what does one WEAR to a wedding on a yacht?

I have this little website that details the number of hits my blog gets each day, and I noticed that Tuesdays are big for "because i can". I suppose I've set that expectation the last few weeks, but who wants to be so predictable? Besides that, London Josefys have publicly reprimanded me now twice for my lack of concern over their inability to keep up with America & "24". So what have we to talk about?

I could tell you that I've finished youth VBS '08 materials and am now working on an empty-nester unit called "Living 3:16 in a 9/11 World", but that might bore you.

I could tell ya' that I bought C a Cingular Blackjack for Vday, so he can check my blog from Wal Mart and such ;-) but that might cause you to covet. (You can get GREAT deals at www.wirefly.com if you're interested.)

I could tell you that I found out last night that A and 3 of her friends are in a band. That's right. "The Poppin' Girlfriends" and she and the other "lead singer/dancer" have already written 6 songs. And just the fact that A is a lead singer/dancer is entertaining enough bc...I've heard her sing, and, well, it's not her gift. They got together after school today to rehearse, but 2 of the members were distracted by other things. A said they just played, but "that's OK, because we have 5 years." Their end game is to audition for Disney when they reach the age of 12. Hey, that turned out to be a pretty good anecdote.

I could also tell you that our Sharon is getting married this Saturday on a yacht in Galveston Bay and that we get to be a part of it. But again...covetousness....

The ski trip is off for the kids and me. It got to be too much cost and too big of a hassle to make it work for only 2 days of skiing after it was cut short. The kids are fine with that, though, and C is going to fly back early so he can be at the bee. Did I mention that kids at school have offered him cold-hard cash to cough their names during the televised event...right before he spells a word. those 6th graders....M-I-S-C-H-I-E-V-O-U-S, i tell ya'.

I'm sorry I can't hear you. I'm deaf in my left ear.

Jack's dad puts the "fun" in dysfunctional, don't you think? Clay and I decided last night that he's even more villainous than Nina was. It's up for debate, I'm sure, but definitely...BAD DAD. And who would expect Chad Lowe to be such a conniving evil-doer? I don't think they cast that part well, bc - in my opinion - he doesn't really have the face for it.

Abby and I have been watching the "Little House on the Prairie" dvds from season 1. It's a little less heart-pounding, but it did shake her up last night to see Mr. Ingall's quarry worker friend blown to bits in an unfortunate accident involving dynamite. Graphic violence is everywhere, I tell ya'.

You might be wondering why I'm blogging instead of working, as I should be, right now. It's because the security guy is here to fix us up since we switched our phone over to Vonage. He's in the office (where I wish to be) working; this prevents me from doing the same. But my handy-dandy lap-top at least provides me with the diversion of web sudoku, email, and this here blog.

No big news on the kid-front...Brandon continues to enjoy his new celeb-status at school, saying "I got popular." And Abby, well she's just happy to have Heelys and a brother who can spell it.

I'm going to go now because I think I just went deaf in my left ear. I was walking right under the alarm-sounder-thingy when mr. security guy tested it. Burglars beware...

Bzzzzzzz....

Here's the Ellis County Spelling Bee '07 Champ! Among the words he had to spell were "sitzmark" (i don't know what that means, but he ripped it out like its a word he uses every day) and "magnanimous" and the winning words were "omnipotent" and "credenza". And, in the end, it was down to him and an 8th grader from Ennis. She knew omnipotent, but jumped out there with "o-m-i" and then backed up to respell it correctly. but you can't change letters. So if you're in the Dallas area on March 17, you can watch B on TV for the Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee. He and I will have to come back early from our spring break ski trip to be there.

p.s. thank you to the "24" writers who obviously read my blog and made the necessary changes to give us what we've come to love and expect. the power of print...

:-)

FLIPPIN' SWEET

I think my favorite part of the marriage retreat was Saturday morning, before we left the house. Because Clay came into the kitchen and said, "You ready to go?" with cherry red lips. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, his lips "hurt real bad." So he had grabbed some of A's Napoleon Dynamite "Flippin' Sweet Cherry" chapstick. Turns out, the stuff goes on more like lipstick, because he looked really, um...transvestite-ish. But I didn't know he had put on chapstick, so in my horror and confusion, I asked, "WHY are you wearing lipstick??" whew. that was a close one. Always, and I do mean ALWAYS look at your spouse before heading out to lead a conference. Because that could have been embarassing. He wiped it off (and kept on wiping, I might add, for at least an hour) and we all had a good laugh. Because, naturally, I shared that story with the whole group.

THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS REGARDING THE TELEVISION DRAMA, "24". READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
I've been somewhat disappointed in this season. Until now, Jack has balanced violence with the utmost integrity. :-) That sounds funny, but you know what I mean. All of a sudden, just 30 min. after saying "I can't do this anymore" he suffocated his brother with a plastic bag for no apparent good reason. Sure, with hindsight we now know that it was for a good reason, but at that point, Jack had no clue whether or not his dad or brother had any information at all about the nuclear explosion. And here we are 2 whole hours later still waiting for something 24-worthy to happen. I'm just not feeling as involved yet this season. Chloe's character has lost her chloe-ness, and although I am a fan of Morris, the goings on at CTU are mostly irrelevant so far. sigh. But in fairness, I guess that's why the show isn't called "6".