Posts from — July 2009

Molly is a member of a competitive dance company affiliated with her dance studio here in Lubbock, The Dance Gallery. She’s just completed her second year in Company Dance Gallery, which is for girls in the 4th through 9th grades, and she’s loved every single second of it. Every summer the company participates in a national competition, and this year our competition was in Anaheim, California, at the Disneyland Hotel. Horrible place to have to go for a dance competition, right? Well, PawPaw, Molly and I each put on our brave face and headed out to California. Random things that went through my brain during the course of our trip are presented below for your reading pleasure. (Warning: We were gone for a whole week, and I had a LOT of random thoughts. You might want to get yourself a cup of coffee before you start reading.)

If you must, you can skip my wildly popular random thoughts and go straight to my Flickr page to view all my California pictures. I can’t imagine why you’d want to do that, though.

• Wednesday night. Okay. Surely we haven’t forgotten anything. No way. Right?
• Hey! For once I didn’t get singled out by security for a wanding! This must be a good sign.
• Of course. We forgot the black jacket. Hopefully we won’t need it. Grr.
• Vegas airport. Mexican food restaurant. Abuelo’s, it ain’t.
• Finally, California!
• Wow. If Jolyn ever needs a career change, she could definitely be a professional luggage loader. I can’t believe she made all those bags fit into that one van!
• No, Disneyland hotel-room-assigning people. PawPaw, Molly, and I cannot make it work with just one bed. We’re a close-knit family, but not that close. We’re gonna need a new room. Kthxbai.
• Thursday breakfast: omelet with bacon, cheese, and avocado. Delish.
• Driving down to Coronado Island to spend a day at the beach with the Blankenships. Yay for sweet friends!
• Ack! A plague of flies on the beach?!?! Let my people go!
• I think it’s totally reasonable for us to order a 28-inch pizza that requires two cake stands for its base.
• Long ride back to Anaheim with sleeping girls in the back seat after a fun, fun day at the beach. Also, I got one heck of a sunburn.
• The Wal-Mart in Anaheim is a scary place.
• Friday. Ready to tackle Disneyland. First stop: It’s A Small World. So cute, except when that song gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
• PawPaw is buying a “Grumpy” hat. How apropos.
• Finding Nemo submarine ride. Not great. Feeling a little claustrophobic, though that may be due to the near-fatal panic attack I’m having because I’m convinced we’re going to be late for rehearsal.
• Whew! Only about 3 minutes late to rehearsal. I feel better now.
• Dinnertime. That guy who does the balloon hats is really good.
• Early bedtime for everybody tonight. Competition is tomorrow!
• Saturday morning. Tons of pictures in Salvation costume. Marilyn Monroe poses, gazebo poses, pirate ship poses.
• Showtime! Good luck to Company Dance Gallery!
• Great job, girls! The Salvation jazz dance looked better than it ever has before. Now to change into tap costumes.
• Texas Tappin Bees are quite a site to behold! Woohoo! Now waiting for the awards ceremony.
• Company Dance Gallery wins GOLD for the Salvation dance and PLATINUM for the Texas Tappin Bees! Plus, Texas Tappin Bees are Grand Champions for their division! Way to go, girls!!
• More pictures in the bee costume with trophies. We love trophies!
• Pool time for the girls, then dinner at Bubba Gump’s for the whole group. My table is cleaning house in the Forrest Gump trivia contest!
• Despite PawPaw’s purchase of a hat that proves he’s grumpy, he continues to vehemently deny all charges of grumpiness.
• A T-shirt that says “My Mamma Says I’m Special”?? I’m quite sure Cousin Laura would want me to buy that for her.
• That’s okay, kids, y’all go ahead and ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror. I’ll sit this one out.
• What? It was a blast? The best ride EVAH?!?! Okay, okay, I’ll ride it. First I must use the facilities.
• OMG that WAS the best ride EVAH! Hollywood Tower of Terror really IS a blast! Too bad that guy in front wet his pants.
• Molly’s first upside-down experience on a roller coaster. She loved it, just like I knew she would. Lots o’ fun.
• I miss my doggie.
• Sunday morning. Early meet-up time for the whole group at Disneyland. Full day at the park planned.
• Seriously? Thirty-five dollars for two people to eat pizza in this place? For that much money, it ought to have caviar on it or something.
• At what point will I need IV fluids to replace the amount that I’ve sweated out?
• I’ve figured out that if I just keep moving, my feet hurt less. Standing in one place is completely out of the question.
• Looks like I may need a Grumpy hat to match PawPaw’s.
• Dinner at House of Blues. Sitting in a chair is awesome. Quite the parade of characters going to the club upstairs. Great time with the Blankenship, Clark, Wilkins, and Powell families.
• At this point almost every meal I’ve ordered while here has contained avocados. Win!.
• I’m pretty sure I’ve permanently damaged my feet and/or ankles. In 30 years, when I’m in a wheelchair, it will be because of this day.
• Monday. Last day in California. Can’t seem to get very excited about going back to Disneyland. Instead, shopping at Downtown Disney!
• Okay, okay, we can go back to the park for a little while to reride all our favorites one last time.
• I really miss my doggie.
• Yay! Finally getting to see the fireworks show from inside the park! Glad we came back after all.
• Now to reorganize and repack for departure in the morning. Yuck.
• Tuesday morning. Long travel day awaits, though my feet and back will be so grateful for all the sitting.
• Eww. Strawberry-banana smoothie at Starbucks is not my fave.
• Wow. Tons of dance friends on the flight from Phoenix to Lubbock. Should be fun for the girls.
• Ahh, Lew-bock. So glad to see you. I’m not sure I like being gone a whole week.
• What? PawPaw wants to drive back to Brownwood tonight? Well, can’t say that I blame him. I’d be anxious to get home, too. Bye-bye, PawPaw! Have a safe trip back home!
• Three words: My. Own. Bed. *happiness*

My favorite rides: Hollywood Tower of Terror; California Screamin; Soarin’ over California; Space Mountain; Splash Mountain; Haunted Mansion.

We really did have a fantastic trip. Not only did our girls take home the Grand Champion trophy, but we also got to spend a lot of time with our fabulous dance friends and we got to visit a state/city/attraction that we’d never visited before.

The entire set of California pictures is here if you want to see them all, but I’ve posted a few of my favorites below.

Do you ever stop to think about how different the world is now than when you were a kid? For example, during the summer break, were you one of those kids who left your house sometime in the morning and came home around suppertime, wandering the neighborhood on your bicycle with your friends? I know I was, and I can’t imagine letting my kid do that today. Do you remember when the price of gasoline hit $1 per gallon? Do you remember back before the days of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, when Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom was the coolest nature show on TV? If all this makes you feel nostalgic, you should check out Wired’s list of 100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About. I’ve posted a few of my favorites below, but you should check out the entire list for a trip down nostalgia lane.

• Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.
• That there was a time before ‘reality TV.’
• The scream of a modem connecting.
• Using a road atlas to get from A to B.
• Not knowing exactly what all of your friends are doing and thinking at every moment.
• Answering machines.
• Not knowing who was calling you on the phone.
• Spending your entire allowance at the arcade in the mall.

By the way, California pics will be up soon — hopefully this weekend.

Today I stumbled upon a really cool website called Foundations. It’s an online magazine focused on sharing ways to live your life better. Actually, they can say it better than I can:

Foundations Magazine presents ideas to build your life on. This magazine lays down the basic building blocks of a successful person. It is based on the understanding that are universal laws that govern us and our environments. Learning to live within this context is the key to all success.

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Once upon a time, there was a precious little Maltese dog named Sophie Mae Propst. Sophie’s mommy loved her very much and she knew that Sophie liked to look pretty. One day, Sophie’s mommy took her to the beauty shop.

Across town, Sophie Mae had a cousin named Moses Worley. His mommy, Cousin Laura, also loved him very much and knew that he took great pride in his magnificent furry coat.

One day, Moses’s mommy had to leave town for a few days, and Moses was really sad. He was so depressed that he stopped caring about his beautiful coat. When Moses’s mommy got back into town, she had to take him to the beauty shop.

Uh oh. Looks like Moses didn’t much care for his new haircut.

The hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are Freemen, fighting for the blessings of Liberty — that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men.

George Washington, General Orders, August 23, 1776

In case you ever wondered how Thomas Jefferson was selected to write the Declaration of Independence, wonder no more:

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