Sara and I had a rare opportunity to get out Friday night and doing something a little out of the ordinary. Thanks to some great friends who were otherwise disposed, we took advantage of their tickets and headed to the Granville Arts Theater in Garland for a night of the musical 42nd Street!!!!!
When I was in New York last summer I had a chance to see Wicked on Broadway...a once in a lifetime experience!!! I enjoyed it so much that I came home and took Sara to see Mama Mia at the Dallas Summer Musicals...not so good. Actually I just decided that the theater experience must only work in New York. So, I was a bit leery of what to expect from a musical in the smaller community of Garland, Texas. It was AWESOME! The costumes and sets were wonderful. The acting was terrific and the music made us want to sing along...we sort of did!!!
It was a great night and since it was just Sara and I, I did not have to worry about Jimmy fidgeting in his seat wondering when it was time to go home! 
It has been one year. One year since I got a wild hair and decided I would start jotting down random things on a blog..... 154 thoughts!!! This year surely has passed quickly and going back I know that there are a few things I probably should have left unsaid (or unposted as the case may be) but it has been cathartic. It has given me an outlet for all of the stuff that clogs my head all day long and affords an opportunity to save pictures and thoughts on all of the things that happen in the course of a year.
What a great celebration!!!
Wedding favors....Maruci bats for everyone (courtesy of the groom). Made for a perfect exiting arch for the couple when they left the reception!
Grooms cake...eye of the LSU Tiger!
Brides's cake...Italian Creme Cake
Bergy and his beautiful new daughter-in-law!
Uncle Bergy, Debbie, Aunt Pam and Chase.
Cousins...Nikki, Madison and Skylar
Family fun!!
Madison, Heather and Drew
Hangin' with the happy groom!!!
A little bit of family fun before the 6:00 wedding. If you are in Baton Rouge you have to take a trip to see the LSU campus. What a pretty place!!! And a very intimidating stadium....Geaux Tigers!!!
Proud parents of the groom. I so clearly remember Matt's wedding day. Seeing your firstborn marry is an awakening moment. It is hard to let go but fun to watch them move on...no nerves here. Just total excitement!
A big group heading our for a pre-wedding lunch Texas Roadhouse style (whoops, we are in Louisiana so it it Louisiana Roadhouse???)
Wedding ...coming soon!!!!
This weekend we headed out on a road trip...to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to celebrate the marriage of our nephew Ben to his beautiful bride Ashley. We loaded the car and headed east! First stop (bathroom break) was the town of Kilgore. We found a great little local rest stop filled with east Texas treasures.
A porch full of hand carved furniture greeted us. I was thinking how nice it would be to have these great rockers on the deck at the lake..no room in the car...boy we were loaded up.
Kilgore was the home of some of the first Texas oilfields. In its day it was a thriving area full of oil rigs. I do not know if there was all of the off shore drilling back then. It was simpler...just hook up the rig and watch it work.
Sara made friends with the keeper of the snack bar. The big smile on her face is because on another one of our stops she stuck a few quarters in a slot machine and won a quick $100. Beginners luck!
This was not a working well but is still proudly displayed at the local convenience store. This rig and others like it are what made this town grow. Now it is just a quiet area that is proud of it's heritage.
Next stop...Bunkie, Louisiana. I am not sure of it's claim to fame but I know they are proud of their town. The Club Bunkie is rockin' and rollin' inside the local Exon. We did not have time to stop in but have flagged it for a sure stop on our next trip through the area.
So...when things slowed down out came all of the iphones. Portable technology....we had multiple games of "Words with Friends" going between cars. Made me wonder how we ever entertained ourselves between Texas and Illinois when we traveled. Lots of books and maybe some creative car bingo games...and then there were the Burma Shave signs. Lovin' the old days!!!
In keeping with expectations, I too dug into my closet. It is not that bad but I have accumulated stuff that has seen better days, so with garbage bags in hand (for a trip to Good Will) I headed into the great abyss. What I found were probably no less that 50 pairs of the above(pictured is only a small sampling)....so, are they flip flops or thongs? They were thongs when I was growing up. It did not make people back up and stare if you called them that...it is what they were. Now they have a whole different meaning. I looked up the word in the dictionary...it is "a thin strip of leather for binding". That really sounds like something that should go on your foot. And so, we can ponder where the vocabulary word changed on this footwear. It does not really matter unless you go into Macy's looking for thongs!
This precious picture was just forwarded to me by a great friend. Mandy took some pictures while Brooklynn and her daddy were playing in the fountain pool she had gotten for Easter. She sent one on to Les who performed a little additional magic on it. It was great to begin with...now it is priceless.
I had plans for today. I am trying to carefully fit many projects into my remaining days of summer..this was not part of the plan. So, I waded through much food..trash or cook? Most of it was trash but then there were the pounds and pounds of chicken breasts not totally thawed and recently purchased that I decided I really ought to boil and save for casseroles ...or something.
So today I am cooking, and cooking, and cooking. Lots of chicken and a crockpot full of beef I also just bought.
Thank heavens for my food saver and the additional freezer sacks I just purchased....looks like I will have plenty chopped chicken...recipes anyone????
Shared from Florida....the Shubzda celebration in Tampa Bay! 
Sunday was beautiful...enough sunshine and not too much heat...though Ozzie's favorite place was still parked on the porch in front of the fan. No dumb dogs in our family!
We fished, played in the water, roasted marshmallows, hung out......
And enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the water until it was time for....
DESSERT....4th of July style!!!
Happy 4th 2010 everyone...hope it was perfect!
This is really the last thing we do before we turn out the lights...and it is the first thing we do when we wake each morning. No it is not some dark, dirty, cannot share over the airwaves secret...it is "Words with Friends". I made the mistake of getting Jimmy an iTouch. I thought it would be fun to set him up with "Words with Friends". After all it increases brain cells in the elderly. You know, the thinking thing. I, however, have created a monster. You see, not only can you play this scrabble like game back and forth but you can chat too. So, if I do not respond in time I either get a phone call or a message that says..."well, if you are getting a pedicure then surely you can respond to the last word I played." Seriously....!!!!
So, here I sit needing to make potato salad to take to the lake but I am dealing with a distraught husband who left his iTouch at the office and now he is unable to play until Tuesday when he gets back to work. Ahhhhh...maybe I can sleep in tomorrow morning. In the meatime to keep him from needing a twelve step program for dealing with withdrawl I am lending him my iPhone. I have 11 friends who need responses to their games....maybe he will leave me alone for awhile.
