jiggity jig… isnt that how the nursery rhyme goes?

At any rate. I am home from Baltimore! ohhhh I cannot say how much fun I had! (you are jealous.. and you dont even know it!)  I got to know two of the best girls on the planet. I count myself as so very lucky to count Lisa and Shanny as friends. Its been a long long time since I made a new friend. And its like a breath of fresh air these girls. I forgot how much fun being around women can be! I was treated to so many special moments and I have LITTERALLY a gajillion pictures to share with you.

I may have even learned some things about myself on this trip. Turns out? I am not as open as I used to be. I dont allow people in like I once did. And my walls can come accross as kind of ugly. I HATE THAT. I gotta fix it, and fast. I used to be so open and easy, confident about making friends. But I think living in this town, where if you dont bleed Wildcat black and gold, and have a fancy uptown house you arent friendship worthy has taken a toll. I threw up some walls this weekend that I didnt even realize were there until I got called on them. I might have even hurt someone I care about (so so so much).. and I hate that even MORE. ugh. Being a person can be hard sometimes!

ANYWAY. anymore on the trip will have to wait, because I hit the ground running. BIG busy day at work tommorow, and softball and all. SO I will try to get some trip report type stuff posted ASAP.

remember that song from the “Clueless” soundtrack? LOVE that movie.

and Im not sure you could call shanny and lisa my “hommies” since they arent from my direct area.. or if “hommies” can indicate just anyone you call a friend. I’ll have to ask Thing One.

anywho. Ima bounce today (you like all my teenage vernacular? LOL) I am heading north to Charlotte tonight to meet up with Shanny and then we are makin like trees… leafin! YAHOOO to Baltimore to grab Lisa and then on to the beach. I cant wait. Im sure I will have tons of stories and fun pictures for ya when I get back!

I am busted, well. WE are. Shannon and I. We have been planning for MONTHS to surprise Lisa. WAY back in NOVEMBER, Shanny and I hatched a plan for me to accompany her to Baltimore to surprise Lisa. This trip was SO hard to get accomplished. Seemed like everytime we tried to go one of us would get sick! Or something crazy would happen…It was nuts. fast forward FIVE MONTHS we are FINALLY going (so far so good! Knock wood) this week… and what do you know? THREE days from us pulling it off? We were busted. Accidentally by he who shall remain nameless. (his initials are PETE lol)

I wont tease him TOO much because it probably turned out better since Lisa is a planner and I suspect she is having fun with the planning aspect of adding another person to the fun. AND I dont know him personally (it feels like I do since I chat with Lisa so much)  I sure would have liked to have seen her face when I came up the walk though!

Anyway. The cat is out of the bag now and I can tell you about my trip! I am SO excited to get to meet these fun girls face to face. Online friendships are so strange. When you talk to someone all the time, you forget I think that you have never met in person! I already feel so close to both Shanny and Lisa. I was asked by someone at work if I was nervous about meeting someone like that.. and I answered “no” without hesitation. I feel like I am going on vacation with old friends!

I am leaving Thursday evening to head to Charlotte with Steven to go to Shanny’s house. He, is a little wierd about me going off with near strangers, but I have a feeling once he meets Shannon he wont feel that way anymore. Then Friday morning she and I will load up and head to Baltimore to meet with Lisa before heading to Ocean City MD to enjoy a weekend at the beach! I cant tell you how excited I am!

I have never been North of Charlotte on the east coast except for a layover in Boston once. I cant wait to see everything.  I know that this trip will spawn another, being that Steven, the girls and I have never been to DC and we will drive right by it on our way north.

SO, pray that no one gets sick, and that we will have low gas prices! ( yeah right!)

DOTTIE RAMBO, GOSPEL LEGEND, DIES IN BUS CRASH IN MISSOURI

Gospel great Dottie Rambo, 74, died in a bus crash near Springfield, Mo., early Sunday morning, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report.

The bus driver, Ronnie Meadows, is in serious condition and Ms. Rambo’s manager, Larry Ferguson, and his wife and his two children, are also hospitalized in Springfield, Mo., the report says.

Chris Barnes, 22, Ms. Rambo’s Web master and Mr. Ferguson’s assistant, was in serious condition.

Few details were available, but there were reports that overnight storms and high winds caused the 1997 Prevost bus to crash into a guard rail and an embankment around 2:20 a.m. on I-44, two miles east of Mt. Vernon, Mo.

Ms. Rambo was reportedly traveling from Springfield, Mo., to Texas when the crash occured.

Ms. Rambo was a prolific writer and singer whose hits include We Shall Behold Him, Holy Spirit Thou Art Welcome (In This Place), I Go To The Rock, and Sheltered In The Arms Of God.

Elvis Presley, Barbara Mandrell, Carol Channing, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton are among those who have recorded Ms. Rambo’s songs.

As a young girl, Ms. Rambo fell in love with country music while listening to the Grand Ole Opry in her Morganfield, Ky., home. She started writing songs at ate 8, and by age 10, Ms. Rambo was singing covers of country songs on a local radio station.

By age 12, she became a born-again Christian, a decision her dad abhorred. He ended up kicking her out of the house, and Ms. Rambo started her Christian career.

Ms. Rambo met Buck Rambo at age 16 and they married soon after, forming a gospel trio that would launch a 50+ years career in Christian music.

Barbara Mandrell inducted Ms. Rambo into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame late last year, only the 10th woman to enter the hall.

Ms. Rambo was slated to release a new album, Sheltered, in the summer. The album was to include a duet with the late Porter Wagoner, Sheltered in the Arms of God, and Dottie was set to dedicate her album to Mr. Wagoner.

I am not a HUGE southern gospel fan.. some of it in fact “makes me itch” but Dottie Rambo was one of the greats. My heart goes out to her family at this huge loss.. I know one thing for sure though. The choir in heaven just got a new section leader!

                         “Noooooo I dont want to turn THIRTY”

Just wanted to wish Lisa a very happy birthday.  LYMI!

I am back. Friday night I went alongwith the girl’s clubs from our church as a chaperone to Mauldin (about 15 miles from Greenville SC) to the Church of God Campgrounds up there for a statewide girls jamboree and sleepover.  We took about 17 girls ages 6-11 including Thing Two.(Thing One went with Steven and the Youth to a youth rally near Charleston)  I helped with the youger ones and ended up being responsible for 7 girls ages 6-8.

Friday evening we left Dillon at about 6 on our church’s touring bus. It was packed and the girls were so excited! Being that we were travling with little ones we ended up stopping about 3 times to potty,and once for Dinner at Hardee’s (Carl’s Jr in the north and west) on our way.. making the trip MUCH longer than it normally is when you are traveling with teens. But the bus is equipped with television screens so they watched Disney movies all the way there.  You forget how many questions little kids ask, “How much longer???” was a big one

Since the Things are seasoned travelers and are accustomed to road trips, I also forget that some kids dont travel well. My girls pretty much entertain themselves when we go places. Thing Two has her games to play or reads a book, or generally is entertained by just watching the world go by. Thing One on the other hand is like me and tends to snooze once the road gets long I swear I said “sit down” a zillion times on this trip.

Anyway. When we arrived at about 12 am, we got our room assignments and got everyone bedded down pretty quickly. My girls did really well and I dont think I even had to tell them to be quiet once. They were pretty pooped out. The other chaperone however, who had the older set, spent most of the night telling one or another to HUSH I think I got the good end of THAT particular deal dont you?

Next morning, someone went for breakfast and we ate together at picnic tables in the sunshine. It was nice. The girls were still pretty sleepy since Im sure most arent used to late nights and early mornings in succession. After breakfast we headed to the main building or the “tabernacle” for the opening ceremonies.

The theme was “under the big top” and the State women’s board really went all out. They had decorated the sanctuary to look like a real circus. Character elephants and lions danced with the girls to a REALLY great band. They had music and welcomed everyone. The “ring leader” was so fun and really got the kids excited.

The “main attraction” was a GREAT juggler named Mark Lippod. He was fantastic. He rode every imaginable unicycle and juggled everything from fire to boxes. At one point he had 6 girls holding spinning plates. The kids LOVED it. Thing One was enchanted by him and I keep catching her trying to juggle things in the house.

After the juggler we spilt into groups and I took the younger group “bluebells” as they are called. There were different stations to rotate through. There was a trackless train to ride, blow ups to jump around in, a playground, a lunch rotation where they had pizza and drinks, the swimming pool and water slides (that rotation took a LONG time.. ever try and get a 6 year old out of the pool?), they also had crafts and group games to compete in and a mini mall set up FULL of little trinkets and odds and ends geared JUST for little girls. It was a great day. Let me tell you! By the time we got done and everyone loaded back on the bus to head home I was one tired mama!

The trip home didnt take as long as it did to get there. We stopped and fed everyone really well at Ryan’s steak house and then hit the road at about 5 pm. We popped Mary Poppins in the vcr and the girls played patty cake games and watched the movie all the way home.

When we got home Thing Two was exhausted! She has had a loose tooth all week and I finally had Steven pull it out. (It was dangling by a thread and I was afriad she might choke on it in her sleep!) That was just enough to push her into an albiet rare total meltdown.  She cried for AGES. When she finally settled down she was out like a lightt. Poor baby. The tooth fairy left her a sizeable donation to make up for the injustice of having her daddy “yank out”her tooth.

And thank goodness! I mean really. What would I do all erlaxed and well rested? Could I function well? I dont even remember.

I had planned a pretty quiet weekend. Thing One is going (along with Steven) with the youth to Charleston for a youth rally/ministry trip and Thing Two is going to Mauldin to Girls Jamboree. My friday night was looking like take out chinese, ben and Jerry and a bubble bath.. but I will be accompanying Thing Two and the little ones from church to Mauldin for an overnight statewide sleepover!

So tommorow will be work in the morning, and then rush to get things all set up for us to go at 530 pm. Mauldin is near greenville sc and about 3 hours away from here. We do have a nice touring bus that we can take though so it wont be as rough a ride as the youth will have in the vans! Steven has to be ready to go by 3!

They will be back late tomorrow night though. (Thing Two and I wont be back until Saturday night) Saturday morning Thing One and Steven will attend a work day at the home of a friend from church who lost her husband in Afghanistan last winter. (Sgt Ed Philpot.. I posted on his death) The men plan to get a bunch of yard work and neglected “spring” items taken care of for her. I love that they are going to do that. She has three small kids and I always think about offering to watch them for her.. or just come and help out or whatever, but I dont want her to think that I think she isnt doing a good job or whatever, since I dont know her that well. One day soon I promise I am just going to bite the bullet and go ask her what I can do.

Sooo. I will again be a busy bee this weekend. What yall got planned?

I have flamingo pants. At least as of today I do. PERSONALLY I think they are the cutest ever..Steven? Not so much. He says I cant wear them when we go out in public together.

USUALLY I tend NOT to take fashion advice from a man who has two catagories for his wardrobe. Polo and jeans, and work tshirts and shorts. Dont even get me started on what HE wears. He has these stretchy grey shorts that he wears around the place, Actually I think they are an old pair of my maternity pants, that I cut off to wash the car in once… You can see EVERY detail.. which isnt a good idea for a guy. if you know what I mean! He also wears this BIG DOG golf polo shirt. I actually bought it as a joke. I think the deal was like buy one get one for $1 or something like that. It has dogs and monkeys climbing all over the palm trees in it.  I bought him a solid polo and that was the $1 one. HE LOVES THAT SHIRT. and it refuses to die. In fact he was wearing it today when we were shopping and found the flamingos!

Back to my pants.They are these TOO cute black capri’s with little bright pink flamingos embroidered all over them. ok, so they are granny pants.. fun little ole lady from pasadena granny pants.. but still. I love them. When I tried them on I picked up a cutsie pink top to match, but left my sexy black work socks on when I came out of the changing room (Steven LAUGHED OUT LOUD, the jerk) I told him “You have to imagine them without the black socks..” he responded “Can I imagine them without all the pink flamingos on them?”

heh.

I not only BOUGHT them? But I plan to wear. them. out.