Par-tay Oh 8!

A little glimpse into the secret activities that occur when four old friends get together for the yearly road trip.

Fortunately for us, what happens in Tyler--stays in Tyler!


We started our trip with a little surprise, Mary had made a DVD trip down memory lane, complete with high school yearbook photos.




Our lodging...outside...

... and, inside.

Shopping for steak and PJs

Breakfast on the deck.

When your B&B has decorations like this....

... you should expect some of this.

No longer allowed to dine in the presence of strangers.


Tyler Azalea Trail
We hadn't really planned the trip to see the flowers, but it sure worked out well.

Lafon, our friendly innkeeper

We had to stop shopping before we ran out of room.

Our last meal together, at Joe T's

Good food!

Wishing Rock

One of Joey's friends gave him a "wishing rock" today. Joey told me that anything you wish for with the rock comes true. For example, when we waited in the hall for the rain to stop after school, Joey wished he would find his black marker to draw with. Then he walked into his classroom and found his black marker in his cubbie. He also wished for food because I hadn't packed a snack, and then, in his room when he mentioned to his teacher that he was hungry, she gave him a banana.

He also wished he was a superhero, but that wish did not come true.

Max's Party

Max finally got his birthday party.... 13 days after his real birthday.
Bowling at Dart Bowl

Make Art

We worked on this piece of art for many years before it finally gave up the ghost recently. Some lucky Goodwill worker will enjoy repairing or dismantling this charmer.

Left over from Maker Faire

Last summer, when we were at Maker Faire, the Chronicle had a booth where you could make your own announcement. They posted some of the photos on their newspaper machines around Austin, and then the rest were posted to the Chronicle site.

I found the slip of paper with the weblink, downloaded these photos, then lost the slip of paper.

Look how hot we were! October that felt like August -- UGH! And summer is coming again. It is supposed to be in the 90's tomorrow, we might break a record -- DOUBLE UGH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAXY! (and other news)

March third, our special middle guy turned nine years old. His birthday weekend was spent in Fort Worth enjoying opening day at Six Flags! That was a blast, then we had a family birthday cake for him on his actual birthday. Then his friend party has to be on hold until all his buddies get home from Spring Break. So this Sunday, watch out for crazy fun at Dart Bowl, Max's favorite place to celebrate.....


Other things I meant to post.... but forgot......

During cookie sales, this is what our recycling looked like on Fridays. Each of those case boxes held 12 individual boxes of cookies. The sale lasted 5 weeks, and our recycling looked like that each week.

Emma ultimately sold...... 1064 boxes of cookies! Woo HOo!!! She will get all sorts of goodies, and parties and receptions along with the other 1000+ sellers. But I am most jealous of the 1000+ Club patch. I really wish I would get one too!

Tried to donate blood with the girls one day a short while back, unfortunately my iron level was one point too low. So I just sat around mouthing the words.... "this part really hurts" right as the nurse was about to stick my friends.... (I'm a naughty slightly anemic girl!)

And of course, I did enjoy the post donation breakfast just as if I had donated... hopefully next time I'll be good to go.



Just got this photo of Joey's lost tooth out of the camera. His second one is wiggly and he's sad about losing it.
Emma finally got her birthday party, a few weeks late...but it was really fun. We invited a few friends to eat pizza at Mellow Mushroom on the drag (excellent pizza) and then we went to Amy's for ice cream, then home for gifts. A girls night out. I'm training Emma to enjoy girls night and I hope she has a lifetime of good girls' nights with her friends...


Now, that almost catches me up.... I just have about a three weeks of delayed chattiness to go before I'm up to current events. Hopefully I'll stay on track now, but if not, I've got a good excuse. I'm busy!!!!!!

A better photo than mine....

Girls Night Out

OK, so this post is called Girls Night Out, referring to tonight, but the post is going to backtrack about 24 hours.

First off, I'll say that Thursday night is my favorite time of the week. On weeks that I take Friday off, it is the beginning of my "golden day" when my weekend starts, and a full day before my family's weekend starts. Yippee..

So last night, I watched the Democratic debate and I was so proud that 1) it was at UT, 2) it was in Austin, and 3) Barack AND Hillary did so well that I could vote for either one. I was so proud to be a Democrat and eager to get to work getting the country back on track.

Then today, I went and early voted for Obama!

Did chores, but the house was my own so that was OK.

Then this evening had a girls' night out and saw our friend Luis and his beautiful artwork which will be at City Hall for the next year.

Then, of course some margaritas....

Then, the Obama rally at the capital with many thousands of my fellow Austinites....

Emma Did It!

On Saturday, Emma sold ME her 1000th box of cookies (Thin Mints). Since then we've sold 50 more and then stopped. YIPPEE! It was a wonderful relief to hit that super milestone.

Other news, my boss came over and gave us some excellent guidance about adding onto the house. Now instead of 50 variables about how to add some square footage, we are using his expertise and experience to narrow it down to one, very workable plan! YIPPEE! I slept like a baby that night.

I've got a handle on the kids' summer camps, need to sign up for those.

And on a sad note, a mom at our school and her teenage daughter were involved in a terrible wreck this weekend. And a high school age former student at BW was killed in the wreck But watching the Bryker Woods machine spring into action to support those families was amazing. Life can change in an instant, hug your kids extra hard every day.

903
9 days to sell 97 boxes....
unless they extend us two extra days.....

835.... sold 50 today!

Cookie update:
Emma has sold 785 as of Sunday night.
Monday and Tuesday are usually our best selling days.
I'm now afraid I've seriously underestimated the number of Caramel DeLites/Samoas we needed to order, although we have about 13 cases of Thin Mints. If they extend the selling period to include the weekend after Feb 22 (they almost always do that...) we should be fine.

Joey update:
He's going to school tomorrow!

Household update:
Tamaflu seems to be working, however I am actually (now) knocking the wood window jamb next to the computer.

Work update:
Very busy day ahead for David and Kathy

Weather update:
PERFECT! This is why we live in Austin, it is glorious.

Life update:
Going great, although if cookie time was over, I'd be much more relaxed.

749 boxes sold..... 13 days to go.

yikes!

Emma has sold about 650 boxes. We've just ordered the rest we will need to reach 1000, and I'm a little nervous......and.....

Joey tested positive for the flu.... so I'm wondering if a week of the flu for various members of the family will waylay the chance for selling all those cookies.

wish us luck!

The art of selling cookies.

Emma has sold 460+ boxes. Yesterday we got a new shipment which, when sold, will take us to 696. The sale goes until February 22nd, so mathematically, she could reach her new goal of selling 1000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

However, since we often have the boys with us- and payment for good patient behavior is a hot chocolate, or donut- I will have spent around a hundred bucks on bribes, which could have bought about 50 boxes of cookies.

It's a delicate balance.

Wish us luck. A little later I'll describe the turf war we are in with another leader down on the drag. It is very intense.

Joey

Joey lost his first baby tooth today. It had been hanging on by a thread most of the weekend. I walked into the den during breakfast and he was in tears because he had swallowed it. We had a talk with him.

Then, later at drop off at school, he told everyone the story, ending with "and my dad is going to find it in my Poop!"

Lately, it's all about Emma

Now she's eleven....

Only a year ago (seems like yesterday)

We have been busy selling hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout cookies

... and attending concerts!
I have to admit, that while very LOUD, the concert was actually pretty impressive. For a kid, little Miley Cyrus is very engaging and fun to watch. I was prepared to be very cynical about the whole production, but in the end, I think I liked it as much as the girls.

I did let my mind wander toward hoping that she doesn't end up the next Lindsey Lohan or Britney Spears. That would be a shame.

I also wondered why Billy Ray Cyrus doesn't do duets with her. I've never been a fan of his, but you know, his career could only improve by hitching his wagon to his daughter's star.

Too long... no write

OK. So what's new...

1. Joey and I got haircuts today. We were really overdue for our trims this time around. He and I are regular customers with Darlene, who I've known for over twenty years... we discussed that today.

Max gets homemade buzz cuts here, but I won't let David use the clippers on Joey. Max's hair is much darker and more thick, so mess ups are hidden pretty well. Plus, Max's hair and fingernails seem to grow freakishly fast, so I'm less concerned with him getting a bad haircut.

Emma's hair just gets longer, and she gets it trimmed a couple of times a year. Joey and I share regular appointments with Darlene. I should have taken a camera for before and after, I didn't. Before, Joey's hair was so long, and now it is so cute and handsome.

2. Emma and I went to the Showcase at the Magnet Middle School last night. I had been secretly happy when she decided that she would go to sixth grade at our Elementary school. I'd have another dream year of kids walking two blocks down the street, and having all three in one building. But there is a wonderful advanced program at Kealing Middle and after checking it out, I was very impressed.

The rumor from kids we know who attend now, is that the homework is brutal. And desire to work on homework is a weakness of Emma's. She will argue about having to start homework for twice as long as the assignment takes to finish. She is also a perfectionist which means she agonizes over simple assignments.

But..... Kealing is so cool. The teachers are fantastic, the electives (Robotics, Comic Books as Literature, Video Game Design!, Art in Math, Technology and Underground Music, etc...) were explained by enthusiastic teachers who seemed to be loving their careers in a school that lets them be creative and push the kids to new heights. One teacher told me that they don't worry about the standardized tests and that their school scores highest in the district. We mentioned to several teachers that we were making the decision between staying at our beloved Elementary School or attending Kealing, and their general response was that if she waited until 7th to come over, she'd miss all the fun. It is a school of brainy kids who love being smart and creative.

3. I'm still loving work. I'm not doing any housework, grocery shopping or clothes washing though.

4. Emma turns 11 next Thursday and we will be attending the Hannah Montana concert that night. I didn't find out until after buying the tickets (face value) that other girls in her school think Hannah is not so cool. However, I believe that once we are there, she will be excited to attend the concert. I have told a few friends and mentioned that with two hours of constant screaming in front of me, I plan to have a couple of margaritas before. A few have remarked that might not be enough. Thankfully I've got a designated driver to and from.

5. All our Christmas decorations are still up. ALL of them.

That's it for now.
See you in a month!
Just joking,
sort of.

Me Good.

School starts tomorrow... the kids are waaaaayy off the bedtime schedule, just now dropping off at 11:30!

I have completed a herculean task of cleaning up the parent bedroom of the house. Anytime we have guests over, our room takes the brunt of my "cleaning" as I fill laundry baskets full of crap and pile them in a corner of our room. And then there are the craft supplies, and the dead computer with all it's assorted paraphernalia, and the two dead video cameras and the layer of dust that was ungodly. Plus, rolls of art paper we've been moving since Seattle, but never have time to use. And clothes to be mended.... you get the picture.

Well, yesterday I just hit it. I had picked up a big metro shelving unit at an estate sale (great deal) and it has a canvas cover that sort of makes it into a huge beige elephant sized wardrobe. So I basically neatened the piles of crap, discarded some, decanted much of the remainder into stylish Container Store bins, and threw the lot into the wardrobe.

Our room looks like grownups and a big beige elephant live in it. It is wonderful. I didn't realize the floor was so pretty! I also devoted one wall to the kids art. It will hopefully look like an artful collage, like a bigger version of our refrigerator, confined to what's left of the wall behind the elephant, thus drawing the eye away from the beige blob.

Photos tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to come very early for the Genets.

quicksand

OK, I'm a goner.

Just in case I don't spend enough time hovering over my eBay auctions, checking them minute by minute.... I've found a new feature.... Best of eBay. It is the collection of nominees of funniest listings. I've been reading for the last half hour or so, and just came across this guy and his hilarious captions for the photos he sells.

http://stores.ebay.com/Casa-Gargantua

What a hoot.

All the other nominees are great too.