Stepping it up one night and sweating it up the next day

Friday night I didn't do a flippin' thing. Mom took Sam for his turn at a uber cool solo sleepover with her and the girls and I just hung out. I considered painting their fingernails and watching High School Musical but we were all three so tired that we just took our plain fingernails to bed at 9. We are wild women, yes indeed. I slept in a bit Saturday morning while the girls ran amuck and asked me about every 10 minutes when I was going to get up. On mornings like that I don't know why I just don't get up, rather than lie there and be tortured. I finally rolled out of bed around 10 and started getting around because my darling husband who I love so much bought ANOTHER PICKUP TRUCK. It was looking like a used car lot around here over the weekend.

My uncle mentioned awhile back that he was thinking about selling his little Mazda and the price was so good that my husband who has a posession obsession just couldn't pass it up. Even though we're already paying insurance on a 2006 Dodge Ram, a 1997 Dodge Dakota, a 1998 Astro Van AND a 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan PLUS THE HOUSE. Yeah, the fine folks at our State Farm office have erected a statue of us out front.

But after he got the Mazda home he decided that he didn't really like it all that much, so rather than take it back claiming buyer's remorse, he sold it to his nephew. For no profit, of course, but at least we didn't have to tag it, insure it and find a spot to park it out here amongst the other vehicles. I guess I shouldn't complain about the abundance of cars - we do have three kids and eventually they will all have cars and will drive. Scary thought. I think when that happens I'm just going to pave a spot out front and put up parking meters for the kids' cars. Maybe get back a little of what I have invested in them over the years. It's a thought, anyway.

So anyway (after chasing that rabbit awhile and making a short story very long) I drove Paul over to my uncle's to get the [insert your choice of expletive here] truck. Then we had to visit awhile because my uncle just had a total knee replacement and he was just itching to tell us all about it. *shudder* Then finally Kady and I headed to town to buy my new cell phone. (Abby wanted to ride in the jumpseat of the new truck. I'm sure that was incredibly unsafe, but it was all dirt roads home, so I let her.)

Kady and I hit the Radio Shack ready to wheel and deal my way into a new phone. Little did the saleslady tell me last month that the phone she showed me and made me want and dream about and lust after was only $80 IF I renewed my contract. She made it sound like I could buy that phone for that low, low price and still keep my awesome plan that had free nights and weekends. She conveniently left that out and planted a seed of desire for that phone. So I walked in all sure of myself, ready to plunk down my $80 and get. that. phone. But instead I renewed my contract, added some minutes, took Paul's off of a ShareTalk and added it to a two-phone plan for just a few more bucks a month, kept my nights and weekends AND my mobile-to-mobile and......

wait for it......



OHMYGOSHIGOTARAZRPHONE
ANDILOVEITLIKEACHILD
ANDITLOVESMEBACK
ANDIT'SPROBABLYVERYUNHEALTHY
TOHAVETHATKINDOFRELATIONSHIPWITHAPHONE
BUTICAN'THELPIT.

(Cousin Stacey, your words were resonating through my head when the clerk pulled that Razr out of the box. A light from Heaven shone down upon it and the angels sang and my knees went all weak and your voice kept saying in my head, "I highly recommend the new Razr." Girl, I love you. And I love my new Razr.)

Okay, so new phone purchased I went to the bank to get some cash, but discovered that at some time recently the bank changed its closing time on Saturday to noon and no one bothered to tell me. I ended up going to the Bank of Mom and writing her a check for cash. She rawks. I bought my crew some McFood and headed home to get ready for our big Girls' Night Out.

Jill, Tammy and Tater met up here and we piled into Tater's car and headed to Joplin. We stopped at Ashley Furniture and browsed there, then went to Cato and I bought some AWESOME camouflage capris that I love almost as much as my Razr, but not quite. Paul found them rather amusing when I showed him. His comment was, "Ya know, for a woman who's never been hunting and doesn't like deer meat, you sure do own a lot of camo." Uh...yeah. Because I'm awesome. And I can so get away with it. Duh.

We ate at Logan's Roadhouse and YUM. That's really all I have to say about that. Yum, yum, yum. We talked girl talk and shared baby stories and parenting stories and husband stories and my gosh it was nice to do that. After dinner we stopped at Hank's Fine Furniture which you really can't say correctly unless you say it "Hayyynk's Faaaaaan Fuhr-ni-chure" and since I had absolutley no intention of purchasing one, I tried some bargaining techniques with a very unsuspecting salesman. He was so blindsided by Tater and I that I think he very much wanted to cry, but he was strong. Then I tried to talk him into a bargain on a bunk bed for Tammy, but the best he could do was 6% off on the whole deal. He really just didn't want to sell us any furniture is what I think. Of course, that might've been because we walked into the store 15 minutes before it closed. That might've had something to do with it.

We went to the show and saw Step Up and it was really good. Jill and I sat side by side, staring at the screen and I'm not 100% sure about her, but I'm fairly certain that she had just as much of an urge to jump up and dance as I did. Tammy didn't like it and Tater said she felt like she was watching a PSA or a Saturday Morning Special. She said it was just too "follow your dreams, overcome adversity" and hokey for her taste. I liked the hot guys dancing. We stopped in at Famous Barr for some rushed shopping. That going into a store right before it closes really doesn't make you too popular with the sales staff. Gonna have to remember that.

We got back here around midnight, but I had some laundry to do, things to pack and when I set my alarm for 4:30 it was 2:30. I don't recommend driving to Branson on two hours sleep.

Kady woke up at 5 barking and sounding like her asthma was flaring up. I gave her some allergy medicine, a couple of hits off her inhaler and we were on our way. We got some donuts, gas and picked up Mom and headed off to the land of the silver dollar, aka Silver Dollar City. We met up with the Coach family and gave them some free passes because their poor, pitiful children had never been to Silver Dollar City. I never felt so sorry for two kids in my life than the night they spent the night over here and Bryce said, "Yeah, we've never been to Silver Dollar City. I'm sure we'd like it if someone would take us." He was totally getting Nati in on the act, too, because she got this pitiful look on her face and kind of ducked her head. I wanted to laugh so badly, but I knew they were really playing that pity thing. It was a hoot. We saw them later on in the day and the whole family was soaked from head to toe from the waterboggan and they seemed to be having a blast. That was right about the time Kady started having an asthma attack. And I had left the inhaler in the van because I am working really hard on winning Mother of the Year this year.

Fortunately it wasn't a bad one and I managed to calm her down and she was fine, but we hightailed it into an airconditioned show and cooled her down. It was wicked hot and she had fallen and skinned her knee and then the crying made her start gasping and wheezing. It's a really scary feeling to know that your child needs her medicine and you don't have it. I'm going to get her one of those lanyards to wear her inhaler around her neck when we go places like that where I don't carry a purse. She has had a really good year and has had very few flare-ups, but those ones that pop up occasionally remind us all that she still has asthma.

We rode quite a few rides, me staying very far away from Powder Keg, though. Why torture myself. They have a new one called the ElectroSpin and Tater, Bub and I rode it first, us two girls getting the hysterical giggles once it started spinning. I always get the giggles on a spinny ride for some reason. Abby, TotOne and Sam were all tall enough for it, so we handed TotTwo and Kady some money and sent them off with their Bubba to play some arcade games. The longer we stood in line the more nervous Sam got and was nearly in tears when we got on. I knew he'd like it if I could just get him on there, so I didn't let him chicken out. He was crying when it started and if I weren't in the running for Mother of the Year I'd have pulled him off. When it went to spinning he squeezed his eyes shut so tight and gripped the handles until his knuckles were white. I, of course, was laughing hysterically. Not at him. But I couldn't stop!! Finally, amidst the giggles, I hollerd, "Sam! Are you having fun? DO YOU LIKE IT??" He screamed back, "NO! YES! I MEAN, NO! OKAY, YES!!" Then before I could ask him which one he meant he screamed, "I HAVE SNOT FLYING ACROSS MY FACE!!!" Then I laughed even harder. And when it was over he admitted that it was fun, but that he didn't ever want to ride it again.

We opted out of Celebration City, even though it had been part of the original plan. We were all hot and tired and sweaty and after dinner at the Cracker Barrel we headed back home to Oklahoma. Kady was asleep before we hit the Strip, not even waking up for ice cream. Abby and Sam crashed when we hit the interstate. Mom and I talked most of the way home, about life, about love, about kids, about husbands - about mother/daughter things. I love that. I love her.






I also love my new Razr. Have I mentioned that I have a new Razr?