On Saturday Rupert and I hung around the house in super chill fashion and watched movies until we HAD to get ready.
Chris bought me a ticket for Charlaine Harris and Dr Bass for Mother's Day and it was that night.
Sara and I were going together, so I had to get Ru ready to go to my parents for a bit and then pick up Sara so we could go eat super yummy Thai food before the signing.
It was sooo much fun.
The hall was packed and we saw all kinds of super hardcore fans.
Like HARDCORE.
It was good people watching for sure!
Dr Bass spoke for awhile about the Zoo Man murders and then his fingerprint analysis guy came up to speak as well.
They even had a slide show of all kinds of gross things from the crime scene.
Like original pictures.
Awesome!
Charlaine Harris was really funny and laid back but her thing was mostly question and answer.
It was interesting to hear what people had to ask.
I couldn't even think of anything, guess I'm not a big enough fan.
These people were serious about it.
After that we went to Shawn's birtday party.
It was complete insanity and we all had a blast.
Lots of drag queens, shots, dancing, etc.
Enough on that.
Sunday we had a play date with the Ganues family.
We love hanging out with them.
Their son is one month younger then Ru and they are super bffs.
Greg, Rachel and I have known each other since I was in high school.
Then add that Chris and Greg are both nerds.
It works out well for everyone!
Also, GG came home last night as well!
I was so excited to see her and she did her usual "Get off of me Jennifer"
YAY! She's baaaaaack! :)
Otherwise, I finally have a picture of Rupert and I on Mother's Day!!
I remembered Chris taking it but then immediately forgot to ask for him to send it my way.
So this weekend, randomly, he sends me the picture.
Made my day!!
We had such an amazing time.
There had to be a picture/memory to share :)
Also, this weekend I noticed that my garden is really really coming along.
Like there's vegetables growing in it.
Which means... I didn't kill them!
Whew hoo!
I never ever ever ever thought I'd see the day.
Ok, so they got this far but still have a bit til harvest and I'm trying not to count my eggs before they hatch BUT I have to have to share pics!
Yep, that's broccoli. Real honest to goodness broccoli!!
Whew hoo!
And don't laugh but I think this is the cabbage, but it could also be the cauliflower.
I don't remember and it seems like it looks awfully similar at this point.
I adore my dad. We may not have always gotten along, you know I was a difficult teenager :) But I have always looked up to and adored him.
He is the man that I compare all others to.
My boyfriends, bosses, acquaintances, everyone.
He is an amazing man. A classic male from the era of The Cleavers.
He works hard, sacrifices for his family, suffers in silence, can fix everything, shoots a mean game of pool, super outdoorsy, athletic, completely business savvy, funny and likes to play golf while smoking a cigar and drinking scotch.
I mean c'mon, how can you beat that?!?!!?
I remember looking up to him (literally) as a child and thinking he was the coolest guy around.
Then I got independent, like at 7 or 8, and we clashed for quite awhile.
It doesn't help when its a clone of a bullheaded person! :)
We argued and fought and didn't speak through most of my middle and high school years.
If there's one thing I could go back and change in my life, it would be all the grief I caused my parents and all of the times I disrespected them and was just flat out nasty.
I moved out when I was 19 and my parents helped though they didn't like it.
As soon as everything was unloaded and they left, I sobbed, like hardcore sobbed.
The best part? They were only 7 miles away!
But it was at that moment that I realized I was walking into the real world and becoming an adult.
I realized that I should not have taken for granted the wonderful life my parents had built for me.
Now that I am adult (still weird) and have a family of my own (swear I don't feel old enough for that to be acceptable) my Dad and I get along wonderfully.
Sometimes I talk too much (not me!) and he just walks into the other room and turns on the tv or something. He does that to all the girls, always has.
But its no longer fighting.
Its love.
Its respect.
Its me clinging to the man who shaped my life.
Its wishing I was still a little girl sitting in his lap talking about what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I have the most amazing memories of my childhood and spending time with my Dad.
One morning, he came in my room and woke me up really early to watch the sunrise off the back porch.
I felt soooo special.
Mom and Elizabeth were still sleeping and the two of us just sat there and watched a big sun crest over the cornfield behind our house.
After the sun was up, we drove to a little family owned restaraunt on the lake and had pizza for breakfast.
I thought I was in heaven!
No one has pizza for breakfast!?!?!?
Accept me and my Daddy.
He took me to the theatre to see the Little Mermaid. (I think Mom was sick, don't remember why she didn't come too)
He took me, just me, to see Tombstone at the Crown Point Theatre.
I have great memories of that date with Dad and Tombstone is still one of my favorite movies ever.
I always loved individual time with him.
When you have siblings its hard to do that.
Also, my Dad traveled on business basically Monday through Friday.
So those were rare and precious times.
My Dad used to jam out to Creedence Clearwater, ZZ Top and George Thorogood until Elizabeth and I would complain that our ears hurt.
My Dad is loved by all for his fantastic people skills, great sense of humor (he's good time charlie), and his willingness to help anyone.
I could go on for days or even years with little memories and stories, etc about my Dad but I'll stop.
I just wanted to share in my own little way, my never ending love and respect for my Dad with the world.
OK, so I posted about my wild Friday night with Shawn and Scott at Kurt's and XYZ already but then last night, maybe bc we're not so bright, we did it all again... minus the gay bars.
I had an eye doctor appointment at 5:15 and thought, well gee, I'm in West Knoxville, its a pretty day, I should get everyone to meet up for a drink.
My friends Jeff and Josh said that they love this one bar called Rick's Place and it was ladies night, so 2 for 1, um ok!
I had tried to get Chris to come out too, Jeff is one of his oldest friends, but sadly we couldn't find a sitter and I was already out.
Thank God for my wonderful, understanding, loving husband...
In the end it was Jeff, Josh, Steph, Shawn, Scott and a group of Rick's regulars.
I made the mistake of drinking too much.
I just don't recognize my limits...
I think the final total was 2 whiskey and cokes, 3 California Car Bombs and 3 yuenglings.
We did end up ordering some food and soda to counteract the alcohol.
Nonetheless, I think I made a loud, obnoxious, sloppy drunk :(
Thank god it wasn't just me.
We had a blast though!
We got to catch up and tell silly stories and use weird iphone apps (particularly the breast enhancement one... I look HOT with a c cup!)
I think there was some dancing
There's pictures on my phone of dancing.
It was just utter insanity.
And this makes for twice in a week.
PLUS, Shawn's birthday is next week, so he's having a party on Saturday night...
I told him that he's the devil :)
He says I'm the devil... who knows!
So, here's some of the super classy, fabulous pictures from last night.
Please enjoy at my expense...
Dancing and trying to listen to a story.
Very perplexed look on my face, wonder what the hell was happening...
Jeff, cutie pie, and me
Scott, me and Shawn dirty dancing.
I should add, no one else was dancing.
I should also add, there was no one else in the bar at this point.
Shawn posing with a mouthfull...
I don't know why, he's gay, so it doesn't count.
I think I said that alot last night.
We have also realized that our theme song has to be "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry.
See if you think these lyrics sound like any of our antics...
There's a stranger in my bed,
There's a pounding in my head
Glitter all over the room
Pink flamingos in the pool
I smell like a minibar
DJ's passed out in the yard
Barbie's on the barbeque
There's a hickie or a bruise
Pictures of last night
Ended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a blacked out blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled
Damn
Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot
Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bar
So we hit the boulevard
Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a ménage à trois
Last Friday night
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop
Whoa-oh-oah
This Friday night
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again
Trying to connect the dots
Don't know what to tell my boss
Think the city towed my car
Chandelier is on the floor
Ripped my favorite party dress
Warrant's out for my arrest
Think I need a ginger ale
That was such an epic fail
Pictures of last night
Ended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a blacked out blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled
Damn
Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on table tops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot
Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credits card
And got kicked out of the bar
So we hit the boulevards
Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping int he dark
Then had a ménage à trois
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop
Oh whoa oh
This Friday night
Do it all again
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again
Do it all again
This Friday night
Rupert and Keira decided to try and pet the fish and in doing so, one came out of the tank and landed on the table, they scraped up the decorative frog/mushroom thing causing paint chips to float around in the water and got the tank full of toddler germs.
When I saw what was happening I put the one fish, Frankie, back in the water and he was reborn!
Or so I thought...
I cleaned the tank and gave Rupert and Keira a serious talk about not petting fish and how they could kill them. I may have been a little harsh, but it's life and death... not a game.
Anyway, that was Saturday, by Sunday evening both fish had died.
Once again, I gave Rupert a serious talk.
At first he thought you could just put food in the bowl and they would wake up.
Then he thought it was fun because he got to flush them down the toilet.
So here I am, trying to explain to a 3 year old what death is and why Mommy's mad at him, ugh.
I explained that when you die, you go to sleep and never wake up. EVER.
He didn't quite grasp that.
At this point I'm frustrated because I think he needs to understand the severity of the situation...
So I say "Rupert, would you want Mommy to die? Would you want Mommy to never wake up?"
This may have been a tad dramatic on my part but I didn't know how else to relate it to him...
At this point he looks at me all serious and says "You can't die Mommy, you're my life"
For real.
I almost sobbed.
Instead I gave him a huge hug and explained that that fish is another fish's mommy and that's why it's SAD that they are dead and we will never try to pet fish again.
At first Chris and I discussed not getting anymore fish.
Really, its just alot of bowl cleaning.
We just have one of those classic one gallon goldfish bowls.
But after a couple of hours we were thinking that maybe we could try it again, just once.
So, last night on my way home from work I stopped at the pet store and got a fantail goldfish.
He's soooooooooooo pretty!
We put him in his little bowl and brought him out to meet Rupert.
He was super excited and I asked him what he wanted to name him...
He responded "Big Fat Daddy"
I thought he might go with something Ghostbusters since that's his LIFE.
But no, he went with Big Fat Daddy, which I think comes from Big Daddy from "Kick-Ass"
Don't judge me, he loves that movie too.
Now the big reveal. Drum roll please....
BIG FAT DADDY
I think he's beautiful and I love him.
Hopefully Rupert has learned his lesson and we didn't just bring a fish home to kill it.
I know its lame, but I think its super sad.
And it gives me the willies.
Like REALLY bad.
I can't do the dead fish thing at all, Chris has to do it for me.
I can't even look.
(shiver)
So here's hoping for a long and healthy life for Big Fat Daddy!
I just had had had to post this video because it's hysterical in a very wrong way.
Anyhoo, that was NOTHING like my Mother's Day weekend!
First, on Friday after work I went out to Sevierville to pick up one of my coworkers, Roth, who had just flown in from Myrtle Beach.
He's on this continent every other month or something, so I don't get to see much of him.
He was super duper exhausted from having worked his tush off at a project site for the last week but we still had fun catching up and we went out to eat at Uncle Buck's Grill at Bass Pro Shop.
Yep, sure did!
It's right at the interstate, he'd never been to Bass Pro and I was excited to show him the redneck mecca. Plus, its food at an outdoorsy southern joint, how could it be bad?
We both had burgers and a beer and it was quite delightful.
We sat at their bar area which had a wall fish tank with all kinds of cool exotic fish and coral.
Then we walked around and marveled at how many fishing poles there are and played with the camping gear and just goofed off.
It was awesome.
So here's a pic of Roth, talking on the phone to Pete while relaxing in a camp rocking chair.
After that I went out for drinks with another coworker, Shawn, and his partner Scott.
We met up at Bonefish and had a super yummy espresso martini before heading over to Kurt's to really let loose. And boy did we let loose. Shew, it was an awful/amazing/crazy night!
First, we had agwa shots. Apparently its some liquor distilled through a cocoa leaf or something which basically makes it a legal liquid cocaine. So you're happy drunk and energized. Which for me equals dancing like a freak all night long. Add onto that a few beers and a few ultimate cosmos and that was the evenings drinks. Whew!
So apparently there's some serious dramz happening at Rainbow and its closed for remodeling right now, etc etc, and now Kurt's is doing drag. So of course we stayed and watched the show.
Gabrielle Alexis is no longer at Rainbow and is working at Kurt's, so she's the headliner and we got to talk/catch up a bit. I only get to see her once a year, if that, since I never ever go out.
Anyway, after hours of crazy at Kurt's we decided we'd hit XYZ and see what was happening. They had had Night of A Thousand Dolly's, but we had missed it. We ended up having one drink before they called Last Call and we headed out to IHOP.
We were going to go to Waffle House but it was chock full of college kids and we didn't want to wait.
Anyway, long story short. We got drunk. I acted a fool. We hung out with coworkers and queens and I didn't get home til 4:30 IN THE MORNING!
So here's a few random pics of that night.
Thank god we didn't get the camera out too much!
Shawn and I
Scott, Becky (the owner of Kurt's) and Shawn
Scott, me and Shawn
So needless to say that I napped off and on all day on Saturday. I wasn't hung over. I was just DEAD TIRED.
Rupert woke up at 8 am and I thought I was going to pass out just getting his breakfast.
We snuggled on the couch for a long time (me in and out of sleep) and then Elizabeth called and asked if I could watch Keira while she went fishing.
Sure.
Keira and Rupert ran wild for a few hours, ended up killing our goldfish, but had a blast playing together.
Rupert went to sleep at 8ish and slept through the night!
AMAZING!
On Sunday, Mother's Day, Chris let me sleep in (LOVE HIM) and then made me a brunch of blueberry waffles, eggs and sausage and of course, coffee.
He may be the best husband ever.
Then I opened my presents from Rupert.
He had made me a flower in a pot from a vegetable can at school (mostly the teachers but I love it) and they had also asked the kids some questions and them printed them up all nice and laminated them. They also made bookmarks and wrote a proverb on the back. Then they put it all in a paper lunch bag that the kids decorated and made a ribbon handle.
It was too cute for words, so here's a picture:
Chris gave me a super duper sweet card and also informed me that he had purchased me a ticket to see Charlaine Harris and Dr. Bill Bass at book signing on Saturday night. VIP ticket, hell yes! So I get to sit in a special area closer to the speakers and get a copy of the new Sookie Stackhouse book.
For those who don't know, Charlaine Harris is the author of the book series that True Blood is based off of and Dr. Bass is the foremost forensic anthrolpologist in the world. He founded the very first Body Farm, ever, here in Knoxville and is now a best selling author with his fictional book series about his work, Jefferson Bass.
I'm so excited I could freaking burst! For realz.
Then after we took showers and got dressed we headed down to Market Square to do just bum around.
It's the total best place to do that.
There's shopping, food, coffee, all kinds of people, kids, dogs, musicians.
It's just wonderful.
So I ended up hitting a few new boutiques that I hadn't been into and I got a fabulous pair of yellow owl earring and a teeny diamond nose stud.
They're kind of like these:
Then we walked over to the downtown library and got Rupert his very first library card!!!
He was super excited even though he didn't quite understand.
He rented 4 books, The Great Mouse Detective on DVD (possibly my doing) and 5 classical children's Cd's (also possibly my doing). He had a blast in the children's area and made friends with another little boy that was down there playing as well.
On our way home we popped in to Little Sisters and I got to chat with Tia, the owner, for awhile. I also got a new right hand ring and 4 pairs of earrings. Plus, she gave me a bargain on all of them because she's sweet like that.
That night we did a little cleaning, had dinner and tried to watch The Black Swan but Rupert just wouldn't be quiet or still, so we watched Kick Ass (again) instead. Don't judge, its a classic in our family! :)
It was a fantastic weekend and I couldn't have wished for a more wonderful/fun/relaxing/simple Mother's Day.
