Perfect Sunday

Today came togher to be a perfect day in Lori's world. The recipe goes something like this...

* Sleeping in with the light rain outside as my background music-- CHECK

* Coffee ready when I wake up -- CHECK

* Homemade waffles for breakfast -- CHECK

* 50 minutes of Turbo Jam -- CHECK

* Long, leisurely bath -- CHECK

* Putting jammies back on after said bath -- CHECK

* Lazy afternoon at home with my boys -- CHECK

* Homemade banana bread -- CHECK

* Finishing a great book -- CHECK

* Not having to cook dinner because we made too much last night -- CHECK

* Never leaving the house -- CHECK

Comine all of the above ingredients and you have the recipe for Lori's Perfect Day. I hope you all had a good one too. :)

Observations from Grey's Anatomy

I'm SO happy that my favorite show is back. It was wonderful to see my favorite hospital staff back in action, but I did notice...

1. I liked "klepto" Lexie. She was fun and entertaining and definitely a character that I can get behind and root for!

2. I loved that Meredith is seeing a shrink, and the fact that she wasn't talking yet was SO Meredith. Meredith isn't a sparkly, shiny character and I'm glad to see that the writers remained true to that. I also liked how she was shown to be the competent doctor that she truly is with brain tumor guy. I know that the internet can be hard on Meredith, but to me she is real and human and flawed and I love how the writing team stays true to her character instead of making her what Derek thinks she should be. And Derek? Not talking about him. Enough said.

3. McSteamy isn't really all that steamy without the facial hair. Bring back the goatee!! But my favorite scene of the show was Mark and Derek in the elevator. Love, love!!

4. I. Hate. Rose.

5. Loved Izzie getting the beat down. I haven't loved her character since the whole Denny fiasco, so I'm glad to see her getting knocked down a few pegs!

6. I hated Christina basically cowering down to Hahn in her own home. That is not the Christina that I love, she would have never allowed herself to be made to feel like an intruder in her own home. Buck up girl and find that backbone that I know you have!

7. Please tell me that Hahn & Callie aren't really going to get it on. Eeewwww!!

8. YAY, Addison is back next week. CAN. NOT. WAIT!

Overall a fantastic episode I think. Or maybe it was just because it's been SO LONG it just seemed really old school Grey's good?? Either way I'm so happy it's back.

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday already, which means the weekend is so close I can reach out and touch it, and it also means it is time for Thankful Thursday. Thanks to Tiburon for the idea and the graphic. Today I am thankful for...

1. My husband. I did a really stupid, brainless thing on Tuesday that is going to cost us some bucks to fix. I tried to squeeze my car into a small spot in our driveway and tagged our fence which left a nice size dent in my car. He could have been really upset with me, but he realized that I was upset enough with myself about it and he didn't get angry with me at all. I'm so thankful to have such a laid back, easy going guy!

2. Cole. I am so lucky to have such a great kid! He is sweet, smart, kind, fun, funny and just a general good guy. Even though he's growing up (too quickly for my liking), he still loves his Mom and isn't afraid to throw his arms around me and tell me so. I'm going to miss that when he gets too old and cool for me. :)

3. The NFL Draft. It's a long offseason for we NFL junkies, and this weekend in April is like water for a thirsty man. It's so exciting trying to guess who your team is going to draft. Will they have an immediate impact or are they a project? Is this the guy who is going to put us over the hump and get us to that elusive Super Bowl. I'm hoping my Cowboys pick up a quality running back and a future star wide receiver with our 2 first round picks. Or maybe package one of the picks with a lower round pick to get a veteran wide receiver in here to compliment T.O. It's definitely a must see TV event for us!

4. Grey's Anatomy. I've missed my friends at Seattle Grace and I'm so glad they are back tonight. I can't wait to see what they've been up to.

So what about you? What are you thankful for today?

Weekend Wrap Up

What a fun weekend this was! The weather was beautiful and quite a few things happened that made me happy...

* The Mustangs won! In case you don't know, the Mustangs is the name of Cole's flag football team that Ron coaches. They played Saturday and were down by 14 points at halftime and came back to win. They scored a touchdown with mere seconds left on the clock to win a thriller of a game! And Ron got his first Gatorade bath, except it was with water instead of Gatorade! :)

* I got to have a little me time on Friday night and I got a great manicure and pedicure. My toes are a lovely spring orange and I'm ready to show them off with some cute sandals.

* The Dallas Stars finally broke the Dallas playoff curse and won their first round playoff series! Believe in Black!! Now if only the Mavericks can follow suit, though I'm not holding my breath.

* And after over a month of searching, we finally got new bedding for the master bedroom, a pretty new taupe coverlet from Pottery Barn courtesy of Gigi...thanks Mom...and chocolate brown 650 thread count sheets to complete the ensemble. I know I'm going to sleep good tonight!

My Favorite Monday

This week's edition of My Favorite Monday asks for my favorite candy. Thanks to Tiburon for the fun idea and the graphic!

My favorite candy without question is the Chick-O-Stick.

It somehow manages to improve on the Butterfinger, or maybe more accurately the Butterfinger tried unsuccessfully to improve the Chick-O-Stick. Any candy with peanut butter in it is an automatic winner for me, and while I'm not crazy about candy that doesn't have some chocolate in it, Chick-O-Sticks get past that hurdle with the toasted coconut and the way they start out crunchy but become chewy like peanut butter. I've liked Chick-O-Sticks since I was a kid and one of my favorite memories was my Mom letting me get a treat at the drugstore and I always picked a Chick-O-Stick and a Dr. Pepper!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again already. Thanks as always to Tiburon for the idea and the logo. Today I am thankful for...

1. The end of the week. I am so happy that tomorrow is finally Friday, which means I can finally get my colposcopy done and find out what is going on with my cervix. Luckily this extra week of waiting hasn't been too terrible. We do have storms in our forecast for tonight though, so please pray for no power outages this time so I can get this behind me.

2. Flag football. Cole is loving it and with Ron coaching the team, it has given them something to do together and is helping to bring them closer. Cole has always been a bit of a Mama's boy, so it's nice to see him developing the same appreciation for his Dad. Not to mention the games are fun. I'm getting such a kick out of watching these guys play. They are having fun and are pretty darned good too!

3. Clinique Deep Cleansing Emergency Mask. My face has been a breakout disaster this week and I love this mask for helping aid a quick clear up.

4. Jobs. Specifically mine and Ron's. I am so thankful that we both have good jobs that we enjoy and we each have a boss who is understanding of Cole's health issues. We have both had to miss so much work during Cole's short life because he's gotten sick so much and neither of us has been given grief by our respective boss. They understand and appreciate that our little man comes first with us and are actually very supportive.

So there you have it. What are you thankful for today?

Creepy...

I love the NBA and am excited for the playoffs, but this new commercial with a Steve Nash/Jason Kidd split promoting the playoffs is just plain freaky.

A Conversation with Maya

Maya is the precious 4 year old daughter of my friends Rebecca and Nathan. Rebecca wasn't feeling great last night and Nathan needed Ron to take him to pick up his car so I went down to sit with their girls so Rebecca could go to bed. Maya and her little sister Melody were supposed to be going to sleep, but once I came in they just wanted to chat. Especially Maya...

Maya: "Lori, I think you are beautiful."

Me: "Thank you Maya, you are so sweet."

Maya: "Lori, I love you."

Me: "I love you too, Maya."

Maya: "You have blue eyes like me. "

Me: "Yes I do, Maya. Now close those blue eyes and go to sleep."

Pause while Maya closes her eyes and pretends to go to sleep....

Maya: "Lori, you have yellow hair (meaning blonde) like me. "

Me: "Yes I do, Maya. Now go to sleep or you Mom and Dad won't trust me to stay with you any more."

Another pause while she feigns sleep...

Maya: "I think you are beautiful."...I get the feeling she is going somewhere with this.

Me: "Thank you Maya, now go to sleep."

Maya (completely exasperated): "Now you are supposed to tell me that *I* am beautiful too."

See, I told you she was going somewhere! Not ever having had a little girl I obviously wasn't very good at playing the game with Cole never having cared all that much about his own beauty. And for the record she was not asleep when her Daddy got back home. :)

I hope you are feeling better today Rebecca!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again, Thankful Thursday. And I need it today. I'm frustrated this morning and need this to remind myself that there are some good things in my life in spite of my frustration. So for today, I am thankful for...

1. Tiburon. Thankful Thursday is her creation, so I need to thank her for it. If she hadn't come up with this little gem, I wouldn't be thinking of things to be thankful for, I would be just be pouting today.

2. Patience. This hasn't always been true for me. I used to be one of the most impatient people I knew, but I have developed a little as I've gotten older and I need it today. I was supposed to have my colposcopy this morning, but the bad storms last night left my doctor's office without power so they had to reschedule me. Unfortunately they can't get me in until next Friday, so I have to wait another week and this is where the little bit of patience comes into play. It's going to be tough waiting, but I will do it. I am just so ready to get this over with and behind me.

3. Safety. Most especially the safety of me and my family and friends. As I mentioned above, we had some pretty severe storms blow through overnight. The tornado warning sirens blared at 4:00am and scared us to death with the rain and wind whipping around outside. We were fortunate that the worst of the storms were just south of us and we were spared any damage.

4. Sunshine. After last night, it's nice to look outside and see the sun trying to poke through the clouds. A beautiful sunny day always lightens my mood.

A short list but better than nothing. What are you thankful for today?

And the winner is...

It's that time again...My Favorite Monday! Today Tiburon is asking for our favorite ice cream flavor. How do I choose?? It's like asking me to pick my favorite pair of shoes or pick my favorite child! Luckily I only have one of those so that wouldn't be too hard...

Anywho after much deliberation I've decided that my favorite flavor is Braums German Chocolate. It's creamy chocolate goodness with pecans and just a hint of coconut mixed in. Yumm-O! And thanks to her question I think we will have to stop at Braums on the way home from Ron's softball game tonight. Thanks for the diet sabotage, blog friend! :)

Mustangs 19, Cowboys 6

Cole had his first flag football game on Saturday. His team is the Mustangs and they are a new team playing together for the first time this season. Ron is one of the coaches and he and Cole were both quite nervous heading into Saturday's game. They know they are going to be playing in a division with some good teams who have been playing together for quite awhile so I think they were both afraid that they would get blown out. On the contrary! The Mustangs played great! They have quite a bit of talent on the team and some really fast kids, including Cole!! He scored a touchdown on a double reverse and was so proud of himself. My kid has got wheels!! I know they are going to face some serious competition in the division, starting with the team they will face this Saturday, the Thunder. But it sure was nice to start the season off with a big win! Of course in the rush to get out of the house I forgot my camera, but luckily MIL made it to the game and she is always carrying hers, so here are a few shots courtesy of her.

Coach Ron giving the team a pre-game pep talk

Cole lined up in the slot...

Notice the boy lined up to Cole's right, Austin. He is 12 and Cole is right on par with him size wise. I have always known that Cole is tall for his age, but I guess it didn't really hit me until I saw him huddled up with those 11 and 12 year olds and he was as tall or taller than most of them! He is one of the youngest on his team, but also one of the biggest! :)

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again, Thankful Thursday. Thanks, as always, to Tiburon for the great idea! This week I am thankful for...

1. Modern Medicine. I had my annual exam with the gyno last week and unfortunately my pap results came back abnormal and I have to have a colposcopy next week. Now I'm not very excited about that part, obviously, but I am so thankful for advanced medical procedures that can detect that I have something not right going on in my body and my doctor can fix it. She (and I!) are 90% sure that my abnormal results are most likely the product of an infection or inflammation of my cervix, but with the history of gynecological cancers in my family she didn't want to mess around and wants to take a look to make sure.

2. Music. No particular music, just music in general. A song can really affect your mood and help bring you up when you are down or soothe you when you are upset. A good head banger can give you the energy to push through the last part of a hard workout. Music just plays such a huge part in my life, and I'm thankful for it!

3. Dirk Nowitzki. I was so happy to see the star player for my favorite NBA team back on the court last night! Now I realize that the Mavericks are probably not the class of the western conference this year and very well may not even make it into the playoffs in a tight race for the final spots. However, with so many of my favorite shows still not back I need TV entertainment! So selfishly I need for the Mavs to at least make the playoffs, even if they don't go far, so that I can continue to be entertained if only for a while, and with Dirk injured the playoffs were but a distant dream. Now that he is back, even if he is only at 80%, they have a fighting chance.

4. Subway. I love that there is a "fast food" place where I can get a healthy, filling lunch for less than $5 and very few Weight Watchers points.

So what are you thankful for today??

"Oh my God, are you crying again??"

Yes, Mrs. Mark, he is! I love, love The Biggest Loser. It's can't miss TV for me, but this year's blue team boys are the biggest bunch of women I've ever seen! I was so happy to hear Mrs. Mark tell him to buck up last night. I have never in my life seen grown men cry with the ease and fervor that this bunch does. Holy crow! When the season started I thought that Kelly was going to be the "crier", but darned if she hasn't been beaten out by a bunch of men. The way these boys cry when one of them is eliminated, you would think that the eliminated player is being sent off to save the world Amageddon style instead of going home to the warm embrace of their beloved families. Give me a break! Put me on team Ali and Kelly. I want to see a woman take it all this year. Down with the blubbering girlie men!