Weekend Recap

Well we made it back from our little after tax season get-away! This year it just happened to be my birthday too. So before we left I got to take a spin on my new ride...

Can you say awesome? Because that's what it is! Complete with a horn. Now I just need to get a basket. I've already cruised the neighborhood in search of a wayward kid who didn't come home when his dad called for him. Not to worry, my pink bike and I were there to save the day.

We spent 2 nights in Columbus. One at the Easton Town Center (for me, since it was my birthday and all) and one at Ft. Rapids indoor water park (for Miss. Sophie B.). We got to meet up with my old college roommate on Saturday for lunch at the Cheesecake factory. I hadn't see Carrie in for-evah. Her little girl, Cecilia, is too cute. But sadly, i didn't get any pictures of her. Could be because my little girl decided to act like a turd at lunch. But it was MY birthday, so she didn't stop me from partaking in a piece of tiramisu cheesecake after lunch followed by a piece of red velvet cake cheesecake for a late night snack. Seriously, just click on that link. To.Die.For.

Sunday morning we headed to Ft. Rapids. Sophie had a blast. Steven and I tolerated it. We snuck off on our own a few times to ride the bigger slides. It was a pretty cool place. This giant bucket at the top of the playset would dump over 1000 gallons of water every ten minutes totally drenching the entire place.

When we checked in the woman at the front desk hooked sophie up with $40 worth of tokens to use at the arcade. We blew through those and had a blast. Then big decision time came. What to buy with all of those tickets? I think she settled on a ball, a necklace, and a bunch of other crap.

Monday it was time to come home but we made a quick pit stop at the outlets so Steven could by a few new things for the new J-O-B he starts on Thursday. No more suits for him! We were rushed and Little Bit was in no mood to shop so I didn't buy a single thing.

The Most Random 10 on Tuesday Evah

Seems like all I'm getting accomplished in the blogging department are these 10 on Tuesday posts. Guess it's better than nothing!

1. I'll be the big 3-2 on Saturday. Happy Birthday to me! Since January I've been telling my peeps different things I want for my birthday hoping that a few of them will stick. Tonight, I decided that I needed a margarita maker. This could say a lot of things about me. I like to think it's always a good time for a margarita! I might have to put that one on the 'buy it yo-self" list.

2. On Sunday we were sitting down at our dinner table for the 1st time in god knows how long (April 15th won't get here soon enough) eating a delicious grilled tilapia dinner. When Soph, in her gruffest most annoyed voice busts out, "ugh, you make the WORST things for dinner!" Steven told her that wasn't a very nice thing to say. Her response, "well, i'm just sayin'!" It's times like these that I SERIOUSLY have to step back count and count to 3. Because my immediate response wants to be: "go screw yourself, there are kids in Africa with NOTHING to eat!"

3. There are many many reasons why I love my hubby. But the number one reason is this:

He makes me laugh. Tears rolling out of eyes just about peeing my pants laugh. This look was thanks to .75 cents put into a gum ball machine at the pizza place. Sophie thought her daddy needed a mustache. We took our chance. The options in the gum ball machine were mustaches, 70's sideburns, or a fu manchu! I'm hoping next time for the fu manchu!

4. Did I mention that April 15th is this Thursday! Whooo-hoooo! Then Steven is taking off a few days before he starts his new job the following week. We'll be celebrating my birthday and the end of tax season in Columbus. I'm hoping to hit up the Cheesecake factory for me! Sophie can hardly wait to go to an indoor water park. Steven and I could probably go the rest of our lives and never go to one. This is why I need a margarita machine.

5. I've decided we need a basketball hoop in our drive way. I should say that I HAD decided to get a basketball hoop until I saw how much they those suckers cost! $400 or more! WTH, not like I'm going to be dunking on the damn thing! I was thinking neighborhood games of HORSE!

Fun fact- the first time ever playing competitive sports was 3rd grade basketball. I was a point guard. My first basket, for the other team. Awesome.

6. Summer at Snowshoe is upon us. Reservations are set for Memorial Day weekend.

7. I'm still saddened by the 29 miners who lost their lives last week. Andrea posted the perfect quote on Facebook that said something like "it is times like these we must remember that there are some who work in the dangers of the dark so that others may have light." My dad is a coal miner. Last week I took solace in the fact that where he works blows the tops off mountains rather than going deep inside.

8. I've been going through old pictures. I desperately need a scanner to upload some of them. Oh man. 1996 was kind to NO ONE. Among those pictures were my summer in Italy, 2002 baby. The summer that I discovered gelato. The summer I gained 15 pounds and couldn't fit into a bridesmaid dress when I returned. The summer that my traveling companion found out she was pregnant. And how we had to go into a French pharmacy in Nice and explain to the nice Nice pharmacist that we needed "un exam pour les bebe" while gesturing a big round belly like a mime. And how that night, after 2 pink lines popped up, I tried talking my companion into downing a bottle of France's finest. She wouldn't. I tried rationalizing that she had to be only 3 weeks pregnant and to think of the millions of people who get pregnant and are clueless well into 8 weeks and their babies turn out just fine. No dice. So I suffered because she could no longer partake in European debauchery and she suffered because I could. It really was a loose loose situation.

I have so many stories like that. Motherhood isn't the only "best time of my life." I started a blog so I wouldn't forget. But just like I don't want to forget the way Little Bit crawls into our bed to snuggle, I also don't want to forget the old me. The little things. That there is no crayon in the Crayola box that accurately depicts "Morgantown Gray." Or that in 1997 if you told me that I would be marrying that kid from the 3rd floor of Arnold Hall that I would have laughed hysterically. The me that got me to the point that I am today.

9. Maybe I should start a new blog, just pour moi. So my old senile self can "remember when." Or sprinkle some stories into this one but changing names to protect the innocent. :)

10. Gotta jet. Lost is on and dude, it's about Hugo tonight.

Ten on Tuesday

1. YAY for 80 degree days! We are just started into Spring and already the outdoor activities have started! On Friday we had a little neighborhood Easter egg hunt. I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood that does fun stuff. It seems easy here. Maybe it's because everyone is new and all it takes is someone saying, "hey i've got an idea, lets do an egg hunt!" So we did. I recruited a 10 year old to help me with the hiding. Seemed like it took for-evah to hide and toss 150 eggs on a field. Maybe it's because it was 85 degrees!

But it took like 5 minutes for these kiddos to swoop in and pick up 150 eggs! We didn't plan very well, so the eggs got stuffed with change, a few stickers, and a few pills that turn into bugs when dropped in water.

2. After egg hunting we were HOT. So out came the Dora hopscotch sprinkler!

3. On Saturday Katie's mom invited a few of us to an Easter Breakfast and egg hunt. Little Bit immediately bee lined it to the Easter Bunny and the face painting clown. But instead of a cute little bunny painted on her cheek, she went for the whole enchilada. Actually, Emma did too....

4. Cutest godson ever!

Ok, so the only one I have but still the hat is over the top cute!

5. He is one of my biggest fans.

6. And she is slowly getting there.

7. Got the paint for Sophie's room! It's a Benjamin Moore paint called "Robin's Nest." And I've got a theme to go with it, "3 Little Birds." I've found a place on Etsy that can make a vinyl quote to go over her window that says "Rise up this mornin', Smiled with the risin' sun." But what color? White, black, pink? Ugh.

8. I know I wouldn't use it that much, but I really want to by a DVD projector like this. I saw ads for it back at Christmas for $100 and wanted it then. But now I'm REALLY itching for it. I'm picturing Drive-in style movies out on the drive way or in the yard with bags of popcorn and blankets. So I've got my eye on a few of them on ebay.

9. Is anyone big into Twitter? I signed up about 2 years ago but never really got into it. To be truthful, i just don't get it. I don't get the @ signs and # signs and RT's and etc. I got back into Twitter just so I could stalk WVU basketball players when they started posting videos and pictures on their way to the Final Four. I even managed to get one of them to follow me. Do you think he appreciates "tweets" from a 32 year old mother of a four year old telling him to "lay off the Iphone and hit the books." I'm sure to be "unfollowed" any day!

10. I love love love finding new bloggers to follow. And boy did I find a whopper of a blogger to follow thanks to Erin Cobb. Her name is Kelle Hampton and she's a photographer. And she's the most honest blogger I have ever "met" in cyber world. She's been blogging for awhile. But her post about her daughter born with Down Syndrome is the most heart opening words of honesty I have read in a long long time. That it took her 2 year old daughter to teach her how to love makes me pause, look over at my own Little Bit and be in total awe of her innocence. She's colorblind, unjaded, unbiased, and there's yet to be a cynical bone in her body.

C'est la vie

The French definitely say it best. "C'est la vie," that's life. So we won't be huddled around the TV tonight to watch our 'eers take on the Butler Bulldogs. But what a heck of a ride! I don't think that any Mountaineer will be forgetting this season any time soon. My step-dad has always said that "it's hard to be a Mountaineer fan." It's true. You can be built up soaring high one minute and nose diving the next. Maybe that's why mass quantities of alcohol plays a part? But through thick and thin there's also nothing better than being a Mountaineer. They might not have gotten their official "One Shining Moment" but I can safely speak for quite a few people who would say that they gave us many many many shining moments.

So on the regularly scheduled programing, it was also Easter weekend. A high holiday for some. But for the past 5 years Steven has been so busy with tax season that it sort of just flits by with out much fan fare. We don't go to church. And I'm not going to drag my butt to church one day a year just to be seen on Easter Sunday. So we relaxed at home. The Easter Bunny dropped a basket off at our house full Because according to Gi, she only has one grandkid. Period.

I'll post more through out the week about other Easter activities. Including a neighborhood egg hunt and getting together with some of our friends for an Easter breakfast and egg hunt. Until then, remember, c'est la vie.

On the Eve of History

(updated to apply to loves in other states, thanks, Rosalie!)

I can't quite explain it. It's as though there's this thick, invisible, energized air reverberating off of everything around here. Even at the Walmarts. The Mountaineers are going to the Final Four and they ARE going to win.

Have you ever heard of Noetic Science? I first heard about it in Dan Brown's book, "The Lost Symbol" (side note, I love that I get my science from fiction, but I digress). Anyway, Noetic Science involves claims that the human thought can affect the physical world. On Saturday, Noetic Scientists around the world should use the state of West Virginia as a case study. At 8:47 pm there will be 1.8 million minds focused on one thing and one thing only. And those minds want one thing and one thing only: the complete and utter annihilation of Duke.

(Side note- there's actually, 1,819,777 people in West Virginia, but I figure that maybe around 19,776 are living under a rock or mentally impaired. And then there's my uncle who puts the count back to 19,777 who is against anyone playing WV. He obviously was dropped on his head one too many times as a small child b/c seriously, why you gonna hate?! I mean seriously, what's the legitimate answer to that question?)

It's an unbelievable feeling to know that an entire state is standing behind 16 young guys and 1 legend of a coach willing them to go all the way. Clark Griswold put it best. I can guarantee you that when they bring that trophy home, the State of West Virginia is going to be "the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse." No one....and I mean no one would be prouder. Sure other teams have fans. But other teams don't have Mountaineer fans. So LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS!

This message brought to you by the mother of a child who will probably put the "P" in "Party School" class of 2024.