May I Have This Dance?

While most people spent last night watching the Olympics, I opted to watch Dancing with the Stars. I love this show! And that Drew Lachey can dance! Their freestyle was incredible and I could barely sit still myself, I wanted to jump up and start dancing around my apartment! I was so inspired that I actually logged on to the website, last night, and voted for him! I've never done that, but he deserves to win!!
Go Team Drew!!

A Pause for Station Identification

Sorry I've been absent recently. Work has bogged me down the past few weeks. So much that I haven't been doing anything at night, to even report on my blog, and when I'm at work I barely have time to go to the bathroom, let alone blog. But I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Granted that light could be attached to a speeding locomotive which is barreling me down and will soon run me over, but I just hope it's a regular ol' light bulb, leading me out of stress and chaos and into a time of happiness and laughter.

I think I remember what laughter feels like. I haven't done much of it lately.

Karla, I bet you would relate to this pretty well. Take your worse CS experience and throw in a handful of "I'm going to find you and make you very sorry you ever crossed my path" and you have a small fraction of what the past month has been like.
Oh, and don't forget that I feel stress for my sister's situation (husband still trying to look for work, stressing about benefits for the little boys, Gavin getting glasses and now Max needs glasses), stress for my boyfriend's situation (so many projects, working late, budget, legal, etc.), stress because I'm losing a family member (yes, I have decided to adopt out Houdini...allergies are too much with 2 grown cats), and recently my brother totaled his car when a guy decided to ignore his red light and drive right through the intersection right into my brother's car. (Lance is fine, but it was stress none the less.)

But in one week I will be on vacation. And even if the world blows up, I won't really care. I'll be in warmth, sunshine, surround by family and friends.

I am forever grateful for the support of my family and friends. Good Lord, Jen gets my 20 emails a day, each about 2 sentences long, each wishing I was anywhere but work. Angie gets my morning and evening phone calls (driving to work and driving away from work). My mom gets my late night calls asking for advice on how to handle the work situation. And Kurt gets my exhausted, broke-down, can't-take-another-step-forward calls at around midnight.
And then I wake up the next day and it all starts up again.

OY! This is just a job, it's not my life. When did it become such a big deal?

Alrighty, back to work. Once all this blows over, I promise to blog more often.

Kansas City

Lance sent me some photos he took of Max and Gavin, while they visited him this weekend in Kansas City.

The Super Bowl

First, Ashley and Kurt attempted to mimic Dick Chenney, by playing a quail hunting game...





And then I attempted to play darts, and realized I suck at playing darts...



And then we bowled...

Twinkle, Twinkle

Later that night, Kurt and I went and saw Stars perform at The Metro. It was a sold out show, so it was pretty crowded, but they put on a great performance!

Deleese

Friday night, we all gathered to have dinner at Deleese. It was delicious!

Was Blind, but Now I See

Gavin got glasses this week. The first night he wore them, he spent some time pointing at things in the house and exclaiming "What's that?!" No one realized how much he couldn't see before.
While laying in bed, waiting for mom to read him a bedtime story, Gavin pointed at his wall and said "What's that!?". Angie, after many failed guesses, realized he was pointing to the painting of Noah's Ark that is on his wall. He had never seen the rainbow in the painting before. After Angie explained what a rainbow was, he grew quiet and said, "oh". Then with much animation he again pointed at the wall and said "What's that!?". This time he was pointing to the ark. So Angie said "Well, God asked Noah to build a big boat for the all the animals to ride in." He then grew quiet again and said "oh".

The next morning, I called Angie to ask how Gavin was adjusting to wearing glasses. I could hear him in the background asking to talk to me on the phone. So he got on the phone and told me about his new glasses and started listing off everyone else he knows who wears glasses. Then, very unexpectedly, he asked if he could talk to God (as if I could hand the phone to God or something). With some quick thinking I offered to pass a message on to God for Gavin. Gavin wanted God to know that he says "hi". I later told him that God says "hi" back.

That night, Gavin approached my dad and told him to be sure to talk to God tonight.

I love how three-year-old's think. :)

Watching LOST Together

My mom is in town on business. Last night, Kurt, mom, and I grabbed dinner at The Artisan Cafe and then back to the hotel room to watch our show. It was great seeing her.

Arnold Palmer

Kurt and I both drank Arnold Palmer's at dinner last night. I often forget this drink exists, and when I am reminded, waves of joy shoot through my body! It is such a delicious beverage.
Last night, as I filled up the remainder of my cup with lemonade, I turned to Kurt and said "Whenever I have this drink, I think of Josh."

Cheers to you Josh!

Salon LaVon

Ashley and Michelle came over last night, so we could dye Ashley's hair. Here are the before pictures:




and the during pictures:





and the after pictures!!



Doesn't she look great!!

We All Win When Bob Wins!

Bob won a whole bunch of moolah on a Superbowl bet, which means we all win a free Chipotle lunch! Thanks, Bob!!

Howl

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Metro
Photos by Kurt Pennypacker