Corsage Shopping and All That That Implies . . .

Knock on wood, but aside from edit stress, things have been remarkably calm around here!!!

Tuesday, Daughter and I got Son's date's corsage ordered for the formal. We're picking out flowers in the cooler of a fairly swanky florist along with a pretty, pearl wristband holder-thingee when I asked Daughter if her boyfriend had asked what color her dress was so that he could get her a corsage. She said, no, but that the dance was no big deal and she didn't want one. Besides, it was too expensive. I said we'll manage if she really wants one. She again said the dance is no big deal. I said, if that's the case, why'd we spend a whole day picking out your dress? Silence.

I suggested she call her boyfriend to ask if he's getting her a corsage. (They've been *dating* a year now and his family lives in a great neighborhood and I'm pretty sure they aren't on food stamps, so I didn't see that this would be too awfully rude.) She looked at me as if I'd asked her to spend the weekend on Mars. I suggest she have one of her friends call him to see if he's getting her a corsage. That was equally as bad. Daughter then tells me her boyfriend's for sure not getting her a corsage. I asked how she knows. She said he would never think of it. I reminded her that we were out shopping for her brother. Seeing how her boyfriend has a perfectly fine mother, wouldn't it make sense that maybe she would help him? Silence.

Fast forward fifteen minutes down the road to the grocery store. Daughter hops out of the car and says that anyway, she'd much rather go on vacation this summer than have a corsage. I said, trust me, barring a financial miracle from the great Harlequin Office in the Sky a summer vacation is probably not in the cards and a corsage isn't the deciding factor. She said, oh.

We're shopping, shopping, picking out taco-fixings and misc. mushy treats for Granny Sylv when we pass the florist stand. It's here Daughter points to a certain flower she loves and asks the name. I don't know right off hand, but I tell her to ask the florist lady. Calla lilies. Daughter decides these are what she wants in her corsage. I said, I thought you weren't getting a corsage? She shrugs, then turns her attention to picking which line we check-out in. This is a highly technical teen process depending upon not which line is shorter, but which line has the hottest checker/bagger guy!!! Alas, only the express lane has a stud, and we have just shy of eight-thousand Granny Sylv snacks!!!

Waiting in the grocery pick-up line, Daughter says, "Yeah, I really like Calla Lilies. Those would be pretty with my dress." Okay . . . I said, Sweetie, if you want a corsage, Daddy and I would love to get you one, but please, tell me now before we get all the way home.

Yes--she wants one, but with calla lilies. We get back to the florist with about thirty seconds to spare before they close. We inquire about the lilies, but alas, they have none. They will, however, by Friday, receive a shipment of white, baby orchids. Daughter perks right up. Did someone say, orchids?

All of which brings me around to the question of why is it so hard to just come right out and ask for what we want?

In other news, yesterday, Hubby left for Atlanta. He returns home tonight. ;-)

Is Monday Morning too Early For a Nap?

After an amazing weekend--which I'll get to in a minute--I should be smiling, right?

Well . . . I guess this is a sign I take my reality TV a tad too seriously, but I'm still boiling over the Survivor outcome!!!!! Hubby's name is Terry, so naturally, hunky, gorgeous, smart Terry on the show was the guy for me!! I wanted him to win soooooo bad!!!! GRRRRR!!!!! LOL!!!!!

Okay, guess it's time to let his loss go, but I fear I'll never truly recover from the pain!! I love you, Terry!!!!! You, too, Hubby!!! LOL!!!

Moving on to other business, after a mad dash of printing tags for promo goodies, then packing, I finally made it into Margaret's gorgeous, but itty-bitty car Friday afternoon. Whew. (If you're late chiming in, Margaret Daley is my best writing bud. She writes for Harlequin's Steeple Hill line.) Anyway, first thing out of the house, she yelled at me for having too much stuff!!!!!

Now, I'll be the first to admit to being a high maintenance girl, but all I had was Hubby's icky-foo, teeny-tiny, black overnight bag. We have lots of pretty luggage with matching carry-ons, but I took the boring stuff, because it's smaller. Did Margaret pat me on the back for packing lightly???? Nooooooooooo!!!! Thirty minutes down the road, I was still catching flack for the rest of my stuff--all of which was work related!!!! Next trip, I'll just bring my hooker hair and clean underwear!!! ROFL!!!!! (My hooker hair is this great hair extension I wear for parties. I suppose it would also work for not washing my hair on weekends. Just slick dirty hair back and clamp it on!!!) Margaret, sweetie, if you're out there, you know I love you, right??? But I've got to have my pillow and hair stuff!!!! LOL!!! ;-)

Okay, so four hours later, we were standing outside Whataburger in Breckenhookenwokkaville (sp?), Texas to meet our Red River Romance Writer escort, a woman named Debbie Calloway. I believe she blogs and writes as Debra Calloway, but wow, what a neat, sweet, talented, gorgeous woman!!!!! We followed her into Wichita Falls--a good thing because Margaret and I tend to get lost. Oh--we figure it out eventually, but like the time we wound up at the Shreveport City Jail at 2:00 AM, our detours aren't always so pleasant!!! LOL!!! But back on topic, having safely and uneventfully arrived at a beautiful historic bungalow, we met our hostess for the night, another equally beautiful, smart and talented woman named, Jackeye Plummer. Shortly thereafter, we met many more cool folks!! Darese, Mary Beth, Sue, Ardella, argh--I know I'm leaving people out!! It's calorie-overload!! Those Texans know how to feed company!!

So Friday night, we had a delicious potluck, then Saturday morning, Margaret and I woke to a beautiful spread by Jackeye. She'd set a gorgeous table!! I'm talking juice glasses, water glasses, tea cups, etc., plus biscuits with three kinds of jam. Yum!! Next, we met up again for RRRW's chapter meeting where Margaret and I gave our speech on "Falling in Love Without falling Into Bed".

At the meeting, we met up with a writer named Karen Kelly. I've been thumping my head, trying to remember where we've met, and then it hit me. She's a Gemster!!!!! Online, I've known her forever!!! To be a Gemster, you have to have sold a book to a line of romances Kensington published, called Precious Gems. Anyway, I'm thrilled to have solved that mystery. Just wish I'd've remembered sooner so we could've reminisced!!

After a yummy, deli-style lunch with our new friends, then the long drive home, Margaret dropped me at my front door. Whew.

On to Part Two of the weekend--Mother's Day. Greeting me on the front porch was a waaaay pretty, bird bath fountain I've been wanting!!! I yelled at Hubby and kids for spending too much, but it's gorgeous!!!

Sunday morning, after Hubby served me delicious breakfast in bed, then I had a nice, long chat with my mom, the kids gave me more great stuff!!! Son had made a giant card out of a scrap booking kit's photo album. He filled it with lots of goofy-fun pics and quotes. Way, way cool. Next, Daughter had made me a coupon book. I now, at any time, whine-free, get her to clean for an hour, give me a hug, feed Granny Sylv, do her cheer stretches, cheerfully give up the computer, etc.. I can't wait to start putting her to work!!! LOL!!! Both gifts made me teary. I love my babies!!!!

After a leisurely morning, we headed out to see Poseidon. Josh Lucas was HOT!!!!! The movie was so-so, but he was HOT!!!! Hubby was ticked that the hot girl he liked croaked. Sorry, hon!! LOL!!! Have I mentioned Josh was HOT??!!!

From here, I planned to garden, but instead lounged in bed with Daughter and Cocoa, watching more movies while Hubby and Son worked on the deck. The Fog turned out to be way better than I'd expected and Shopgirl left me sad. I agreed with the ending, but it put me in a melancholy funk. A couple hours later, the Survivor finale left me devastated!!!!

Whew, and here we are, back at Monday morning. I'm exhausted!!!! But in a good way!!! ;-)

Formals & Fed-Ex

All right, as the realities of the hell otherwise known as 8th Grade Formal set in, my gigantic grin has somewhat faded!!! ;-)

There should be gold medals awarded for moms who survive teen formal-wear shopping!!!! After pounding the mall ALL day Saturday for Daughter's dress, she found a pretty black and white polka-dot summery cotton frock for a great price. I was thrilled. That night, we went to the cheer party where she discussed dresses with her friends. Turns out a girl who was not at the party reportedly had the same dress. The horror!!!!! Daughter whined and moaned and Sunday, decided the dress must be returned. She had a new one already in mind. Oh? I asked. Which one? The one that cost double the price of the original, of course!!!

Okay, so we get the pretty pouffy white confection home, she parades around the house in the dress and my shoes--which I politely suggested she wear to help defray some expense--Hubby approves that the new dress isn't too low cut. Whew, crisis averted, right? WRONG!!!

Now, Son chimes in that it's not fair that his sister gets a fancy new dress and he doesn't get anything. I'm sorry, but at this point, seeing how the girl he'd asked had turned him down and he was going stag, I failed to see why he couldn't wear the nice slacks and shirt we bought for his China trip. Especially in light of the fact that the previous weekend, he'd left his cell phone in his jeans pockets and Hubby then washed it!!! And the cost of his new phone will be soon appearing on my cell bill!!!!

I was all set to stick to my guns on this issue, then, the girl who'd turned him down instant messaged him that she did want him to take her. ARGH!!!! That changed everything. Now, we have family pride involved in that I can't send the boy out in rags to do the whole corsage thing, etc. Yesterday afternoon, I took Son to the mall for a new outfit and--are you sitting down for this??? His cost more than Daughter's!!!!! He did chip in, though, with a chunk of his chore money, seeing how I'm still miffed over his phone getting washed.

Speaking of which, even though I was home all day, recovering from the walk I'd taken that morning, I zig-zagged through the road crew and sprinkler crew and dirt delivery crew to the mail box, then, on the return trip found a Fed Ex tag on the front door. I never even heard the doorbell ring!!! Assuming it's Son's phone, at 8:00 PM (the time the tag said to go), we head to Fed-Ex to pick it up. You wouldn't want him to be without a phone any longer than necessary, right??? LOL!!! Can you believe it? Fed-Ex is packed!!!! I'm talking, the little lobby was so full one lady had to stand outside!!!

We waited a good twenty minutes--maybe more, the stuffy heat and blaring prison-based talk radio show had me a tad woozy. Yes, from what I could gather, the show was being broadcast from prison!!! The topic was some guy named Sweetheart, and if it was emotionally healthy for him to visit with men from other cell blocks!!!!!!!!! :-O

But I digress . . . After waiting and waiting and waiting, we were told the driver hadn't yet returned, and so therefore, it will be delivered to our house again today. I tried explaining that we'd gone that route with no success, but judging by the thunderous expression of the guy behind me who was no doubt Sweetheart's recently released cousin, I flashed the guy a faint smile and left.

Next stop, Lowe's, where I picked up a gallon of Laura Ashley Apple 6. My beige office walls are closing in on me, and seeing how when I read my swamp book at critique Thursday night, it was politely suggested I restart, I figure I'd much rather paint!!!! LOL!!!

Oh--and as the cherry on top of the whole formal saga . . . Turns out the girl didn't have the same dress as Daughter, after all. Grrrrr!!!! :-)

Color Me Over-The-Moon Happppppy!!!!!!!!

Gimme a Y!!!

Gimme an A!!!

Gimme another Y!!!!

What's it spell? YAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Daughter made her new high school's varsity cheer squad!!!!!! Whew. It's funny how when you have kids, your own rejections still hurt, but nothing like the pain of when your kids get rejected or hurt. The forty minutes it took to waiting to see the results be posted felt like eight hours!!

We didn't get out of uniform fittings till 8:30, then to celebrate, a group of us met up at Olive Garden at 9:30. We didn't get home till nearly midnight!!! Driving home we heard Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, so then, we of course, had to stay up watching Wayne's World for the famous head-bobbing car scene!! I zonked out pretty soon thereafter, but for once, happily!!!!!

Today, we go spring formal dress shopping. It's pouring, so I'm assuming the malls will be insanely crowded, but at the moment, even that's not going to get me down!!!

I know, any of you regulars are probably near falling down in shock at this point that I have nothing to whine/gripe/complain about, but sorry, my smile's just too darned big!!! ;-)

Ant Invasion!!!!!

It's Wednesday.

Midway through cheer week.

Between waiting for my May royalty check, waiting for my editor to read my newest batch of proposals, waiting for the eight-thousand concrete trucks to leave our road and waiting a little longer still to see if Daughter has a happy weekend or is yet again thrown into a pit of despair, my stomach's on FIRE!!!!!

To counteract the fire, plus fit into summer conference clothes, I've walked the three-mile trail in a nearby park for two days. That's all well and good, but I'm so exhausted afterwards, I've pretty much done nothing but sit and stare glazed and sweating at the computer.

Last night, it was time for bed, and still fretting, I couldn't sleep. ARGH!!! I did finally get some writing done, though, on a hot new proposal. So at least something positive came from the wreckage that's become of my mind!! ;-)

Oh--and my desk has ants!!! Just my desk. Have I mentioned how much I despise my family's habit of eating and drinking at my desk, then flitting off to do their thing, leaving their food and drinks and candy wrappers and various other flotsam???? Does Nora Roberts have to share her desk??? I think not!!!

On a lighter note--anyone out there watching 8th & Ocean on MTV? My lord, what a good looking bunch of youth!!! A couple weeks ago, Daughter and I were pacing the mall, waiting for an opening at the pedicure place when we saw Britt on a Gap poster. I hereby predict, if she ever gets over her thing about not being too sexy, she'll be crazy-famous!! Oh, and the twins, Kelly & Sabrina, are in a contact lenses ad. I'm so mad at Kelly for not giving sweet Sabrina her messages I want to spit!!!! And Vinci. Whew. I want to spank the boy for bad behavior and just plain throwing away a BIG buck career!!!!! The child's criminally hot, but his attitude sucks.

In other news, my folks just bought back a lake house they sold like ten years ago. Mom celebrated her birthday. My grandfather was in the hospital for a mystery illness he now seems to have mostly recovered from, but is having more tests. And Son got new rubber bands at the orthodontist that are so tightly woven through the brackets, he literally can't speak. His teachers will be thrilled!!!!! (Assuming he wears them, which I highly doubt!!!) During my parental update at the orthodontist, they praised his brushing and wearing of rubber bands.

We left the office and I said to him, "You haven't worn a single rubber band since your last appointment--and you NEVER brush without me screaming."

Skipping with joy, he grinned and said, "I know! Isn't this great? Someone Upstairs must be smiling down on me!"

Don't you just love teenagers??!! ;-)