Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Campbell's House proper

Like most pregnant women, I tortured my husband with my obsession over the perfect name for our baby. In addition to torturing him with the constant bombardment of "What do you think about this name?" game, I also tortured the rest of my family by keeping all the contenders a secret.


So a few months after she was born we were down in Pleasanton and my dad says, "You know, if you take this precious baby girl and Heather's dog and put them together you get a great, big, black, kick ass football player!.... Did y'all plan that?"




Ever heard of Earl Campbell??

Did I mention that Heather's weinie dog is named Earlene? Oh yes, a la Earl Campbell and his famouse sausage! She even wears a sparkly UT collar- too cute!




THIS

Plus THIS
EQUALS THIS??

So we took Grita to Campbell's House (proper) this weekend. She had never been to a UT football game. We had a great time! A big Shout Out and Thank You to Mr. Faulkner for his continued generosity for game day tickets, too!

Campbell did not join us, neither did Earlene. However we did stop by Earl's statue... maybe some day soon will take the two namesakes down to the stadium for a photo op.


Hook 'Em Horns!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

34 is starting off great

What a lovely day and week it has been. Happy Birthday, indeed!

I couldn't be more thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. I had scores of birthday wishes from friends and family. Beautiful flowers, yummy cake, lunches filled with laughter and friends, very thoughtful gifts from Campbell & Alan, and a weekend of fun to look forward to with my peeps.

Thanks for the love and for being part of my crazy, silly, wonderful life!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

A wedding, a trip to Houston, and a fluke

The Fluke:
I absolutely KNOW that it was a fluke, but I swear to Jimminey Cricket that this is true!
I bought a precious pink potty for Campbell in anticipation of the inevitable potty training... well, I get home from Target, take the royal throne out of the box (it plays a royal tune when you tinkle, by the way) and place it in the bathroom. Nosey Rosey can't wait to see what it is all about. I sit her on the potty, sit myself on the big girl potty for some encouragement... and lo and behold her potty starts to play music!!! Are you kidding me??? Then, it starts to play music again!!! what??? I make a huge production over the affair, stand her up, prepared to dab off approximately two drops of tinkle from her bottom and then I see it. Swear. Poop!!!! First crack out of the box and my little princess pooped in the potty!!! I couldn't have been prouder. Of course as soon as she saw the poop she burst into tears. Kind of scary, I suppose.

My trip to H-town:
Maybe Houston has just gotten a bad wrap. I went to hang out with my Aunt Sandy for week number 5 of her radiation therapy. (If you don't know her story you should pop over to her Caring Bridge- link on the right.) I have to be honest, I did not know what to expect. I tried to be ready for anything. Turns out, what I needed to prepare for most of all was eating at great restaurants. We had a splendid time. We shopped, we ate, we chatted, we even worked out once. All in all it was a success. Back here on the home front, Alan and Campbell fared just fine without me, too. In fact, I don't think she missed me one tiny bit. Alan swears that she didn't throw one single fit the entire time i was away. Well, when we reunited she made up for lost time... which brings me to

A wedding:
Let me start by saying, that it is a good thing that she is so cute. I knew I was in for a long day/night when I took her for a haircut on Saturday morning. You've seen her head of hair. This was not the child's first hair cut. Not even her second or third... Lordy, Lordy, Lordy.
The very nice stylist named Deedee calls our name.
I put Campbell in the chair alone- business as usual... nope. She arched her back and let out a blood curdling shriek. Now, I have the entire salon staring at me. Her Grita promptly grabbed her purse and high-tailed it out the door. Her father who was also waiting for a haircut tried to act like he didn't know us... head in a magazine... not today, mister.
Alan reluctantly claims us and I force her to sit in his lap. Brief moment of silence. Then Deedee must put the cape around her neck. Not so fast, Deedee... Blood curdling shriek #2. I take the cape and wrap it around Campbell's neck all the while glaring at her, and insisting that she stop screaming. At this point, my sister Heather who is also waiting for a haircut begins to look afraid. All eyes are still on us... ugh!
I figure we could try distracting her highness so that Deedee can at least trim the bangs. Big crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks. Dayce and I are trying everything in the book- singing, I spy, books, toys, etc. Then it hits me. A plug would be quite handy about now.
Me: Heather, give me Opal's pacifier!
Heather: (Terrified eyes and under her breath through gritted teeth) Reneeeeee...? I only have the one Opal currently has in her mouth.
Me: (For all the salon to hear) I don't care! Your baby is being quiet and mine is not. Please give me the passy.
Campbell: (More shrieking) Muh muh muh! Translation= Passy, please
Heather: (Unplugging her baby and plugging mine up) Nice.
Silence.
Bangs trimmed quite nicely.
Big tip for Deedee.

With that in mind, think about the following: an outdoor wedding on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Now add in Opal, stairs, mosquitos, and only one passy.
I could give you the blow by blow but it might be more fun if you make up your own story. I can assure you that you will not be far off. Like I said, it is a good thing she is cute!


Stairs

Cute sisters with bad kids!


More stairs


Grita trying to save her!

The only thing missing from this family photo is the 3 glasses of red
wine it took to get Mommy smiling!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Labor Day Cookie Monster

Labor Day was pretty mellow at Campbell's House. We got up early and as I was putting her toast (ok, Poptart... ugh) in the toaster she saw the mixer and started saying, "Taste, taste, taste!"
What a great idea! We scarfed down our very nutritious carb, sugar, and fat (no trans fat) loaded breakfast and made some good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies.

Maybe I haven't made them in a while, or maybe it was just more fun making them with my new little assistant. Fun stuff! Thanks for a fun Labor Day, Campbell! I love you!



PS- I know sitting on the counter top isn't the safest place... but it really is the best seat in the kitchen!

Whatever.

In our family there is really no such thing as, "whatever." That is to say, someone always- and I do mean always has a smart remark to make about the short comings of others... all in good fun, of course.
Obviously, he hacked into my blog to teach me a lesson.
Lesson rejected- ha.
So there.
And thank you for the PC magic, Campbell' s Dad.
xoxo

PS- I changed my password.

Monday, September 1, 2008

I wish Renee knew about computers

Test to see if Renee was right that the computer was not working right. If you are reading this she is sadly mistaken....again.