Larry got 4 tickets to a suite for last weekends Texas game. I had never been in a suite and didn't know what to expect. When we got to the stadium we were sent to the elevators. The elevators! I have never taken an elevator to get to my seats! When we got up there we walked into a huge room with a buffet on either side of the room, popcorn stands, Blue Bell station with a lady scooper, a bar...it was amazing! As we were buying drinks Larry asked the ticket person and we found out all of the food was free! Say what?!
The seats span the entire length of the suite, and we had seats in the first row at the 50 yard line. Right before the game we went down to our seats and they opened all the windows. It was a super fun game with some super fancy friends! I can only hope that family at our school can't use those tickets again soon.
Today in our 2nd grade team planning meeting we were talking about what we would need for the baby shower for a teammate. Stacey was looking on Pinterest for ideas and said "this is so cute!" And read off an invite to Courtney for a baby shower for Rebecca. I immediately said that is cute, I also totally made that for my sisters baby shower. She was just looking up baby shower ideas and found my pic for her book themed baby shower. I'm so famous! Ok, I'm so famous on Pinterest, with no one knowing who I actually am. So maybe I should say the baby shower I threw is so famous! Whatever, I'll take it.
A few weekends ago I went home for a friends wedding, and a best friends 30th birthday party. It was such a fun weekend! It started with seeing Holy Ghost at Fitzgeralds. Now growing up in Houston, and my friends always going there for concerts in high school, I don't know how I had never been. But I guess better late than never! If you haven't heard Holy Ghost, you should, especially when in the mood to dance. It's ok to do it by yourself, I have been known to have dance parties all by myself.
The next night I headed downtown for Sara's wedding! It was so pretty, and food was amazing! They also win for best grooms cake ever!
When I left the wedding I headed straight to Jillian's house for her joint dirty thirty birthday party with Katy featuring the best fashion from the 80's and 90's. Because I was coming from a wedding I had to plan in advance and I had a bag of clothes in my car. At every stoplight I took something off (heels, jewelry) and put something on (splatter paint shirt, leg warmers, etc.). I can only imagine what people next to me thought seeing me frantically trying to change clothes before the lights turned.
It was a super fun night with all of my Houston peeps, celebrating my bestie! Enjoy our fashion show below.
I wore this insanely awesome wig (borrowed from a friend who said I had to keep it because "she would never look as good in it as I do.") to school for Halloween.
I wasn't trying to be anyone, I just wanted to hear this awesome wig. There was some debate among the kids what I was supposed to be.
a princess
an old lady
a weirdo (yes, kids asked me if I was these things)
Dolly Parton (I wish I had thought of that! I might have to be oldschool Dolly next Halloween)
We are working on making connections while we read and I was making one to the book we were reading and said I brought something from home when I went to college so I wouldn't feel so homesick.
Kid 1: Where are you know?
Me: What do you mean?
Kid 1: Where do you live?
Kid 2: Don't give out personal information Ms. Ewing!
Me: (talking to another adult before Young Guns started) I got my flu shot yesterday and it hurt way more than usual. Have you gotten your flu shot yet?
Kid: It's be cause the government is closed down. They put weird stuff in the shot. You probably should have waited until they started working again.
You've been warned by a 5th grader. You're welcome.
As I'm reading a book, we're looking for words we can't read or don't know what they mean and work through figuring out what they mean to help become better readers.
Me: Does anyone know what a mule is? Is says he's riding a mule.
Kid 1: It's a half horse, half donkey.
Kid 2: Shouldn't it be called a honkey then? Just say honkey whenever you read it. It makes more sense.
In case you didn't know, and for my friends who will be teaching their little ones where babies come from, here's what you should tell them:
Kid 1: Look, the fairy is this book has the same name as me!
Me: Maybe the book is all about you! Are you a fairy?
Kid 2: I was a fairy once! That's how babies are made. You're a fairy on the ground, and the you evaporate into the clouds. And then you evaporate into your mommy's belly.
In case you didn't know, now you know. You're welcome.
It's been a month. And yes, I'm aware. I apologize because I'm sure you've been checking back every day hoping to see a new post. Well summer is gone and a new school year started. Boo.
I was worried I wouldn't have a kid as quote worthy as the one I had last year, but don't worry! There is definitely a new kid in town ready to claim his title. As we were walking to lunch today this happened:
Me: Why do you always want to be last in line?
Kid: Because I'm special.
Me: What about me? I'm pretty special so I should be last.
Kid: Well we're both pretty special so we can both be last.
Me: So what makes you special?
Kid: Well, I'm a grown up kid.
Me: What does that mean?
Kid: It means I'm a kid that has kids.
Me: Wait, you mean like children?
Kid: Yeah.
Me: How many kids do you have?
Kid: I have 100 children. They all live in my army fort in my backyard.
Things have been hard this summer, and my girls trip to Fredericksburg came at just the right time. I met Angie and Patricia there who were getting their massages while I opened up some wine and waited for them. The hotel we stayed at had a Girls Getaway package where we each got a bottle of wine and wine glass, bath goodies, and a massage! Best. Getaway. Ever.
When they got back we walked downtown (a block away from our hotel) and walked around until we found a good place to eat. Something that sucks about small towns? Everything closes at 8 or 9. We found this super awesome place called Bejas Grill and after eating walked to a bar that had promise and was actually open until 2. Well...it was a craphole and didn't look like they were going to have karaoke with the 3 other people there, so we left. To give you an idea of this place, when we walked in I totally expected a record to stop while everyone looked at us.
at dinner
The next day I woke up and left to get my massage. It was heaven! Again, just what I needed. We then did some shopping downtown and ate at a delicious German restaurant called the Auslander. As we were about to leave for the wineries it started pouring, so we ran to a bar/wine store next door where they were doing tastings. This guy who looked like Gerard Butler was serving wine from his winery, and we ended up getting a glass and hanging out until the rain stopped. When it finally stopped I decided I would buy a bottle of this super delicious wine. Now I am normally a $10 bottle girl, and didn't check the price before buying. To my surprise it was $30! Even if I wanted to change my mind I couldn't because he signed the bottle for me! Oops. I guess I just need to find a special occasion to drink it!
We finally left for the wineries and decided to stop at any of them that looked cool. We hit up 4 different wineries and tried a lot of delicious wine!
First stop, Rancho Ponte
Mandelbaum
Grape Creek, home of the delicious hot tub wine
Four Point
Favorite stop and best way to end the day!
After a perfect day we ate dinner at a different German place we hoped would be haunted. Sadly, it wasn't, but the food was still delicious even without the ghosts. Afterwards we stopped by the candy store, naturally, and finished the night with some wine by the pool.
Sadly we had to leave the next morning after breakfast, but the quick girls trip was perfect! Who doesn't like to get away with 2 of their best friends and go on an adventure and drink wine? We've already started planning for our trip next summer to some super haunted hotel in Louisiana! I'll have to start getting my ghost hunting gear together!
I have been struggling with what to say for the past 2 weeks. I am still struggling, so I will use some of the words I heard a week ago to help say what I want to say. 2 weeks ago a good friend was killed in a car accident. His wife is my best friend Jillian, and as their relationship grew, my friendship with Karam grew. He became a part of our family, just like Jillian has been a part of our family since 1st grade.
I have never wanted to live in Houston more than I do now with everything going on. Karam's funeral was a week ago and it was great seeing everyone that loved and was touched by Karam all in one place. There were over 650 people there celebrating his life. The amount of people sitting and standing together was incredible.
Karam was the type of person that lived life large. When you were with him, he was there with you 100%. He looked for ways to have fun in any situation, and knew how to lift you up when you were down. He loved to dance, with or without you. He was a great friend, and I miss him deeply.
One of his friends that spoke at the memorial service quoted from a Pearl Jam song called Just Breathe:
Yes, I understand that every life must end,
As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, Oh I'm a lucky man, to count on both hands the ones I love Some folks just have one, yeah, others, they've got none
Stay with me... Let's just breathe...
Nothing you would take Everything you gave Hold me til I die Meet you on the other side...
Karam had more love than he could have ever counted.
Tell those that you love, that you love them every chance you get. Don't take life for granted, because life is more fragile than you can imagine. Always laugh. Be with your friends, your family, your loved ones 100%. Live life large like Karam always did.
Karam was phenomenal, and he will never be forgotten.
Remember when I had to take the bus to Austin? And then I had to borrow a friends car to drive to College Station, and then Fredericksburg the same day? And then I had to take the bus to Dallas to get a ride with my cousin to Shreveport for my grandfathers funeral? No? I do. I hate my car. But, guess what?
I got a new car! Well not totally new, it's my grandfathers's practically new car. But it is AMAZING! Here are things I have learned from driving around my new pimped out car:
Cars aren't supposed to overheat.
When you turn on the AC, it's supposed to blow cold air.
Your driver seat shouldn't rattle or rock when you drive.
All windows should be able to be rolled down.
If you press unlock, all of the doors unlock automatically instead of you having to unlock them manually.
Headlights are supposed to shine more than 2 feet in front of your car. Oh, and the light is pretty bright!
The fabric on the roof of the car is supposed to be attached without duct tape.
I was in Houston about 2 weeks ago, and had to find my way back to Austin since my car is a piece of crap and can't handle long drives. My mom was nice enough to come and get me and bring me back, and I couldn't ask her to do that after a few days, so I decided to bite the bullet and take the bus back. Luckily there is this thing called the Megabus that goes straight from Houston to Austin for only $10 last minute! It's a double decker bus and I immediately expected this when my dad and I drove up to the bus "station":
Sadly that wasn't what it looked like, and that's not how we drove to Austin. However, it was still pretty nice! As I was waiting in line to get on the bus I see dad over there sticking his head in, and then just walks on the bus. Typical. When I get upstairs I see him chatting away with his new bestie, also my driver. After talking for a few minutes my dad says bye and leaves. The bus was really clean and nice, with wifi, plugs at every seat, and even tvs throughout if they wanted to play a movie for longer drives. So I'm sitting up top waiting for the bust to leave, and about 10 minutes later (we were about to leave) I hear my dads laugh and realize he never left! He just kept talking to his bestie. My friend Sheri said he probably was trying to get all the info about driving a bus so he could have a job like that where he gets to talk to people all day everyday.
About halfway through the bus ride I check my email and got this from my dad:
"I talked with Mr. Gobchuk, your driver, (name is Russian. Used to be a Petroleum Engineer in Canada. His brother was a Greyhound driver for 46 years and convinced him to become a driver, when he chucked being a P.E.. Lives in Conroe). It is amazing how monitored the bus is by his home office. They know his speed, how close he is driving to the car in front, even if he is sitting in the seat. If (when) there is a fight on the bus, he hits a button which turns on cameras at each seat, the home office sees what is going on, he will get a message on his screen to pull off at a certain exit, and the police are waiting. Pretty cool.
So my friend, Mr. Gobchuk, said he will get you to Austin safely, so you are in good hands."
Thanks dad.
I got there safely, quickly, and I didn't have to drive! I also loved being able to stretch out over both seats on my way there. Who knows, I might even take the bus back to Houston sometime.
Another day, another cupcake. This place was pretty awesome because the entire bakery/cafe is 100% gluten free! That's right. You heard me, EVERYTHING THERE IS 100% GLUTEN FREE! Looking at their goodies case I couldn't help myself and got a lemon coconut cupcake, and a chocolate strawberry frosting cupcake. I know, I'm crazy!
The lemon coconut was pretty good. The lemon cake was better without the frosting in my opinion, which makes it just a muffin, or a sad cupcake. The frosting was good, but the only coconut taste I had was from the decorative flakes on top. They should have pumped up the coconut flavor in the frosting, and if they had I would have been in love! Alas, they didn't ask my opinion.
The chocolate one was very disappointing. The cake was almost too chocolaty and a little bitter because of it. The frosting wins points because they had actual strawberry chunks in it, unlike the Sugar Circus strawberry cupcake. However, the frosting, even after sitting for a long time to warm up, never softened. It was like a big lump of hard...frosting. Sorry, I tried to come up with something clever and am blank.
I am definitely going back! But for the cafe, and not the bakery.
Grade: A- (lemon coconut), B (chocolate strawberry)
My friend Laura, who is new to Austin, started joining groups on this site called Meetups. It's a really cool idea. There are all different types of groups; singles living up north, geeks who drink, couple outings, wino Wednesdays (yes, I joined that group), etc. and it's a way to get to know the city, get to know new people, whatever. She asked me to go with her to play field mojo on Saturday, which after reading a little about it I was quite confused. But I thought, why not, I can meet new people as well! I also dragged Sheri along which she was thrilled about. She tried to get out of it, but I didn't allow it.
So this game is a cross between kickball, dodgeball, and tag. Oh, and keep away. It's insane. There are also 6 different colored balls in case you weren't already confused, with chasers, kickers, and fielders. We also played with 3 teams. Confused yet? Yeah. That's how most of us were even after an explanation, a demonstration, and us playing. I feel I finally got a handle on it when the game was over.
Anyways, the whole point is to kick a ball and get from one end of the playing field to the other without getting tagged by a ball. You also have chasers which are your bodyguards that can knock balls away, whatever they need to do to keep you from getting out. So my first time to kick I start running with a chaser and get beamed really hard on my arm, but the chaser guarding me said he tagged him out first and I was safe so I should keep running. Well this started a huge argument between both teams on what happened first and the game had to be paused. I didn't even understand what was happening and was starting drama. Then on my way back to try to score the same chaser was guarding me and grabbed me at one point and spun me around to not get hit by the ball and then he pushed me in the direction I should keep running. It was all quite stressful. In the end though it was a lot of fun, and I would totally play it again! Just not with crazy people that are competitive and just want to win.
After the game, and our team coming in a respectable second, they tried to convince us to play another game. I just wanted a beer after running around for 2+ hours in this crazy heat and we told people where we would be after the second game if they wanted to join us. To my surprise, at least half of the people came! Sheri, Laura and I had a really great time, and we even got the number of this super funny gay guy that is going to take us to some club where they twerk. You should look it up, it's hilarious. All in all, well done Meetups and Field Mojo!
I remember as a kid always being excited to visit Joe and Marion (my grandparents) in Shreveport for 2 reasons. The first was getting to play with their awesome toys. My favorites were the Atari, if Rebecca would let me do more than just watch her, and this weird ball you could thread a thick rope through which I would pretend to go fishing with off of their front porch. I probably did this when Rebecca kicked me out of the room for annoying her while she played Atari. I'm also pretty sure I did this sulkily, and hoped Rebecca would come and find me and beg me to play with her. I don't think that ever happened.
The other reason I loved going was what happened when I first got there. Joe would "check to make sure I had all of my ribs." As a doctor it was a very serious job and as a growing kid it was important I didn't lose any ribs. I would excitedly jump up on his lap and he would count each one, and tell me to stop squirming when it tickled because it would mess him up. I can still picture his big grin, trying to keep a straight face while tickling me, and making me sit still and take it. I don't know why I loved this rib counting ritual we had, but I loved it. I'm sure part of it was this was the only time I truly had one on one time with him as a kid. Thinking back on it, I wonder if he did this with Rebecca or any of my cousins.
As I got older the rib counting stopped, and it was replaced with long conversations on their porch or around their kitchen table. I'm going to miss that.
From one of my favorite picture books I read to my class every year:
Trisha’s grandma used to say that the stars were holes in the sky. They were the light of heaven coming from the other side. And she used to say that someday she would be on the other side, where the light comes from. One evening they lay on the grass together and counted the lights from heaven.
“You know,” her grandma said, “all of us will go there someday. Hang on to the grass, or you’ll lift right off the ground, and there you’ll be!”
They laughed, and both hung on to the grass. But it was not long after that night that her grandma must have let go of the grass, because she went to where the lights were, on the other side. And not long after that, Trisha’s grandpa let go of the grass, too.
Oh baby! Gonna get to you girl! I was at dinner for a friends birthday when Sheri asked if I wanted to go to the Boyz II Men, 98', New Kids on the Block concert in Houston. It took me about 2 seconds to realize I had to be there, no matter the cost. I mean, come on! I have always loved Boyz II Men. I remember listening to Yesterday, One Sweet Day, and Motownphilly all the time. And New Kids on the Block?! I was in LOVE with Donnie and convinced I would marry him and his bad boy self. (Don't let the Cosby sweater and mullet fool you. He is all bad boy)
I was counting down the days, and on our drive into Houston we were listening to the Boy Band station on Pandora to get us hyped up. Not really needed for me. I mean, I was about to go see my 1st/2nd grade love and his 4 friends sing to me!
Boyz II Men and 98' were both on for about an hour. The Boyz were awesome, although I was sad when Mariah Carey didn't show up to sing One Sweet Day. I never listened to 98' so I didn't know any of their songs, but they were still entertaining.
Nick Lachey breaking it down.
There was no break between the two bands, but there was a quick one before New Kids came on. We expected them to be on for about the same amount of time, but were super excited when a video came on getting us excited for NKOTB and it said they would be on for 2 hours!! I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was like an awesome party for 2 hours. They hand a balloon drop, multiple confetti cannons, streamers, pyrotechnics, etc. Even when they played their newer songs (and by newer, I mean anything recorded after 1994) we were having a blast and dancing along. But let's get real. There was nothing better when a little You've Got It (The Right Stuff), or Hanging Tough came on. They even did their old dance moves to both of the songs! I was dying.
Sheri and I waiting for NKOTB
a little pre stage circle moment
Donnie breaking it down
Jordan singing his girly high notes
You've Got It line up, just before their leg kick dance move.
You can't see them, but they're singing/dancing behind the lit up mics on the ground.
It started to get a little strippery interesting towards the end when Donnie started making out with a girl in the audience, and Jordan and the others started dancing around like strippers. I don't even remember what song it was they were doing this to, I just know I couldn't stop laughing. And in case you were wondering, yes, Donnie does this in every city. You might be thinking, it's probably his wife or girlfriend on tour with them. You would be wrong. We saw different videos with a different girl in each one. I don't care, I know Donnie is just doing what he needs to do in order to provide for me when he realizes he loves me and we get married.
If you want to see some of the tour, search The Package Tour on youtube. I may or may not have done that for an hour before writing this post. It was an almost 30 year old girls dream night!
First, let me say thanks to Rebecca for reminding me to make this announcement. For those of you that use google reader, July 1st is the last day. Wah wah. So, why do you care? Why am I wasting your time reading this when you could be pinning things or laying out. (For those of you that are teachers and do this basically every day now.)
I'm telling you because you won't know when I post something hilariously funny or overload you with pictures of Miles! So, you can go old school like me and start making favorites folders. It works, but as I was doing this I was thinking, "Hello year 2000, I haven't really missed your sad technology." Or figure out another way to keep up with my awesome life.
You better. Or you'll regret it. I'm warning you now.
We started the rest of our week off by playing with this insane bubble maker. This video I was able to get makes me so happy!
The next day we went to the beach! Apparently Miles could have cared less last year going to the beach. But this time he loved it! At one point he started jumping up and down saying, "It's fun at the beach!"
Miles and I
We stomped on castles we made.
Dug holes and sat in them.
And checked out the ladies that passed by.
After we went home and Miles napped, he and I played in the backyard together.
He said he was done so we changed him into regular clothes. I guess he wasn't done after all. I think he did this one more time as well. Lesson learned? Dump out the pool when he says he's done. Or just don't ever change him out of his swim diaper.
I got to babysit him a few times while I was there, and we had a blast every time! We went to several different parks, chased after birds, chased each other up and down hills, played with the water fountain, and of course looked for cool sticks to take home. The first time we did this, I started laughing when we got home because he immediately opened the garage door and put his stick in a basket full of his sticks. I wonder what he does with them after collecting them?
Oh yeah, we also took pictures together. Duh.
The last night I babysat him we were playing in the basement, and he started doing this:
I laughed so hard he kept doing it, so I took a video. The last day I was there we headed to Little Gym for awards day, or show off your kid day, who the hell knows what it was called. It was bonkers in there! Tons of parents, and nannies, grandparents, and yes, an aunt. Miles and his best friend Jack couldn't care less about the class. They ran around doing their own thing the whole time. When it was time for the awards ceremony, Miles wanted nothing to do with the medal or standing on the "podium." We finally got him up there with Jack, and I took this funny picture of Jack telling Miles what he was supposed to be doing.
That afternoon Kelly and her little one, Annie, came for a visit! She was so cute, and it was great seeing Kelly! We got Miles' old bouncer thing out for Annie, and after awhile we decided to go for a walk to help her get to sleep.
When I came back from my walk Miles was awake and found a new spot to hang out.
That thing looked like it was going to break under his weight! Rebecca and I were cracking up, and he was pretty pleased with himself. It was definitely sad to say goodbye to this kid!
Miles' (and my) favorite thing I taught him to say?
That's right kid. You stick around me, and I'll teach you what you need to learn.
