Back to the 80's

I was very excited to go home this past Friday and not have to prepare the lab for a hurricane. Hannah went north, so we didn't have to worry about that one at all. We may be back to the same old routine this weekend with Hurricane Ike heading into the Gulf soon. What is up with this season?!

David had to work near where we live today, so he decided to come a few days early with Stephanie and Wednesday to spend another weekend with us. We found out that The Spazmatics, an 80's cover band, were playing at club near us. Shannon babysat Wednesday while six of us jumped into Travis' truck to head off and pick up another passenger on the way. Sara drove separately so she could leave early to go on her paper route.

We got to the club early because a friend told us the last time he went to see The Spazmatics, getting there an hour before the show was not early enough to get in the door. They are a very popular band, which makes seeing them a little more difficult than normal. We found out after we got there that you have to reserve a table the week before if you desire to sit down EVER. There is another section of the club for dancing to DJ music, so I had to take a break in there towards the end of the night. My feet were killing me and there were some women near me who seemed overly eager to start a fight (one of which whose boyfriend tried to pick a fight with Travis before the show even started - we got the bouncer to take care of that one for us). I'm just not into that sort of thing, so I decided to bail out before anyone downed anymore drinks. I really don't understand the fighting-mentality. Aren't we all there to have fun? Although, I suppose if I had a few more drinks in me, I may have been more willing to fight (as I have learned from previous experiences). Yikes.

Anyhoo, here is a photo we took at the beginning of the night. We had about a two hour wait for the first set, so we hung out in the dance part of the club, complete with two stripper poles.

Sara, me, Stephanie and Rachel

Popping the collar - 80's style - David, Travis and Scott

Sara, Chris R. and the Buds

Jenna and Stephanie, fighting the crowd
(Sara is in the background taking a photo of some other chicks)

We stayed until the end of the show before leaving. Thank you DD Travis!!! (Poor guy had to get up at 6 the next morning to go work in the Texas heat.) My hearing is still totally out of whack from the ridiculously loud speakers at the show. I'm getting old.

Inadequacies

I was talking to Jenna yesterday about going to her son's football season that just started and what she thinks of the other parents. She said they are all nice and most of them dedicate their lives to their child and this sport (football or cheerleading). It took a few minutes to work out the exact feelings she had about this topic, but it basically came down to this: "I feel like I'm not doing the "right" thing by not buying team shirts and being at every single practice and game." Jenna does go to almost every practice and I'm pretty sure she goes to every game. This takes up about four nights a week for her. THEN, the other parents basically force her into feeling guilty that she does not want to spend an extra night with them making banners for the games. Jenna said that most of these people are wealthy and the moms don't have to work, so they have plenty of free time to be doing these sorts of things.

I hate that Jenna feels guilty about not wanting to spend every waking moment dedicating her life to her son's football team. That is just not reasonable. And then, to have to talk to these wealthy women on a regular basis that she doesn't really have anything in common with, aside from the fact that their son's are all on the same team. I started to think about how I would feel in this situation and I think I would be uncomfortable around the "wealthy women". That is silly! They are not better than me and I am not better than them. For some reason I always end up feeling inadequate around people who have significantly more money than me. Why do I feel this way? I don't feel jealous. I have absolutely no desire to own Prada and Gucci. It's just not my thing. Even if I had all that money, I still wouldn't be buying beaded, embroidered shirts with my child's name and sport number on the back, in each color of the rainbow. There are more ways than that to support your kid.

I noticed on my way into work this morning that I have this issue with more than just people with money. I work at a teaching hospital, which means I am constantly surrounded by doctors or people becoming doctors (PhD and MD). Maybe this goes back to the fact that they probably have more money than me, or will have more money than me in the future. I do need to mention that I don't feel this way about anyone in the lab I work (despite the fact that I am the ONLY one without a PhD or in the process of getting one). Maybe because researchers tend to actually not have very much money? But then again, this is not something that I consciously consider.

Here's what happened to me this morning: I was walking into work and there was this young woman getting out of her SUV. She looked up and saw me and asked if I thought another car would have enough room to fit in front of her. I decided yes. Then we both took off in the same direction. Once we had crossed the street, she asked if I was a first year or second year, referring to my year in school. I explained that I was not a student and that I "just" work here. She asked me a couple more questions about where stuff is on campus. This is common this time of year because there are students starting their first semester and don't know their way around yet. She was very polite to me and never said anything negative, but for some reason I all of a sudden felt inadequate in the fact that I "just work here".

I honestly have no desire to go back to school right now. Partially because I don't know what I would go to school for exactly, and partially because I don't feel like dealing with the costs and the time it would consume. Why do I feel this way?

Beach Babies

The Saturday after David and Stephanie arrived we had a whole day to play. First we stopped for Vietnamese food and then ran up to the mall to exchange a dress I had bought for Wednesday. It turns out she already had that one (matches the hat she's wearing in the first photo below)! It's okay though because we found another one that is super cute (brown with multi-color polka dots) with matching Bear Bottom tights. Travis bought himself a couple hats and then we headed to Target. We needed to find Wednesday a swimsuit for her first trip to the beach. After running the errands, we stopped at the house to change into beachwear. Chris and Alexa were already planning to take Blair to the beach, so it was perfect timing! Wednesday and Blair had their first beach experience together.

Bikini clad baby

Daddy covered her with sand and she was so enthralled with it. We were waiting for her to put it in her mouth, but that moment, thankfully, never came.


Blair and Wednesday meet. On the beach!


I don't know what it is, but there is just something extra sexy about my husband holding a baby. ; )


Post-beach bath for Wedders

It was a nice, laid back day to catch up with David and Stephanie and the life of Wednesday. I wish we had more time like this. And we may have more soon! They are coming back to town this weekend because David will be making a stop at one of his business locations near here. AND THEN they are suppose to come back on the weekend of the 20th for David's birthday. Weehoo! It's the month of Davwedanie!

Miracle Method

Our friends Chris and Shannon started their own business last year called Miracle Method. It has offices nation-wide, but they are in charge of this area. They offered to do the sink in our half-bath as a belated house-warming gift. Chris came over this morning and finished sometime this afternoon. I told Shannon it was like Christmas for adults - I left home with a dreary, yellow faux-marble sink and came home to a brand new white and cappuccino faux-granite sink. WOW! Here are the results (I love it!):

The close-up:

It is still drying and we are not suppose to touch it for at least 24 hours. Needless to say, that room is shut off from our furry friends. I can't wait to go buy new bathroom decor. That room needs a splash of color.

[Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.]

Friday in Photos

David, Stephanie and Wednesday got to our house Friday evening. Shannon, Chris, Sara, JR and Logan all came over to visit with them. Nothing too crazy - I just made a frozen lasagna and Shannon brought over a cranberry-walnut salad. Pretty laid back.

Logan's impression of JR. And a good one at that.

A very excited Stephanie. Lol!

Travis, a booger bulb and a beer.

Wednesday and the boys

CrAzY haired Wednesday

Wednesday was absolutely terrified of Travis the first time she saw him on Friday. We think she was just tired and freaking out a little because she went to sleep in a car she knows very well and woke up in a strange house. Poor kiddo! She did a little better once Travis took off his hat. By the end of the weekend they were old buds again. Phew!

Mountain Fresh

No time to do any serious blogging this morning - hopefully tonight though. It was a busy weekend! In the meantime...

I walked out to the garage this morning to throw in another load of laundry, only to find that the washer had shaken the liquid detergent off onto the floor. Which, in turn, resulted in a lake of laundry detergent filling our garage. Bad news is there is a horrible sticky residue that Travis and I have to figure out how to remove (it flowed under the washer and dryer making it difficult to just hose out). Good news is the horrible stench of stale beer that filled the garage yesterday from a few wild games of beer pong has now been replaced by a pleasant mountain fresh scent.

**Update**

Cleaning up that laundry detergent was a miserable, painstaking process. Here's the mess:

Here are the soap suds created only from washing off the few items that were sitting in the soap:

First, Travis scraped up as much of the detergent as possible with a shovel and we wiped up a little more with paper towels:

Second, Travis mopped up the dried spots (basically to just get it wet):

Third and lastly, we spent 30 minutes spraying the soap out the open garage doors with a hose and sweeping as much of the soapy water out as possible. The entire garage floor is now covered in a white film. Well, that took care of the spilled beer... I guess...

Party Photos

Travis' party was a blast! We went through 35 burgers, 16 hot dogs, 165 Jell-O shots and a keg of Bud Light. Thankfully, the mosquitoes were never much of a problem. It was REALLY hot and there was NO wind during the day. Shannon and Chris brought over some fans to set up and help out with that irritation. I really shouldn't be complaining though because we were lucky enough to avoid Hurricane Gustav. This party had by far the largest baby-child population than any I have thrown before. It was pretty wild. I made chocolate-peanut butter brownies, complete with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on top for the birthday "cake". Travis made out like a bandit in the gift department. Everyone got him t-shirts! Lol! Just what he wanted!

Wednesday wore her new polka dot dress.

Shannon gave Stephanie a break from taking care of Wednesday. (Look at how cute Shannon's new hair cut is!)

Travis' co-worker, Jeremy, came to the party with his wife and daughter. Addison was so cute - she kept wanting me to hold her!

Alexa and Blair made their own breeze in the hammock.

Nadya and Alexey (both from Russia) came to the party too. I used to work with Nadya.

Chris W., enjoying a burger under the tent...

Kai and Melinda ate burgers as they watched a game of Ladder Golf.

Chef Chris ate while he slaved away at the firey pits.

Aaaaannnnddd, Travis did a beer stand. Yup.

Chris poured the beer for a Kai and Seth's game of Beer Pong.

Melinda and Jenna were worthy pong opponents.

Ariel and I!

My co-worker Rachel and her boyfriend Scott toughed out the heat.

Sara stopped by before heading off to work at the end of the night.

Da Boyz: JR, Travis, Logan, David and Callaway

I think the birthday boy may have enjoyed his party. =)