Yes, it's still raining.

Rain, rain go away! It's bizarre to see many of the towns I've lived in and driven through getting this much water. It never does this. People asking "when will it ever stop?" and me married to the weatherman wishing I knew the answer.

(the above is the view out my front door right now. I don't have a fancy camera that'll focus on the falling rain. It's just depressing to see that it is ALWAYs, ALWAYs, wet. Thank goodness we are not in a flood zone.

Here's *another* national news story about our flooding.

Summer weather... are you here?

I'm the first to complain when it's hot. It's not very comfortable at 100 degrees in N Texas. But I have to admit: I am officially tired of rain. I could never live in Seattle! I'm sure you've seen the tragic news of flash flooding in the Fort Worth area. It's horrific. We've not had anything serious in my neighborhood, but we've had much more frequent rain than normal. I grew up in Louisiana and humidity didn't bother me as a youth, but as a full grown woman, I like a DRY heat. Daughter and Son have asked for swimming even with clouds overhead. We're heading out because today it looks like we might have clear skies and sunny rays! Now just wait for July when I'm begging for a cloud!

Wicked and Weird weekend

Wow, what a weekend. We had two great outings. First, we went to OKC with my parents to see Wicked, the musical. We had both children there. Daughter really wanted to see it and I think she enjoyed it the most of all. My mother and I had seen it in October 2005 when the Wicked tour was in Dallas. The cast was different, and I have a bias for Stephanie Block as Elphaba. I think she's probably the best, sometimes even better than Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba.

My husband said he really enjoyed it and I even caught him listening to the soundtrack this AM (don't let him know I told you!).

The second night of our exciting weekend was a concert. We saw....... Weird Al Yankovic! It was such a good concert. He looks as young as ever and has the energy of two 25 year olds, rather than one 47 year old! We got backstage passes thanks to hubby being a drummer. He knew the drummer via some message boards so he got to talk to him and was given the drumsticks used during the concert. We shook Al's hand and had our ticket signed. He was very kind and patient, tho he did look tired. (wonder why?? he just jumped and danced and sang for us for over two hours) I've posted the picture of all of us. Al made a face at every fan, and he NEVER looked at the camera. Good thing, because none of us were ready for the photo either. Daughter looks like she couldn't care less but she really was excited. She knows all the "White and Nerdy" songs and even the old Michael Jackson parodies.

What fun. Wish I could meet a celebrity every weekend. Super-duper thanks to Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz for the backstage passes. He was very sweet and attentive. He's been with Al since "My Bologna" days. He remembers every tour and will tell you all about it. He's also the webmaster for Al's official site. And he says he never gets bored with touring so go see them when they come to your town!

I deleted the picture at the bottom of the page. It wasn't a great one of me, so I got tired of looking at it. Most all the people (make that family) who read this blog have seen it.

My current addiction

Yes, I am a game nerd. My daughter and I play Zelda (Wii - Twilight Princess) as a bonding activity. Ahem, we are better than the boys, after all. I love addicting games and my current addiction is Brainball. If you get bored with Suduko and have a little spare time, try Brainball. It only takes 15 min to play all the games once. They're quick and they might just keep your mind sharp an extra year or two. And did I mention it's all free and you're on your computer anyway?

Strawberry Fields for elders

I made strawberry shortcake tonight. It was beautiful, with fresh strawberries, a sprinkle of fresh blackberries, and even some strawberries in syrup (no gooey glaze!) to sweeten it for the kiddos. I begged my daughter to at least try it. She eschews all things fruity. I didn't tell her the Cool Whip was fat free, but I plopped a glob on there to increase its appeal. She took a bite and immediately ran to the bathroom gagging. When she came back she said, "You know I have a lot more taste buds than you. It only tastes good to you because you're OLD".

I guess the silly SLP in me told her some years ago that babies start out with approximately 23,000 taste buds and us "old" people die with only about 5,000. She remembered.

Date Night Review

For those of you who don't know me (first off... how'd you find this blog?) you might be interested to know that my husband is a local celebrity. It's not all it's cracked up to be. He works evenings; 'Nuff said. That means I am a single mom all school year. He goes to work when I'm coming home. He gets in when the children are in bed at 11:30pm. He NEVER takes a night off. Every 6pm and 10pm, Monday through Friday, he's smack dab in front of the camera. At least we can turn him on at dinner time. But last night was DATE NIGHT! We got our babysitter, ironed my clothes (his are always pressed) and went out to see a movie. For those of you who AREN'T taking youngsters to the movies, Knocked Up, is my top recommendation for laugh-till-you-snort fun. Yes, it's about premarital sex. It's graphic enough that if you don't know your birds and bees now, you will in just over 2 hours. But it's not offensive, and it'll renew that babylust in us all. Hopefully the 17 yr old girls in front of me weren't all rushing out to find a baby's daddy like the main character. That guy was the homeliest cutie ever!

So the first half of the date was wonderful. We saved money by eating dinner at home. That way the babysitter didn't work as many hours, either. This little bit o' money was going to allow the second half of the date... the brand new casino! It opened the last week of school with real showgirls, Playmates, and the FLYING ELVISES (Elvii??). Here? Really? So we missed them (darn) and went just to look around. After a few people pointed at Dh and asked if he was the TV guy he made the quick decision to not gamble. More fun for me, me, me. :) I took my crisp twenty to the blackjack tables and proceeded to blunder through many 5.00 hands without losing. Statistics-wise, that 20.00 should have been gone in less than 10 hands. I got up to 40.00 before I decided to leave when I had enough to pay the sitter. I lost down to 27.50 and left - a whole 7.50 richer. This is true excitement in my world, so no sniggering. If you knew where we lived you'd know there's jack to do here.

I'm so grateful for my dear hubby. He decided to take off, lined up the night (I wrangled the sitter), and reminded me why I married him. This AM I fielded the calls from his mom, my mom, and my friend (was he sick? why wasn't he on TV?) and when I said date night, they all thought (oh, why?). No reason is the best reason. I recommend a regular date night for everyone, even if it's just your platonic best friend. Fun is worthwhile, for no reason at all.