Week at a glance

My week has been so hectic. The kids have all been sick, including the ones I babysit. Last Sunday was my birthday and it sucked, for the most part. I just felt bad all day. Thirty was definitely not a fun one. At least it's over and I can move on. My two friends, Jamie and Missy, gave me a little birthday party. Cake and homemade icecream...MMMM. My friend Angel, crocheted me a scarf, and I love it. On Wednesday my little brother came home from his mission. We all got to go to the airport and pick him up. It was so good to see him. Two years is a long time. All the kids were great though. None of them were shy at all, which was suprising being that they were all so little when he left. Ray and I got to go on a date last night to a seminar about relationships and marriage. It was so good and I've used a few techniques on my kids today and it's worked! Maybe if I keep practicing, life will be easier around my house. Tomorrow is Ray's birthday and we are going to a friends house for dinner. I think we are going out again tonight also. I'm sure things aren't going to calm down anytime soon either. Thanksgiving, Christmas parties, School activities, and Christmas is right around the corner. Does life ever slow down?

Reggie the Rat

Two years ago I needed a bribe to make my girls stay in their own beds. I had a friend that told me rats were good pets. At first, I had this mental picture of the kind of rats you see in the movies. Big, ugly, smelly sewer rats. When we picked two out at the pet store, however, I changed my mind. We brought them home and named them Reggie and Peanut. They have been the best little pets. Emma carries them all over, pulls their tails, and makes them hang from her shirt. Neither one of them have ever bitten anybody. Ray and I get them out and hold them while we watch T.V.

Today, Reggie died. I am so sad. The kids are so sad. We all just cried and cried. We buried him in a little spot underneath our back porch stairs. Emma cried when I covered him because he couldn't see and he was all alone. We said a little prayer. None of the rest of the day has felt normal--just sad. Pets become such a part of your family. We are gonna miss him so much.

Drunk, or something like it

Whitney had a dentist appointment yesterday. She had a few cavities that needed to be fixed and her top front tooth had gotten chipped and needed to be repaired. She was given a dose of some sort of medicine that made her so LOOPY! Dr. Pearson carried her out to the van for me and she hugged him. That just isn't like her. At home, I laid her on the couch and put a blanket over her. A few minutes later I heard something. I went to see what is was and sure enough, it was Whit trying to walk. She looked like someone who had just walked out of a bar and didn't know which way was up or down. She was running into walls, falling down on her knees and crawling, and just laughing about the whole thing. I got out the camcorder and tried to catch some of it on video, but I was afraid she was going to fall and need a trip to the emergency room! It made for a very eventful day. Her sisters got a kick out of it. I wonder if they sell that stuff--There are definitely days that I could use it!

Novemer 8th

Don't you hate it when you have an hour and a half longer to sleep, but your brain turns on and won't stop? This was the case for me this morning. I need to go buy milk. Whitney has a dentist appointment in the morning. I forgot to pay car insurance and oh, crap, is there enough money in the account to cover it??? Dad is getting his surgery soon. I've been so worried about that, but honestly, do I have to worry at 6:00 in the morning? My 30th birthday is in 5 days. That sucks. I can't believe I'm not in my 20's anymore. Where did all that time go? It's just crazy to me the things that go through your mind when there aren't any distractions. I'm usually running through my day like a chicken with my head cut off, and there isn't any time to really "think". Maybe if I got up a little earlier in the morning I could meditate and my day would make more sense. I could stop and think about the things that are important. Busy-ness just gets in the way. As much as I like my sleep, I am glad to have those moments of alone time when I can gather myself and my thoughts and just be "me" for a few minutes.

Bunch of Blondes

These are my sisters. This last weekend we all got together to have a girl's night out, so to speak. It lasted 2 1/2 days though. We met Friday night at the Crystal Inn. As soon as everyone got there, we hopped in Becky's Tahoe and went to find a place to eat. We ended up at Sizzler and had a yummy steak dinner. When we got back to the hotel, we all put our swimming suits on and went to sit in the hot tub. It was so refreshing to just sit, giggle, and not have to worry about anything. We all have so much fun together. Saturday we began our shopping spree. Our first stop was to Gateway. It makes me feel like I'm in California at an outdoor mall, only you walk swiftly to the next store, because you're freezing! We spent a few hours there. I mostly looked because of the lack of money. Jamie and Michelle, the two youngest, scored big at the Wet Seal. My favorite stop was at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory. I got a caramel, white chocolate, oreo covered apple. Good thing I don't go there every day. Gardners Village was next on our adventure. It's this place with all of these cute little pioneer looking houses with shops in them. You just go house to house, like you would at a home show, only you can buy stuff. Tai Pan was the last spot and it's a wholesale store of sorts. There was so much to look at, it gave me a headache. All of my married sisters have a knack for decorating, so we spent a long time there. We were going to go and eat at PF Changs,(my favorite chinese restraunt) but the wait was an hour long and a day of intense shopping like that makes you hungry. Waiting wasn't an option. We settled on Chuck-a-rama. That's where we are in the picture. After dinner, we went and sat in the hot tub again. Both nights we stayed up way past bedtime. It was at least 1:00, before we could stop giggling and go to sleep. Sunday we went to Park City to shop the outlet mall. That's where I scored. We went into Aeropastle and straight to the clearance rack. I got three shirts for $7.41. Who says you have to be rich? My stepmom, Lisa, got all of her Christmas shopping done for the whole family, even the grandkids. It was so fun. At the end of the trip, we hugged and said our good-byes. We decided that this was going to be a new tradition for us. Seven women shopping for two days. That is dangerous. I was pretty spoiled this last week. So much to do, so much fun. It's going to be hard to top.



Back: Mom (Lisa) and Becky
Middle: Holly and Michelle
Front: Nicki and Jamie

Best I could do...

Since I didn't get to take pictures, I bought a magazine. I needed at least one pic. of him! It really was a bummer, but Misti is right, I have the mental pictures forever! Isn't he sexy???

The Continuation of my Perfect Night

I didn't get any pictures at the concert. I was so mad because they wouldn't let me take in my camera. Only cell phone cameras and disposables were allowed. What a bummer! I could've taken some AWESOME pictures. Then I would've been like a teenager and pasted them all over my walls.

The name of the opening band was Antigone Rising. I've only heard one of their songs on the radio, and they were fun, but I was too busy paying attention to Rob while they were singing. A few ladies that were sitting behind me had come down and sat about six seats to my right. I had no idea what they were doing, because it was on the side of the stage where all of the control panels were. I looked down at them and they motioned for me to come sit by them. To our suprise, there was Rob, standing by the controls with a beanie on. Maybe so he wouldn't be recognized, but obviously that didn't work. I could've jumped right over the wall and touched him--He was that close! Of course, I'm too shy to do anything, so the ladies (who were drunk, might I add) were saying his name. I think for a while he was ignoring them, and I was embarrassed by them so I went back to my seat. BIG MISTAKE! As soon as I sat down, Rob turned to them, smiled and waved. MELT MY HEART! At least I was still close enought to see, but dang it! A minute later, he pulled out a cigarette, lit up, and stood there and smoked while he watched his opening act. I felt like a school girl with a crush. I was all giddy with butterflies and all. It isn't every day you are 10 feet away from your favorite singer!

The best part of all this is that my cute husband sat there and laughed and let me have my little crush. He didn't understand all these women with this crazy obession with one man. He thinks it's so funny that everyone goes crazy, just because the man sings good. ( I think he looks good too, but I guess Ray doesn't see that).

After the concert, we cranked my Rob Thomas cd. We drove around till we found a Denny's and shared a piece of carrot cake. On a scale of 1-10, I'd have to rate this date an 11. It's taken me two days to come off of my cloud. I hope it's not TOO long before I get to climb back on again.

I'M IN LOVE!!!

Tonight was the best birthday present! Rob Thomas Rocks! I had such a good time and my throat hurts! I screamed so loud and danced my little heart out. I love that man. Did I forget to mention that I had front row on the lower bowl? So, that means I was right by the stage and could see every expression, every drop of sweat, and every adorable look. It was awesome. I made a friend named Janna, who danced and screamed with me. Our husbands weren't really into it that much. At one point she said to me, "On the count of three, lets scream 'we love you Rob', and we did and it made him smile. At least that's what we'd like to think. The rest of this blog is more for my benefit than anyone else's, so read on if you'd like, but I have to remember the details.

The opening song was "Something to be". He had the panels with graphics going while he was singing with all sorts of crazy things. His opening band was a girl band, but I can't remember their name--Anti something rising. They were pretty good. He sang almost every song on his new album and some old songs from his matchbox twenty days including PUSH, and one other one I can't remember, but will jot in down when I remember. He sang two new songs from his new album called "Something More" which I am going to ask Santa for. He said a couple cute things. He said that he talked to a good friend of his that gave him permission to sing "Smooth", I am assuming it was Santana, and he said that he had permission to F*** it up any way he wanted. Someone yelled that they loved him and he said "I love you too" with this cutest little giggle. His last song was "Illusion" , at least until we screamed long and stomped hard enough to bring him out again. They came out and sang 4 or 5 more songs and ended with "This is how a heart breaks".

I am so exhausted and I'll probably write more, just so I don't forget. I got a key chain (since I collect them) and paid $10. Holy Cow. It was worth it though. I'll post a pic of it, just in case anyone is interested.

To be continued....

Rob Thomas...

Did you ever have a very favorite singer when you were young? I love music and I never did. I liked all sorts of music growing up. Country, soft rock, rock, you name it, I liked it. Now that I'm older, (not much :p) my taste has changed and I am obsessed with Rob Thomas. He used to be with the group Matchbox Twenty, but they broke up last Christmas sometime. Which broke my heart, literally. I started crying! How dopey is that? WELL, for my birthday, My adorable husband bought me tickets for the Rob Thomas concert and guess what????

IT'S TONIGHT!!!! I'M SO EXCITED THAT I CAN'T CONCENTRATE ON ANYTHING!

My grandma is coming to stay with my kids and I get to go on a date with my handsome prince to go see my all time favorite singer. I couldn't ask for a better birthday present.

I'M GOING TO ROB THOMAS!!!!