A Good Weekend....

...so we had a great weekend!

...The concert was a lot of fun. I may or may not have done a little pre-partying ($11.00 for 24 oz. of Coors Light when I can get 18 12 oz. bottles at Kroger for $10.88? I don't THINK SO!) before the concert. I may or may not have split half a bottle of whiskey with a friend in about 15 minutes. And I may or may not have horked my guts up on the way into the concert. I did NOT, however, pass out (which is usually the case when I've overindulged like that). I did, however, miss the first few bands as I lay in recovery on the lawn. Which makes me sad, even though I know I'm the only one to blame for my bad choices. As most of you know, I do pre-concert research to listen to the front-runners. And darn it if I didn't really like what I heard on the snippets of iTunes that I'd listened to that day. Anyway, I was right as rain by the time Saving Abel came on stage. Not being a terribly big fan of them, I used that time to get food and diet Coke (no way I was going to drink any more that day!). Then I was all ready to dance my ass off to Shinedown and Disturbed. I really like Shinedown, and was very happy with the performance they gave. Shinedown is one of the harder bands that has a front-man with a really great set of pipes on him. The only downside? His voice was a bit on the tired side, so some of the stuff that is in higher vocal range for a man, he dropped down an octave or sang the harmony line for it. Was one of those things you wouldn't realize unless you were a musician. But I recognized it. Disturbed was the main act of the night, and, while I was stoked beyond belief to hear them live again, I didn't find that they did quite as good of a job as they did in December. They did do a few interesting accoustic intros to a few of their songs, making me think that they would sing pretty much the ONLY accoustic song they have (Darkness, if you're a Disturbed fan). But no... I still have yet to hear that live.

...anyway, I didn't mean for this post to turn into a musical review! So Sunday, we spent a good part of the day with the in-laws, who had watched the Gruesome Twosome so that we could go get crazy on the lawn. Collin came home from camp just in time to go, and we got the news that he was acting Senior Patrol Leader for the camp. AND, he did a great job in the role. *beams with happy momma pride* After we ate ourselves into grilled-food oblivion, I took Griffin to a friend's house for a playdate. The mom and I get along pretty well, and have some crazy similarities to our lives, so we sat in their backyard and chatted while the boys played. The night wore on, and the other little boy invited Griffin to spend the night. So I let him, thinking I'd probably be going in my jammies to get him later. They live in our neighborhood, so it wasn't a big deal. He made it the entire night. *sniffles at the thought that this really is the big time of having big kids!* Collin spent the night with another neighbor, which made me feel a bit bad, so I blew up an air mattress on the living room floor and Erin and I had a slumber party. She liked that, so it was worth having a bad back in the morning!

...Monday, we went to some friends' house. They had a baby earlier this month, so we got the chance to snuggle on him. With how many babies are happening in my world right now, I can't help but be clucky. Aaron makes fun of me, saying NO WAY we're going to have another. In theory, another baby would be awesome. So would a puppy, however, and you sure as hell don't see me lining up to adopt one! I do, however, miss the fun things about having a baby.... I miss nursing (as soon as the milk has been regulated and the baby and momma know what they're doing...those first few weeks suck like none other!). I miss having a tiny little one to just snuggle. I miss the little grunting noises. The newness of everything. But that STILL doesn't make me want to go through the trauma of another birth. I'll settle for loving and celebrating everyone else's babies.

...today I had lunch with Judy at our favorite little kebab house. So yummy! Tomorrow I'll eat lunch with Katie. Got to get lunch in with my stay-at-home-mom friends while they're kidless during the day!

Hello!

Not a ton going on here. Everything's pretty much the same hecticness that is my life right now. Work, karate, getting the twins on the bus... the occasional lunch with friends. I've also been playing a lot of Scrabble on Facebook.

Going in a few hours to May Day, which is a concert at Verizon. Disturbed will be there. Am excited to see them again. Shinedown and a few other bands will be there, too. Should be a good show, with some good friends.

Shout Out: Collin

OK, so maybe he's not truly a friend..... though as he gets older, the more like friends we become. He's definitely got my heart, and totally deserves a shout out. I do so love this boy....who's too quickly becoming a man.

Ode to Kari

So Kari and I have been friends since about 2004, bonded by the fact that we have had babies born way too soon. We met online at a forum for preemie parents. Olivia is about six months younger than Erin and Griffin. Ava was born in 2005. Both girls are amazing. Kari is amazing herself. And to think it's funny that we met in person for the first time on April 26. I love that Kari and I spent a little over an hour together, face-to-face, sucking down smoothies. And we chatted like we'd known eachother forever. I love Kari's sweet nature. She's real. She's totally in love with her girls, and is an awesome momma. She "got" me and my life at a time when few did. And for that I will forever be grateful.

I totally hate the fact that so much distance separates us. A little over four hours by car.

So there you have it, folks. Another wonderful woman that I call a friend. Love ya, Kari!

Ode to Judy....

I have two Judy's in my life... and I will celebrate them now. Why? Because they're the only ones who read and care to comment any more....

Judy W: You are a wonderful friend. From showing me the newest crafting move, to watching my kids, to making me and my family dinner, to meeting me for lunch. You're a great friend. I love how you'll let me hang out when I've just popped by to drop something off or pick something up. I love that you eat lunch as early as I do. I love that we can discuss things like religion and politics. I aspire to be as caring and giving as you, though that is a feat for no normal human. I certainly don't deserve to have such a good friend.

Judy S: You, too, are a wonderful friend. The mother to one awesome friend (*waves to Rebecca*) and mother-in-law to another awesome friend (*waves to Stephenie), we bonded over the premature birth of one baby, and even more over the premature birth of two more. You show love in so many ways, from bringing a lonely and crazed mommy Taco Bell to giving a not-so-lonely yet still crazed mommy Nana-cakes (in every shape, flavor, and size...you know I'm not picky!). I don't get to see you as often as I'd like (something we so need to remedy!!), but you're still a great friend, and like a third mom to me. I love you, too.


....So there you have it, my dear friends. Two Judy's that are in my life and totally in my heart.

....And, perhaps I'll just start calling out random friends. I do have so many that have touched my life in one way or another....


....and now, off to a band concert....

Not Much To Say....

...not a lot going on here. Trying to dig out from being gone last week. We had a nice, lazy weekend, which was nice. I didn't do much of anything!

...speaking of not doing much of anything, my sumo-wrestler diet and lack of exercise are catching up with me, so I'm hopping back on the exercise wagon. My schedule with karate is a bit funky these days, so am not getting much exercise in at all these days. I only do karate on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and there are days where we don't break a sweat. Of course, there are also days where I sweat through my clothes. But those days have been less often, so I know now that I need to figure something out. I just feel better when I'm active. Arthritis does run in my family a little bit (says the girl whose grandmother is nearly incapacitated with pain), so I know that I need to take care of myself. My hips have been crazy angry at me lately, and my back hurts when I don't get enough activity in. I really find it funny that it takes so much motivation to exercise. And it's soooo easy to find reasons NOT to exercise. Let's face it, it's easy to feel like crap and not feel like doing anything other than crawling under the covers, especially during allergy season. But I find it amazing how good I feel after having worked out... and gotten the shower....cos, ewww. *winks*

...Collin was elected Patrol Leader at Boy Scouts. Patrols are like Dens in the Cub Scout world. He's excited to take on this new role of responsibility, and has been brainstorming what he can do with his Patrol. I'm so very happy to see his excitement with this, as getting a pre-teen excited about ANYTHING seems to be a chore.

....Our friends Jon and Heather are off to the hospital today to deliver their third baby. Can't wait to meet their little man.

...Oh, and here's a picture of the Golden Driller. My mom has totally fallen in love with him. She said that he kind of reminds her of a gigantic version of my dad. I want to tell my dad to watch out if my mom comes after him with a spray can.....

Has It Really Been 10 days??

Sorry, folks! Got a little busy there for a bit! I'm sure all two of you are very sad at my absence... and I might have been told by one of you to update. :-)

I told you all that I was going to Tulsa. Well, I had a good time. It was a lot of driving for such a short period of time. BUT, it was well worth it to spend some time with my Momma, my Aunt Linda, and my cousins, Susan and Becca. We laughed, we ate, we watched rowing.... we ate some more. And I re-discovered just how easy-going my Momma really is, and discovered how much I would love to travel with her again.

And now it's back to the nuttiness that is my daily life. A fun nuttiness.