Happy Valentine's Day - LRHS Style

Good Times, The Slow Continues

This is Walker Texas Robot.  He was built over the weekend by Daphne and Kev from a kit that Kev got for his birthday.  I tried to post a video, but it didn't work.

Since Mardi Gras was coming, we celebrated on Sunday with some Slow Cooker Creole Red Beans and Rice.  Delicious.  Details coming soon on the other blog.  I hope.

Yesterday, I went to a big parking lot full of trucks and trucks of Girl Scout cookies.  Sixty-one cases were loaded into my little Subaru. Then, I brought them home and unloaded them into the playroom. 

 Daphne thought this would be a good place to do her reading homework.

We have also been working on Valentines for the class party.  This year, we're doing Shrinky Dinks.  Definitely good times.  But a little labor intensive.

Kev and I got to go to lunch and a movie on Saturday.  We had awesome Lightfoot crab bisque and saw Argo, which was really really good.  I like going to the movies.  I wish we could go more often.

I feel good about our pace at the moment.  We're doing Just Enough stuff.  We're not bored, but we're not overwhelmed.  How long can it last?

Two Hour Delay - In Pictures

I woke up in a bad mood.  Kev said to do something fun.  So, Daphne and I took advantage of the two hour snow delay and walked downtown to the Leesburg Restaurant for pancakes and hot chocolate.  I am in a better mood now.  Thanks, Kev.

Big Tex

Today is the 100th day of school, and to celebrate, the first graders dressed up in their best western-wear and played math games. I got to go to the celebration as a parent volunteer.  Daphne wore jeans, a horse shirt, a bandana and a hat.  What she did NOT wear are her boots, which she left sitting sadly in the middle of the floor:

She will now not wear any shoes that she cannot curl her toes in.  I fear there may be some shoe related battles ahead.

At school, one of the activities was to imagine what you might look like when you are 100 years old, and then make a self-portrait.  Here is the conversation that occurred in Daphne's class:

Mrs. D. (the teacher):  So, what do you think you will be like in 100 years?

Daphne:  (Hand shoots up)

Mrs. D.: Daphne?

Daphne:  Um, not alive any more?

Then, she proceeded to make her 100 year old portrait look like a ghost.  That's the spirit, Daph.  (Haha...get it?  Spirit?)

Daphne told me that if we go to Texas, she has two outfits to pack.  The one she's wearing above, and another pair of jeans with a button-up denim shirt.  I said I hate to tell you, Daphne, but nobody really dresses like that.  We lived in a big city.  I could tell she was disappointed.

We are still in the early talking stages of thinking about possibly planning to maybe go to Texas.  My awesome friend Emily has already said we can stay at her house, which is great.  If I get my act together, I can take my owl sweater down there and she can help me attach the sleeves.

If we go, it will be nice for Emily because she will not have to cook one single meal for us.  Most of my To Do in Texas list consists of getting my fix at my favorite restaurants..  Here is my list:

TO DO IN TEXAS:

• Try to see as many of my friends/family as possible
• Take Daphne to see our old house/neighborhood and G-Ma and G-Pa's old house in Garland
• Attach the sleeves of my owl sweater
• Go to the Dallas Arboretum
• See all the new stuff downtown
• Cafe Madrid (tapas)
• La Duni (Sunday Brunch)
• Freebirds (burritos!)
• Dream Cafe (Cloud cakes and cheese grits)
• Barbec's Diner (Beer biscuits and gravy)
• Sonny Bryan's (BBQ)
• Hattie's with Anne and Emily (more grits)
• Gloria's (black bean dip and tres leches cake)
• Mai's (#38a)

What am I forgetting?

OK.  Time to go do something productive.  This afternoon we are taking the Daisies to the library to celebrate the 146th birthday of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We have been promised some Hoe Cakes.  Our library is awesome.

A Better Pace

This weekend, things were sort of back to normal.  No one was sick.  There was a good balance of getting things done, relaxing, and doing fun stuff.  On Saturday night, after a day of errands, we had a Clone Wars marathon, and then Daphne and Kev camped out in the attic.   On Sunday, we drove to Maryland for breakfast.  Just barely Maryland.  Less than a mile in.  We went to Beans in the Belfry, which is right across the river in Brunswick.  I had biscuits and gravy.  I have been craving biscuits and gravy, and these did not disappoint.  It's funny, though, that I had to leave a confederate state just to get some good southern food.  The part of Virginia where I live is definitely not part of The South.  What it lacks in biscuits, however, it more than makes up for in scenery.  On our way to Brunswick, we drove through the country and saw wineries and farms and sheep and alpacas.  Even in the middle of winter, it's pretty out there.

We had a little bit of snow off and on throughout the weekend.  Nothing you could play in, but it was pretty.  This is the winery where I go for my pilates classes.  It's beautiful out there, and sometimes you can hear the hounds running in the woods and it sounds like wolves.  The guy next to the winery keeps hounds.  There are owls out there too.  We work out up in the loft of the barn.  Much nicer than a yucky old fluorescent-lit smelly gym.  This is about 8 minutes from my house.  I suppose I could just make my own biscuits and gravy.

I have learned to play the Cotton Eyed Joe on the fiddle.  It's fun to play because it's pretty easy and really loud. We have band practice next weekend, and as usual I am not prepared.  Band practice is stressful for me because I have the loudest and least forgiving instrument, so when I mess up (which is a LOT), it messes up the whole song.  When the other guys mess up, no one even notices.  This wouldn't matter so much if we were just playing for our own amusement, but there is a little bit of a push to play an open-mic.  I think I'd rather have a shot in the eyeball than screw up on the fiddle in front of a bunch of people. 

I'd also rather have a shot in the eyeball than fly on a plane, but Kev has recently introduced the possibility of taking a trip to Dallas, which I really want to do.  I wish I was a normal person.  I was sort of starting to psyche myself up to go, but then I saw a thing on the news this morning about planes having lithium batteries that catch on fire, and no one is bothering to do anything about it.  I wish there was a fast train to Texas.  I can get REALLY good biscuits and gravy there.

OK...Off to start my week.  The laundry awaits.