Tell me a story

A blogger I often read, Princess Nebraska, suggested the idea of doing Wednesday Writing Prompts today. Meaning bloggers take turns coming up with the idea for the topic then everyone writes about that on their blog. So I’m going to go ahead and try it out with Princess Nebraska’s idea, which was Tell Me a Story.

Maybe some will tell something heartfelt or something highly creative and fictional, but as I sit in my office in the town where I spent my first 18 years of life I can’t help but have random memories growing up, so I guess this is my chance to share one.

When I was 15 I had a very cool friend who was 16. Oh how those few extra months can mean the world in highschool. And that is because at 16 of course you get your driver’s license. So Jenny had her license and a very cute little Omni (if memory serves me right, which could very well not be the case). She offered to take Kim, another friend, and I out for a weekend cruise around the infamous strip. I feel so old saying this, but when I was in high school there was a path through town that people would just cruise on Friday and Saturday nights. Doesn’t cruising sound like something from the 60s? It was actually the early 90s. I’m not that old, people. Anyways, I’m pretty sure that doesn’t happen anymore, but at the time it seemed exciting and a great place to look for guys.

We first took her car speeding down some country rounds – I’m not sure if Jenny was just showing off her hot new wheels or she had picked Kim and I up at our houses. As we’re speeding along we approach a road on our left. Suddenly Jenny says “Want to squeal some tires girls?” I don’t remember us even responding and the next thing we know Jenny’s taking a 90-degree turn at 50 mph. The left side tires of her little Omni went up in the air and somehow we drove, on two-wheels, for a minute, before cruising right into the ditch. I remember at first the shock as we arrived sideways in the ditch. My ponytail was now on the side of my head and instead of riding middle I was now on my friend’s lap, Jenny, the driver, was now in the middle of the car.

After a moment of pause, we got out of the car. Through the window, Dukes of Hazard style. After exiting we stood in the middle of the road, glanced at each other and erupted in hysterical laughing. We were laughing so hard we fell to the ground.

Afterward, we wandered what we should do. After coming to the conclusion that A. Our moms would be really mad at us and B. We still wanted to go cruising, we decided getting the mothers involved was not part of our plan. I believe we decided it was best to walk to the nearest house and call a tow truck to get the car out. (Remember, it’s the early 90s, no cell phones.)

To our delight, a man with a tow truck not only pulled the vehicle out, but also kicked the car door from the inside, popping out the telltale dent that Jenny worried would give her away to her mom.

We happily went on our way, cruising the strip as planned.

Later we would find out that we had overlooked one detail of our secret accident. Jenny’s mom just couldn’t understand why there were weeds and dirt hanging out from underneath her car after a simple night of cruising in town. Busted. I guess we should have come clean about the accident in the first place, but it definitely made for a memorable night.

If any of you bloggers, ahem.. Emily, want to join Wednesday’s Tell Me a Story, that would be great!

Oh, and sorry, mom, if you’re just now finding out about that little fender bender I may have not mentioned before.

How is it Monday already?

Didn’t this weekend just start? I guess with working Saturday night and actually have various plans time has flown by. Here’s what we did:

Saturday: Went to pool with SIL, nephew, SIL’s neighbor friend and Ella. We all brought food and had a lovely picnic once it started to rain. Unfortunately the rain continued so we all headed home. The pool belongs to my SIL’s (Rachel’s) grandma. It’s really cool – it’s kinda a family pool and it sounds like all the relatives use it a lot and they even have a yearly clean out the pool shed day. And there’s a nice inside area with fridge and table – perfect when you get rained out or just need food storage.

Anyway, went to work that night. Had very smooth night despite transition to all new software!!

Sunday morning: One of the highlights. My husband let me sleep in. I didn’t even ask for that. How good is he? I slept until 10. It was magnificent. I didn’t get to sleep until about 2 a.m. from working late so I would have been so tired if I didn’t sleep in!

Monday: Cleaned and awaited guests’ arrival. Steve’s brother, wife and kids were on their way back to Kentucky from their summer in Michigan so they stopped to stay the night. Was very fun. Ella and Max played together again and Ella seems to be getting away from her aggressive face-grabbing phase. Almost. She still grabs the baby’s face too much for my liking. But it’s not in a mean-spirited way. It’s more like “I wonder what will happen if I poke here.” Poor little Isabella. It was so nice to see them all though. We watched the kids play a lot while the guys did computer stuff. Then I kicked Matt’s butt at Wii Tennis and golf. Well, maybe not at every tennis match. He caught on pretty quick.

Monday: Zoo! It was members day so members get free lunch, a free ride of their choice and free animal shows. We did get rained out after awhile though. We had our lunch though and Ella got to ride on the carousel and see a lot of animals. And she said something like “munKEEE for the monkeys instead of calling them dogs. So, we’re working on our animal identification skills.

After that I somehow persuaded Steve to stop at Steve and Barry’s because I’ve been curious to see Sarah Jessica Parker’s Bitten line of clothing there. Very cute, but they advertise that it’s fashion for the mainstream and I only saw extra-smalls in so much of it. Who in the world wears extra small? Maybe they had sold out of the others or larger sizes were in the back. I had a baby that was starting to need a nap, so I didn’t check into it.

After that I had the shopping bug in me so after I put Ella down I ran back out to returnd some things at Old Navy and got a few new things. I love shopping and I don’t do it much anymore so it was funnnn.

OK, that’s all and I need to go get in a little more R&R before the wild woman awakes from her slumber.

He who wears socks must watch child

Friday night ended up being very fun. It’s Playtime was a hit. Ella had a blast and because I didn’t know the rule was you must wear socks on the equipment it was Steve who followed her up the stairs and down the slides a million times. Te he. She played with everything there and was so cute watching the big kids. The new facilities are smaller, but it’s really nice and the new setup is really cute. Also, there was a bubble machine on the second floor that was turned on at one point – which made all the kids dance around happily under the bubbles for quite a while. Loved it!

After It’s Playtime, we checked out the Fresh Market. I’ve heard great things about this grocery store, and it sure lived up to the hype. It was beautiful. Almost like a Whole Foods store – just really good foods and all displayed so nicely. A lot of the food was in these big wooden crates and it just all looked so fresh and nice. And the seafood and meat selection is to die for. Man I wish we had that in my part of town.

We ate dinner at Smoky Bones next and we were so happy. The food was delicious and the server was so nice. Ella loved her pulled pork sandwich and we had yummy fall off the bone ribs.

Ella went to bed soon after we went home and we played a bunch of Wii. They were good games too. I think I won at golf, but lost at bowling and it was pretty much a tie in tennis. Very fun night.

It’s playtime

Ah, so glad it’s Friday. Even though I have to work Saturday night I at least get to sleep in and spend most of the day with Ella tomorrow.

I worked an early shift today – 5:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. I needed to go in early to help out, but that also means I needed to get home early to relieve Steve to let him work. He didn’t use the sitter, since that would have been an hour drive to and from, and she’s way too nice for me to ask if I can bring Ella in at 5:15 a.m.

It’s great to get home at 2 though. I played with the baby (how long can I call her that?) for an hour then she very easily went down for a nap. She usually is. From other mom blogs I read I think I am incredibly lucky.

So here I am, back on my computer – I feel like since I keep wanting my friends to blog I must keep good blogging karma by frequently writing myself.

I’m trying to shoo away the less annoying of my cats, Maude. I love her, but these are her favorite hobbies:

1. Begging for attention the one minute I get to relax.

2. Wanting in/out of the bedroom when I’m in bed. Whatever’s opposite of her current position.

After Ella’s nap we I have plans to go to the new It’s Playtime and out for a bite to eat. It’s Playtime is an indoor entertainment place for kids – slides, cars, kitchens, toddler, baby toys. It’s such a great thing for rainy days or just to do something different. Although I am extremely bummed the one 10 minutes away closed and reopened 25 minutes away. Ugh. When you’re trying to squeeze things in between meals and naps, you don’t want 50 minutes of drive time.

OK, well I’m going to go relax and enjoy naptime.