Hometown Parade

On the Fourth, the girls and I (Gregg had to work) skipped swimming lessons to go to the parade downtown.

And really, I had seen enough of Ben's muscles to hold me through the weekend (and I thought the kids might have more fun at the parade).

We met some friends downtown and waited for the parade to start at 9.

When getting dressed for the day, Macy decided that she wanted to wear a dress and Paigey grabbed her pink kitty-cat rain boots. Which she wears several times a week with no socks.



I found this rusty hanger in the shape of an "M" on the street. I let Macy hold it for a pic for the sake of the blog and made my way to the 7-11 next door to trash it.

And really, what's a parade without a few celebrities?

Nothing like Elvis on a mini-bike. And Wonder Woman - bless her heart.


I had a flashback to my 3rd birthday where apparently it was appropriate to strip down in the middle of the party to try on my new underoos.
August 1979

(I am well aware of the apple not falling far from the tree. Macy is her mother's daughter.)

Paigey kept with the spirit of the event, waving her little flag continuously.


Macy joined her for a bit before she collapsed into a heap declaring she was "bored of sweating".



Luckily, it was time to go.

Stayed tuned for the next post about the rest of the day!

she'll be our girl for all seasons

I signed Macy up for dancing lessons last August thinking that she'd just love it. The girl loves dress up so I thought she'd be all over it. Soon going became a weekly battle because she didn't want to wear the tights because you know, they were tight. And itchy. I get that ~ I haven't worn hose in the past decade. And she said she gets sweaty at dancing.

Macy would tell me that she was "boring" of dancing. There is alot of waiting and watching others which isn't how Macy rolls. We finished out the year and then it was time for the dance recital. The theme was the different seasons.

Think Grease 2 ~ now for a flashback.

Macy was "winter" ~ a snowflake to be exact. I had envisioned a tutu and tiara kinda like the one Lauryn had ~ not something that looked like a Rockette. But the Christian dance school stuck to it's non-hoochie mama guidelines for costumes. You better believe that was criteria

asked about when I was choosing a dance studio. But really...a snowflake, in early June, in Texas??

The girl is nothing if not covered from head to toe.

Anyhoo...the show started at 7 and didn't end until 9:20. I wish I would've had a sucker to pacify me!

There was to be no photography or video cameras allowed for the performance! They wanted you to buy the $35 video instead. But I snuck into the rehearsal and recorded the 2nd half her dance on my camera. I'm sneaky like that.

The 1st part was a repeat of what you saw. Did you see any ballet moves at all??

Me neither.

Then at the end all of the kids came out to take a bow. Macy's class was up 1st since they were the youngest. She's the tall one towards the middle. I did take about my camera then b/c what's going to happen to me at that point ~ I hadn't seen any camera police around. And good thing I did b/c this next part was the best part of the night.

Apparently Macy loved the limelight...She stayed there for what seemed like a long time. It was adorable. Everyone in the audience was cracking up ~ she stole the show!

when the sun went down, I was singing about sexy tractors

It's almost summertime and Kenny Chesney is on tour again. I about lost it when I heard the news of his ankle mishap in Columbia, SC, and I'm sure he appreciated my prayers for a speedy recovery. More likely he was secretly wishing he was in his old blue chair having another beer in Mexico.

But like the big star that he is, he's continued on with his tour. And back where I come from, that is called some dedication. Thank goodness because I had tickets to last Saturday night's show.

I went with Kassie, my maid-of-honor, roommate 5yrs in college, and BFF in high school and junior high. That is 18+ years of living in fast forward and of course a lot of things we would've done different back when we thought we were "the good stuff". Regardless, we had been looking forward to a night of freedom, even if for a couple of hours.

We have done this concert thing many times over the past two decades. Our first was New Kids on the Block in 1989. I don't have any pictures to document the turquoise, baggy, slit leg outfit (this was the M.C. Hammer era) that I wore with my purple speckled glasses.

I found the pic below of us from freshman year all dolled up for a Clint Black concert. We were wearing baggy blouses, tight Wrangler jeans (before we owned any Rocky Mountains), and me with my tight bangs clipped back by a row of Mexican dolls. My shirt had a rows of beads hanging down from the front so my love of embellishments go way back.

December 29, 1990

May 3, 2008

I was all tense watching for Kenny to rise out of the hydraulic lift and thought to myself that surely accidents such as his don't happen twice. I'm sure he had a plan to do a lot of things different this time to avoid another injury. And injuries do happen because little Kenny isn't so young anymore.

Apparently, Kassie and I aren't so young anymore either. We knew we were old (and had bladders that hadn't recovered from bearing children) when we had to put the liquid refreshment down (1st time I'd had anything in 3yrs btw) just so we wouldn't have to pee again. Because we had already been at least three times. And once before we left On The Border.

In the end, my hands hurt from clapping, my throat was hoarse and I was dead tired. It was me and the road and the radio for the hour drive home. I opened up the sunroof to get some cold air to pep me up. Oh, how I wished that I was on the coast of somewhere beautiful instead of driving home with one eye open. I was so stinkin' tired! The nightlife is no place for this tired momma! I came home to dear husband who was having no shoes, no shirt and no problems at 1:15 when I rolled in.

Now, Kenny, he may be anything but mine and that when I closed my eyes to sleep, I thanked God that I already know how forever feels.

And that is all I need to know.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Flashing back to when Macy wore this outfit to church three days before Paige was born...

Macy - 2yrs 9months, Paige 2 years