Friday Fragments

It's been awhile since I have done my Friday Fragments, so long that Mrs. 4444's has changed her banner to spring pictures. Whoops.

*Every week I think about the things that I could frag and then Friday comes and goes. Now I am typing on an actual Friday and I am not sure if I can remember any of them.

*I will tell you that if you drop a root beer in a bottle out of your refrigerator and it explodes, you will be finding root beer all over the kitchen for days (ok, maybe weeks).

*We have had 6 months of a rainy season here that finally turned the corner into no, not spring or summer, but pollen season. That's right, we are going thru Kleenex(by Kleenex, I mean Puffs with lotion) like there is no tomorrow. Pollen is covering everything. That means that even though the sun is finally out, we cannot go outside and enjoy it due to the epic sneezing. (PS, I am sorry to complain knowing that our weather could be so much worse, like the mid west.)

*My daughter wants to be Lady Gaga.

*I know that many schools are getting out right now for summer, but we go until the 21st. That's 16 more days of school and there is so much crammed into those 16 days, that I have to make a chart on poster board to keep everything straight.

*B and I leave for the Jump Rope Nationals on the 22nd in Galveston, Texas! We know Galveston, but are going to San Antonio for a few days after. Does anyone have any suggestions for restaurants or things to do in San Antonio?

*I got to go out to dinner twice in the last 2 weeks with girlfriends and now I have 2 more blond stories for you... you'll have to wait until next week.

*How did you like Scotty winning American Idol?

*Last, but way not least, my friend and Blogher bedmate, Melisa with one S has written a fabulous book about what to see and do in Chicago with tweens/teens! It is called Chicken In The Car And The Car Won't Go. She had a fantastic book launch the other night sponsored by many Chicago greats including Chevy. They took a "cruze" around Chicago!

*Thank you to the men and women currently serving in our military and our veterans. We wouldn't be the country we are without all of you. Happy weekend!

No More Braces!

Today is a monumental day in our household! K got her braces off! They have been on for 3 long years!!!

She was 11 when they went on. Look at how cute she is!

I took a page out of Melisa's book (ok, blog) and bought her a ton of chewy candy and gum that she hasn't had in 3 years. And believe it or not, she has been very, very good about not eating chewy things. In the brown bag are sour patch kids (her favorite!).

The Dentist's office actually gave her an oversized waterbottle filled with chewy candy and gum as well! And balloons! What fanfare! And have you ever heard of a dentist giving out candy?!

Here she is now, my beautiful 14 year old with her newly fashioned pearly whites just before she chomps into her grilled cheese sandwich (hence the hurry up and take the picture face).

Congratulations K!!!

A Blond Walks Into a Firestation...

The blond theme is running rampant around here.... This story is not about me. It is about someone near and dear to my heart, but I will not out-her publicly. Let's call her Elizabeth...

Saturday night, Elizabeth woke up feeling dizzy. Elizabeth is prone to panic/anxiety attacks and had pretty much determined that she had a concussion and a number of deadly diseases which were causing the dizziness. Her husband eventually calmed her down enough to go back to sleep.

Sunday morning they woke up and she was still dizzy. Husband said, "I will take you to the emergency room", while Elizabeth said, "How about we just go to the fire station?".

This is an approximation of the phone call....

Fire station: Hello.
Elizabeth: Hi, um, I woke up feeling dizzy and was thinking I could possibly have a concussion and maybe could I come in and get looked at?
F.S.: We can come to you if that would be better.
Eliz: No, the baby needs a nap, so my husband can drive me and baby can sleep in the car.
FS: OKkkkkk
Eliz: I have a weird question for you though... is a certain fire fighter working?
FS: She's still in the building, but off duty.
Eliz: OK, that is good. She doesn't like me. We are neighbors and we have dog issues.
FS: Okay......Totally understand. Come on in.

Elizabeth, baby and husband go to FS. Husband drops off Elizabeth so he can drive around while baby sleeps.

FS(a little bit concerned): Did you husband just drop you off and leave?
Eliz: Yes, baby is sleeping in the back seat.
FS: So why don't you tell us what is going on.
Eliz: Well, yesterday was the Women of Fishing Families' Celebration at the Fish Pier and I hit my head while wearing a sumo wrestling blow up suit.

FS: Oooh, those suits are so cool!
Eliz: Yes, and there might have been some alcohol involved.
FS (smiling): Yeah, we kinda figured that. Did you pass out, see stars, etc...
Eliz: No, I didn't pass out. I also consumed 2 red bulls. And I am prone to anxiety.

Fire Station checks out Elizabeth and tells her to take it easy, but they don't think she has a concussion. She leaves the building and realizes that dear husband is not outside. She goes back into the fire station.

Eliz: Um, yeah. While all that was going on yesterday... I lost my phone. Could I use yours to call my husband to tell him I am all checked out?

Calls husband who says he is just about there, but really a mile away. She goes back outside to wait  until he gets there. Even though it is raining she stays outside because she can not embarrass herself further by walking back into Fire Station.

Today, she posts this on facebook: It's a Christmas Miracle - the cell phone has been found! Where it was found is too crazy to even admit but lets just say it was safe in a flower window box with a beautiful view of the ocean.

Yeah, just another blond moment.....

PS: That is her friend falling in the photo. I am not sure anyone got a shot of her fall.

A Blond Walks Into A Store...

Saturday arrived with the usual things to do... dump, grocery store, a wedding to shoot, but it also included the need to get my future sister in law a present for her shower. A favorite store downtown was running a special: if you brought in your reusable tote from their store, you would get 20% off of your purchase.

Time was moving faster than normal (yes, that can happen, it's my story) and I realized that I better get to the store, so I could get to the wedding on time. I stopped by my mom's house, folded a basket of laundry for her while she got dressed and off we went to the store.

The store is called Picnic Fashion and is the cutest store ever. It's packed with beautiful colors, fabrics, picnic baskets and the nicest owner and store clerk. So of course, my mom and I were talking to them while we were looking around. We were in there for a half hour or so when I realized that I really had to make a decision and get moving. I paid for my items and said to my mom, "Can you bring them home after they wrap them and you get your stuff? I need to get home to change and get to the wedding."

My mom said, "Sure, no problem."

I live about 5 minutes from this store and as I was driving into my driveway, my mom called and said, "Can you pick me up on your way home from the wedding?"

That's right.

I left my mom at the store.

With no ride home.

Completely by accident.

We were in hysterics laughing. The store ladies were in hysterics laughing. K and B were dumbfounded that I didn't remember that I had driven Nana to the store. More laughing.

The moral of this story is
a. Don't ever let the 2 of us out on the town again.
b. Blonds really do have blond moments.
c. If you have too much on your plate, scrape some off.
d. All of the above.

I think she has forgiven me, but oddly enough, she stuck very close to me at the shower that was 2 hours away from home yesterday.

Sundays in My City

Amy and I shot a wedding today at the Wequassett Inn. They have the most beautiful array of tulips at their front entrance.  Even if it doesn't feel like spring on Cape Cod, it sure does look like it! Enjoy!

Happy Sunday!

Forgive Me, I Have Ignored.

Forgive me blog, for I have ignored you.

My actions of the past few weeks have been similar to that of a chicken running around with it's head cut off.

These actions, well mostly fun, have denied my readers an insight into my very exciting life while at the same time causing me stress whenever I ran by the computer to the next activity.

As penance, I will now give a visual/written summation of the past 2 weeks.

*William and Kate got married. I watched and cried and got meds for a sinus infection.

*My beautiful niece was baptised. She rocked the bonnet look while singing with the choir.

*The "after" luncheon where everyone let down their hair and played with ducks.

*Lisa and her husband went on a 2 week book tour of Australia. The grandparents and I held the household together like a glue stick.

*K turned 14, but that will have to be a whole'nother post.

*We crammed in a few pictures of the grandchildren at the beach so we could get a Mother's Day present for the grandparents.

*Cannot resist chubby feet pictures... especially sandy ones.

*Later that day we had a Kentucky Derby party at my parents' house where we made hats and fascinators!

*B and little dude's sister are rocking the look!

*Little dude even got into the action.

*3 lovely ladies in their derby finest :)

*For K's birthday, we got her tickets to go see Bruno Mars at Boston University. She brought a friend and B and I went, too. Luckily another mom in town got tickets too, so there were 8 of us all together! Other than getting home at 2am, it was a blast and I highly recommend him in concert!

These events along with the every day things like grocery shopping, laundry, work, jump rope, swim practice, horseback riding and the bake sale I ran this morning are the reason why I have avoided you, my dear blog.

Please, please forgive me.