Ice Skating in July

Where I live, there is an indoor ice-skating rink. This past Sunday, Boy Pop was invited to a birthday party there. How wonderful to need a sweater when it is 105 degrees out!

The last time I went ice skating was, I believe, when I was seven or eight years old... It was on an outdoor rink in the Vail/Beaver Creek area.

The last time Boy Pop did any kind of skating was, oh let's see... Wait! That's right! NEVER! Yes. The first skates my child, who lives in one of the hottest places in the US (that would be "The South" for those of you who don't know where I live), put on his feet were ICE SKATES. My child who has balance issues.

I still need to download the pictures I took, and get the CD my mom is sure to make of the occasion, but these pictures the birthday girl's mom took were pretty darn cute.

We had a blast! I cannot wait to take him again. But next time, I will not be wearing a mini skirt. And I might wear longer socks, too, as those skates rubbed my ankles raw.

The Tooth Drama

Hey! Have I forgotten to mention my tooth? Oh yes. The underlying trouble all weekend long was the fact that I have had a throbbing tooth since last Tuesday. For a week. You see, about three weeks ago, a filling in my back molar chipped a little. I didn't think too much of it, but then, on the Saturday after Halloween, while eating a little box of Milk Duds, the remainder of the filling came out.

Oh that's right. My entire filling. Which took up most of the tooth. A tooth that had never had a root canal. So I went to the dentist to have it filled. And they decided I needed a crown as well. So for two and a half hours last Tuesday, I sat and had dental work done. I had five shots in my mouth. FIVE. SHOTS. And I felt every single one.

Here's the kicker, though. I asked if I needed a root canal since A) there's been a lot of trauma to the tooth, and B) I was about to get a $1000 crown put on it and would hate to have a hole drilled into it after the fact.

"Oh no." The dentist said. "Don't worry about that."

Yeah.

And that is why, for the past week, my tooth has been throbbing. Not too terribly at first. After all, I'd just had some pretty major work done. But later on in the week, I started feeling it more. And taking ibuprofen. Lots of ibuprofen. And then last night, at about 2AM, the pain woke me up out of a deep sleep.

Says the girl who doesn't need a root canal.

Ugh.

And allow me to clarify something here... I'm no stranger to root canals, having had two of them. Nor am I a stranger to dental work and crown prep work as my 25th birthday gift from my parents was a new smile. Not only that, I fully understand and accept that pain is a part of certain dental procedures. But DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! I know my mouth. It takes quite a bit of novocaine to deaden the area, so let's do it all up front next time, m'kay? Maybe you'll listen to me so that I don't jump out of the chair? Maybe? And I know when a tooth of mine will probably need something drastic. And in this case, that root needs to go.

Backseat

I think that it is kind of obvious that blogging has been taking a backseat to the rest of my life here lately. It's not that I haven't done anything blog-worthy of late, in fact, it is quite the opposite!

August has been busy. So far, we've...

Ended the first half of the fiscal year of my company (always a pressure-filled time).
Gone to see Snoop Dogg.
Dealt with a crappy limo company.
Dealt with random stomach bug.
Celebrated birthdays of friends.
Gone to the lake.
Had two visits from my parents.
Planned a 5th birthday party.
Gone to the circus.
Gone to a dog's birthday party.
Changed hairdressers (LOVE my hair, by the way).
Gone to a back to school party complete with water slides, hot dogs, and sno-cones.
Lost my maid... AGAIN!!!!!
My cat got into rat poison. He's fine. So far. Little bastard.
Oh, and I'm now completely addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Urgh!

And the culmination of a quite busy month is a trip to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada for the opening weekend of college football and Labor Day Weekend.

Looking at my calendar, the University of Texas football schedule, and the fall tee-ball schedule, it seems that September, October, and November will be pretty much just as busy or busier than August. Good thing everything has been fun for the most part!

I'm sure I'll have more drawn out stories to tell, but to just sum up August:
We partied, we played, we swam, we ate, we laughed, we had a blast, we survived, and I have an awesome new hairdresser!

How We Spent Our Friday Night

This past Friday, as we were headed home from the gym, I looked down the road and saw a ferris wheel. Well, that could only mean one thing! The local death trap run by men who smell like whiskey, err CARNIVAL was in town!

We went home, had dinner, took fast showers (to wash the work out smell off), and took off for what would end up being one of the most fun nights we've had as a family. I've attached some pictures below of the highlights...

First picture of the night, right after we walked in. What really gets me about the above picture is the way my boys are standing. This wasn't posed or planned. They both just naturally stood this way.

This "ride" cost extra. Boy Pop was strapped into a harness, attached to bungee cords. Then, through the use of pulleys and a big bouncer, he flew "higher than Superman!"

Dr Pop "won" Boy Pop a big Scooby Doo by popping balloons with darts. I say "won" because the darts cost $20.

This was Boy Pop's "favorite" ride. The Cobra rollercoaster. Of course, the ferris wheel, obstacle course, giant slide, jumper, house of mirrors, bumper cars, merry go round, and helicopter ride were also his favorites.

First time through the obstacle course. He ended up running through it, going up and down ladders and slides about five times.

When Dr Pop won Boy Pop the Scooby Doo, the nice Carnie gave me a flower.

On the Merry Go 'Round.

I rode the helicopter ride with Boy Pop the first time. I think I broke it because the hydraulics did not work properly and we did not go up in the air.

By the end of the night (and a quick trip to the grocery store), everyone was exhausted, but none moreso than our Boy.

Breaking In The IPhone

So, last Saturday (that would be March 1, not two days ago...), Dr Pop and I spent the day out, playing and celebrating our anniversary.





Our first stop was the local high end retail center because it included an Apple store. Dr Pop had waited patiently for two whole days and now it was time for him to get himself an iPhone. Before that, though, we went to lunch at this incredible place called Kona Grill. Dr Pop had sushi and I had this great chicken taco deal with shrimp and pineapple fried rice. Delish!


After lunch, we got his phone and walked the entire length of the mall's outdoor walkway, window shopping and real shopping.


We then decided to go elsewhere (my shoes needed purchasing).


Finally, we headed back to our car and were in a food dilemma... Go where we had our first date or go out for Mexican food... In the end, we decided it was early enough to go to our first date spot and eat crab while looking decidedly scummy.


Of course, we did not bring along a camera that day, but luckily I had my nifty phone so we took some funny pics.


I know I keep talking about my anniversay, but damn! That was an incredible day!!!

A New Blog to Read...

One of my friends from the "real" world out there has just started a blog.

It's Pitter Patterson over there.

See? --->

She is smart, pretty, funny, and has the two most beautiful daughters in the world (I swear Boy Pop is going to marry one of them some day).

Enjoy...

For Sue

Dr Pop found some good pictures... It doesn't have a typical bezel per-se... Also, the flower pattern at the top and bottom are also repeated on the side of the watch (which is about 1/4 inch thick). Mine is pink sapphire and diamond only, not multi-colored like the top picture.

BLAHgger

Meh, I'm feeling a little blah today. I have really let myself go and I'm disgusted. And yet, I cannot seem to step away from the bad-for-me-food or get back to a regular exercise routine.

So I feel blah.

But I'm going to a wonderful red-themed, red wine dinner tonight. So the diet's blown, but not with junk. I'm blowing it with lobster bisque and a double-steak entree!

I did not find a red dress for the occasion, but I did find an adorable black velvet dress at Old Navy of all places. You, too, can have one if you go here.

You're welcome.

Living the Dream?

I signed up for NaBloPoMo again this year. 30 days of blogging in November. I'm not sure if I'll do NaNoWriMo this year or not, though. I feel like I'm overextended as it is, and I really don't want to commit to that amount of writing. Thirty blog posts in thirty days? No problem! A novel in 30 days? Problem.

I guess no one out there in blogger-land wants to play the gift game. It's not too late to sign up, though. But most of my readers don't have blogs. Oh well.

Boy Pop's second tee ball game is tomorrow morning at 8:15AM. I may have mentioned this a time or two, but this family is not one of early risers. Period. We love to stay up late and sleep in (as a side note, I'm exhausted!!!). It's just what we do. But bright and early tomorrow, we'll be getting up and getting the boy dressed in his uniform and ready to play ball. I just hope that we have the energy tomorrow after the game to actually be active. Last Saturday after the game and a big breakfast, we all just crashed and I actually slept through almost the entire Texas football game. Pathetic!

Last week, I made a great (and yet fast and simple) dinner and a gallon of tea. We had tons of leftovers. When I got up the next morning, I went to get myself a glass of tea before I started getting ready for the day and what do you know? We had forgotten to put any of it away. Everything was spoiled. Luckily it was trash day, but damn, I was disappointed. By the way, the recipe for the side dish can be found at whachagotcookin (link on the right).

I really need a vacation. Four weeks and counting...

I also would like a craft idea for Thanksgiving. Any ideas out there that will work with 4 year olds?

It has hit me recently that I watch too much television. I have all of these "favorite" shows and all of them run concurrently. Thank heavens for the DVR, but my goodness! I'm getting behind! I currently watch:
Dexter
Weeds
Californication
Kid Nation
Ghost Hunters
The Ultimate Fighter
The Contender
Survivor
Prison Break
The CBS Monday sitcoms
My Name is Earl
Kitchen Nightmares
South Park
The Fox Sunday cartoons
The Bachelor
The Biggest Loser

When they are on, I will watch:
Sunset Tan
The Girls Next Door
Hell's Kitchen
Big Brother
Amazing Race

I think I need help. Instead of "living" the dream, I'm "watching" it. Argh!

And Dr Pop is back in town!!! Hooray!

A Game! A Game!

I saw this on Emily's blog and it sounds like a lot of fun, so I'm doing it, too...

By the end of the calendar year, I will send a tangible, physical gift to each of the first five people to comment here. The catch? Each person must make the same offer on her/his blog.

So, if you (a) want a gift, and (b) have your own blog on which to post this offer, then please, comment away!

Pass it along...