Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Super Swim Master

 "I got this one for mastering Super Waterbabies."

"I'm so happy I think I'll dance a little."

"Look at me and my ribbon!"

"Mommy said lay it down for a minute so that she could see it."

"Mommy is so proud of me!  Next week I start Extreme Waterbabies....I'm so excited because Emma's Mommy talked the instructor into moving Emma up so that we could stay together.  I'll be back at the end of the summer to hopefully report that I'm excelling at Extreme WB!"

Sunday, May 27, 2012

No Pool for the Pool Party

Adam and I hosted our annual Memorial Day Pool Party on Sunday this year.  You know you are getting old when you need a day to recover from the festivities before you can go back to work....especially considering how hard we know I work it means I'm really old.  And as happens every year since the neighbors tree grew big enough to shade almost our entire pool, the water was too cold to get in.  Every year I set out the towels and the sunscreen and rarely does anyone make it in past there knees.

Partaking in the towels but not the pool:


And, as usual, this is the ONLY picture of our party.  No pics of the tent decorated with red, white, and blue star lights.  No pics of the Chinese lanterns, pin wheels, bunting, flags, or pom-pom ceiling and door decorates.  For some reason, every year I set out the camera and no one ever takes a single picture.  The one above came off Adam's phone.
  
I think it's time we start new traditions for Memorial Day...don't wear your swim suit and don't bring your camera and maybe we will luck out with warm enough water to swim in and some fab pics of all the swimming...

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Acute Limping

Maison's friend from swim class, Emma, parents invited us over for dinner and to swim.  The girls had been swimming and playing on the play set all afternoon.  After dinner, they were sitting nicely enjoying their popsicles:


While we were sitting at the table talking, the girls went to climb up the ladder on the playset and then we heard mass hysterics.  Maison was screaming bloody murder and crying.  She said she fell going up the ladder and hurt her leg (shin).  At first I thought she was fine but then she started limping.  She was trying to continue playing but really couldn't walk normally.  Maison rarely cries from bodily injury, in fact, she didn't cry when she cut her eye on a brick (see Brick Eye) so it was a little alarming that she was making such a fuss.  Considering I saw a third grader break his femur (largest bone in your body) while kicking a soccer ball at recess, I wasn't about to just assume a limping child had not broken something.

So off to Acute Kids we went, agreeing along the way that if the x-ray showed a fracture we would say thanks but no thanks and head to Children's hospital.  Luckily it was just a bruise.  So no treatment required other than ice and rest.  They told us she should be fine in a few days but they would have the orthopedic specialist review the x-rays and call us on Tuesday after the holiday.  We are praying that they are right...the last thing we need is another health problem with Maison.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

More Bike Trail Idiots...

Just when I thought the the bike trail couldn't get anymore interesting, today I saw it all.  I was on my usual section of the bike trail when I saw a family of "beavers" hanging out right by the trail, about 15 feet from the water edge.  I had a run in with what I thought was a beaver not too long ago (see Unwelcome Friend) but today I realized it was not a beaver but a nutria (aka river rat).  Apparently they are taking over the duck pond and there are signs every where saying NOT to feed them and not to approach them because they bite.

So what did I see today other than about 10 nutria hanging out by the trail?  That would be an Indian guy with his kids and wife (in sari) feeding them bread.  Sure, why not feed a rat a little bread?  Are the ducks a little boring?  Maybe the nutria would like to snack on your wife's sari.  Or better yet, why don't you take them home and fry them up in a pan and make stir fried nutria like they do in Louisiana???  Now that that they are comfortable enough to approach the bike trial maybe they'll take to sunnying on the trail so there will be another obstacle to avoid.  Wouldn't that be fabulous?  Let's take a look at what a nutria looks like, shall we?



Would you rather be cussed out or chased by a river rat that wants bread?  Sounds like an adventure race not a bike ride...geez!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Getting Wild with Mark Chesnutt

We went to the Wildflower Festival today in Richardson to see Mark Chesnutt and we had the BEST TIME!  Maison thoroughly enjoyed all the festivities...

Taking on the hoola hoop:


Checking out baby goats:

Checking out my future b-ball competitors:


Enjoying the 'jumping fountain':



Dancing it out to Mark Chesnutt while sucking on a ring pop:



Apparently Mark Chesnutt may have "only planned on one or two" but it looks like he was referring to bottles not drinks.  He needs to "go through the big-D and I don't mean Dallas" that would be a big diet.  He's certainly packed on the LBs since we were in college but he still has some of the best country songs ever written!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Bleepin Bikers!

I was just called a "bleeped, bleeped, bleepin, biker".  I know, I know... I've been called a lot worse and I'm sure I'll be called much worse in the future but I still didn't appreciate it.  And I know I've been known to cuss like a sailor from time to time and I've dolled out my fair share of "f-bombs" but I grew up in a good Southern Christian house and I certainly know it's not appropriate to drop the "f-bomb" before noon unless you have incurred bodily harm or have damaged an expensive material item beyond repair (like totaling a car).  So why is someone cussing me out at the ungodly hour of 6am???

It's the same ole story...bikers hate runner/walkers and runner/walkers hate bikers.  It's called a bike trail for a reason, so don't seem shocked when you see a bike.  I was approaching two runners (a girl and guy) that were running side by side with a walker coming the other direction.  I said "on your left" 3 times and the girl made a move to fall behind the guy leaving barely enough space for me to pass between the runners and walker.  Right when I got ready to pass, the girl moved back to her original position making it WAY to close to pass.  I literally almost hit her.  The walker didn't stop or make a move to the grass so I almost hit her too!

The girl told me, "to watch where I was F-ING going.  If you had hit me I would pick you and your f'ing bike up and throw you to the ground.  Why didn't you say something???"  To which I replied, "I said something 3 times.  Maybe you should listen instead of doing more talking than running."  Had I had my wits about me I would have said something to the affect that I would like to see her try.  I highly doubt she could catch me and if she could I would take it as a complement if she could pick up me and my bike.  I certainly wouldn't view it as though she was overly confident in her athletic abilities.

And wouldn't you know that I saw them after I hit the end of the trail and turned back.  This is when I rode into a cloud of cuss words.  "There's that bleeped, bleeped, bleepin biker".  Yes, yes it is...and for those of us that actually passed high school physics a bike with 115 lb person moving 18+ mph will cause severe bodily injury if you get in my way so you can take your cuss words and get out of my way before I run your blabby mouth over.  Why don't you do more running and less talking and you might actually hear a biker approaching?

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Whirling with Mothers

We have had a whirlwind mother's day weekend.  Friday night we did dinner with our whole fam at Mercury Grill, Saturday Adam took Mais and me to brunch at La Duni, Saturday afternoon we went boating with Lisa, Jon, and Jayden, Saturday night to a dinner party at Shari's, and this morning to a brunch at Camp Gooey.  Wow, I'm tired just typing all of that but it was really one of the best weekends we've had...
Nooey with her babies:

Mommy with her baby:

Maison with her baby (aka the bubble machine):

Nannie receiving her gift from Noo and G:

A restored picture of Nannie's father:

Noo got Chanel sunglasses from Shari so she would be stylin on her trip to England:

Noo opening her Kindle Fire from Mommy, Daddy, and Mais so she would be entertained on her flights:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Boating Babies

 Jayden invited me to go boating with him this afternoon and even though it's Mommy's weekend she said we could go.

Jayden taking the boat for a little spin:

Think I'll do a little fishing...

"Watch out, I'm casting"


"Jayden's grandmother was nice enough to teach me how to drive."

 

 "No Jayden, It's MAISON'S turn!!!"

"Thanks Jayden for such a fun afternoon!"

Friday, May 11, 2012

Muffins with Mom

This morning was the mother's day brunch at Maison's school.  It was the first school mother's day brunch I've attended as a mom.  As soon as we walked in Maison's classroom she ran to get the gift she had made me.  She was so excited that Mommy got to stay for a little while that she barely noticed that she was allowed to have a cinnamon roll.  

We've been taking Maison to a new specialist who does not believe Maison has a sugar intolerance.  He confirmed she has a dairy allergy.  So we gain back fruit and natural sugar (processed sugar on special occasions) but we lost dairy.  Losing milk has proven to be easy.  Losing cheese and yogurt...not so much.  She literally cries for 'sprinkle cheese'.  We pretty much avoid all situations where cheese could be involved when Maison is with us to avoid the melt-down.  So far, so good...besides she's just thrilled to be able to eat strawberries.

As you can tell there isn't much to report from the mother's day brunch.  When Maison and I arrived we were only the 2nd family to arrive so really nothing interesting happened.  I usually have a pretty flexible schedule at work but unfortunately had an 8:30 meeting that I couldn't get out of and thus couldn't stay very long at the party but long enough to see Mais eat her first cinnamon roll and to do some of her "work" (what they call the Montessori materials)...

Maison's gift for Mommy:

Maison checking out a cinnamon roll for the 1st time!

Showing Mommy how to build a block tower from thick to thin:

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Sometimes it's worth it

Most days I hate my job; not because it's that difficult or that stressful but just because I have to do it.  Some days I'm just not feeling it.  Most days I commit 'professional recklessness' the phrase I coined to describe how I conduct myself in my cushy position that I feel I earned after spending 13 years in the Telecom industry.  Professional recklessness is at it's best when I'm driving through school zones presenting to people in about 8 different countries while Maison is watching Smurfs on the DVD player in the car.  Yes, these occurrences say I care a lot about my job.

But then today I got an email from our senior management regarding our "Thinking Days" results.  (Aside:  "Thinking Days" were just created by our Senior Mgmt in the trendy Applications group I'm in, which means for 2 days a quarter we just think about improving our product or improving ourselves...no emails, no meetings, no conference calls, no IMs...just thinking).  Quite honestly, I did consider dialing this one in and doing a half-azz job considering I work from home and all.  It would have been easy to think while watching Days of our Lives.  But in the end I decided to give it a go, not just because I'm such a stellar employee but because my manager asked us to report back to our team how we spent our two days.  So I put together some process improvements for Agile methodology and PCT (project core team) and submitted it.

You can imagine my surprise when I got an email today saying out of 250 employees, 60 ideas were submitted to the Senior Leadership Team by our managers for potential implementation.  Of the 60 ideas 19 were selected for implementation and the 19 submitters would receive $25 Amazon gift cards.  Of the 19, 4 finalist were selected to receive an iPad 3 with 4G and LTE functionality....wait for it, wait for it...I was one of the 4 finalist!  I was in the car with my dad looking at houses (yes, committing more professional recklessness) when I got the email and I literally blurted out, "Holy Sh*t, I just won an award at work."  I think I'm still in shock...I literally had to read the email 3 times before i believed it.

Considering most telecom companies haven't given their employees anything but a pay check in the last 10 years I was floored that they would spring for a top of the line iPad....sometimes working in worth it!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Soccer is SO Exciting!

Maison was so into watching my soccer game that she decided to learn a new sport...

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Thank You, I'll have another!

We put on our finery and flowered hats and headed over to Shari's Derby Party.  We were greeted at the door with Mint Juleps made with the official Kentucky Derby bourbon, Woodford Reserve, and fresh mint.  She had a rule that everyone must finish at least one.  After making a "I just sucked on a lemon" face as I swallowed the first sip, I was only able to finish it with extra mint and LOTS of ice.  

Working on M.J. #1:

What would a Derby Party be if you didn't wager on your favorite horses?  We each had to pick 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers.  We even let Maison play...2 1/2 is not too young to start gambling!  It would be quite a story if Maison had won but she didn't....instead Mommy won!  YES!!!  I FINALLY won the pot at an Ellington function.  All thanks to picking the 2nd place horse, Bodemeister, correctly.  I was the only one who picked any of the top 3 horses in the right place!  Oh, and congrats to I'll have Another, his winning knocked out all my other competitors putting me in the lead...WOO-HOO!

Happy Derby Day from the Derby Girls:

Nueve Cinco


The reasons you celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Texas:

1. A reason to drink margaritas 
(though you don't need a reason)
2.  Mexico won their independence from France 
(actually any country winning a war against France is worth celebrating)
3.  Cinco is usually the second digit in the temperature and Nueve is the first

Current temp in P-L-A-N-O:


Cinco-ing at Chuy's



Normally my parents have a Cinco Celebration but given Cinco de Mayo and Derby Day fell on the same day this year they decided not to host their annual event.  Since we are good Texicans we didn't want to miss out on a Cinco celebration even though we were scheduled to be at Shari's Derby party this afternoon.  So as soon as Chuy's opened at 11am we claimed out spot on the patio.


HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!



Friday, May 4, 2012

Bret's still got it!

Tonight Shari and I went to see Bret Michael's with Kelly.  The concert was surprisingly good and Bret is still hot!  No, I am not trying out for Rock of Love; I'm just stating a fact.  

Unfortunately, you can't see Bret's hottness in the crappy pic from my iPhone:



But trust me, bandana hiding hair loss or not, Bret's still go it!



I Heart Wellness Center

I had the best massage therapist ever and she moved to Irving a few years back.  After years of bad massages I tracked her down at her new location and now drive 30 min out of my way just to get a good massage.   So why would I love a chiropractic and massage wellness center?  Let's see, despite the 30 min drive from Plano, I can get a 1 1/2 massage or $35.  Yes, $35 and no this is not China.  It's $35 because it is 'necessary therapy' per my chiropractor which means....ta da the insurance will pay for it except the co-pay.  Plus I get a chiropractic adjustment included in that price.

Still not convinced that is a reason to love a wellness center?  What about the chiropractor prescribing me my own electro-therapy machine for a sprained ankle I didn't even see him for???  This thing is physical therapist quality and runs about $500.  Cost to me = free because 'I needed it to recover' and the insurance covered it.  Now every time I hurt myself playing soccer, etc. I just give the area a little 15 min zap twice a day and I'm good as new in no time.

And if these weren't good enough reasons...who couldn't love a place that sends cards like this:



Need I say more?

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Finally, a Good One!

Finally we got a school picture that looks like a school picture:


But what's up with Mais's bow?  It was on properly when I dropped her off.  Not sure why they felt the need to 'restyle' my child but I'll take it as a successful school pic!