Va-ca-sheyon

We survived our week in Branson. We had too much fun, and I mean it when I say we had too much fun, everything costs a soul in Branson. But, what are you gonna do?

On Sunday, we were already packed up and ready to roll. Jack woke up super early, and as usual Sydney slept in a little bit. We only had a 5 hour drive, so we weren't in a hurry. Once we got everything all loaded up, the kids were ready to go! You will see that the kids each have a copy of the map.



We took a nice drive down the Turner Turnpike, which despite common belief is not named after my family. I think we all know any turnpike named after my people would be something like the RedneckInsane Turnpike. But whatever. We had just got on the turnpike when Jack asked us if we were there yet. It wasn't the last time I assure you. We asked if they needed to stop for a bathroom break, and Jack told us that he didn't need to go to the bathroom, and he wasn't hungry, he wanted to get to the "helltell" and get in the pool.

Finally, we got to our exit in Branson. I'm not sure why I took this picture, it is of the main strip, but quite frankly it isn't any where near as busy as the main strip. But it's proof we were there, so...



We got to the Grand Oaks, and Bob and the kids hit the pool. I hit the comfy hotel bed. After I stripped everything off of the beds and put them in the little closet area. I watch Dateline, I know what goes on in those places. After they came back, the kids wanted to sort of sit back and take in our temporary abode. I told you I stripped the beds!



Then we decided to hit the Dinosaur mini golf course. It was fabulous. Here are Jack and Syd standing inside the brontosaurus ribs like on the Flintstones. Or at least that was what I thought.



We went back to the hotel, exhausted. It was about then that Sydney decided that she wanted to go home. I told her not to be silly, that we were going to have fun. But in the dark, I secretly wanted to be in my own bed too.

On Monday morning we went to the Titanic Museum. Like most things that we went to, we weren't allowed to take any interior pics, but the Titanic Museum was my second favorite thing we did on our trip. It was truly amazing. The ship is built to 50% the size of the real ship, and it had actual pieces brought up from the wreckage as well as a lot of personal stories from survivors. I could have spent the day there. I was the only one. Isn't it awesome?


We then went to the dinosaur museum, which wasn't at all what we expected. Jack and Sydney flipped their lids. We made a quick retreat and hit the GO KARTS! Obviously since we were on the Go Karts we couldn't take a picture, but holy monkey was it fun. Bob and I have decided to invest in our own Go Karts and buy a house out in the country. If I could, I would drive a Go Kart everywhere. We rode the Big Woody and I cannot even begin to describe how freaking fun it was. Sydney and I rode together and Bob and Jack rode together. Then Bob and Jack rode the bumper boats. I didn't because Sydney didn't want to, and I wasn't getting wet. Jack sprayed some lady standing outside of the gates. I was embarrassed but laughing at the same time.



While they rode the boats. Sydney and I shared a cold drink and kicked butt at Skeeball.

That night we went to see Imax "Under the Sea". Interesting, but not mind blowing. I was a little afraid a shark was going to eat a baby sea lion but fortunately they passed on that.

On Wednesday we went to the Hollywood Wax Museum! I love the wax museum!

Jack was thrilled to see Indiana Jones

Bob took down the terminator

And NERD ALERT, Bob flipped his cookies over the Star Trek display. And he took my kids with him. There is no hope.


Then we went and looked at some cabins down by the lake. And that night we went to see the Barber-Hamner Magic show. It was my favorite thing. There was a magic show, and a ventriloquist/comedian. Very family friendly, very exciting and very mysterious! Of course we weren't allowed to take pics of the performance. But here is a shot of J and S in the entry to the theater.

I was more than ready to get home. I enjoyed the trip, and we had a really good time, made good memories. But being away sort of made us realize how much we take our every day lives for granted. We have a great life! Everything we do is fun, we are surrounded by family and friends and every weekend is a vacation. We're thinking about Disney World next year. I'm thinking cruise. Then again a trip to Yellowstone or Sequoia state park would be nice also.

Priorities

My kids are making me crazy. They are running around, making messes and being little maniacs. My husband makes me so mad when he does those little things he does that drive me up the wall. I'm whiney because I'm tired and all I want to do is lay in bed and sleep. I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

So when I whine about these stupid things, and I think about how much I wish some things were different, something happens that slaps me upside the head and puts me in my place. Our friend Trevor lost his best friend, Tony, this morning in a car accident. He was 40 yrs old, he has a 2 yr old little boy that he was over the moon about. He had a lifetime ahead of him. People loved him, he was one of those guys who made you feel like you were worthy of listening to, worthy of his time, regardless of how long he knew you. I met him several times, I saw him around town, and in the 10 years since I first met him, I never once saw him without a smile on his face. He made people smile. When I think of Tony, I laugh. He had an infectious laugh. Simply put, he was just a really good guy.

This morning, he died. He died on the side of the road, alone. Much too soon. The world is a little less fun without him in it. He and Trevor were like brothers, and while I did not know Tony as well as others did, I mourn for my friends loss. I mourn for Tony's son who will never know exactly how much his father loved him. How he never knew how much he could love anyone until that little boy came along. I mourn for a mother who lost her only child, and I wonder how a person survives that. I thank God that my husband is healthy and safe here in our home. I thank God that my babies are healthy and safe and that they know how much we love them.

So tonight, while his mother holds onto whatever she can, I will hold onto my children a little bit tighter, I will tell my husband how much I love him more, and I will thank God that they are here for me to do so. When the house gets dirty, I'll clean it up. When the kids are bouncing off the walls, I will be grateful that I am here to watch them do it. When Bob snores at night, I will be so thankful that I can hear those snores. Because those snores mean he's alive and he's right here with me.

Life is too short to let the little things get you down. I won't worry that we went over budget on our vacation. I won't worry if this stupid house sells. I don't care about anything but life and I will remember how short it can be.

All Our Bags Are Packed...

We're ready to go...We're leaving in the morning to take a trip to Branson, Mo. Bob and I met in Branson, and Jack's middle name is Branson. See the connection? Galveston is still recovering and we don't have the time for a trip to Chi-town, so we're road tripping to Branson. We're planning to hit the Titanic museum (that's mine), the Wax museum (for old times sake, Bob and I made out in the Wizard of Oz corner just shy of 9 years ago), the Hollywood museum and anything else fun we can find. Silver Dollar City opens on Thu and Bob has a breakfast meeting that day so we can't stick around for that.

The kids are as excited as if it were Christmas Eve. They have packed everything they can fit into their little bags. Now I have to unpack all of it and put it all away, then repack it with their clothes. Then, when we get to the hotel, they'll open the bags and be all mad that I took their good stuff out. They have counted down to this, they have their little pocket calendars and they have checked off the days.

I'm excited. It's the kids first trip and our first in a very long time. The car is maintenanced, and the house is all ready to show while we're gone. The bonus of that is that when we come home, our house will be in perfect condition. I looooove that.

Wish us luck!

Showing the house

The house has been listed for about 2 1/2 weeks now. Or is it 3 1/2? I can't remember. I do know that we had not had so much as a drive by slowly-er and I was getting frustrated. I did check the website daily and it was getting several hits. But like I said, most of them were from me. Whatever. I should have known that today would be the day that it would be shown. Want to know how I know that? It rained, and my house only seems to ever be shown when it's raining. Our stinking open house last year was on the rainiest day of the year. It's just ridiculous.

This morning, at 9:40am, as I'm clomping around the house looking like a crackwhore, the realtor that listed our house last time, called me. I was afraid to answer, because I've been dreading that moment that we see each other and she smacks me around and tells me how much I suck for not using her again. But she never showed the house when she listed it, and she pretty much sucked so there you go. Anyway, she calls me and tells me that she wants to show it at 10:30am. Less than an hour away. Fortunately we've been pretty on top of keeping things up around here, and I just needed to do a few things. But I was doing them with little Sam Sam and my Sydney following me around undoing them. I managed to get out the door by 10:27am. With all three of my wet dogs in tow. At 10:40am, she calls me and tells me that they weren't going to look at it. Bitch.

I KNOW that skank did that on purpose. I know she did. So I came in and got ready to take my GG to run some errands. Sydney didn't want to go, so Andy offered to stay at the house with her. Apparently, while I was out, someone pulled a "drop by". She claims to have left me a message but she didn't. And she didn't leave a card, which is sort of odd. No big deal, the house was ready to show, right? Yeah, well the dogs weren't ready for the house to show.

When a leaf falls on the ground, all my dogs go insane. My border collie will nearly bust through the window, my rat terrier will bark incessantly with a very high pitched shrill sound. And Taco will antagonize both of them and inevitably the two females will start to fight. And it's not the walking around stiff legged, growling fight. It's full on mauling and hair flying everywhere. I don't think there were any fights, but there was a lot of barking. She managed to get the dogs outside, and the two ladies came through and then left.

I had Andy take the dogs to my moms, because my GG wanted to shop. And I never turn down a shopping trip with my GG. She's got champagne taste on a champagne budget, if you know what I mean. So I left the house lit up like a Christmas tree, and everything perfect. But no one else came by. Why would they? I was prepared.

I did get a call in the middle of fighting some grouchy chick over a pair of Ecko maryjanes at Dillards. Another realtor is showing my house tomorrow. I'm hoping this is the beginning of something beautiful. I hope that while we are away next week on vacation, 200 people come through here. I don't even care if they look in my underwear drawer. I'm just ready for this to be over and done with. Wherever we decide to move to, I'm making sure that it's the house I will die in, because I don't ever want to have to sell a house again.

PS. GG and I got matching bitch red Liz Claiborne bags today. I also got some slammin' shoes for spring. Score one for the big girl.

Too busy to work?

There is a pre-k teachers assistant position open next year at the school. It's for Sydney's class. I am considering applying for it. I feel like if Sydney is at school, then what will I do? But as my husband pointed out, there is plenty to do. Here is my to do list as of right now.

*I need to go and fax my ID to the place to get Syds birth certificate because I have to have in for pre-k enrollment.
^I need to go to the bank and make deposits. Thanks to my outstanding academic achievements the state of Oklahoma has rewarded me with free money! And I got some cashola for my birthday.
*I need to go to the grocery store so bad, we have nothing in the house and we're even out of toiletries, I can't find the list it took me an hour to make last night.
*I have a quiz due by noon tomorrow in personality theories, a class that is busting my balls big time, and I have midterms next week. If I don't pull at least a B out of my developmental psych midterm I can kiss my 4.0 goodbye.
*I need to send in my information for the honor society membership that I finally got my invitation to.
*I need to go and sign the kids up for soccer and t-ball and get a hold of this other dad to co-coach with Bob.
*I need to go and get my oil changed and my get new tires on my van.
*I need to take some things back to the mall and go to the book store.
*And I desperately need to go and get a pedicure before I scuff the floors with my nasty ass crusty heels. I also need a nail fill.
*I need to color my hair because it is seriously at this point full on gray.
*I was suppose to be doing PTO popcorn sales today. I missed the volunteer reading program this week, and they have called me to sub 3 times this week.
*I missed my GG's birthday so I need to go and get her a gift or some flowers and a card and go and see her.
&I also need to run and check in on Bob's uncle at the nursing home.
^I'm helping my sister, the nurse, remodel her house. I'm getting together lits of contractors and pricing for her to. She's clueless and she works wonky overnight hours. (I'm very excited about this project because it takes my mind off of the fact that my house hasn't been shown once since it went on the market almost 2 weeks ago)

Yet here I am, laying on the couch, watching Twister with Sydney and Samuel wishing I could snap my fingers and be showered and ready to go. My back still hurts, but it's better. I think that if I could get out and walk around it might loosen up a little bit. But they put me on bed rest until next Monday, I can't do that. I'll go nuts. And I refuse to take anymore of the prescription pain meds at this point because they are making me totally worthless. I am determined to cook again tonight because my kids are sick to death of cereal, spaghetti Oh's and frozen pizza.

I'm too busy to work! Who would take care of everyone?

Jack

Jack will be six in late May. He is without a doubt the coolest kid I've ever known. I would say that if I wasn't his mother. Anyone who knows him will tell you that. He's quite the social butterfly, he's the big man on campus. Everywhere we go, we see people who know Jack. Older kids, younger kids, teachers, other parents. Everyone knows him and thinks he's a righteous dude. He's a nice kid too, he'll befriend the one kid that no one else likes, and bring them into the fold. My cousin works at his school, and she has mentioned more than once that the kid is a freaking rock star. Jack has a posse. There are 5 of them. There are 5 little girls that have each chosen one of the boys as HERS.

The other day, Jack was wrestling with his dad, and told him that he was going to punch him in the nuts. We asked him if he even knew what that meant, he then proceeded to grab himself and tell us "these are my nuts". He wasn't talking about the jar of pecans on the counter. We asked who told him that and he informed us that his buddy was complaining that another kid had punched him in the nuts. I asked him if they were laughing and he told me "no mom, it hurt!". So we then tried to explain that the term nuts, while funny, is not appropriate. Then we explained that he will find that most funny things are not appropriate. That doesn't stop me but I don't want him telling his teacher that I allow him to call his little men nuts.

Tonight, he was talking to my friend Andy about girls. He said to her "those girls smell like...like..." and she said "poop?" and he said "no, no...they smell like those powdered donuts. And they smell goooood". He said this with a far off look in his eyes. Two months ago, when I asked him if he had a girlfriend, he not only said no, he told me to never ask him that again. He complained that the girls are just annoying and they won't leave the boys alone. All of a sudden these little vixens smell like powdered donuts? I mean, I know how Jack feels about powdered donuts. He LOVES them.

I'm not ready for nuts and chicks man. I'm still having a hard time dealing with the fact that he not only wipes his own butt, he showers by himself and goes to bed when he's tired. When he reads to me, it makes me want to cry. Mostly because the days of spelling things out to keep them a secret are almost over, but also because it means that he's growing up. The older he gets, the older I get. The older he gets, the closer he gets to thinking I'm an annoying pain in his ass. By habit I ask him if he's ok without even thinking about it. He no longer wants me to ask him that. If I do ask him, he gives me his exasperated look and tells me "MOM, stop asking me that!". You know it's coming. You know that any day now he'll be telling his posse that his mother is a psycho hose beast who needs to cut the cord.

I'm beyond proud of him, he makes my heart explode. But I want him to just slow down. At the rate he's going, he'll be out the door and cruising the poo'** before I can say "are you ok?"

**slang for a local street in our little burb called Kickapoo that the kids have cruised since my parents were in high school