Tomorrow a dream comes true for me.
We took on the theme of a county fair this year for our Young Women's Evening of Excellence. It turned out so cute & was a fun night in honoring the girls' achievements.
Here's the invitation, which I think would be darling as a birthday party invite.
Each table had a value ribbon attached and the girls presented their 'county fair' entries. These were projects or other things they have completed throughout the year.
The refreshments were typical fair food & very tasty: caramel apples, homemade root beer & popcorn.
Every girl was able to participate in a couple of games. We had a dart game, bean bag toss, fishing pond, stringing fruit loops on a string, mini bowling and doughnut eating. When they completed their game, their mom stood and talked about what they've done and achieved during the year. 
Some moms even got lucky enough to participate in the pie eating contest.
Then some dads got their turn being the turkeys in the turkey shoot. The smiles on the girls' face when they managed to hit the 'turkeys' was classic.
Today I had a freak gasoline fight accident (name that movie.) I stopped at Phillips 66 to get gas. As I pulled the pump out it was already engaged & suddenly I was fighting to stop it & gas was spurting everywhere. It took at least a minute or two to get it un-stuck but by that time 2.6 gallons of gas were rolling down the hill in the parking lot. I hurriedly stuck the un-stuck pump in my car & proceeded to fill the tank. Upon completing that task I went in and explained the unfortunate incident with the gas. Counter girl, who had vampire eyes, i.e., special contacts, got on the phone with manager. Manager said there's no way they can credit my card. Manager suggested I call Phillips corporate. Manager says they had no way of knowing the pump was broken. To that I wanted to say, "Duh, I had no way of knowing it was broken either!" Manager....blah blah blah. Manager stinks. Mind you, the $4-5 that's on the line here is not that much. I waste more than that all the time, i.e., a gym membership that's gone unused for a month, but in the spirit of good customer service I wanted recompense!
This whole experience was ironic/funny/strange because it was the polar opposite of something that happened last week at Goodwood BBQ. I met a friend for lunch and we each ordered a sandwich & onion rings to share. When they served our sandwiches, our onion rings still had not come. I simply asked about them and waiter said they'd be right out. True to his word, within 4-5 minutes our oh-so-delicious rings, i.e., the biggest and best you've ever tasted, were being consumed. No big deal. I didn't think anything of it. Not ten minutes later a man, i.e., manager, came by and asked how our meal was. Perfect, delicious, we said. He apologized for the delay and stated the onion rings would be taken off our bill. Wow, I was stunned. Then, another shock. He said in addition if we desired dessert we could have that on the house. What service! Goodwood manager does not stink.
Moral of the story?
Eat at Goodwood. Don't buy gas at Phillips,
and
Zoolander is a really funny movie.
The photographer that came to mr. E's school this year had a guys & dolls theme with all the props and costumes. I think it suits him very well. In fact, he looks like a regular performer behind the camera.
What is up with him looking like he's 10 years old?? He can't grow up any faster....where's the pause button??
I always have great ambitions for Halloween. I think about what we'll be (it's always coordinating of course) & I have it all planned out by late August. The problem is I never follow through. Halloween gets closer and I don't have the energy or desire to put it together or fork out the money for it. I guess I suffer from serious commitmentphobia on the costume front.
But, there was that once. We looked great and we were even on tv because of it.
Halloween '07
Halloween '09
I've had a lot of fun trying new things lately. My mind's motor is in overdrive with all the things that I want to do. Here is a sampling of what I've been working on:
Exhibit A: A self-binding baby blanket. This turned out really cute, I'm anxious to try it again.
Exhibit B: A buttercup bag. A fun little purse that has so many possibilities!
Exhibit C: A nearly-finished scarf. I took a class from the ever-talented Kelly McCaleb. I've enjoyed this new skill. Knitting is surprisingly relaxing and meditative inducing. Head over to youtube if you would like some basics on how to learn.
Exhibit D: Cards from my class last Saturday. It's a lot of fun to design and help others create these. My next class is Saturday Dec. 5th if you are interested.
...more to come because I just checked this out of the library. Holy, lots of inspiration, batman! Wow. Definitely thinking this needs to be a part of my permanent collection. It's the Holy Grail of all things craft.
You know your child is cut from the same cloth as you when he says, "let's create something." You also know the other half of his cloth is from your husband when he says, "can I play video games?" & then repeats that request at least 6 times a day.
You know you didn't win the mom of the year award when your child prays at night and says, "please bless mom to be in a better mood tomorrow."
You know you have great (or awful) bedhead when your child wakes up and says, "wow, mom. You have half clown, half normal hair." Ha!
You know you are loved when husband and child negotiate for alone time with you.
You know your child isn't paying attention when during the prayer he gasps, "make it quick! I'm picking up a dream and it's really freaky!" (Perhaps you also know he has an overactive imagination).
You know that loving & mothering this sometimes crazy, always entertaining & immeasurably intelligent kid is so much a part of you that even after a long day of time-outs & frustrations you miss him after he's tucked in bed and slumbering.
Love, love, love this kid!
