Ramblings: Hotel Cali and Mustachios

Saturday night we got ourselves all spiffed up (meaning we showered and actually put on unstained, matching clothes) and headed downtown to the Eagles concert. We spent the whole night being amazed that they were the ones behind all these songs we always knew and loved. They kind of ruined the buildup though when they sang "Hotel California" and "Witchy Woman" in the first half of the concert. The crazy part of the night was that the concert was "blacked out," meaning that none of the monitors, jumbo screens, or even the lights in the box where we were at were allowed to be on. We practically had to feel around on each others' faces Helen Keller style to figure out who were were talking to.

They had a bunch of food and a giant carrot cake out but I couldn't sample much since I had stuffed my incredibly squashed stomach beforehand with what the restaurant at the Ritz Carlton called "Chicken Fried Lobster and a BBQ Filet." Uh, YUM, in case you were wondering.  Although I had an upset stomach all night because--shocker!--I don't normally consume that rich of a dinner menu at 8 o'clock at night on a routine basis. Unless you consider grilled cheese on 7 grain bread to be gourmet. This is the room we were in--I didn't take the picture, but obviously someone else was impressed by that chandelier, too.

Then yesterday morning Jeremy took off on the week long trip to Hong Kong that I've been dreading for months. (How come these trips never fall during the kids' school year?) Luckily, the week long trip to LA that was supposed to happen the days immediately before was postponed until later in the summer. And another two day trip to Houston was canceled. So the three weeks of travel got widdled down to one for him, and my remote possibility of staying mentally stable without any nighttime backup at least slightly increased.

He's been a bit nervous about the 15 hour flight he had to take from San Francisco to Hong Kong. But considering he can sleep ANYWHERE (and has--including the mortifying time he fell asleep in the HUGE physical science lecture class we took together in college and then--how should we say--passed gas for the entire class to hear) I didn't think the flight would be a big deal. Plus, he gets his own little cubicle with personal recliner, tv, etc. So cry me a river. I'd LOVE to go sleep for 15 hours straight without someone asking me to turn on cartoons or the daily morning wakeup call for chocolate milk. BECAUSE DON'T YOU KNOW??! FOUR YEAR OLDS SHRIVEL UP AND DIE IF NOT FED CHOCOLATE MILK WITHIN 7 MINUTES OF WAKING UP. They are their own unique kind of gremlin. I did get a little worried when he called me yesterday afternoon when they arrived in San Francisco after less than a four hour flight that he said "felt like lasted forever." Ok. Now do that times five and you'll be there!

Everyone he talked to told him to bring some Ambien so he could sleep most of the time, making the huge time change easier. So he got some and I was really, really hoping that when he finally crashed on the airplane in a drug induced slumber, that Jason (the other attorney from work he was traveling with) would take advantage of the opportunity.  I would have been happy if he would have sharpie-d any of the following facial hairdos on him. I really would have loved seeing him packing up his briefcase and getting ready to get off the plane with a brown sharpie, bull-fighter style mustache drawn on his face. All the while just assuming people were staring at him for being in the minority as a super tall white guy (with an awesome 'stache). 

But I'm guessing Jason didn't do it-- I should've slipped him these ideas at the concert the night before--because Jeremy called an hour ago and they just got to the hotel. No mention of permanent marker drawings on his face during his Ambien coma. It's weird that I'm here fixing the gremlins chocolate milk and he's about to go to dinner.

The first thing the cab driver told them they could do while they were there is visit a hot part of town where there were good bars and lots of "easy" Thai women, but rest assured, "they're not prostitutes, they're free--but you do have to buy them a nice meal." How pleasant.

And a friend from church hooked him up with the name of a tailor near the hotel that will make him some custom suits and shirts for cheap. He'll be measured for his Christmas present early. 

Nice to know he'll have plenty of things to do in his free time. And if anyone happens to be on a flight from Hong Kong to Dallas in a week sees this guy asleep...

please whip out your sharpie and do me proud.

Rant: I'm hot (and not the cute kind of hot, unless pit stains are attractive)

Let me break it down for you: Being 6 months pregnant in a Texas summer stinks. Quite literally and figuratively.  I can't cool off.  I sweat non-stop. I can't afford to air condition the house to a temperature I would enjoy. The only place I can find relief is when I'm hauling the crazies around in the minivan. That lovely mom-mobile can pump out some seriously cold air in a hurry. And all the vents in the front half are pointed in my direction. But get this--my kids have started bringing blankets in the car because they whine and cry the whole time that they're freezing. I'm sorry--but freeze. I'm in the process of GROWING a person and it's 110* outside. I'm an inferno--so drag your little blankets with you because the air's coming on full blast.

I've looked into getting one of these for the house so I can drag it around behind me no matter where I go. (Don't you think I could have some little wheels installed there along the bottom? Or prop it in a Little Tikes wagon?) Plus, I'm pretty sure it'd be really loud and I can't help but think I would appreciate all the tattling and whining I wouldn't hear with it on.

Ramblings: Crazy catch-up

I have finally downloaded the all the pictures that have been sitting in my camera. This past few weeks has been a blur of activities, awards ceremonies, baseball games, sweating in the 100* heat, end of year parties, birthday parties, and a visit from a fun aunt, uncle, and cousin.

The aforementioned visit by her adorable 1 year old cousin Laura only confirmed to Maddie that she is going to be utterly disappointed when she will have yet another stinky brother to play with, instead of a fantastically girly little creature to follow around that actually enjoys learning how to accessorize and dress up.  We'll have to borrow female cousins from time to time so she'll survive.

(Maddie left them a funny note one day in which she wrote "To Peter: You're the craziest guy I know." Peter's pretty mellow, so it was a rather hilarious description--especially considering the crowd she currently resides with.)

If I work backwards, maybe I can remember most of the stuff I planned on writing about at the time.

*Last night, almost exactly a month before her 7th birthday, Maddie lost her first tooth. Not to be outdone by her greasy tool-wielding Uncle Brent, Jeremy pulled it out with a pair of needlenose plyers. Why he couldn't have just used a paper towel, I will never know. But the thing is finally out, and she was SO excited.


*Alex and Jeremy went to the BYU father and son's basketball camp in Utah for four days over Memorial Day. They had a blast, hung out with all the BYU basketball players, ate like kings in the dorm cafeteria, and played more basketball than their legs appreciated. When they finally got in from the airport on their first night there, it was about 1:30 in the morning and there were still tons of college students outside playing football, riding around on bikes, and hanging out around town.  Alex was amazed--"Why are all these people still awake at 1:30 in the morning?"  "Cuz that's what you get to do when you're in college." And then after he saw the huge cold cereal selection in the cafeteria the next morning, he was sold. He's already started filling out his applications.

Jeremy's had Alex watching all the BYU games for years, so he was amazed when one of his favorite players, Jimmer, sat down next to them to eat on the first day. (Don't get me started on the name Jimmer. Yikes.)

Alex hiked up the mountain with the famous Y on the side, despite his overwhelming fear of heights (apparently a cute 20 something student heard his despair before they started and stopped to assure him he would indeed survive and that it wasn't that bad once you got up there. All it takes is a cute college girl and guys will pretty much climb whatever mountain you tell them to...even though he still looks like he's about to throw up.) I was about to throw up after spending the 4 1/2 days by myself trying to entertain the other three.  There's not much to do when everything makes you hotter than you already are and achy all over. Good thing Grandma's pool was nice and cool. And the little boys finally decided that naps at Grandma's house are cool.

* The twins turned four last Sunday. FOUR. IV.  Can you believe it? I assumed by 4 they'd be over all their wild shenanigans.  Hmmm--not so much. We had a small party at Grandma's after some swimming and we'll be doing another since Dad and Alex are back. They asked for a pirate party so Auntie Brooke was nice enough to whip up this hilarious Pirate cake for them.
Here's the video of the cake festivities. Maddie insisted on singing with this electronic candle that played Happy Birthday at doubletime.
Grandma and Grandpa gave them all sorts of fun stuff--including Spiderman sunglasses--which will go great with the new swim stuff that their Grandma Apples sent them. Aidan struck this pose for me when I asked to see them.

* Maddie and Alex both received school awards for being on the A honor role all year. Maddie got the "Friendship" award in her class for being such a good friend to everyone. We're so excited because her teacher is moving up a grade and she gets to have her again next year.

Alex received the "Outstanding Character" award. Don't know if it was for having it, or for being one. Maybe both. He missed his ceremony because he was gone being amazed by 7 foot tall guys jumping around.

*Alex played at his piano recital a few weeks ago. Sorry no video, but here's the audio. He played one of the pieces he memorized earlier a couple months ago for a competition. His teacher really had him focus on dynamics--making things louder and softer, playing the staccato notes quickly, etc. He's played it so many times that he usually plays it at 900 miles an hour at home, which luckily he didn't do in the recital.

He must have made Dad proud (or else Dad was just craving peanut butter cups) because he came home with an ice cream stained suit. I was home on crazy 3 year old duty because the napless fools were in no shape to make any public appearances (although the audio may have been far more entertaining). Since I got to attend his nail-biting competition last month (he was a nervous wreck), it was Dad's turn to accompany the maestro.

*I'm getting more and more ginormous by the day. People look shocked when I tell them I still have to make it thru the end of September. Yeah, I get it. I'm huge. Thanks. Maddie got to go with me to my latest sonogram a few weeks ago, where it was reconfirmed that it's a boy and Maddie made barf noises in the background. She had pulled a muscle in her leg and had trouble walking and straightening it, so she got to skip school. We made a day of it with shopping and then lunch at her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden.  The kid loves soup and salad.  I tried to convince her that in the future, we'll get to do girl days all the time and we'll leave all the stinky boys at home with dad. She's starting to accept the only girl thing.

That's all for now. The boys have found glue and are doing a "project." Must go investigate.