Pick up/Drop off

Leigha's final volleyball game was today. Ironically, it was the only game her team lost. They didn't seem to mind too much, however, since it was a well played game and they got cupcakes afterward. We had two great shows at the theater tonight. This is a picture of me trying to pick up Nifer. Her location was Home Depot and I used the line, "So....you wanna shop for playground equipment for our future children?" The girls really enjoy coming to the theater. Partially due to the fact that Dairy Queen is right next door and sometimes they get ice cream, but still. I like to flatter myself into thinking they enjoy what we do as well. We have a huge group of regulars that come every so often, and they showed up tonight. They're so much fun! Tonight they invited us all to their place for pizza after the shows. Among their group tonight was a man and his family, and one of the daughter's has downs syndrome. She wanted to sing us songs and tell jokes, and after a bit her father was trying to gently tell her the show was over. She said, "But Dad, I probably have a hundred jokes to tell!" He said, "How about one? We've got to meet in the middle on this one." She heaved a sigh and said, "Cut me some slack, Dad." It was hillarious. And sweet.

Let's coffee klatch

I'm not feeling 100%, but I'm not feeling as bad as I predicted I would, either. All in all, that's pretty okay with me, considering. Today Bri and I went to a sale and I came out with a few vintage dresses that I plan on selling because they're too small for me and in uber mint condition. Not to mention cutema-cute!!! I also got a pattern and a sweater (both vintage) that I'm keeping. I'm guessing I'll be able to sell the dresses and get enough money from them to keep me in my happy little habit, with extra for coffee on the side if I so choose. Vintage dresses go for A LOT on Ebay, and I'm only shelling out about $2-6 a pop. While Bri and I were out I took her to McDonalds for lunch and she got a plastic toy that talks. Why, McDonalds, why? I already don't like you, do you have to rub it in? I haven't taken Bri to Mickey D's for lunch in MONTHS and already I'm reminded why. When I got home from running around (sale, fabric shop [buttons!!!], grocery store, bank, home) I was exhausted. (Like I said, sick.) So I brewed some coffee. I had just sat down to relax, enjoy my coffee, and do some embroidery, when the power went out. What the.....? Grrrah! They're doing construction down the street, so this isn't exactly uncommon, and it's really getting on my nerves. They were very lucky I had already brewed my coffee before it went out, or I might have gone down the street and......um.....done my cute little 'tee hee, what you do affects people' routine. I dunno. Shaddup! Anyhow, I wasn't happy and I was starting to think of alternate dinner plans (electric stove, hello! And I just got my groceries, too! [see above]) when the power FINALLY came back on. Gah! About time. I got pretty far on my embroidery, though (sitting in the sun). Isn't it cute? I'm thinking of arching the words, "Happy Coffee" above the cup. I managed to get dinner cranked out before Jason got home, and we had a lovely dinner before settling in front of the TV for "Don't Forget the Lyrics." I could take or leave that show, but Leigha just loves it, and Bri could care less as long as she has the cat to torture, so on Friday nights, that's what we do. (I sew. Remember how I make a habit of un-wasting wasted time?) So yeah. That's mah day and I'm sticking to my long-winded story. Apparently sickness makes me ramble.

Blawh.

This picture basically sums up the mood that has prevailed our household today. Blah...... I got Leigha off to school, got Bri up and got her food then took a shower. When I got out she was on the couch huddled in a blanket. I asked her what was going on and she said, "I'm cold." Aw. We got shoes and jackets on and left to hang out with Melissa for a bit. We came back just before Bri's naptime, so I put her in her room and shut the door. She sleeps until Leigha gets home from school, but when Leigha got home from school and I told her to make her lunch and do homework, Bri hadn't shown up yet. Leigha went to play at Anna's house for an hour. When she came back, still no sign of awake Bri. I told Leigha to get her up since I was busy making chicken soup. Bri wandered in the kitchen not long after that with big grey bags under her eyes (Aw!) I went downstairs to finish something I had started this afternoon and realized Bri wasn't downstairs with Leigha and I, so I went to check on her (when she's quiet, you know there's trouble.) I found her on the couch in her blanket again! I asked if she was okay and she dully nodded her head. I felt her forehead and it was burning up, so I got her a big glass of water and wrapped her up tighter in her blanket. Jason came home from work and we had dinner. I told him Bri was coming down with something and to keep an eye on her, then went to rehearsal. It was good, but when I sat down during "talk about what we've learned" time, I got hit with a massive tidal wave of exhaustion. Ugh........I made it through the rest of rehearsal, but felt like I was dragging myself the whole time. I came home to find Spartacus looking exactly how I feel right now. Nice. Hopefully this is just a quick bug and will burn off quickly.

Bisque-it!

This morning Bri and I went to a paint your own pottery place. I wanted to make the girls personalized hot chocolate mugs and after comparing prices I found that it would be the same price, if not cheaper, to do it myself. Plus I got the added enjoyment of making them myself. Here are the mugs half done. When finished, the blue will be speckled and look like snow falling on the white hills on the bottom. The top edge has blue dots around it and the handles are rainbow colored. Around the outside they say, "Leigha's/Brianna's hot chocolate" and on the inside rim they say, "Marshmallows go here" with an arrow indicating down. Very cute! Can't wait to see them all shiny. Bri took my leftover glaze and made that gorgeous picture in the right central portion of the pic.

Meet loaf

Today I wore one of the vintage dresses I'd purchased a little while ago. Funnily enough, tonight's dinner plan was meat loaf. So in the interest of keeping the dress clean, and to see how retro I could go, I donned one of my vintage aprons. See that smug/knowing look on my face? That's my, "Oh, that's right...I went there." look. Jason and I went to the library this afternoon and managed to find some books Leigha had been asking for us to get for her. She just about piddled when she got home from school. Rehearsal was great tonight, we got to focus on longform, which was great. I'm so tired of shortform (the game like stuff. Long is where you basically make up a play) lately.

If you catch me at the border, I've got visas in my name.

Today we began the long haul back home. We could have done the simple(ish) Reno-Vegas-Kansas City, but Jason's mom was flying back from Anchorage today. So instead we opted to fly from Reno-Phoenix, wait an hour for her flight to come in, and have a nice sit down dinner at the airport before we boarded a plane bound for Albuquerque, and from there to home. Leigha enjoyed playing games with Grandma on the flights, and if you look just to the right of Sheila between her torso and the tray table, you can clearly see Brianna's sleeping head. We flew over some gnarly weather on the way. You'd look out the window and see just blackness, then suddenly lightning would illuminate the tuft of cloud sitting just under the wing of the plane. After we tucked the girls in and said goodbye to Jason's mom (She has to work tomorrow. Suck!) we flipped on the Weather Channel. We're totally getting that rainstorm here tonight.

Don't quail.

Today we had a nice brunch of specially handcrafted personal omelettes. Everyone picks what they want in their omelette, puts the ingredients in a plastic baggie, then pour the egg mixture over it, seal the baggie, and boil it. Mmmm. Bellissimo! My dad kidnapped Jason not long after that, so the rest of us (My mom, sisters, the girls and I) watched a movie at the house. We had to run to my mom's library to get something for Janina, so the girls got to pick out some books before we hugged Nina goodbye and she left for home from the library. (FYI, she locked her keys in the car in Mojave. Nice. She's back on the road right now, though, so she's just fine.) The rest of us went to the grocery store to pick out dinner and not long after we got back the guys got home so we ate then played a rousing game of Skip Bo. (my mom looks like she's trying to leap into the picture there. That may be my fault.....) Lynette and I won, with little to no cheating involved! There was hot chocolate and marshmallows and '50's music. Cozy. Lynette left after that and we got the girls to bed. My parents followed suit not long after that. I think we may have worn them out. At least I know we've done our job!