Josie!

My oldest niece, Josie, arrived today for her yearly week's visit. That girl makes me laugh so hard...I can't wait to hang out with her! Woohoo! I hear person after person say that she reminds them so much of me...but I really have to beg to differ. She's way cooler. ; )

Those Little Rascals...(and Taylor!)

Yes…the day finally came! I feel like Kristi and I have been planning this trip to Cheyenne for about nine years…it seems like forever ago that we bought our tickets! Finally, though…July 19^th arrived, and we were on our way to see Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts in concert! Woohoo!!

We got to Cheyenne fairly early, and did a little shopping…(who can resist a little out of town shopping when you get the chance?)…and then headed over to Frontier Park. We had brought extra cash to pay for parking, but were lucky enough to get a spot on the street right across from the Park, which was awesome.

We wandered around the Park for a while, which was fine…but I think Disneyland has spoiled us. I used to be fairly impressed with the Midway and Carnival at Frontier Park…but this year…it didn’t do that much for me. I mean…it’s just not the Magic Kingdom, you know? Oh well…we weren’t there to ride the Zipper…we were there for some SWEET concert action!

After waiting for what seemed like WAY too long, they finally let us in to the stadium. Our seats were really good, and the concert was GREAT. Taylor did a great job…I can’t even imagine being 18 and writing songs like she does and being on a major tour! I think she’s adorable and I love her music.There was a group of girls behind us that I honestly think were going to have heart attacks at every mention of her name. Honestly…they LOVE themselves some Taylor Swift. Once Taylor finished, in fact, they didn’t even stay for Rascal Flatts…who were the headliners! Crazy! I mean, I really loved Taylor…but even if she was the main attraction for me, I would have stayed for the rest…I mean…they’d already paid to be there, right? Oh well…I guess it didn’t really matter to me…

Rascal Flatts was everything I hoped they’d be. Lots of fun…great entertainers…and of course…their music is FABULOUS!!! At one point, Joe Don looked straight at me, pointed with his guitar, and winked. Because he has a crush on me, I’m pretty sure. I mean…he actually looked straight into the camera that was feeding to the big screen, pointed his guitar, and winked…but you KNOW he only did it because he knew that I would be watching. If I weren’t so against home-wrecking, I might be tempted to entertain his obvious obsession with me…but alas…I’m going to ignore his advances and encourage him to stay with his Playboy Bunny wife and new son. I’m just pro-family like that.

Anyway…long story short…(I mean, I can only go on so long about how good the show was)…it was a GREAT night...I had a ball! Hooray for great country music!! Woohoo!

Saturday Fun

Well, it’s Monday which is usually a bummer, but I had a really good weekend, so that makes it a little easier to take!

On Saturday, Kristi and I got Tyler, Marcus and Nicolas together to play. For some reason, I didn’t take any real pictures…but I was video-ing up a storm. SO not like me…but what can you do? Anyway, the boys had fun jumping on the trampoline together, and outdid each other with their cool tricks!

Then we went to the church to play basketball, but mostly ended up just roughhousing around! You know how little boys are! Any prop they can find…turns into something fun.

Marcus decided to give Nicolas a ride on a “tow rope” that they found…(it was actually an old piece of volleyball net)…

But when Nicolas tried to return the favor for both Marcus AND Tyler…he had a few problems…

After wearing ourselves out in the gym, we all went out to lunch, and the boys had fun with the new Transformers toys from their Happy Meals.

As much fun as we were all having, we had to call the “play time” to an end, as Tyler had visitors to see at home, and Kristi and I had to depart for our next adventure…Cheyenne Frontier Days! (Stay tuned for that report, later today!)

Freaky Friday

When I got into my car this morning, I noticed an ambulance, lights flashing, in the middle of the next intersection on Mitchell.

As I was approaching, I realized that there was nobody bustling around…and thought, “Oh…they must be in the house…” I am a total rubber necker, I think…I just WANT to know what was going on. I know the lady who lives in that house. Is she okay? Is her husband? What’s happening??? There were no clues, though…and I was left wondering.

It was in the middle of my wondering that I glanced to the right and noticed the bike in the tree.

Now, you would think, that if, at an intersection, there is an ambulance with lights flashing, and a bike up in the middle of a tree…that maybe those two things might be related. I mean…how many weird things can be going on in one intersection at the same time without them having SOMETHING in common? Who knows?

Unless the ambulance driver and an airborne cyclist decided to meet my up the street neighbor for some morning coffee, I have no explanation.

Late Arrival

I was up way too late last night, waiting for my parents to get home from San Diego. They originally weren’t going to even be home until 11:00-ish, but after discovering a flat tire when they got to the parking lot, they were delayed a bit longer. Ordinarily I would be okay to go to bed…I’m not a “worry and stay up” type of gal. I’m a “man I love sleeping” type of girl. I had to stay up, though, because they were bringing a couple of stowaways back with them. Marcus and Nicolas are here for a visit, and I couldn’t resist the idea of getting some hugs before I went to bed. So…I’m really tired today…but it was worth it to get some loves from those Coca boys!

And I Thought One Tanning Room Mishap Was Enough

I’m pretty sure my life would be a lot easier if I weren’t so vain. You know…I wouldn’t have to do my hair, or put makeup on in the morning. I could sleep for, like, 45 extra minutes every day. That would be the life! Except that I AM vain, and frankly…I wouldn’t let myself leave the house…ever…if I didn’t “fix myself up” every day. I guess that would allow me to sleep for, like, 24 extra hours every day...but, you know…I’m sure I’d get sick of excessive sleep and relaxation eventually. Like…ten years from now.

It is my vanity that leads me to tan several times a week. We’ve talked about my tanning love before. We’ve talked about the potentially humiliating positions said love has put me in. I don’t think that any bad tanning experience will EVER rival my original bad tanning experience, (in case you missed it, read about it here) I think that the cosmos are working to make sure that every once in a while I rue the day that I discovered the glorious effects of a sun bed.

Today I was getting ready to tan, and I set my pants on the chair next to the bed. See, I’ve learned a thing or two, I didn’t set anything on the top of the bed anymore! Anyway…I brushed against said chair and my pants slid off. No biggie…it’s not like I’ve never thrown a pair of my pants on the floor before. So…I finished putting my lotion on, and then reached down to grab my pants so they wouldn’t get wrinkled.

Instead of coming effortlessly off of the floor, however, my pants resisted. Knowing that pants don’t generally have a mind of their own, I leaned down for further inspection. I thought maybe the chair leg was on them or something. Not sure how I thought that might have happened…but you know…what else are you going to think? I don’t know…maybe you’d think that somehow your pants got entangled INSIDE the freaking fan that is sitting by the chair. If you would think that...you'd be right.

I don’t even know how it happened….but my pants were sucked inside the fan. Mostly they slid right out…except for the button…which had decided it was too big to slide through the bars. Um…so HOW in the crap did the button get through the bars in the first place? I DON’T KNOW! At first I thought it was just kind of funny. "Oh, the crazy things that happen to Janine in the tanning room." I even took a picture to send to my friends:

Of course, I thought it was funny because you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard to get the freaking button flush with my pants to pull it out the other way…but it was NOT happening. Like, the little fan bars are spaced too close together for me to get my finger through to press the button up against the rest of the cloth…so it just kept catching when I tried to pull it out. When I would release the pressure, it would sort of relax itself, almost fully against the material…but then as soon as I tried to ease it out…it would flip around again. I wanted to scream! What the freaking crap???

Of course my “get ready” time expired and my tanning bed came on. I considered just getting in the bed, but I didn’t want to have to wrestle with the freaking fan AFTER my tan…because I already have a reputation down there for taking forever and making ridiculously loud noises after tanning. So…the death-match with the fan was on, in the glow of ultra-violet light. I was totally stressing out because my tanning minutes were ebbing away, and I couldn’t get my freaking button out of the fan. I don’t pay for my monthly membership to get second hand rays from a bed that I’m not even in! ARGH!!!

Finally…after about 5 minutes of my tanning time had passed, I got the button out. I felt like punching my pants in the face, but they don't have a face, and I didn’t have time. I desperately hurried into the bed to get the most out of my remaining time…but I can TOTALLY tell that I’m 5 minutes less tan than I should be. : (

I’m starting to think that I need to just start tanning fully clothed in order to avoid clothing mishaps in the tanning room. I’ve already left the room with soaking wet arm pits…like a soggy butt and sweaty back would be any worse. At least I would keep all of my clothes under my control at all times.

Rock Creek Trail

So, over the weekend (yes, I'm slow to post, give me a break) I went with Kristi, William, Ryan, Vicki, Tyler and Lynette on a great hike by Rock Creek. It's one of the prettiest hikes ever, (as long as you can get over the first 10 minutes, which kills me every time!) and I just thought I'd share some pictures/reminders of why I love Wyoming so much!




Happy on the trail...







Me and William...



William REALLY wanted to play in the water. I would have joined him, but I was too much of a wuss.


And then, suddenly, we realized that we'd somehow wandered onto the "Lost" island, and that remnants of the Dharma Initiative were surrounding us. If only Hurley had been there to start this van for us...we could have gone for a ride! Hee hee...

79 Days...

So yeah...I thought you should probably all know that I'm heading back to Disneyland in October. It's pretty big news. I'm already counting down the days... : ) I just freaking love that place!! Hooray!

Janine Has Willpower? Since When?

So yesterday I discovered the CUTEST pair of shoes down at Maurices. I'm telling you...they were SO cute. Ta-da!
I also found the CUTEST brown hoodie jacket down there, which I did not take a picture of, but trust me...it was SO cute, too. I mean, honestly...I was DYING. I wandered around the store, cradling the hoodie in my arms, and with one of the shoes on my foot. I didn't want to let them go.

In a display of self-control that I have NEVER known myself to have, I eventually put both the shoes and the hoodie away. I talked myself down from the spending ledge by using such logic as "Mom's birthday is coming up," and "Marcus and Nicolas will need some spoiling while they are here later this month." Typing it out now, I'm blown away. Since when do I fall for garbage (aka, logical thinking) like that??

It's like I don't even know myself anymore.

As Promised

Phew...

Thank goodness that I know how to make lemonade from life's lemons. Or, rather, I know how to make pretty darned cute hair out of yesterday's shaggy messes. :) Notice the smile on my face...this is much better!

Bad Hair Day

So I've been dying, I guess ever since I got back from Texas, to get a hair cut. My poor locks got pretty fried by a straightening procedure that I had done back in May, and my once all one length hair has gotten progressively more and more layered. Not so happy about that.

So...as I really didn't need anything extravagant done to my hair...(I just needed a trim, really)...I decided to take advantage of the Great Clips 4.99 Hair Cut Sale. I mean...for 4.99, you can't go wrong...right?

Hmmm...

I kind of think that Great Clips suffers from delusions of grandeur. Really...I think "Mediocre Clips," or "So-So Clips," or "You Can't Really Expect Much For 4.99 Clips" would really be more accurate.

In all actuality, the jury is still out on the quality of the haircut itself, because I have yet to have it styled. The thing about a 4.99 hair cut is that you don't get anything but a hair cut. (Unless you count unfounded, yet fierce, criticism about your hair care regimen from a complete stranger) So...on my lunch hour, I went down there, got sprayed down by conditioner water, cut, and then set free. No drying. No styling. And no time to go home and fix it myself. I stopped at Albertson's (of all places) on my way back to work and bought a comb and some styling cream, and went straight to the bathroom as soon as I got back to work. Although it is definitely not at all how I would ever wear it on a regular day, I finally got it AT LEAST presentable. Barely. I can guarantee it will never be styled like that again, anyway. To the untrained eye, it might not look so bad. I even got a couple of compliments on it. If I saw it on another person, I would most likely not think it was bad at all. But when it's not what you want...there is no convincing you that your hair doesn't look like crap. One thing I told her was that I didn't want it to flip out. If nothing else...I just didn't want it to flip out. Yeah...it flipped out. I wasn't too happy the rest of the day. :( I'll have to let you know tomorrow how it styles when I've had a chance to actually do something with it.

Anyway...some pictures...

Before, With Dreams of A Happy Hair Cut!

After, With Hopes That Only Blind People Would Come Into the Office In The Afternoon.

Same Story, Different Bangerter

Over the weekend, I was at the park with my nieces, Shelly and Sydney. I caught Shelly doing some chin-ups on the bar, and decided to tape her. She did about 2 and a half, but after her second one, you can hear her say "FIFTY!"



It just made me laugh, because just the other day I was just remembering with some friends how I used to pretend to do the required amount of chin-ups or push-ups or sit-ups in Gym Class, so that I wouldn't be the last one done. I might have only done 5 sit ups, but if everyone else was done with their 20...I had miraculously done 20 too!

I guess some things never change!

Pedicure Pain

Oh my crap, I haven't blogged in forever! Sorry about that. Either my life has been too busy to blog, or my life has been too boring to blog...the jury is still out on which one it is.

Anyway, last night Kristi and I decided to get our feet pampered, and we took Brittany along for her first pedicure. I think we all had a great time...Brittany got free flowers on her big toes, and she did say that one day, when we're rich, we should get them every day.

My only complaints come from when the lady was working on my right big toe...which is always really sensitive...(I seriously almost kicked her in the face, just because she was digging digging digging away!)

...and then when she got the little buffing/pumice stone out and tickled my foot to the point of near-hysterical laughter.

I do love a good pedicure...the hot lotion and hot towels are a dream, and the massage is so nice!! Your feet feel and look so good...especially once it's done...but it's one of those things...at least for me...and for just a fraction of the time...that validate the saying "beauty is pain." Hee hee...