There's No Purses in Dugouts!!!

The field of dreams...

Today, we gathered up the kiddies and headed to our local stadium for another Family Field Trip.

We were set up to take the Grand Slam Tour of Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals.

I won't give you a play-by-play (hee), but suffice to say the two hours were fantastic...as we visited just about every square inch of the stadium...

Some photos:



In the dugout...I tried to hide my purse, as I imagine there's a rule that says, "There's no purses in dugouts!!!" (Like the famous quote, "There's no crying in baseball!"



As close to home plate as I'll ever get.....



When I'm rich and famous, I'll give interviews at this microphone in the Press Room....



Actually, when I'm rich and famous, I'll be WATCHING the game from this suite...




Sitting in the dugout...dreaming the dreams that little boys dream..."Someday...."



Doing his best manager stare-down in the dugout...




The phone in the dugout to the bullpen. I imagine this phone's been used a few times...



Can't wait to plop my buns on those baseball stools in the lounge...



Standing on the warning track...they call it this because you're warned to stay off the grass. The groundskeeper will murder you if you mess up the grass.



Let's sit in the Press Box and pretend we're famous sports journalists...




Buck O'Neil's statue has been known to give a few bruises to visitors...watch out for that foot. It doesn't budge.



Look at all that pine tar on that bat...can you guess whose bat this is??!!




A very rare sight indeed...an empty Hall of Fame. Normally, this room has 33,775 people in it.




Every one of these balls represents a hit that George Brett had in his career...over 3,000.




Yum. Is it any surprise that I love this billboard out in the outfield?


At the end of our tour, we were given some autographed baseballs and Royals hats.

The kids loved it, and so this was a resounding success as a Family Field Trip.

Peace.
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Soap It Up

Smells….

I love smells…

Well. Let me clarify that.

I love GOOD smells.

I can live without the smell of dirty clothes, dirty feet, burnt popcorn…and the epitome of bad smells (not to throw him under a bus or anything), but my son’s bedroom.

Especially when he’s been outside playing baseball. Ack.

Oh, I should probably add “wet dog” to the list of smells I can live without. For some unknown reason, the smell of a wet dog can make me gag. Is that just me? Yes?

But nice smells…yum.

Like chocolate. And babies right after their baths. And fresh laundry. And sunshine.

(And yes, sunshine smells…if you’ve never smelled it, go outside on a beautiful sunny day and take a deep whiff. Ummmmm. Delicious.)

If you know me in person, than you probably know that I don’t go a day without perfume.

Not a single day.

I don’t wear it for other people – but I wear it for me… as I love surrounding myself with lovely smells…and I have collected a small – but fantastically delicious – group of perfumes that are to die for.

I don’t think a day has gone by without someone – whether it’s my kids, my Hubby, my hairdresser - or even complete strangers – saying, “You smell good.”

Squee.

I like that.

So, imagine my delight when a girlfriend of mine went into the homemade soap-making business, and started creating the MOST divine smelling soaps.

Ever.

Not only do they smell good, but the goat’s milk is fantastically creamy on my skin. Another thing I love…smooth, silky skin. Another squee.

Soap It Up – by my friend Di – is a website that everyone should check out. I don’t do very many endorsements on here – but this is one I’ll stand behind.

I just received another order from her...it was tough deciding on what to choose, but after much thoughtful consideration, I chose gardenia, orange, Beautiful (as in Estee Lauder), and my favorite – Almond Cherry.

Don’t they look heavenly? This is when I wish I had “smell-vision” – as I SO wish you could smell the heavenly delights that I’m smelling right now.

Mmmmm….

Di then threw in a bonus bar for me – Berries & Cream – which smells so good I wanted to eat it…which would give a whole new meaning to washing one’s mouth out with soap.

So…off to smell some sunshine…and fresh laundry…and Di’s soaps.

Hey – maybe I could secretly “bury” a bar in my teenage son’s bedroom? Think it would help?

Yeah. I know his room could use a little Estee Lauder “Beautiful”. Hee.

Peace.

Bossing Around

I was at Hallmark yesterday, perusing the aisles in search of all things graduation-related...

(Yes...I'm still hopeful that son will truly be graduating...I'm praying daily to the Patron Saint of Graduation....)

...I turned the corner of the massive card aisle and almost bumped into a woman about my own age, and we kinda' did the "nod politely" thingy that you do when you almost bump into a stranger in a Hallmark aisle.

But then we both did a double-take and looked at each other more closely.

"Hey....I know her," I thought to myself. "Who the heck IS that?!"

"Hey....I know her," I could see her thinking..."Who the heck IS that?"

She figured it out first.

As she well should have, because if it's one thing I'm not good at, it's names. Gah. Faces? YES! I know faces of people.

But names? Uh oh. I can never, never, never, NEVER remember names. Sorry 'bout that. It's a true character flaw of mine. I would SO suck at Jeopardy if it was based on people's names.

Anywho.

Back to Hallmark.

"Hello, Sherri," she says.

"Hello, Newman," I said. In my best Seinfeld sneer.

No, I didn't. I just made that part up. It's what I WANTED to say.

Because who should it be - but one of my old bosses from many years ago.

Which got me to thinking about bosses.

Over the years, I've had some interesting bosses, to say the least.

My least favorite ones were the ones who micro-managed everything. Gah.

I HATE Helicopter Bosses...who hover over everything and everyone.

Then, there are the Dream Squashers.

I had a boss who stifled every dream that came his way. It could be the most awesome idea EVER - and if it wasn't HIS dream - it wasn't happening. I left that job pretty darn quick, as who wants to work in a place that squashes peoples' dreams?

My best boss ever was my very first boss...for six years, I worked in an office, and I had an older lady-boss named Ruthie.

She was fabulous.

She listened...she mentored...she encouraged...she instructed, when needed...and most importantly, she gave all of us the skills and tools we needed to do our jobs, and then she stepped back to watch us grow.

She WANTED us to grow - and delighted in it.

My mom said, "You'll NEVER have another boss like Ruthie. Don't get to thinking the REAL world is like that."

And she was right. I never, ever did have another boss like Ruthie. She's long since passed away, and I miss her. Tons.

Anyway, it was interesting to run into my old boss yesterday, as it got me to thinking about bosses.

Are YOU a boss? If you're a parent, then, yes. You are.

Do YOU micro-manage? Or stifle the dreams of your children?

Or do you give them the skills and tools they need to grow?

I've always tried to emulate Ruthie in how I treat others - whether they're my subordinates or my kids...and I hope Ruthie's looking down now from Boss Heaven and smiling at me.

Yes. She would be. She was always smiling.

Peace.

Right Where I Need to Be

On Friday evening, an F4 tornado ripped through St. Louis - leaving devastation and destroyed homes in it's wake.

Fortunately, due to early warnings, no one was seriously hurt.

Knowing I live a paltry four hours away from St. Louis, I knew there was a very good chance that the American Red Cross of Greater Kansas City would be recruiting volunteers from our chapter to head east, in order to assist the people affected by the storm.

So, all day Saturday, I kept my cell phone very close at hand - waiting for the call. Even during my Daughter's cooking class, I had that cell phone in my pocket...waiting.

The call DID come.

As I knew it would.

But.

Saturday night had our family volunteering at our church, ushering in hundreds of people to attend Holy Saturday services. We had shown up at church at 4:15 pm and didn't finish until 7:00 pm. No phone for me during that time. It was insanely crazy busy. I'm not sure I even had time to breathe, let alone take a phone call.

And guess when the call came?

Yup. 5:15 pm.

Right during the middle of the chaos.

Missed it.

At first I was bummed that I missed the opportunity to go to St. Louis.

But the more I thought about it, it occurred to me that I was right where I needed to be Saturday evening...and I'm right where I need to be this week.

This is do-or-die week when it comes to my younger son, who's trying valiantly to make sure he's met all the requirements for graduation...

This is the last week of our "official" meetings of my Girl Scout troop...

During this next week, my sister will be having some major, serious surgery...

And my older son is home for a few days for Easter break.

Yup.

The Red Cross found the volunteers they needed to send to St. Louis, and I know they're doing a fantastic job.

Yes, I'm where I need to be this week.

Because sometimes, as Red Cross volunteers, we think it's our job to take care of the world.

When really, sometimes, we need to be taking care of our own families.

Peace.

Hippity Hop!

After an INSANELY crazy, busy, chaotic week...

...I needed to spend some time with Dear Daughter.

....and what better way to spend some time than taking a class together...right?

Being Easter and all, we found ourselves enrolled today in a Parent/Kid class at my cooking school entitled "Hippity Hop Workshop" - a 3-hour "egg-stravaganza" that was actually quite fun.

And egg-stremely messy.

Here we are....


The ultimate goal of the class was to decorate an Easter cake...to do this, we:

...made a "bird's nest" out of Chinese noodles and chocolate. Yum.


...nibbled on frosted popcorn. Delish.


...decorated cookies...


...learned how to "basket-weave" frosting. Doesn't Daughter look intent in this picture?


I'm really proud of her...she did this all by herself. And she did pretty darn good!

She then rolled out gumdrops and modeling chocolate and cut it out with cookie cutters...she also added some food coloring to some coconut, creating Easter "grass"...

And she then put it all together for the finished project:


Doesn't it look YUMMY?!!!

She really did it all herself. I just kinda' took pictures and nibbled on popcorn.

Well. I probably nibbled on a few gumdrops, as well...if truth be known.

Okay, perhaps more than a few.

Moving on.

The most important part?

She had fun. I had fun. And we had fun together.

And tonight?

Well, since I'm allergic to eggs, our house decorates cookies for Easter.

So, Daughter, Hubby and I sat down after church services tonight to play with even MORE frosting and sprinkles:



We each had 4 cookies to decorate, and the cookies at the beginning of our evening turned out very pretty:


By the end of the evening, laziness and sloppiness had set in, as evidenced by this little disaster decorated by Hubby:


Gah.

But...if one were to love frosting...I guess this would be considered the jackpot cookie, yes?

Happy Easter, friends!

Peace.

Me? Versatile?

My friend Rosie over at "Hello, Rosie" awarded me an award today...

"The Versatile Blogger."

Although I'm honored and thrilled and flattered -

I'm actually kinda' disappointed she didn't award me the OTHER award she had to give out...

The "Nice Rack" Award.



Hee.

Apparently, Rosie knows me all too well and knows that if there's ONE award I don't deserve, it's the Nice Rack Award.

Ahem.

Moving on.

So, in the Spirit of the The Versatile Blogger Award, here's seven amazing & thrilling facts about moi...Seven amazing and thrilling facts that NO ONE...I repeat, NO ONE...ever knew before.

Okay. Maybe some people knew. But they don't count.

If YOU already knew this stuff, just pretend you didn't. 'Kay?

1. I am an amazing jump roper. I always have been an amazing jump roper. I can jump faster, longer and better than just about anyone. Really. I could be in the World Olympics of jump roping - if there ever were such a thing - and I would take home a medal. What makes this fact even MORE amazing is that I am a year shy of my 50th-birthday - and I'm still that good at jumping a rope. Amazing. Hee.

2. I absolutely, unequivocally detest Kate Gosselin.

3. I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with my vacuum cleaner. I love my vacuum cleaner. Actually, its a central vac...and I love nothing more than to hook up the giant hose and go through my house, sucking up the tiniest bit of dirt and cat hair and lint....I'd suck up my kids if they'd fit through the hose. I've tried.

4. I absolutely, unequivocally love hummus.

5. Things that make me afraid: spiders, sky-diving, and drowning. That pretty much covers my fears.

6. My favorite Disney ride: the Haunted Mansion. Grim, grinning ghosts make me giggle. Hee. I could get forever stuck on a Doom Buggy and I would be in heaven.

7. Things that amaze me: my kids. I am honestly amazed when I watch them grow and mature and become young adults.

So...now to pass on the Versatile Blogger Award.

I'm in a giving mood tonight, being Easter Eve and all...and so this award is open to any and all of my readers! Feel free to take it, enjoy it and pass it on!

Peace.

Oh No, She Didn't??!!

Sunday, my parents came over for a visit.

They were asking how our Saturday evening had been, and Mom was especially interested in Kevin Bacon. Go figure.

Anyway, I told them how awesome Kevin's band had been, and how cute Kevin was, and I then said, "But you know...? It's funny... Kevin never really got his 'man body'....he's still just as skinny now as he was when he was a kid."

Mom looked pointedly at my Dad and said, "Hmmm....Sounds like someone else I know."

Oh, burn.

Yes, if you know my Dad, you would know that he is an itty-bitty guy who never really got his 'man body'.

But for my mom to point that out??!!

Ouch.

Good thing they've been married 50 years, huh?

Peace.

My Bacon Encounter

Bacon.

Yum.

Don't you just love bacon?

I do.

Especially when it comes in the form of Kevin.

As in, I love me some Kevin Bacon.

Ever hear of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game?

Well, Saturday night, I was One Degree of Kevin Bacon. It was awesome.

Hubby and I went to the annual Red Ball, which is a fundraiser for our local American Red Cross.


Don't we look fine?

After some tasty cocktails, we sat down and enjoyed a delicious dinner that included this little delectable delight:


Say hello to my Chocolate Banana Stack Cake...Yum.

After dinner, we listened to some hard-hitting rock-n-roll played by none other than Kevin Bacon and his brother, Michael, of the Bacon Brothers Band.



Say hello to my new BFF, Kevin...Yum.


And here's my One Degree of Kevin Bacon.

Wow.

All in all, a fantastic evening with yummy food, yummy conversation, and VERY yummy entertainment. And his band WAS good. Surprisingly. They could have been awful, and I wouldn't have minded.

Because I always have been partial to Bacon.

Peace.

¡Viva Amigos!

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you've probably noticed a common thread running through my status updates.

For those of you who aren't friends with me on Facebook, first, why not?! Hee. Second, you wouldn't have noticed anything, because..um... well, you're not there. So, how would you KNOW what I was saying on Facebook?

I'll enlighten you.

A very common theme on Facebook is me...having lunch with various girlfriends...at Mexican restaurants:

"Having lunch today with (insert friend's name here) at Chipotle...good food and good conversation."

Yup. That pretty much sums up of most of my Facebook statuses.

It's so common that if I were to die, I'm sure you could pretty much sum up my life by saying, "She had a lot of lunches with a lot of girlfriends at Mexican restaurants." And you would be right.

And why is that?

Well, besides the fact that I obviously love Mexican food.

I love my friends.

Each friend is different, and our relationships are all unique. Our dynamics are different and our conversation is different - and it all adds up to some really, really great lunches.

Some girlfriends offer me advice...some offer support...some make me laugh...some make me think...some make me reach for the stars...and some bring me back down to earth.

They're all needed, in their own unique way.

And who can have too many friends? It would be like having too many flowers in your garden - it's an impossibility and it could not happen.

So, to all my girlfriends - thank you. Thank you for your advice, your support, your laughter, your thoughts, your inspiration and your reality.

And here's to more Mexican food. Having too much Mexican food is ALSO an impossibility - it could not happen.

Peace.

What's in My Bag?

Ever wonder what's in someone's purse?

Um.

Me, neither.

Actually, that's not true. There are sometimes when I see someone carrying a suitcase around as a purse, and I wonder, "What the heck is she carrying in there? An extra KID??!"

Or, sometimes I see someone carrying a teeny, tiny little purse, and I wonder, "How the heck does she DO that?"

So, today, I hopped over to Gwen's blog here, and she was doing a "What's In My Bag Wednesday".

And I thought I'd play along. Why not?

First, the bag. My black Coach bag. That I bought in December and haven't let it leave my side since.

To say that I love a purse would make me sound all shallow and bubble-headed, but really...I LOVE this purse.



And you can yammer at me the whole day long about how "black bag" and "spring" don't go together, but I don't care. Because, as I said before, I love this bag. So there.

Inside this delicious bag are what I consider my "essentials" - the money, the car keys and the iPhone.


I love the yellow billfold...I purposely chose a bright color so it would "pop" in the black hole of my bag. And it's really, really soft. I've always been very texture-sensitive; textures mean a lot to me, and therefore, I must have a perfectly-textured billfold. Besides, I use that billfold a lot - a LOT - as I shop til' I drop - so it must FEEL GOOD while I'm doing it.

Being the Queen of Social Media that I am, I HAVE to have my Sony Cybershot in my purse at all times, as well as my Sony Flip camcorder. Again, I chose the hot pink camera case because it POPS! My Flip cam has a photo of Yellowstone on it that I took many, many years ago...I am transported back to one of my most favorite places in the world every time I use my camcorder.



This next little conglomeration are my knicks and my knacks...and my TicTacs. Hee.

Hairbrush, lipstick, eye drops (for my chronically dry eyes), Tums (for my chronically upset stomach) travel with me at all times...and orange-flavored TicTacs for fresh breath.


The whistle-thingie is my keybob for my Red Cross office...and I wear it on a bracelet, as my hands are normally loaded down with stuff as I head into my office, so it makes it convenient to wear my key on my wrist. Hey. Don't judge. It works for me.


Last but not least, I have my "eye" collection...sunglasses and reading glasses. Don't you love the turquoise Vera Bradley reading glasses & case? Pretty.



That's it. Well, other than 100 pens...I seem to have a subconscious fascination for ballpoint pens, and I amass my collection in the bottom of my purse. If you have a pen missing, there's a good chance that I have "borrowed" it. Not on purpose - it's like a kleptomania-type of thing, where I swipe pens and don't even realize I'm doing it. Sorry about that.

If you notice, I didn't take a photo of my pen collection, because I don't want to self-incriminate myself and provide photographic proof of my crimes. I may be shallow and bubble-headed, but I'm not stupid.

If we ever meet up in person, now you know...hide your pens.

Peace.