I saw the dead rats in the bag.

I thought surely this week would be better...boy was I wrong! Yesterday, the 'rat cave' guys were in the break room saying they all were moving out because the rats are now coming out during the day and they eat anything that is left on their desk even if they step away for a few minutes...so gross!

How could things get worse? This morning, there it was the ANTI-CHRIST staring me in the face as I rounded the corner. The BIG BLUE PEPSI machine. Seriously? Rats, roaches, snakes, and Pepsi? I can't take it...I seriously MUST get a new job. How can I work in such an establishment? A girl from Atlanta, that drank Coca-Cola Classic out of her bottle, could NOT possibly work for a company that supports such inhumane activities. That's it, the line has been crossed...as soon as I'm done with this posting I'm calling OSHA and going to RaceTrac to get a Coke!!!

Working Memorial Day

Adam and I have been crazy busy working on our house remodeling so we planned to have a 'working' Memorial Day weekend.  My dad has been helping us tremendously so we decided to tackle some of the more difficult and messy tasks this weekend.  Adam and my dad built a wall to support two sets of french doors to separate our dining room from our new study which is where the living room use to be.  This weekend we were down to putting up the wainscoting in the dining room and texturing the two rooms before we would be ready to paint this week.  Friday night my dad came over and worked on the wainscoting with Adam.  Saturday afternoon Adam and I started texturing and didn't finish until about 10:30pm Saturday night.  Who knew texturing took so long and is that the messiest task ever?  I think I mopped the kitchen floor 3 times to get all the dust off that blew in from the room next door!

Sunday we decided to take a break and had my family over for a cookout and some potential swimming.  It was super overcast and looked like it was going to rain at any second so the pool water was rather cold.  Adam jumped right in and admitted that even he thought it was a little cold.  I would only brave getting in on a raft and even that didn't last long.  We didn't have any other takers on the swimming.  The highlight of the day was the hamburger cake we got from Central Market.  It was so delicious!

Today we ran a bunch of house related errands and Adam and my dad worked on the picture boxes for the wainscoting.  I think they'll wrap it up tomorrow....so weird how quickly things move when my dad is involved....had Adam and I done those rooms by ourselves it would have taken at least 2 months!  Maybe one or both of us have ADD???

Chicago, Cubs, and Chris

The first weekend in May Adam and I went to Chicago for Chris Durbin's 40th b-day party.  Yes, ADAM (not me!) is old enough to have friends that are turning 40.  Seeing has how I am only 25 it would be a little odd for me to have friends that old.  Anyway, we left Dallas in the height of the swine flu and on the day that Joe Biden said he would advise his family not to fly unless absolutely necessary.  DFW seemed to be business as usual...our 6:15pm flight to O'Hare was delayed until 7:15pm by the time we got to the airport.  As we waited, our departure time somehow surpassed our original arrival time.  We boarded our flight around 9pm.  There were literally 10 people on the entire flight.  We see now why the flight was delayed.  I assume so they could get on as many standby passengers as possible.  I have never been on an AA flight to/from DFW/ORD that was not at least close to full...maybe the swine flu scared off some travelers???

 

We FINALLY arrived and got to our hotel around MIDNIGHT!  Vinnie picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel on Michigan Ave.  I was completely beat and pretty much unpacked and went to bed.  Adam and Vinnie went out for drinks at a pub that was near by.  

Friday Tom and his daughters, Jessica and Elaina, came into the city to go with us to see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.  It was completely awesome!  At the start of the tour they select children from the group to sit under the sorting hat and find out which house they belong to.  Jessica was a Griffindor!  You go into a room where they show short clips from all the movies including the yet to be released, Half Blood Prince.  When the clips are over, the room goes dark just for a second and then a curtain opens to reveal the Hogwarts Express complete with steam and blowing whistle.  What a way to start an exhibit?

There were so many great things to see but the highlights were:  pulling mandrakes from their pots and hearing them scream, throwing quaffles through the quidditch rings, sitting in Hadgrid's chair, and viewing countless costumes and props from all 6 movies (including Half Blood Prince).  The tour ends in the dining hall complete with floating candles and Hogwarts food...pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs, and many more.   I couldn't resist getting a "Harry Potter Exhibit" hoodie, to document the moment.   Adam and I were interviewed for a local newspaper as we exited the exhibit.  I'm sure I told the columnist way more than she wanted to know.  After the museum, Adam and I had lunch at Heaven on Seven, a cajun restaurant off of Michigan Ave.  It was so completely bad for you but so good.  We had such an amazing day, but super exhausting.  I had to go back to the hotel and take a nap before going out for dinner.

Friday night we had dinner at Due (like Uno's) with Karen, Monica, Freddy, Lori, David, Reneau, Saneata, and Amir.   It took forever with that many people, but it was really good.  Afterwards, we tried to find a bar that wasn't super crowded and ended up at ESPN Zone...hehehee...total tourist trap.  After 1 round, we had to call it a night.  We had a big day in front of us.

Saturday was Chris's 40th b-day party which was to start at 10am at Murphy's for bloody mary's prior to the noon Cubs game.  Adam and I rode to the Wrigley area with Amir and then walked to the game.  We had to stop at Nuts on Clark to get some chocolate covered peanut brittle for the game which they were sold out of so we 'settled' for chocolate covered english toffee and chocolate covered cashews...YUM CITY! and Amir had to stop to get peanuts.  Needless to say, we did not make it to Murphy's by 10am....more like 11:30.  I was with Adam and Amir, I don't think anyone thought we would be anywhere close to on time.  We met Chris at Murphy's and then went to meet the others in the bleachers.

The Cubs game was packed...no swine flu worriers there!  It was so much fun despite the cold...yes, cold.  It was the first weekend in May and I had to wear a sweatshirt to a baseball game.  I don't even think they make Texas Rangers sweatshirts because I doubt they would ever sell any.  After the game, we headed to the Gingerman to continue the festivities until we were to head to dinner at Tango Sur.  Here is a pic of the b-day boy at the Gingerman....

We stayed at the Gingerman until about 7:00 and then headed to Tango Sur.  There was about 14 of us and Tango Sur does not accept reservations except for parties larger than 6.  Selena, Chris's wife, called to make reservations and they would not accept anymore large parties and thus we would just have to wait.  To kill time we went to the Blue Bayou across the street to watch the Bulls playoff game.  About 9:30pm, Tango Sur called to say our table was ready.  I was completely exhausted and decided to go back to the hotel, lay on a comfy bed and order room service.  Adam was in for the long haul...he made it to dinner and to the bar afterwards.  I think he got in around 4:00am.  I really don't know how he made it that long and I certainly have no idea how Chris could do it...maybe I need to hang with 40 year olds more often ;oP

Sunday morning we met Vinnie, Monica, and Freddy for brunch at Reza's.  It was great as usual.  Afterwards, we went for a walk on Michigan Ave and walked down to see 'the bean'.  Michigan Ave was completely lined with fabulous tulips.  They had ever color you could imagine.  Here are the pics from Michigan Ave....

               

We had such a fun trip to Chicago and it was so great to see everyone!

King Tut Mother's Day

After years of long waits, sub par service, and unexpected buffets at Dallas's fine dining restaurants, we've always done non-traditional Mother's Day celebrations.  For the last several years we have gone to Silks at Lone Star Park, the horse track in Grand Prairie.  Every one has a great time because we get to do several of our family's favorite pass times...gamble, drink, and eat.  Even though we always have fun at Silks, this year we decided to to something totally different.  

We decided to do Mother's Day dinner on Friday night rather than Saturday night as we had done in years past.  We went to York Street which is a VERY small restaurant near downtown Dallas.  We had reservations for 8 people and the restaurant probably held 25 at the most.  They couldn't even come close to accommodating our party when it was time for our reservation as they needed several tables to make room for 8.  After about a 45 min wait, they finally found a way to get us in and it was VERY cramped.  Other than that the food was good and everyone seemed to have a good time.

On Saturday, Shari and I took my mom to lunch at the Zodiac Room at the downtown Neimans.  We LOVE the Zodiac Room mostly because of the popovers and the strawberry butter.  This time the popovers were rather small and a little overcooked.  So disappointing!  I  chalk the downsize of the popovers to the economy...even Neimans has to make cut backs somewhere.   Overcooking your featured item is unacceptable but the rest of the meal was delightful!

After lunch, we went to the Tutankhamun - King Tut Exhibit at the DMA.  My mom has wanted to see this exhibit since it came to Dallas so Shari and I thought it would be nice to take her mother's day weekend since we had already planned to go downtown to eat at the Zodiac Room.  I don't think we could have picked a worse weekend.  Apparently, the exhibit was ending at the end of May so people were at anxious to go see it before the exhibit left Dallas.  

We had advanced tickets for the 3:00 time slot and arrived at the DMA about 30 min before hand.  It was unbelievably crowded.   There was literally a 'Six Flags' style line in a temporary tent to get in for each time slot.  There were probably 200 people for the 3:00 slot IN FRONT OF US!  To make matters worse there was no air conditioning inside the tent only 2 large fans at one end.  My mom had to go wait inside the museum while Shari and I held our spot in line.  As if the waiting sitch couldn't get any worse, a bus load of about 100 teenagers all with 'iBand' t-shirts on got in line behind us.  Apparently, 'iBand' is the cool way to say you are a band nerd.  Why teenagers would go to the King Tut exhibit on a Saturday is beyond me...most of them were more interested in their ipods or texting than the audio tour device for the exhibit.  

At 3:45 we finally made it into the exhibit....apparently the DMA doesn't give a flying flip about fire codes because there was literally crowds of people around each item in the exhibit.  Since all 3 of us are about 5' nothing it was a quite a feat to get up close enough to see the pieces being described on the audio tour.  For the large pieces, we would just sit on the benches, listen to the audio and view the item from afar.  There were some interesting pieces in the exhibit....one of the organ tombs (as part of the mummification process the vital organs are removed from the body and stored in their own tombs), the tomb of one of King Tut's unborn children (even though he died mysteriously at 19 he was married and had 2 children that died before birth), and several of the tomb artifacts.  What was super disappointing was that the body tomb and the well known King Tut mask were NOT at the Dallas Tutankhamun exhibit...they were conveniently on exhibit in Atlanta.   What a rip?  We waited in line for 45 min in the heat, subjected ourselves to potential swine flu brought on by the contained mass crowd for this?

Mom, Silks is looking pretty good for next year?  Should I go ahead and make the rezy's? HAPPY MOMMY'S DAY!!!

Hoppy Easter!

As you can tell I'm majorly behind on posting since it is the end of May and I'm just now posting about our Easter festivities...

Easter at my parents is all about how much sugar and junk food can you possibly consume on one day.  We start every Easter out with donuts from Krispy Kreme.  They cannot be from Dunkin or from any local donut store...they HAVE to be Krispy Kreme.  This goes back to when we lived in Atlanta and there weren't any donut stores other than KK so since I was about 3 yrs old KK has been the donut standard in our house.  

Adam and I picked up the donuts on the way to my parents house where we were greeted by masses of Easter decorations and Easter baskets for each of us.  You can spot Adam's Easter basket first because his always has a white chocolate Easter bunny because he is the only child that likes white chocolate.  You can then pick out mine and Shari's because they are always exactly the same.  This year we knew Shari's right away because she had already started in on her peeps before Adam and I even got there.

After our Krispy Kreme breakfast we all sit around and eat candy from our Easter baskets or the bowls of M&Ms my mom always has in the kitchen while my parents finish making the Easter spread which very much resembles Thanksgiving.  My parents make a turkey and all the Thanksgiving side items on Easter.  Easter brings a Honey Baked Ham and different desserts but otherwise very similar.  

Shari, Adam, and I watched Wall-E while we waited for lunch to be ready.  We thought it was ok, but were completely unaware there were so few words throughout most of the movie.  We had our big lunch and then watched the Dark Knight.  Adam and I had already seen it, but Shari and my dad wanted to watch it.  Unfortunately Shari slept through most of it...how can you sleep through an action movie in a media room that is so loud it shakes the walls?  I'm sure it was 'turkey overload' and had nothing to do with the wine ;oP

I'm David Letterman and I'm wearing no pants

Actually, I'm Marcia Maslow and I'm wearing no shorts....

I left this morning through the back door to go on a walk so that I could leave the door unlocked and not have to carry keys with me. Our back door goes out to our patio and you have to leave our yard through the gate.

While I was out walking, it started to come a storm and the wind started picking up. I really didn't think much of it until I got home and could not open our back gate. Our gate has a tricky latch and if the wind blows really hard it will open the gate and slam itself shut only to be unopenable from either side. I tried to push down on the lever - nothing happened. I tried to pull up on the lever and give it a bit of a jiggle...again nothing. I started getting really anxious since I had no key to the front door, no cell phone, and a meeting that I had to be in the office for a 10:00...so I contemplated my options:

1. I could climb the fence and either aim for the concrete pool deck and hope to land on my feet or aim for the 6 ft high oelander bushes and hope for the best.
2. I could go to our neighbor's behind us and ask for some sort of tool to pry the gate open or assistance in opening the gate but since it was about 8:45 I thought they wouldn't be home
3. I could go to the neighbor's down the street to use the phone but I remembered that the woman who is home during the day is virtually disabled and can't really walk to answer the door and anyone I would call was at least 30 min away making my meeting impossible to make.

So I started thinking, the issue wasn't that I couldn't get enough pressure to depress the lever, it was that I couldn't maintain the pressure long enough because the lever was cutting into my hand when I put all my weight on it ....so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.....

I decided to take off my shorts and wrap them around the handle to try to open the gate all the while praying that god would grant me one favor and please, please, please open the gate. Oh, and maybe a second favor...that no one would see me standing in the driveway in my drawers!

My trick worked!  I got the stupid gate open and got into the house with 45 min to shower, eat breakfast, and drive into work.  I ran around like my head was cut off to get ready so quickly and was about to shut down my computer when I noticed my manager had sent a cancellation for the meeting.  Urrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

I paid for a seat in the sun

Yesterday, Adam and I went to the Rangers home opener.  We've been to either the Rangers or the Cubs home openers for the last 5 years and I have to say this was the worst ever.  The openers are always day games so we at a minimum take the afternoon off.  We had planned on leaving at 11:30 for the 1:00 game so that we could have plenty of time to get to Arlington and be in our seats when George W. threw out the first pitch.  Since neither of us give a squat about the Rangers, I was really looking forward to seeing W more than the game.  

11:30 came and went and I was still trying to save an excel spreadsheet I had worked on all morning for work.  Of course, it was not responding and when I finally convinced my manager to monitor it from the server and save a new copy it was already noon!  Adam drove like crazy and we got to Arlington about 15 min before the game started.  We had agreed we would just valet so that we could make it in by first pitch.  The traffic around the ballpark was horrendous which even though it's a major sporting event the Rangers rarely have much of a crowd so we didn't get the traffic sitch.  We waited patiently to get to the valet and were informed it was full - no sign, no warning, just wait 30 min in line for nada.  

We drove around the entire ballpark and all Ranger parking we were directed to was full, again without warning...only verbal information once you got to the front of the line.  We finally decided to park at Six Flags and walk.  By the time we got to Flags, there was at least 15 cars in front of us...we had to park right by the entrance gates and walk all the way to the ballpark.

By the time we got our tickets from will call, fought the crowd to our seats, removed the people from our seats, and sat down, it was the top of the 3rd.  Uh, the closest I came to George was hearing his commentary over the loud speaker while I was in the bathroom line.  

As if this couldn't get any worse, it was the coldest opening day in Rangers history.  It was in the low 40s with 20 mph winds.  I had plenty of layers but was still pretty happy that our seats were in the sun...at least for the next few innings.  

View from our seats - looks a lot warmer than it was!

Adam went to go fight the lines for some food and while he was gone a slight altercation took place on the row behind us.  We had bleacher seats which are assigned seats but it is not specified how much space each person gets.  This couple shows up and asks everyone on their row to scoot down since they have 2 tickets and there is only space for 1 of them.  This incredibly large mexican guy next to them asks someone towards the end of the row to move down and the man replied, "No, I'm in the seat on my ticket...I paid for a seat in the sun".  I literally almost burst out laughing.  I've been going to Ranger games since I was a little kid and NEVER once heard anyone say they paid to sit in the sun.  If anything, people lie, cheat, and steal a seat from a newborn just to get a seat in the shade.  The large man was not going to let this one go...he said, "you don't have to get upset, I'm just trying to help a brother out and eat my nachos".  They traded snide comments for a good 5 min.  I really restrained myself from providing my 2 cents, not because I feared he would dump his nachos on my head, but because I didn't want to turn around in my seat and possibly touch the freezing metal that my bootie had not already warmed up.

I was so anxious to tell Adam what he missed out on when he returned from his food run since it was the highlight of my day thus far, but he was pouting because the stupid Rangers no longer have Hebrew National all beef hotdogs and replaced them with some hokey Texas BS called Sheriff Blaylocks grilled dogs...uh, really?  I hate hotdogs but enjoy a Hebrew National when it is brought to my seat by a acne ridden teenager carrying a metal box in the 100 degree heat...I don't necessarily think Adam's hotdog crisis trumped my 'sunny seat antics' but I'm just sayin.

By the 5th inning our entire section was in the shade and it was freezing.  Overall, the weather sucked, the game was boring (8-1 Rangers), and I missed the highlight of the entire trip...George!  So the next time I go to a Rangers game and someone says they paid for a seat in the sun, I will reply "well I paid for 80 degree weather, an empty valet line, a hebrew national, and FREAKING GEORGE W BUSH, so pipe down and enjoy your GD nachos!"

This deserves a Cadbury Egg

Adam and I were out running errands and had an unexpected occurrence....

      

Yes!  these are Adam's shorts or what's left of them.  When we left Great Indoors and went to get back into the truck, Adam said, "I think I ripped my shorts".   That was the understatement of the world.  He pretty much tore them in half.  Of course, I found this hysterically funny except when he made me go into the Thumb because he didn't want to go in with his rear end showing.  I felt sorry for him so I bought him a cadbury egg to make up for it...

Adam has a history of demolishing clothing - I don't know what he does but it is never a slight tear, a pulled thread, a fray... but always an out and out, can never wear again, tear.  If anyone knows where to buy 'tough skins' for 6'7" men let me know!

Hot 'lanta, not so hot

Last weekend, Adam and I were scheduled to fly to Atlanta late Friday night.  We packed up all our stuff and I was going to try one last time to get us seats together while Adam made us a quick dinner before we left.  I logged on to AA and there was no available seating chart to view or change seats...uh, why?  So I went to check our flight status which said delayed until 10:40pm and then in big read letters:  FLIGHT CANCELLED....nice.

Adam called AA and apparently our full flight was cancelled due to weather in Dallas and Atlanta and our only option was to take the 7:30am Sat morning.  Considering we were flying home early Monday morning we didn't have much of a choice.  The flight was one of the worst I have ever been on - it was a bumpy puke ride the whole way....

The weather in Atlanta was awful...rainy and very cold.  After a quick lunch at the Varsity we went to visit my g-ma, Annie Boo.  Afterwards, we went to visit my cousin, Michael, at the sports bar he partly owns and to watch the NCAA tournament.  

Sunday we went up to Dahlonega to eat lunch at Smith House.  Dahlonega is the gateway to the Appalachian mountains and was the site of the first US gold rush.   At Smith House you sit at long tables with the guests that came in before or after you.  Once the table is full they serve food family style.  There is no menu, they just serve whatever has been made that day.  On the day we went it was fried chicken, honey baked ham, roast beef, dozen of vegetables, and rolls and white cornbread (no yellow yankee cornbread down there).  It was delicious!

At lunch we sat at the table with a woman that was from Dahlonega.  She said she was 'in law enforcement' and later admitted she had been a bounty hunter and only recently quit so she could spend more time with her two sons who were also at lunch.  After lunch, she told us all about Dahlonega and the gold mine history including all the hauntings.  She was very interesting.  We wanted to go through the shops on the square and see the scottish festival that was in progress but it was way too cold.  

Sunday afternoon we went back to visit Annie Boo.  She seemed much more lucid but still did not want her picture taken.  Despite her protests, we were able to get a few shots.  You can tell from the picture with my mom, that her severe alzheimer's has not stopped her from trying to tell my mom what to do ;oP

      

If it's a holiday, it's a party!

If it's printed on a calendar as a holiday chances are my parents will have a party to celebrate it.  This year for St. Patrick's day my mom decided to have a traditional St. Paddy's day party complete with traditional irish foods - she made:  irish stew, irish soda bread, and potato soup.  She also made 'back up' food for Shari and me:  chicken and mashed pots since we tend to not like anything unless it's is traditionally plain.  And what's a st paddy's party without green and guinness?

    

Adam's Southern Birthday

Last weekend was Adam's birthday weekend.  We started out with dinner Friday night at Roy's.  It was awesome as usual.  On Saturday, I took Adam to get his iPhone that he has wanted since he got me one last September.  It's his new mistress.  Every time I think he is listening to me instead of the TV (which is on if anyone is in the house whether or not anyone is watching is a moot point) he is now playing with his iPhone.  In the week that Adam has had his iPhone he has figured out how to do more things than I have in the 6 months I've had mine.  I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone.  I'm not exactly a tech gadget person like Adam is.

Saturday night was Adam's b-day party at my parents house.  Adam wanted a bbq party so my dad made pork loin, smoked sausage, and ribs.  My mom made her famous homemade mac and cheese.   I think I'm still full.  After dinner, Adam opened his presents....check out how the 5 yr old jumps for joy with his deep fryer ;oP

Ray ban's from Shari and $ from Nannie:

Professional Deep Fryer from my parents:

Guitar Hero World tour complete band from me:

Adam's B-day wishes:

Sunday was Adam's actual birthday.   I made Adam pop-overs for breakfast.  We went to lunch at Gordon Biersch pub that opened recently in Plano.  It totally SUCKED.  The service was horrible and the food was pretty much inedible.  Adam ordered fish and chips and didn't even finish it.  Adam, passing up on fried food....you know it had to suck.  Now that he has his own professional deep fryer to make his own fish and chips he no longer has to settle for overcooked previously frozen fish sticks passed off as fish and chips. 

I don't know how I'm going to survive the next few months with the iPhone, Guitar Hero, and a DEEP FRYER!!!  I can already see my nerves being shot.  Where was my judgement when purchasing these gifts?  And, my mom will never be forgiven for encouraging FRIED FOOD in my house.  We both must really love Adam.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY GATOR BOY!!!