So much fun......

This past week has been exciting, expensive and emotional....Kadie and David have set the date...yeah, June 18th, 2011!! We went dress shopping, and found a dress, yeah...... and it was all very emotional for FOB and I. I guess now the realization is hitting us in the face, Kadie is getting married. Don't get me wrong, we are thrilled about it, but somehow it is still a little hard to wrap our heads around this. She will be older than both her dad and I were when we got married, yet somehow she is still a little girl. We had a blast trying on dresses .... everything about it was fun (well, except for the check that was written, FOB almost needed to be carried out of the salon!) she was accepting of trying on every style, even ones that she insisted she didn't like which most of the time ended up being in the top 3 or 4 dresses. She didn't want a ball gown style, yet to humor MOB she tried one on and it was beautiful and she liked it. She didn't want a lot of beading and lace and yet again tried one or two on to humor me and once again was just gorgeous. The first day of dress shopping was nothing but fun and laughing since we were shopping as a group. My sister in law, niece, Kadie and I all together.....we found several that were just beautiful, but it wasn't until we went to the Priscilla of Boston Salon that she became a bride to be. She wanted simple, timeless and elegant and all 3 of those elements are wrapped up in a beautiful bow in the dress she chose. I don't know how many brides invite their dad to go along for the try-on, but it was very important to her that her dad be there. She wanted his opinion, she wanted him to give her the thumbs up and make the selection process easier......but, it was just the opposite, you see every dress she came out in was beautiful. Whether it was a ball gown style, empire waist with flowing organza, lace covered a-line with sequins, dropped waist, natural waist or fit to flare trumpet ..... they were all gorgeous!! Even Brooke, our consultant told Kadie that she was lucky.....most girls have to narrow the selection down to a certain style, but she looked beautiful in all of them which was not the norm, so she told Kadie that what will happen is when you put the "right" dress on.....you will know it and she was right, we all knew it the minute she walked out.

Since FOB ended up being very little help.....only because every dress looked beautiful she asked her brother to help. She felt that he would be the only person who would be brutally honest with her and she was right. I think brutally is a harsh word, but she was right none the less. We all met at the salon one evening this week after work and she tried on all the dresses again......plus 2 more that we didn't see the first (and second) time we were there. Right off the bat #1 was a no go......#2 really was never in the running but her dad loved it because "she looked like an angel in it" (see why he really wasn't much help?) #3 was a new pick that evening and she looked great in it, but brother wasn't blown away with it, #4 was one that FOB originally picked and we loved, but once it was tried on again, it didn't do much for any of us, #5 was the other dress that FOB picked and it was the dress until she came out in the new pick #6. I think that all 3 of us had a small collective gasp and as she walked out and stepped up on the pedestal even she said "this is it"! I feel like a bride......so we knew, brother was blown away, FOB got a little emotional and I knew it was perfect. Simple, elegant and timeless ......

I think its funny that everyone says "you will know the dress" the minute you put it on ..... but it did happen that way for her, and we all knew the minute she came out in it that IT WAS the dress. She will look stunning on her big day and David will love it.....it is very Kadie.

So that my Blog followers was my week ..... all my friends who have been through this ahead of me said that we have the two biggest steps complete, and we had fun! As I think back on the last few days, I remember another Mom at one of the first shops we went to looking at me and asking "Isn't this suppose to be fun?" I replied that we were having fun and she shook her head and said its not fun for me! How sad....... this is one of those moments in life that I have waited a long time for ...... I have played it out in my mind many times, how I would react, when to bite my tongue and to give advice only when asked.......I didn't even have to consider any of those things ...... because we had fun! XOXO Kadie.....I love you

It's a Dog's World.....

We had 2 new friends at our house over the weekend ..... Coco and Daisy ... and much to their owners astonishment ...... they were delightful! These 2 precious puppies give new meaning to the word "adorable". When Tayna asked Wednesday night if we could dog sit, we were delighted to do so. Since we lost both of our beloved pets a couple of years ago, it has been very hard to think of "replacing" them because...... well they were irreplaceable! Turbie and Dugan were with us all through the kids growing up years and when we became empty nesters, well on and off empty nesters :), they were our babies and its hard to think of bringing a new addition into the family, at least it is for me. FOB on the other hand would have a new puppy in a heartbeat ...... Kadie is begging for one ...... and it's me who is the hold-out!!! Basically, I would be the one who feeds, cleans up after and general caretaker of a canine in this home and quite frankly I don't know if I want the responsibility again. We can pick up and go without the hassle of finding someone to care for the puppy ..... I don't have to rush home because I need to let the dog out ....... you know what I'm talking about ....responsibilities ... sigh ... Yet this past weekend proved to be just delightful! Coco and Daisy are really sisters ..... and they love one another ... one does nothing without the other one right behind ..... they are so playful and mischievous (FOB was still looking for a sock this morning). We were "warned" be careful ..... not quite housebroken .... yet not one accident! They will chew on your furniture ..... yet nothing even nibbled on! They were perfect little house guests. No repeat of the "Shooter" experience ..... when I almost had to break the news to my nephews that I lost their adorable family pet ..... opened the door and he was gone ...... it was hot (104 that day) driving the neighborhood calling his name ... calling the Vet to see if someone found him and called the office from his tags ..... called Operation Kindness, where he was adopted from, to inquire if he was returned there (did find out that he was micro chipped which was a blessing) and I left specific instructions NOT TO CALL THE OWNERS because they were out of the country (which they did anyway!!) so, after a sleepless night I was resigned to making the phone call to tell them the dog was gone ..... when I opened the door for the paper and OMG.....there he was on "our" front porch, paws raw from running on hot concrete and exhausted from trying to find his way back home, but elated to be home and we were just as elated that he found us! So with that experience looming in the back of my mind, we were very cautious about open doors and escape routes (even though they did find a hole in the backyard fence ..... almost another runaway alert phone call). We were instructed by Tayna (not Ken ...) to keep them in their crate so they don't destroy anything, but FOB being the ole' softy he is, insisted that they be able to run freely throughout the house and with only one "very minor" incident they provided us with much needed entertainment for the weekend.

So to say that there was disappointment when we got the call to say that they would be over to pick the girls up between 3 and 4 is an understatement! Kadie played with them like they were the last two dogs on the face of the earth ..... and when they drove away Kadie said she "already" missed them! big sigh :( ....

Oh well, we are here to "dog sit" any time they need us and we can always call and have our grand dog over for a visit (which we do quite often). Will there be a puppy in our future, no I don't think so ..... too many other things going on in our lives right now. But they sure were adorable, so much so that even the ol' hold out missed them this morning! Yes, we hand fed them bits of roasted chicken because we were worried that they weren't eating (only to find out that they are routinely hand fed chicken from Ken and that's they way they like it) yes, we laughed at them sneeking and stealing socks from FOB (no chewing just hide and seek) and yes we miss the begging to be held at the breakfast table. No judgements here, we are getting old, we don't have any grandchildren and this was as close as it gets right now to being really "needed" by someone again. Even though they didn't yell ...... MOM....where's the ???? they needed us ..... and it was good to be needed again regardless of the situation.

Family.....by appointment only!

My S-I-L is having a tough time getting her new residence in Oklahoma to feel like home. Having recently moved to Oklahoma from Pennsylvania, not only are the style of homes quite different ... but down south we believe in tall soaring ceilings.....throw tile floors into the mix and you can have a Grand Canyon echo going on. She was so unhappy that she was looking at selling said home and purchasing another. So she asked for help ........ and I accepted the challenge invitation to visit her and my brother in law in Edmond. FOB took Friday off and we drove to OK (not without first going to my Friday addiction group meeting....aka...estate sales!) We picked up a couple of beautiful chairs (that I truly do covet) and several pieces of art then made our way North. Said brother in law was not home from work when we arrived so we unloaded the car relaxed for a bit and headed into the city to pick B-I-L up for dinner (had my first real taste of sushi and must say I really enjoyed it) the Appletini's were "delish" and the Thunder basketball game was great fun! After the game we headed home to relax and enjoy conversations over yet again more adult beverages (which now as I reflect back on the weekend, B-I-L really indulged because he realized what was about to take place). Tim had to go into work in the morning for a little bit so he wanted to get up very early ..... 6ish (but, because of said indulgance, ended up being more like 8ish) ... to get things done and then be home early.....because he wanted to supervise spend more time with me .... his lovely sister in law that threw his entire weekend into a chaotic train wreck ....!! Our plans were to drop Tim off at work (left his car there from the day before) and then Mary Beth would give us the grand tour of the "lovely" neighborhoods that surround Oklahoma City, have our coffee and be ready to hit the ground running getting the house rearranged ..... and we did ..... until we heard the garage door going up way sooner than we expected and he was home!!!! Now I don't want you getting the wrong impression of said B-I-L ..... change is not something that he embraces and this entire weekend was about just that ..... change! We had the dining room moved, the living room was in shambles .... and my chemical engineer B-I-L suddenly wanted to add ASID to his list of accolades. The number of times that he asked "why? .....what are we doing with this?..... and where is this going to go now??" were so numerous that I lost count. THEN...... throw in the fact that Mary Beth and I went out shopping in the middle of the chaos to get "more" stuff did not help the situation at all. Oh, did I mention that our shopping excursion didn't happen until well after 4 in the afternoon and they had another couple coming over about 8 to visit? At about 6:45 p.m., the phone call came in ..... on my phone no less, because we didn't hear Mary Beth's phone ring.....twice.... where are you two??? Why do you ask, we are on our way home ...... (later over dinner we learned that we were busted because he heard the beeping of the forklift bringing the two large mirrors to the pick-up door for us to load into the car ...... which didn't fit no matter how many times we asked those 2 poor men to try it again....!!!) I really do think that we would have been pushing our luck to ask B-I-L to meet us with the truck to pick up the mirrors before the store closed since it wasn't open on Sunday, so ..... we opted to wait for Mary Beth to do the pick up Monday ..... mostly for the sake of their marriage and me ever being invited back.....! We had the house picked up somewhat when their friends arrived and enjoyed a delightful evening ..... but, we had one more day to get things back into place, so the day started early on Sunday! We had a lot to accomplish in a short period of time so I assigned tasks to FOB and B-I-L through S-I-L and they were sent on errands to pick up extension cords, light bulbs and plate hangers while we stayed home and hung pictures, rearranged shelves and I prayed ..... prayed that I could get the hammering nails into the walls done before B-I-L returned (did I mention that he doesn't like a lot of holes in the wall, and I work so much better eyeballing the center of things than I do with measuring??) Now I do have to give praise where praise is due to FOB .... he gently informed B-I-L that he really should let it go, that he really doesn't get the vote he thinks he gets, its just a gesture of kindness that is bestowed on the husband part of the couple .... it's going to happen the way they want it no matter what you say or do ..... I stood back like a proud teacher realizing that my student had finally caught on (after 30 years ) to the difficult steps of the problem he had been trying to conquer and I was never more proud of him than I was at that very moment! B-I-L finally did warm up to the changes made, Mary Beth was very happy with everything that we did and "thinks" she may try to give this home a chance before actually moving. There is still a lot to be done, $$$$ to be spent and I'm sure Tim will have more questions ..... but, at one point during the weekend when I had had enough I asked him point blank .... Do I tell you how to drill for natural gas ...... NO! Then trust me when I tell you that the house will look gorgeous when we're done ...... and it does!

I am sure that as the car pulled out of the driveway and we were safely on our way back to Dallas, he took some type of anxiety medication (or began drinking heavily) and asked Mary Beth to please schedule our next visit during one of his out of town trips!

I am going to get them a plaque for their entrance like the one my friend Lisa has...... "Friends Welcome ..... Family by appointment only!"