I Want a Do-Over!

I just got back from Ball State University, where my firstborn is a freshman.  We attended a parent information meeting for students who will be studying abroad next year.  Robin is enrolled for the Fall semester of her sophomore year at The London Centre in - yes - London, England.  How lucky is this kid to be beautiful, intelligent, genuinely sweet and goodhearted, and headed off for the adventure of a lifetime?? I'm not gonna lie, I'm green with envy.

So, I want a do-over.  I'll willingly go back to the 80s with my big hair and even bigger glasses in order to take advantage of being young and unencumbered, back before the loss of estrogen left my memory looking like a slice of Swiss cheese.  I volunteer to relive The Cold War, Howard the Duck,  Puttin' on the Ritz, shoulder pads and Mr. Hardwick's Geometry class if that's what it takes.  I just can't believe I so stupidly wasted my youth.   

The DeLorean's warmed up and ready to go....

The only caveat is I still want to be Robin and Lily's mom when I get back.

In Case You Don't Already Waste Enough Time Online

Click on the red ball and drag over to the column of your choice. Release the ball, and hopefully score big points.

This game and the fish feeder in the sidebar are courtesy of aBowman. Check it out for more bloggy gadget goodness.

Talk About Random

I have this tote bag that I lug back and forth to work.  I'm not sure why.  It's not like I bring work home, carry a laptop or anything like that.  Part of it is I'm too lazy to pack a lunchbox the night before, so I just toss things into the bag before I head out every morning.  And I do toss my work shoes in there if they're heels.   A couple of weeks ago I decided to clean it out.  Here's what I found:

• a deck of Snoopy playing cards
  
• a two-year-old iPod, never used
  
• a small radio with the iPod earplugs
  
• crumbs from unknown food items
• black thong undies
  
• ear muffs
  
• beret
  
• two pairs of white ankle socks

I'm trying to remember the last time I wore black thong undies, why I would have removed them at work, and if I ever wore those last four items at the same time.

I'm Baa-aack!

Yes, I've returned - intact - from my trip to Jamaica.  What?  You didn't even realize I was gone?  How rude.  Just for that, I shouldn't even share my vacation with you...but I guess I'm just too generous for my own good.  Here ya go:

We had a great time!  We got to the resort around 1 pm on Sunday, and signed in at the Hospitality Desk where we were greeted with adult beverages and chocolate chip cookies.  I liked the place immediately.  We then changed into our swimsuits and hit the beach.  Here we are checking out the sights.  That's me on the left. 

HA!  Just kidding (sort of).

Our dinner the first night was beautifully set up on the beach.  I'm not sure why I didn't take pictures that night, but it was gorgeous.  I got to meet Kim's sales group and their wives.  What a genuinely nice group of people.

Kim was involved with business Monday morning, so I was on my own.  I busied myself exploring the grounds and taking pictures.  For some reason, one of the groundskeepers thought this was a hoot and felt it necessary to climb out of the bushes to tell me so.   Apparently, no other guests have ever taken photos there??

That evening was the formal dinner.  What a production, but in a good way.  The ballroom was very elegant, the food delicious.  After dinner, they had a live band with dancing.  Great fun.

Tuesday we went on our catamaran sail.  We headed out into the ocean to do some snorkeling.  There was an abundance of coral, but not really much in the way of sea life.  Regardless, the water felt spectacular.  I think those pictures are on my water camera, so I don't have any to show you.

Of course, Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, and Fiserv had rented the entire Margaritaville restaurant in town.  More great food and drinks.  After we got back to the resort, Kim's co-worker Jerry invited us all up to his suite.  Jerry won Chairperson of the Year, which is a pretty big deal; so we all headed up there to help him celebrate.  Dennis, who I think may be Kim's boss, asked if her invitation for next year should read "Kim and Becky."  I told him that I could speak for Kim, and she said yes.

Wednesday was our day to go horseback riding.  Kim is a horse person; I'm not.  Now, I willingly agreed to go horseback riding because I have a tendency to forget I'm scared of horses until I'm standing right next to one.  No sooner do we get to the stables and are being assigned horses when one of the little bastards bit some lady on the shoulder, and bit her hard.  If that had been me, I would have refused to go and sat on the bus crying.   Of course, this set everyone on edge as we were all sure we were going to be devoured by a herd of satanic Jamaican horses.  Once we got going, though, the humans all calmed down and the horses did what they have been trained to do.   It was actually a nice ride except when we had to trot.  Ouch.  I am still sore today.  Finally, we got to a cove where they unsaddled three or four horses.  If you wanted, you could ride a hose bareback into the water where it eventually got deep enough that the horse was actually swimming.  THAT was pretty cool until you noticed all the horse turds floating in the water.  Then it was, "DON'TFALLOFF! DON'TFALLOFF! DON'TFALLOFF!"  It was bad enough to realize my body was in poopy water, but I certainly didn't want it in my hair or on my face.  Those pictures are ALSO on my water camera and being developed.

Wednesday's dinner was held at the Great House at Rose Hall.  There is a story there about an earlier mistress of this historic sugar cane plantation.  Annie Palmer was apparently a little tyrant who dabbled in voodoo, promiscuous relations with her slaves, and murder.  Legend says that she still haunts the home.  We took a tour, and it is a pretty impressive place.   Here are a couple of photos I took and if those aren't ghostly orbs, then what are they?  Spooky.

They had palm and tarot card readers for the guests.  Let me tell you:  you have not lived until you've had your palm read by a Jamaican with a severe speech impediment.  I could not understand her, but felt it rude to keep saying, "Huh?  What?" so I just nodded and smiled, hoping she wasn't telling me to avoid air travel in my immediate future.

The big announcement that evening was the 2010 trip would be to - drum roll, please - Riviera Maya in Mexico!!  Very exciting.  Kimmy needs to get out there and hustle her buns so that we can do this again!  

As you can guess, I am now indebted to Kim for eternity.  I suspect that means I'll have to bow out of the little power struggle we've been having over Keith Urban.  I just hope she doesn't decide to give him MY trip to Mexico.

BHS Spring Concert

The high school held their Spring Concert the other night.  This was the first time they did reserved seating tickets, and it was wonderful!!!  No pressure to get there early to snag a good seat, no unplugging oxygen tanks to slow down old ladies headed to the front row.  For the record, I still feel somewhat bad about that...

I have to say, the choir teachers do a fantastic job with those kids.  I love how they always make the Freshmen "Men's" Choir do some sort of song that involves goofy motions, and I love how each and every boy actually cooperates and does it!

Lily's choir performed two songs, which are below.  She is the foxy brunette in the center of the activity.

Be patient; Lily's part doesn't start until about :41, but I wasn't going to let anyone else horn in on her camera time.


Here's their second song:

Next year she's in two choirs:  Bel Canto and Concert Choir.  I can't wait!

Gut-Busting Love

If I can write a post on our Holiday Party seven weeks after the fact, then I can do my Valentine's Day post three weeks late....right? Right.  Not that it's that exciting, I just didn't want to waste the candy heart generator I found.

John and I didn't have plans for the BIG DAY, so  I thought what could I do that shows how I truly feel about him?  I made reservations at White Castle.   If the words slider, gut-buster, belly bomb and rectum rocket don't represent 23 years of marriage, I don't know what does. Okay, maybe not the last one.  For those of you who do not live in one of the eleven states graced by the presence of White Castle, it's similar to Krystal hamburgers; and if you don't have one of those near you, sorry about your luck.  White Castles are delicious little square burgers topped with the perfect amount of onion and pickle, available 24 hours a day.  It is the place to go when winding up a night of debauchery.  It's also pretty much known for it's hillbilly clientele, which is why I thought it would be perfect for us. I didn't tell John where we were going, and his panicked, "Why are you stopping here?" when I pulled up in front of the restaurant had me re-thinking my decision early.  He thought I was taking him out for a steak dinner...oops.  STRIKE ONE.

John attempting to be a good sport.

White Castle promotes Valentine's Day dinner with tablecloths, flowers and candles on the table.  Imagine my shock and disappointment when this evening did not live up to everything I'd hoped.  First of all, the "tablecloth" was not only just plastic, but it was about the cheapest plastic they could find and was taped to the table crookedly.   Other tables had candles, but ours didn't, AND we only had one artificial flower in our vase (everyone else had two).   STRIKE TWO.

I don't want to be too hard on the kid who waited on us; afterall, he's normally behind the counter, not waiting tables.  However, he took our drink order then promptly forgot to bring them to us.  He also tried to take our food away while we were still eating.  STRIKE THREE.

Despite the lack of ambiance and sub-par service, my appetite was unaffected and I managed to snarf down my dinner:

...and I wonder why I'm fat?

 

The evening was kind of a let down.  I was hoping for some funny redneck encounter, but no such luck.  John did suggest we go walk around Walmart after dinner to keep the theme going, but we just rented some movies instead.  For the life of me, I can't even remember what they were.  I guess I'll have to come up with something pretty special next year.

Oh...If any White Castle execs are reading this, I would like to suggest that for next year they pass candy hearts out to customers after dinner.  A sweet remembrance of the evening:

A Vote for Ringo is a Vote for World Peace

I entered Ringo in the Bissell MVP Pet Photo Contest. I'm hoping he makes it through the first round. Grand Prize is a $10,000 donation to the pet charity of the winner's choice. IF he were to go all the way and win, I'm donating the money to the Kentuckiana Pug Rescue, which my sister is very involved with. In fact, that's where she got her pug, Hank. The rescue has had some real financial hardship in the past year, and I would love to be able to help them out.

It's one vote per e-mail address; if you have multiple addresses, use them all! Addresses are used for voting purposes only, and you are not added onto any e-mail lists.

Please take a minute to click on the picture below and vote for Ringo!! Voting is open until March 10.

I thank you, Ringo thanks you, and the pugs thank you!

Vote for Ringo!

You Know What They Say About Paybacks....

Good God...I practically had to beg John to read my Newlywed Game post, and now I'm sorry I did! There was no laughter on his part, not even a chortle. He said, "You wouldn't like it if I got on there and wrote that stuff about you." Well, duh...that's one of the reasons I won't show him how to start a blog! I told him to fill it out about me however he wanted, and I would post his answers. It took him forever to fill out the survey, and he kind of looked like this:

However, he finally finished but he didn't use the opportunity to exact his revenge, so I'm not sure why he bothered. Unless it was just to shut me up. Yeh, that's probably it.

By the way, he chose Red Wings over Colts (grounds for divorce) and said he orders chocolate milk a lot. I stand corrected.

1. She's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Desperate Housewives or Dancing With the Stars (I would have said Food Network.)

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does she get on her salad? Oil & Vinegar or House Vinaigrette. (Ding!)

3. What's one food she doesn't like? Ham & bologna sandwich with double meat. (Coconut would be the correct answer here.)

4. You go out to eat. What drink does she order? Coke Zero or Coors Light. (Ding!)

5. Where did she go to high school? New Palestine High School (Ding!)

6. What size shoe does she wear? 5 1/2. Tom's are 9s, which she has worn. (Try 7, and I only wear Tom's snowboots when shoveling the driveway.)

7. If she was to collect anything, what would it be? Keith Urban, Harry Connick, Jr.; no particular order. (Wait...I'm allowed to collect hot guys? That's a whole other post.)

8. What is her favorite type of sandwich? Ham, chicken; never wrapped in plastic - foil is best. (He got the meat wrong, but the packing instructions right so I'll give it to him. Ding!) Wow...taken out of context, that's a doozy of a sentence.

9. What would she eat every day if she could? Fresh fruit. (I can eat fresh fruit every day. What I would like to eat every day is cake with buttercream icing.)

10. What is her favorite cereal? Something Diet - Special K. (Did he just call me fat? My favorite is Cracklin' Oat Bran)

11. What would she never wear? Something that I think is really hot out in public. (Ding! Okay, sometime I will do a post on what John thinks is hot. )

12. What is her favorite sports team? Colts, duh. (Ding!)

13. Who did she vote for? McCain (Ding!)

14. Who is her best friend? Sister Sarah, the other Sarah, T. Jackson - Todd or Theresa (This is where John sells himself short, but I'll give him a Ding! for Sister Sarah.)

15. What is something you do that she wishes you wouldn't do? All those things she bitches at me about. (Ding!)

16. What is her heritage? Let's see...Kentuckian, American Indian...she's white. (huh, and all this time I thought he was unobservant.)

17. You bake her a cake for her birthday; what kind of cake? She likes most cakes. (Did he just call me fat again? Ding!)

18. Did she play sports in high school? No, but she should have. She had softball, tennis and volleyball skills. (Ding!)

19. What could she spend hours doing? Computer stuff, scrapbooking, sleeping with the dogs. (Ding!)

20. What is one unique talent she has? Spending control, for one. An absolute great mom for our kids. (I think he means I'm cheap for the first answer. For the second, that's sweet. Ding!)