Unsupervised Coloring

Happy Birthday, Josie!

Love Ya!

(Nice shoulder pads.)

A Tale from a Locker Room

Lucy and I have been taking swim lessons for the past five weeks. 30 minute sessions twice a week. It's basically a class where I'm taught how to teach Lucy to perform skills in the pool such as blowing bubbles, going under water, kicking, etc. Since Lucy and I both love the pool, it's been a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures of Lucy from swim class since we're always in the water together, but I do have a little story for you...

While we're in the smaller pool participating in Parent/Toddler swim class, there is a Silver Sneakers class (aka old folk aerobics) going on in the big pool. As you can imagine, Lucy is a bit hit with the old ladies. After our class, we have about 20 minutes before the ladies make their way into the locker room. We're usually just about finished getting ready when they walk in. I always get Lucy dressed first and then she wonders around the locker room talking, yelling, and just being Lucy while I get ready. The other day a woman comes in with a Mickey Mouse towel wrapped around her waist. Lucy immediately recognized the mouse and headed over to the woman for a closer look. Mickey's head was positioned on the woman's backside. With about 10 onlookers, Lucy walked around to the back of the woman so that she could be face to face with Mickey and reached out and touched Mickey. The woman wished that it would always be that easy to get someone to touch her butt.

The 2010 Dating Scenario

It feels good to be out of the dating game especially after hearing some stories from a friend of mine that has been dating lately via eHarmony and Match.com. Here is an e-mail exchange between her and her last date. She felt that the date went terrible.

E-mail from the date to my friend:

Hi _____

did u have fun?? i wasn't sure if you did or not. the evening ended rather abruptly for me, in retrospect i would have liked to have gone somewhere else and talked some more. i do enjoy talking with you and your sense of humor. so am i your type? do u have a type?

Here's her response:

Hi ___________,

Okay, I'm going to be totally honest. Here goes....

1. When the check gets dropped on the table and it's your intent to pay (which as the initiator of the date, that's usually how it works), you need to grab it immediately. Not doing so will lead your date into a confusing internal dialogue called, "What am I supposed to do right now?"

2. I know that in many countries it's socially acceptable to chew with your mouth open and even sometimes seen as complimentary to the chef, but here in the States, it's generally viewed as poor table manners, and even if you choose to never speak to me again, you should keep this in mind for future dates.

3. If you really want your date to think you're excited about going out, then you need to be the leader of the date. Have the place picked out beforehand, be the person to step forward and talk to the hostess, know what kind of a place you're going to and what the seating arrangement is like (our table was terribly non-conducive to good conversation, and it probably would have been better to sit at a traditional table where we could have been seated across from one another and able to more easily converse), and be the decision maker ("I'm having a good time and would love to continue our conversation somewhere else. Can I buy you coffee or dessert?"). Speak up if you want to go somewhere else! Let your date know you're having fun!

4. When you hug someone, hug them like you mean it, even if you don't! One can surmise many things about a person by the way they hug. Are they comfortable with physical affection? Are they comfortable with themselves? Do they have a difficult time with displays of emotion? It would have been, from my perspective, really weird for me to get out of the car with only saying goodbye, so I gave you a hug. On a date you need to at least be prepared for that! Any more than that would have been awkward, too, so a hug is right in the middle and safe on only the second date.

5. Are you my type? Well, physically speaking, yes. I find you to be extremely attractive. You are neither tall nor big, which is exactly the frame that I prefer in men. And, I think you're rather handsome. However, I can't say that I felt any sort of chemistry last night. Maybe it was because of our table? Too many uncomfortable pauses in conversation? I'm not sure. I just wasn't feeling it. And honestly, I didn't think you were, either. In fact, I was totally surprised to open your email and find that you did have a good time (at least that's what I'm inferring).

So, that being said, I guess I'll leave the ball in your court. I can't imagine you'll want to ever see me again after this email, but if you do, then I'd be happy to give it another shot. You seem like a good person, and like I said, I think you're really attractive.

I love that she was so appalled by his dating skills that she felt she needed to be specific in her details as to why she's not interested. It cracks me up.

Assistant

Some people think that my job isn't hard. You try working on a computer when there are 10 ponies taking a nap in front of the keyboard.

Happy Birthday, Stacy!

Love Ya!

Pics from Jan 16th - My bad

I posted these on Facebook and decided that I should probably get them on the blog for the non-Facebookers.

Mom and I, and the dogs, went on a hike up by Red Rocks. The weather was beautiful!

Rocky is a total SPAZ and Melvin is a super duper hiker.

I had to have Mom and Rocky walk in front of us the whole time because all of Rocky's grunting and hacking from pulling so hard on his leash made me want to throw him over a cliff.

Mom also keeps a pretty good pace going. Note to self: think twice about asking her to join in on a hard hike...I may not make it.

From dirt to snow to mud. It was a messy hike and the dogs were disgusting.

Pics from Jan 15th - My bad

I posted all of these pics and more on Facebook and therefore never got around to posting them on the blog. For all you Facebook folks, you've already seen these. For everyone else, enjoy!

Mom and I went to Little Gym to see Lucy get her medal. What was cool about the class, was that it was a normal class and then they gave out the medals at the end. Mom has never been to Gym class so she finally got to see what it was all about. Above, Lucy just busted out a forward roll on the balance beam and is now handing out high 5s all around.

Yeah for Lucy!!

After Gym class, I went with Lisa and Lucy to the stock show to hang out with the animals. Lucy loved it.

Lucy actually makes this face quite a bit, but the fact that Lisa got a photo of it is pretty miraculous. It was in response to a hen thingy going "Cock a doodle dooo."

New blog

I've started a new blog. Click here to see what it's all about. I've also added a link in my blog list to the right. It's titled, "What Are We Getting Ourselves Into." I recommend reading the posts in order of date.

EARLY Birthday Wish!!

Happy EARLY Birthday, Teri!

(It's tomorrow.)

Love Ya!

Belated Birthday Follow-Up

Mom and I just spent over an hour in the basement looking for Birthday and Anniversary pictures for the blog. Here are some slightly belated pictures and one REALLY belated picture (sorry Sam).

Happy birthday Sam! (Oct 23)

Happy Birthday, Will! (1-1)
(Recognize the scooter?)

Happy Birthday, Grandma Donna! (1-9)


Happy Birthday, Patty! (1-11)

Happy Birthday, Ritchie! (1-15)

Who knew?

Apparently our crew has been working out instead of working. Uncle Chris and Marc are looking real good!

(Uncle Chris is wearing the sunglasses and Marc is to the right of him. Enjoy ladies!)

My Assistant

While this may seem really cute that Lucy is sweeping, it is actually a test of my patience. I had almost finished sweeping the kitchen when Lucy decided that she wanted to help. Her idea of helping was to disperse my pile of debris back throughout the kitchen. I then had to sweep it back into a pile and then quickly get it in the trash. After sweeping I was attempting to wash the floor, but Lucy was "helping" by playing in the bubbles in the bucket and stealing my rag every time I put it in the bucket to rinse it out. I keep thinking that cleaning will get easier as Lucy gets older, but I may have to wait 'til she's a teenager before she no longer wants to "help." (Note: she also "helped" scrub the tub and bathroom floor, but luckily it was after I was already finished and she had her own sponge at this point. I think that I'm going to get her one of those little kid cleaning kits. Then maybe she'll leave my stuff alone.)

Racer X

Aubrey has made it on the main web page of Racer X magazine!

A few belateds

Okay, I've been meaning to get some old pictures posted of my fam damily, but it keeps slipping my slippery mind while I'm at my mom's. So I would like to wish some belated Happy Birthday's to some very special people. Hopefully I'll get pics posted soon.

Happy Birthday, Will!

Love Ya!

(1-1-10)

Happy Birthday,

Grandma Donna!

Love Ya!

(1-9-10)

Happy Birthday, Patty!

Love Ya!

(1-11-10)

It's nothing personal when I post some people's birthday's on time (like my brother-in-law yesterday) it's more a matter of photo convenience. If I have a pic on my computer your chances of a prompt Birthday wish are much greater than if I have to sort through thousands of pictures in boxes at my mom's.

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Love Ya!

Happy (1 day belated) Birthday,

Hot Stuff!

(I mean Liz)

Love Ya!

Such a cute little girl

She's really blossoming into a fine young lady.

Wii Fit

If anything, it's helping his self esteem.

New in "Check Em Out"

I just added two links to the web sites of the ceramics studio (Expressly Yours) that I used to work for. Their web sites are under my "Check Em out" section to the right. They create hand painted, gourmet, dinnerware. They even do special orders. If anyone is ever interested in having a really cool piece of pottery made, you should definitely consider giving Terry or Michele a call. They ship all over the country and even the world. If you have any questions about them, feel free to give me a call too. They made Aubrey and I a huge bowl for our wedding.

A few of their traditional Snowware and new Snowware pieces. I still remember learning how to paint the snowmen and make snowflakes on newspaper.

They can pretty much do anything. I worked there in my late teens and they have added so many cool pieces since then. I've known Terry and Michelle since I was 14 or 15 when I used to clean their condo. My mom met them back in her wallpaper hanging days.

I used to be the only one that painted the Birdhaus line while I worked there. Guess they managed to keep it alive after I left.

This is just plain cool!

Christmas in Amarillo

Aubrey and I headed down for Christmas in Amarillo on the 24th. We got in too late to partake in the traditional festivities of Frito Pie and opening gifts, but were glad that the weather cleared up for us to even make the trip. All the family in the Midwest had way worse weather than we did.

Aubrey and his mom both started Christmas day off with a little coffee with their irish creme. Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to spread a little holiday cheer.

Cooking up the traditional Christmas dinner. I think that we have totally o.d.'d on turkey and all the trimmings. I swear it was only a week earlier and we were celebrating Thanksgiving.

Kai and his new monster. Lucy got one too. They have their names on them.

Our nephew's pretty cute!

Everything's done bigger in Texas.

Breakfast with Rian and Josh before our drive home. Surprisingly, Aubrey and I don't have to make a bazillion bathroom breaks on the drive.

Washin' some dishes

I am well on my way to having her completely trained.

Happy (belated) Birthday,

Aunt Fel!

Love Ya!

A little story

Today Lucy and I were in her tent reading books and playing with a puzzle. Derek got back to the office and came into the room to say hi. Lucy started pointing and making her little sounds that mean she wants you to come in the tent. Derek and I joked about how there wasn't enough room for Lucy and two adults. Lucy pointed a few more times and then turned to me, waved, and said "bye bye, bye bye."

Christmas in Denver

We gathered at our place this year for Christmas. It was a little tight in the Living Room, but we managed. Lucy was way into it. It's cute now, but pretty soon we'll have to listen to "Can we open them now?" and "Just one, pleeeeeease?"

Aubrey's new coat for the track. He wasn't too sure about the pocket placement.

Rocky was pretty much glued to mom's lap. He's a total mama's boy. Flea hid out in terror in the basement for the day with the gate up at the stairs so Rocky wouldn't kill her. Flea's Christmas sucked.

Lucy's new Skuut. It's a little big for her now, but come summer she'll be all over on it.

Lucy's new rideable suitcase, Trunki. She'll get to try it out in a few days on their big flights to Florida.

It was a wonderful Denver Christmas even though we didn't get to play any games since Derek was an hour late and Lisa was an hour and a half late. Maybe if we have Christmas as their place next year, they'll be on time.

Haircut #2

Above: Lucy sporting her stringy toddler mullet.

Below: Lucy's new super cute cut compliments of Aunt Sarah.

Drunken dog feeding

This is what happens when you have 2 Haciendas margaritas and then try to feed the dog.

Cookie Exchange

The 1st Annual Cookie Exchange was a success! Thanks for all the wonderful cookies ladies.

Snow Boots

It was really cold outside and the snow tends to stick to Mel's feet, so we busted out his hiking boots (which conveniently double as snow boots) for our walk today. I think that he liked them because he ran everywhere. Or maybe he ran everywhere because he hasn't been on a walk in over a week...

4:30 pm forecast

Enough of the cold already! Geez!

Exciting weekend

It's Sunday night and all I can think to blog about is my day with Lucy on Friday (see below).

Don't call Molly Maids

Soon enough I'll be able to just sit back and relax while Lucy does all the cleaning. She already has her sponge scrubbing technique down and now she knows how to protect her skin.

Dog Fish

Lucy was having a blast fishing for Melvin (who was also having quite a bit of fun) until she had a pretty serious snag in the jade plant. Then the fun was all over.

Quote of the Day

"12 + 12 + A Glass of Wine + 12 = 85"

-Dougie Cundall

(Aubrey and I spent Thanksgiving in Texas with his family. While playing a card game called "Phase 10," Rian complained about her high score because she "had 85 points just in 12s." Since 12 is an even number and no matter how many times you add it to itself, it will never become an odd number. The other five people immediately realized the error in Rian's statement. Since there was a bit of wine flowing that evening, Dougie cleverly explained how adding 12s together could equal an odd number such as 85, which provided me with a great Quote of the Day.)

Television - The Drug of the Nation

If this looks bad, imagine her with a finger in her nose to boot (which is how she was about 10 seconds before I took this picture).

Uh Oh

Lucy got her hand stuck in the square shape of her Elmo mailbox. Luckily dad was there to help her free herself.

Supplement to Lisa's Cat Stand Pic of Lucy

My neighbor stopped over yesterday and took one look at our newly decorated living room and asked, "What's all this?" My response was, "This is Aubrey pretending he's 13."

Happy 1 Year and 1 Day Birthday, Kai!

Aunt Sarah & Uncle Aubrey Love You!

See you next week!

Happy (4 days belated) Birthday,

Dusty!

Love Ya!