Let's try this again...

Okay, I'm going to try to do this thing. But I make no guarantees. You see, I can't think of anything clever and interesting to write about. Oh sure, stuff happens in my life, but I don't if anyone would enjoy reading about it. It's mostly, wake up, get dressed, get the kids up, go to work, go to play practice, go home. But in an attempt to write something interesting, here's a little thing that happened to us on Saturday. You may have seen the last few pictures I posted on facebook.

This past Saturday we had play practice at 2:00. We're practicing at Southside High School because one of the guys in the show teaches drama there and he snagged us their auditorium (an awesome auditorium at that), so we're going to Southside most every night for practice. We decided to take the kids with us on Saturday afternoon. Practice went well, that's not what this story is about. This story is about our lunch afterward.

It's about 4:15 or so when we left the school. We were hungry, having not had lunch because we had a late breakfast, so as we approached McDonald's Danny asked if I wanted to eat there. Sure, why not? It wasn't busy. No problem. As we were walking in the door, Danny noticed some speakers set up on the patio by the playplace and remarked about how he wondered what those were for. Then we saw the sign on the door that Ronald McDonald would be there at 5:00 that day. What's the big deal, right? The girls would like it; free entertainment is always good. Oh, boy.

The place was empty. So far, so good. We went to order. The workers were very nice and were talking to the girls about the "surprise" visitor coming. Whoo hoo. We sat down to eat at about 4:30 or so. Then more people started to filter in.

We ate fairly quickly because the girls were anxious to outside and play. Then more people came in.

One of the ladies in charge came around and handed out raffle tickets. We got two, one for each child, but then one of them accidentally got thrown away. And more people came in.

A little before five Danny says, "oh no," while looking over my shoulder. I turn to see Hamburglar and Grimace coming in. And more people.

You see, Ally is scared of lots of things. I mean lots of things. No joke, pretty much everything you can imagine, and then some. So he was afraid she would panic at the characters. She hid behind me at first, but then she watched them. The lady in charge handed out coloring books, and Hamburglar handed out crayons. Ally wouldn't take them from him. And more people came in.

Then the culmination of all this excitement came in...Ronald McDonald himself. And Ally hid behind me. And more people came in.

Danny remarked, "Wow, Ronald looks like he's pushing 70." He did look pretty old. And the white makeup didn't do much to conceal the fact that he was past his prime. The girls didn't care though. Ally finally decided the characters weren't so scary, but she still wouldn't give him five. Cammy did, though. She's my little daredevil. And more people came in.

After Ronald passed our table we were pretty much finished eating so we gathered our garbage and went out to play. Even more people were out there.

So many kids were running around that playplace I was surprised there was room for any more. But more came.

Luckily we found an empty table outside and planted ourselves in front of the playplace, all the while the girls were having a blast. And more people were coming in.

I kid you not, it was standing room only, and all for Ronald McDonald. I have never seen so many people in one McDonald's in all my life. We didn't get a table to ourselves outside. Some complete and total strangers sat at our table. Really. Mayhem. And the magic show hadn't even started yet. Danny started getting panicky. He really didn't want to be there anymore. I said, yeah, good luck tearing the girls away. He said, let's get them a milkshake. I said, tell them if we leave now they can have a milkshake. That worked!

We had to practically shoulder our way through the inside to get to the counter to order. But thankfully we got our treats and hightailed it out of there before Danny or I had a panic attack. Seriously. Too many kids, too many people, period.

And when we got to the car I proceeded to sanitize everyone. Sheesh.

And still, more people were going in.

See, I told you...

I have all but abandoned this. I told you I probably would! I have been very busy lately. Work, kids, etc. Danny and I are doing another show, "Barefoot in the Park." It's my first lead! I'm pretty excited. So anyway, we're rehearsing for that a lot and I just don't have time for much else! And I've had a lack of clever things to say. I don't want a boring blog. *shrug*

They just don't cooperate sometimes...

This past Sunday was Youth Sunday at our church. You know, where the youth takes control of the whole service? Well, we had been practicing with the little ones on a couple of songs, prayers, etc. for a few weeks now on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights to get ready for Youth Sunday. At every practice Ally and Cammy both sang and danced and did everything they were supposed to do.

Come Sunday morning we get there for Sunday school to practice just one more time before the big program. First, Ally decides she doesn't want to do the motions to the Lord's Army; she just wanted to sing. Next, Cammy doesn't want to do anything except climb around on the steps. Danny got onto Cammy and she pouted up and wouldn't have anything else to do with practicing. The service rolls around, it's time for their first song, Cammy refuses to even go to the front of the church. She will not get out of Danny's lap. Ally actually goes to the front for the song but will not do anything! She just stood there; no singing, no dancing, nothing. Next song, same thing. Cammy will not go up, Ally will not sing.

After it was over I asked Ally why she didn't sing. Her response, "I just didn't want to sing." After weeks of practicing she just decided she didn't want to sing. Should she be this opinionated at 3 years old?

I've had withdrawals...

So I actually auditioned for a show last night, for the first time since Ally was born, almost 4 years ago. I auditioned for Bus Stop. Hopefully I'll get a part. We'll see. Keep your fingers crossed!

I told you she was a logical one.

We were sitting at the table eating breakfast yesterday morning and Cammy was saying she was a girl and Ally is a girl and Mommy is a girl but Daddy is a boy. Danny says, "Yes, Daddy is outnumbered." So Ally, ever the logical child, says "Mommy are you in-numbered?" Yes, my child is a genius.

The things kids say...

Thus far in our 3 years of parenting we haven't had any embarrassing comments come from the mouths of our sweet little girls. Until now. I guess it's not as embarrasing as some people may have experienced, but it made me want to hide.

Since the weather was so pretty here last weekend we decided to take the girls to Noccalula Falls on Sunday afternoon. We were walking around the park, minding our own business, when we passed three people standing at a drink machine. There was a girl and two guys, one of which had a long ponytail. As we're walking past Ally starts pointing at him asking, "Mommy, is that a girl?" I could have crawled under a rock. I said, "Shh, Ally," and tried to hurry her along the path, but she refused to walk. She just kept asking over and over. The girl that was with them finally said, "No, it's not a girl." As soon as we got away I stressed to Ally how she shouldn't point and talk about people. She said, "But he had a ponytail." Ever the logical one, she is.

See, I forget...

I just forget about this thing. I told you I probably would. Let's see, it's Friday. Yay! But it's only 2:17 which means I have a little over three hours before I get to go home. Yuck. Not to mention that I have three tapes to do (one of which is horribly long). So I guess I really shouldn't be doing this. But I just wanted to say something so I don't completely give up on this thing.

Maybe I'll think of something interesting to say later. Gotta get busy doing actual work.

Ah, Monday...

So not two seconds after I posted on Friday one of my bosses (the only one still at work that late) came in my office and said I could leave at 5:00. Whoo hoo! So my weekend started out on a good note. Friday wasn't too exciting (though we didn't have any specific planned so it wasn't expected to be exciting). Saturday night we had our monthly girls night. There were 9 of us in a big booth at Chili's. I love these girls nights because it's probably the most I laugh all month. And it's good to get a break every month. After we ate (and had yummy cake that Kristie made for Mandi's engagement) six of us headed over to the movies. We saw He's Just Not that Into You. It was really cute. Definitely a chick flick, but still good. Though I am a sucker for chick flicks.

The kids spent the night with my parents Saturday night so Danny and I skipped church yesterday and slept late. You see, my kids get up between 7:30 and 8:00 even on Saturdays. They're so used to getting up around 7:45 Monday through Friday for me to go to work that they wake up at the time even if they don't have to. Saturday mornings I'm usually woken up by Ally tapping me on the arm and saying, "Mommy, I waked up." To which I reply, "Baby, it's still really early so why don't you go lay back down?" "But it's morning and I'm awake." So the only time I get to sleep late is when the kids aren't there. I woke up at 11:45 on Sunday. Wow. Didn't expect to sleep until noon.

But now it's Monday. Blah. I'm about to go get my second cup of coffee, and then actually do some work. Maybe I'll have something more exciting to say later. Enjoy your Monday morning.

Can the minutes creep by any slower?

First of all, it's Friday, yay. Second, it's 4:53 and I don't get to leave work until 5:30, boo. I keep looking at the clock and it just gets slower and slower. Is everyone's Friday that way?

Tomorrow night is our monthly girls night. I think we're going to have everyone there this month, so that will be fun. Yay!

Oh, and I won't be posting on the weekends. I don't use the computer on the weekends (only at work when I probably shouldn't...shhh). My weekends are busy chasing munchkins. But I guess on Monday I can recap the weekend.

That's all.

Eating meat is bad, but, give me a Jr. Whopper.

A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon Danny, the girls and I went to Burger King. We were waiting in line when Danny noticed the bag the girl at the counter was carrying. Well, see for yourself:




At first he figured it was "People Eating Tasty Animals," but upon closer inspection it was indeed the real PETA. Don't you just love the giant burger in the picture with her? She also had proudly displayed on her bag two buttons: "Boycott KFC" and "Don't Eat Meat, Save a Life" with a picture of pig on it. So they got their food, but we didn't hear what they ordered, and they proceeded to go sit down. Once we got our order we very casually circled the restaurant to "find a table" (i.e. pass their table to see what she ordered). I didn't look because I was wrangling two little girls, but Danny swears she was eating a Jr. Whopper. Don't you just love hypocrites?

Don't you love the Alabama weather?

Some mornings you wake up and there's frost on the cars. Other mornings you need short sleeves. I really can't stand this time of year. This morning it was cool, but not bone chillingly cold, so I opted for an elbow length sweater, no coat, which was fine for just going from car to office to car to house, etc. But our runner called out of work today, so the task of running errands falls to me. I chose, rather unwisely, to walk to the clerk's office instead of driving. Hey, it's only a block away, no harm. I can use the exercise. Little did I know that the wind is freezing! About halfway across the courthouse parking lot I realized I'd made a mistake not wearing a coat. Whoops. Too late to turn back.

I really don't mind walking to the clerk's office in nice weather. I just prefer to have feeling in my fingers when I get back.

Why yes, I know where everyone is at every second of the workday.

Why is that everyone thinks that the person who answers the phone knows all? I mean, really, don't just assume that I know everyone's schedule at any given time. I get so tired of people calling the office, and when I tell them so and so is not in they proceed to ask me when he'll be back. I have NO IDEA! I'm not his secretary. Don't assume the person that answers the phone also handles everyone's calendar and knows exactly where any given person is and when he'll be back and what he has scheduled the rest of the day or week or month.

And I love this one, you tell them he's on another line and they ask you how long he's going to be on the phone. Do I really know?! Do you have any idea how long you're going to be on the phone? Then how am I supposed to know how long someone else is going to be on the phone?

Or this one, when they don't want to leave a message with you, they want voicemail. I'll say, "He's not in, may I take a message?" And they proceed with, "Can I have his voicemail?" No, you can't, if he had voicemail I wouldn't have asked to take a message! We are a little Gadsden law firm with only three attorneys, we don't have individual voicemail. We have one voicemail for the entire office (through AT&T) that only picks up when all three phone lines are occupied or no one is here. I can't give you his voicemail! I can't transfer you to the office voicemail. Our phone system is from the late '80s. No kidding. My phone on my desk at this very moment is dated 14 Oct 88. Seriously.

Oh, and one more, when we get wrong numbers and people are just in disbelief that they dialed the wrong number. Our phone number is very close to Alagasco's number, so we get people calling here all the time wanting the gas company. And I'll answer "Good Morning, Ford, Howard & Cornett," to which they reply, "Is this not Alagasco?" Um, no. If it was Alagasco would have I have said FORD, HOWARD & CORNETT? No, I would have said, "Good Morning, Alagasco." Pay attention, people! Or I'll answer the usual, and they don't even bother to ask if this is the gas company, they just start in about their gas bill, etc. Wake up! Does your gas bill say Ford, Howard & Cornett on it? I'll bet you a million dollars that it doesn't.

I like ABBA, but I want to hit you with a baseball bat.

We rented Mamma Mia on Saturday. Danny didn't really want to see it because he can't stand Meryl Streep. He said, and I quote, "She makes my butt itch." As in, she's so annoying he had to avert his eyes during every song she sang.

I have to say that there were quite a few people in that movie that I wanted to give a baseball bat to the head. About the only one that I liked was the girl that played Meryl Streep's daughter. She didn't annoy me to the point of desiring harm to her.

We also rented Get Smart, which ended up being better than I was expecting. It was really funny. I was actually able to stay awake until 2:00 a.m. to finish it. That's extremely unusual. I usually nod off around 11 or so, so I guess that tells you that the movie was good.

Bloggity, bloggity, blog...

I think I'm going to be a joiner. Here goes... 1...2...3... Did you miss it? I joined; I'm blogging. Whoo hoo.

This very well may be sporadic and, quite possibly, abandoned all together. You see, I'm forgetful. No really. I have baby books for both my kids and all I did was write down a few "firsts" (crawling, walking, tooth, word, etc.), and then completely abandoned them. Yep, they're stuffed under my bed gathering dust. Every year I'll cram them full of birthday cards, and that's about it. So it's very likely this too will be forgotten. But we'll try.

So, let's see. What to blog about first? I have recently become addicted to Little Big Town. I am listening to their CD, A Place to Land, over and over and over.

And that my friends may be the extent of some posts; a handful of sentences about something random. Just things that are on my mind. Isn't that scary?