It was quite a weekend in the Pop household, capped by two different Santa visits for Boy Pop. I'll get to all that later.
On Friday, I took a much-needed day off to take care of some business that I'd been putting off. I also cleaned my house as my maid cancelled on me... Let's see, that makes four weeks since her last visit. You know it's bad when your child notices that the bathroom has been cleaned. AND comments on it. Ugh.
Early Friday evening, Dr Pop, Boy Pop, and I drove up to a nearby suburb and rode on the
local Polar Express trainride. It was about a four hour adventure including drive and wait time, with the actual ride itself lasting two hours.
We did have a good time, although I think the ride could be shortened a bit and not have lost any of the "magic" for the kids. If you have one in your area, you really ought to check it out. The Austin one gets sold out every year.
What happened during the ride, you ask? Well, the local girl scouts read the story of The Polar Express aloud, Mrs. Claus handed out bells, Santa handed out candy canes, there was a Christmas carol sing-along, and there was an authentic conductor who punched initials into each child's ticket.
In some spots we were able to see Christmas lights in the distance, too. It was a fun evening, but the Boy enjoyed it the most (that's what getting all hopped up on sugar and candy canes and hot chocolate will do).
The above is a gratuitous pet photo... The cats are starting to get along... Sort of.
Bright and early Saturday morning, my parents came to pick up the Boy for a day an night out with them. While they were having fun, Dr Pop and I went shopping, then I had a hair appointment. My hairdresser, after touching up my roots and putting in some dark streaks, lopped about four inches off the back and sides of my hair. I'm still a little in shock and not sure how I feel about the new look as I'd only anticipated two inches at most. At least my hair ends are healthy and thick. That's a good thing.
Saturday night marked the night of a much-anticipated fight on PPV... The Mayweather/Hatton matchup. Let me just say this about the two fighters (I admit that much of what I know comes from their pre-fight reality show and their press, but still, I am able to draw a conclusion or two)... I simply adore Ricky Hatton, who appears to be completely unaffected by his press and by his talent and money. He's down-to-earth, jokes around, and enjoys the simple things (like being there for his son).
Conversely, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. pretty much disgusts me. Sit through one interview or watch one show where he throws stacks of money around or discusses the price tag of one of his cars and tell me he doesn't do the same for you. It's one thing to have all that money. But money cannot buy class.
Oh. Hatton lost. Of course. And I cursed and drank a lot Saturday night.
That brings us to Sunday. I woke up with a raging hangover, called my mom, and ended up dragging myself out to the mall to meet them for an official Santa visit and lunch. As we were finishing up, my exhausted child fell asleep, so we just loaded him and his stuff into my car, and I said my goodbyes to my folks as they headed back home and I headed to our house. On the way home, though, the craziest thing happened... The temperature started dropping and by the time I got to the house, it had fallen by 10 degrees. It seems that the cold front anticipated for Monday came a day early.
Have I mentioned how much I love winter? And on top of the good-weather-fortune, we arrived home in time to see the Cowboys come back and beat Detroit. Life can't get much better. We all hibernated inside for the rest of the day, I washed dishes and did laundry, Boy Pop played, and Dr Pop braved the cold to grill us some ribeyes.
And now it is Monday. Have a great week!
The picture up there was taken by me as I was lying on our bed, which sits about four or so feet from the cat tower. The top of the tower is about three feet taller than our bed. He was going after a toy mouse that was next to my arm.
