Happy Trails

This shall be my last post for several days. We are off to California in two days, and I can hardly contain myself.

I'll try to post from the road, but . . . well, imagine traveling for two days in a car with three kids under the age of five. I'll be lucky if I have any hair left when we get there, much less energy to blog.

My husband has made this drive before, with his family as a kid, so he has been telling me fascinating stories about the drive, including how hot it was driving through the desert. Apparently my father-in-law became concerned about their van overheating, and they had to kill the air conditioner through the Mojave Desert.

YIKES!!

He said they roasted in the back of the van. I can only imagine, and pray we don't have that problem.

We are taking plenty of movies for the boys to watch, coloring books, and new glitter pens (we'll see how that one goes . . . we might have VERY pretty door handles in our vehicle before the trip is over). We also have books and toys, so hopefully the drive will be bearable.

I am so excited to spend time with family on this trip, and to welcome new members into our family as well. I guess it's safe to say that my family (me, my brother, my parents) have always been a little weird, and when someone marries in, EVERYBODY is IN! Their family, their in-laws, everybody! So I am totally thrilled that my brother, S-I-L, and Mom are going to get to meet Allison's family, as well. I adore her parents, would love to get to know her brother and his wife better, and can't wait for the next time they are in Oklahoma, too.

I'll post when I can. Happy Trails!

News and Events

Today is all about the random news and events happening in our lives right now.

I have officially driven my dear husband crazy. Yesterday, after a long day of work, DH comes home and wants to relax, and all I can do is talk about the trip. I've made three more lists since Wednesday, and I bombarded him with every detail of each list.

But I also have fabulous news: I am going to be signing books in the Mall of America in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 20.

TOTALLY EXCITED!!

Now, granted, this event will have over 100 authors and their books, but still . . . THE MALL OF AMERICA! Can't stop grinning!

And today is my mother's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! She will kill me if I tell anyone her age, so let's just say she's past the 39 1/2 mark. I called her at work to wish her happy birthday, and one of her co-workers informed me her desk was covered with HUGE, BRIGHT balloons, and diet Dr. Pepper (her favorite drink), and chocolate bars (so you can see I inherited my chocolate addiction). Mom was more than a little embarrassed. She prefers quiet birthdays, but my sister-in-law and I decided she needed a little splash, hence the balloons instead of flowers. We're also taking her to dinner tomorrow night, as well.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

California Dreamin'

I swear, I think the next three weeks will be all about our upcoming trip to California, how everything goes while we're there, and descriptions of everything when we get back.

I have California on the brain. I keep thinking of new things we need to do before we leave. Then I think of things we need to take with us. Then I think of what we're going to be doing while we're there.

It's getting kind of ridiculous. Laundry has become all about which clothes I'm taking. Dishes and cooking have become all about snack ideas for the trip. Watching TV reminds me of which DVD's we should take for the boys to watch on the way.

The problem with this is that I actually have work I need to be doing. I should have finished the first draft of my latest manuscript, and I'm nowhere close to finished. I have a synopsis to write, rewrites on another book, a proposal to get ready for conference in September, and I should have rewrites for the current WIP to tackle after the trip, but since I'm not finished with it, I obviously can't rewrite it.

And all I can think about is California.

AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

This afternoon I will snap out of it and get to work, and not once will I think about you-know-where.

Yeah, right.

Shopping Madness

Yet another weekend of crazy activity.

My family came to visit, and all the girls went shopping. And boy, did we shop!

I did, in fact, get my dress for the wedding. We got it at the first store we went to. As I tried dresses on, I kept getting tickled because my sister-in-law would examine the dress, and say, "Yeah, it looks good, but that color washes you out. Better let me try it on." Every dress I tried on she stole from me.

But we picked our dresses, my mom got a couple of tops, and we were off to look for shoes. My S-I-L got two pairs, I got one, and my mom got three.

I got to return the favor to my S-I-L when we shopped for purses, and took the one she was looking at, although that didn't stop her from getting it too, and another in a different color. Two purses each, and then we were off again.

Then we hit the mall. By this time we had eaten lunch and got our second wind. We found the most gorgeous dress at Dillard's for my mom, it made her look like a teenager again, but she refused to buy it. Said it was just a smidgen too tight (which meant it actually FIT, and didn't hang on her like a potato sack), and that she wanted to be comfortable and be able to breathe. I told her being able to breathe was overrated, but she wasn't buying, figuratively or literally.

Then we hit JC Penney's and they had mega-monster SALES going on.

OH, MY GOSH!

We shopped and shopped and shopped. We started in the children's department for round one, hit the men's department for round two, and finished off in the ladies department for round three. The sales people began ringing up the children's clothing after we brought back the men's clothing, and they had to stop because the computer only allows 5o items per transaction.

Yeah.

But the bargains were amazing, and we saved a ton of money. The twins have new school clothes, my husband has nice, casual clothes for our vacation and to last into the fall, and I have comfy clothes for travel and to wear to a conference coming up in a couple of months.

So it was a great day. And now, for the promised photo. Have a great week.

Tomorrow is the Day

Well, things got a little crazier the last couple of days, and cleaning has ground to a screeching halt, but hopefully today we'll get back on track.

And silly as it sounds, I am SO excited about shopping tomorrow. Anyone who knows me is going to do a double take, and call to ask if I'm feeling okay. My dislike of shopping is well known among friends and family. But I am just thrilled about this trip, and looking forward to having everything ready to go.

I've been making lists of what we need to take with us: boys list, husband list, baby list, my list, general needs list.

I've been making lists of things we need to do before we go: haircuts, car serviced, car cleaned out, setting up the portable DVD player, and SHOPPING!

And I've been making a list of all the things I need to shop for: dress clothes for me, dress clothes for the boys, shoes for my husband, shoes for the baby, little extras for the long trip.

I think I'm also excited because, although I haven't met my weight loss goal yet, I am pleased to report that I am back into pre-pregnancy clothes. Clothes I was only able to wear two summers ago now fit again! This is thrilling news for me, and just encourages me to keep going with my exercise and diet routine.

Tomorrow I get to pick out a lovely dress for the wedding that will make me feel beautiful and fabulous. I get to show it off for my husband and make him proud I am his wife. And hopefully I can do all this for a steal!

When I have a picture, I'll post. Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Days

Well, I wish I had an exciting, fabulous topic to write about today, but the truth is, life has been pretty tame the last couple of days.

Yay!

I enjoy days of semi-peace and quiet (I have 4 year old twins and a 9 month old who has discovered she is mobile, so . . . ). We've been cleaning the house since Captain Clean (otherwise known as Uncle Dave) is coming for a visit on Saturday. I'll hear about the atrocious state of our house for the next . . . well . . . forever, if I don't have the house mostly clean.

No clutter allowed. Bathrooms must sparkle and shine. Floors must be swept and mopped (repeatedly) to a high gloss. Dishes and laundry must be washed and put away, no piles of clean laundry on an empty bed, no dishes waiting to be washed in the sink. Immaculate counter tops. You get the idea.

Otherwise, we have been having a great summer. The temperature has been super. We haven't broken 100 degrees yet, which is unusual for Oklahoma in July. The evenings have been perfect. It's nice to report things are going well.

I'll see you Friday. Have a wonderful week.

Process of Elimination

What a wild weekend!

We are off to Disneyland in just over TWO WEEKS! SOOOOOO Excited! Anyway, next weekend my mom and sister-in-law are coming to the City, and we are going clothes shopping. Now, I don't really enjoy shopping for a specific reason . . . I am picky.

I might have mentioned this before. I know what I like, and I definitely know what I don't like. My tastes are simple, classic styles, solid colors that mix and match well, with an occasional touch of romance or whimsy (like my silver, sequin covered fedora hat from Las Vegas!). And usually my tastes run toward the expensive, not because I prefer shopping in high-end stores, but because the styles I tend to like for some reason are more expensive. So I have to hunt the sales racks to find bargains, and this can take a LONG time.

So for the last two days I have shopped and tried on, scrutinized and eliminated possibilities, all in the name of making next weekend's shopping trip less annoying for my family. And in the process I annoyed my dear hubby and our cranky children half to death. Sorry, honey!!!

But it was a valuable experience. I found out a couple of dress I thought were absolute winners weren't so great. I found one store with HUGE possibilities, and I got a fabulous pair of satin dress shoes on clearance for $13.50!

When I have the final selection, I'll be sure to post a picture. Happy shopping!