It's Gil Stovall, Ya'll!

A few weeks ago Gil Stovall visited my childrens' school. Who is Gil Stovall you ask? He swam the butterfly on the 2008 USA swim team along with Michael Phelps. What's he doing down here in the south, you ask? He was doing a favor for his mom. Isn't that sweet? He actually goes to school one state over from us but he came to our great school as a favor to his mom.

This is his mom giving him (no she is not giving him the "finger") directions to get back home. She is the economics teacher for the elementary children. LiLi has been learning about China and their economic system since school began. Mrs. Stovall even brought each of them a small gift when she returned from China. For those non Olympic enthusiasts (I, so , do not connect with you....I was glued to my tv night and day!) the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing. China (for those non geographic enthusiasts).

Sorry about the blurriness of the pictures. The batteries in my camera were a little low. He was a big hit at the school. He spoke to everyone in the school first, then he went to every class and answered specific questions and gave autographs. Can you guess what types of questions he got to answer? This is what I heard about. BB's 7th grade class a young lady raised her hand.
Gil Stovall: Yes, what is your question?
Girl: You are hot!
Gil Stovall: Ummm, thank you. Anyone else have a question?

In the 5th grade he got a lot of giggles and whispering mixed in with adoring, worshipful looks. I think the elementary kids were a little more interested in his training.

Building on yesterdays blog about Miss YaYa getting boys to do things for her.....The whole week we were preparing for him to come to our school, she was not the least bit interested.
After he came to the school she took on a whole new attitude.
Suddenly she was very interested in the Men's Olympic Swim Team. She suddenly wanted to go to the University of Tennessee, now. Isn't it great that she is only in 5th grade and wants to jump right into college courses. Her enthusiasm was dampened just a little when I told her that Stalking Gil Stovall 101 had been dropped from the curriculum this year. My girl is no quitter, though. She decorated her notebook with his personal, signed autograph (She got LiLi to ask him to write a personal autograph with her name and a message. Apparently she was struck dumb by his hotness and could not speak for herself). She even wrote his name about 100 times in different styles and colors. Isn't she creative? Anyway, we were impressed by the sincerity of this young man and his dedication to his sport. And, just for the record...he has beaten Michael Phelps a couple of times in the Butterfly..just not at a major meet. He beat him during training. How many of us can say that?
Go Stovall!

Why do it myself when I can just get a boy to do it?

Yesterday before school, Ya Ya and I were talking and the strangest things came up. I asked her to turn in a PTA form to the school secretary for me and she said "Okay, I'll get one of the boys to do it." I was a little confused. She passes the secretary every morning on her way to classes. Why can't she just hand it to her? I questioned her on this and her response was, " Well, whenever I want something done I just ask a boy to do it and they do it for me. It's great! I can even get the ugly boys to do it too."
This concept is just a little foreign to me. I did not grow up in a family of flirts. None of us flirted. We were all very serious, goal oriented, "I can do it myself" type of people. It would never have occurred to me to ask a boy to do something. When I was in High School I was placed in an experimental co-ed PE class. There were only 4 girls in the class. I competed with them and beat them in various games. I doubt they would have done anything for me if I had asked them to.
LiLi then piped up saying "I don't ask boys to do anything. If I want them to do something for me I pay them with 4th grade bucks." Now that is something I can relate to.
I think I am in big trouble. YaYa is not old enough to be flirting is she? The teen years just might do me in!

Six Flags and Thunderstorms

This past weekend I took a trip to St. Louis, MO with my three kiddos. They were so excited to go to Six Flags. We were really in need of some bonding. It was great just having fun with the kids, not prodding them to clean their rooms, do their homework, work in the yard, etc. Instead, we had lots of kid friendly music in the car, laughter, snacks, and fun topics to talk about. I think I may have hit "Cool" on the mom meter!

We stopped in Sikeston, MO for a late lunch/early dinner at the famous Lambert's Cafe (home of the thrown rolls). I enjoyed the meal;the kids enjoyed catching the dinner rolls. Who cares that we had more rolls at our table than we could eat?

LiLi had fun playing on the wooden train outside of the restaurant. She thought they had cool grilled cheese sandwiches, too. YaYa and BB were way too hip to go anywhere near this train.

We got to our hotel room in St. Louis with plenty of time for more fun. The kids were all set to go swimming. Alas, the pool had closed on Labor Day. The kids were not happy. It was said that their mini vacation was ruined! Oh the drama of pre teens.

BB had a few milestones on this trip. As many of you know, BB struggles with Aspergers. He is responsiblity challenged....is that a term? He has issues with being responsible? Oh well, those that know him realize that he doesn't take the lead on things without lots of prompting. Well, my sweet little guy (he is now taller than I am) ordered a pizza for us almost all by himself. This is a big step for him. He had a little help from me finding the address of the hotel, but he looked up the number for the pizza place on his own, he ordered the pizza with just a smidgen of help from me, and he paid for the pizza when it was delivered. He was so proud of himself! We then ate some pizza and watched the dreaded Disney channel until it was time to go to bed.

The next morning the kids were eager to get started on their Six Flags adventure. We stopped at the local Denny's (right next door to our hotel) and fortified ourselves with some breakfast. Just as our food was delivered the sky opened up and down came the rains.

I think YaYa's face says it all. We hung around Denny's until the downpour became a nice misting and headed off for Six Flags. The kids were so excited to finally be there. They impatiently waited while I bought the tickets and we were scanned into the park. It then became a race to see which ride they could get to the quickest. The Batman ride won top honors. The nice thing about going this past weekend was hitting the park during the off season. Yep, you guessed it. NO LINES! It was still overcast and a balmy 60 degrees. I loved it. Back to Batman....We stood in line for just a few minutes before we were able to board the ride. The few minutes turned out to be just enough time for LiLi to figure out that she did not want any part of this ride. We were already there, so being the perfect mom that I am, I grabbed her kicking and screaming and plopped her onto the ride. I buckled her in amidst a volley of cries about not liking rides that go upside down, not liking Six Flags, being scared, I can't remember the rest. I felt a little bad because she cried the entire ride! I thought the ride was fun. I'll have to keep a close eye on her for a while to see if there is any permanent damage.

Luckily we were able to find rides that LiLi enjoyed. She built up her confidence and got on some of the wilder rides after first making sure that they did not go upside down. During the late afternoon we were deluged with rain again. By this time the kids had been able to ride all the rides and were ready to head back to warmth and dryness. We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to the car. We made it to the hotel and got out of our dripping clothes, grabbed something to eat, and settled in to watch some movies. This gave us plenty of time for snuggling, laughter, and much needed bonding and relaxing. Later, I had a milestone of my own. I let BB and LiLi go across the parking lot, at night, while it was dark, to the sonic to pick up some treats. They were so excited. I was in agony. YaYa kept laughing at me and telling me to chill out. You could see the Sonic from our hotel window so I made her stay at the window and keep tabs for me. You know, just to make sure a booger man did not grab my babies. I couldn't look out the window because I had promised them I would be adult about this. That is why YaYa was forced to do it. They made it back okay and BB was glowing. I guess he thinks it is a little easier to breathe without the apron strings being so tight! Anyway, we had a ton of fun regardless of the rain! BB now wants to go back for Fright Fest. Not this year, buddy!

It's All In The Name.....

Who knew they would have my name? What Marnita Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

An Elephant Safari

Well, not really....But we did go the the Riddles Elephant Sanctuary today. What an adventure.

I have been told by many, and I admit to it myself, that I cannot find my way out of a paper bag. A little harsh, but true. I hate to drive because I am so directionally challenged. On every vacation that we drove around on, I managed to land us smack dab in the middle of the slum/ghetto of each city we visited. Not so bad if you are driving around in Podunk, USA: how dangerous can their slums be? Ooooooh! A rabid rooster and a drunk skunk!!!!! But when you are in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia or even DC it can get a little creepy. And its not like I got us lost in broad daylight....nooooo....I had to get us lost at 2 or 3 in the morning. Anyway, you now understand my severe handicap.

Well, I decided to take my kids to see the Elephant Sanctuary since it is relatively close to us. I got on line and printed out step by step instructions and realized that it was going to be a breeze to get there.

This morning I get everyone up and around so we can be some of the first to arrive when the Sanctuary opens at 11:00 am. NanaMama even decided to go with us. (Oh how I should have waited for Suzie Q or Dr. Mom to mapigate for me!) We hit the road at 9:30 so we could take our time getting there. We made the obligatory stop at Sonics to fortify ourselves with the big Route 44 Diet Cokes (it helps me stay alert and function) and fueled up Sherman the Tank (cough, cough $135 at Sams) and headed to the Elephants. Things were going great. YaYa was ecstatic because she had Disney Radio to listen to. BB was just happy not to be grounded for the day. LiLi was in heaven. She is my animal lover. She had her notebook and pen ready to take notes and learn about elephants.

Before we made it out of the Rock, LiLi spotted a cool looking motorcycle with a couple on it. She went "Oooooooh.....Eeeeeeew, yuck.....They have wrinkles!"

I guess that sums up our day; We had a few wrinkles.

We reached the exchange of the route point in great time. I saw a sign for Hwy 64 and got off the interstate. We traveled through towns I have heard of but never been to. The only problem was not seeing a sign for the town of our destination. Did I mention that in all the hustling out of the house I forgot to pick up my step by step instructions? Well, after driving about 30 miles NanaMama and I look at each other and realize that we got off on Hwy 64 when we should have exited at Hwy 65. Now this is a pet peeve of mine. Why do Hwys have to sound so much alike? You can see how easily I could get confused between 64 and 65. They sound too much alike. Maybe I can write to our congressmen to do something about this. It should be covered under some protection of idiot's rights. (I am referring to myself as the idiot so don't get all bent out of shape).

So, we drive back to the exchange point, get back on the interstate and head for Hwy 65. Still a little behind schedule but not too bad. We travel up 65 until we get to Hwy 25 and we veer onto our new road. See how easy that transition was? I can clearly discern between 65 and 25 without any confusion. We drive along to the little town, and I do mean little, that the Sanctuary is supposed to be in. We cannot find a sign anywhere. I have all my kiddos in the back seats reading every street sign, speed limit sign, and attraction sign to me. As if this wasn't enough chaos, I have my legally blind NanaMama trying to read signs as well. Is it any wonder we missed the sign? Well, instead of driving about 10 miles down the road we drove about 40 miles and several small towns more. Again, we visited places I had heard of but had never been to. At this point I am a little bit frustrated so I pick up my cell phone, shout hallelujah when I see that I have service and call Dr. Mom to get me out of this mess. Dr. Mom has rudely left her phone in her car while she sits at a friends house merrily scrapbooking. Curses to her!!! After our 40 mile jaunt I pull in to one of those service station/convenience store/restaurant. I ask the clerk if she could give me directions to the Elephant Sanctuary. Now I understand why men do not ask for directions. She looked at me like I had just asked her to explain Newton's laws of gravity. She points down the road in the opposite direction that we have been going and says, "Maybe it is back thataway somewhere." I'm on it! With directions as clear as mud, I head back in the opposite direction. It is getting later and later and I am hoping we can find this blasted place before it closes. Finally, after driving about 30 miles we see the sign. Guess what? It was blocked by a bigger sign when we first came through. We head down this road looking for elephant signs when we come to the end of our road and are confronted with a new road. Which way do we go? We couldn't find a sign. I pick right. We drive along for about 5 miles and reach the end of the road without any trace of an elephant. Don't worry. I wasn't the least bit surprised that I chose the wrong direction, again. We turn around, head back the other way and finally come to the gates of the Sanctuary. Yeah! It is still open. We pay our admission fee, get out of the car, with the camera I remembered to bring and head off to see the Elephants. After walking about 15 yards I come to a Kodak moment. I pull out the camera, turn it on......wait....and wait....to see that it is never coming on....the batteries are dead! Way to go, me!

Even without the camera, we manage to have a great time. LiLi is furiously taking notes on everything the handlers are telling us. We are watching the antics of a little (about 800 lbs) 9 month old elephant and enjoying ourselves. All the wrinkles of getting there are forgotten.

We leave the Sanctuary, head back to a larger town, find a restaurant, and have some lunch. We managed to get home without any problems. I hate to even say what time it was when we got home. Let's just say it was an all day adventure!

I do recommend it to all. It was neat to learn about the elephants, and wonderful to know that there is a place for these poor creatures to go rather than face death.

If you ever want to go....Just give me a ring and I'll give you the directions!

It's A Love/Hate Thang!

I have this love/hate relationship with hurricanes. On the one hand, I hate the destruction they bring. I do not wish calamity or sorrow on anyone. On the other hand.......I love the weather it pushes up to our neck of the woods! We live in the best place for good hurricane weather. We started getting the rains last night from our little friend, Gustav. We were able to enjoy a nice cool Labor Day cookout thanks to this little guy. It was even cool today. Are you ready for this? I turned the air conditioner off today! I never turn the air conditioner off (well, almost never). It was wonderful.

The wind has been blowing. I mean really blowing. Whenever I look outside the trees do a little curtsy for me. I can hear a "whoooooooosh" whipping around the corners of the house. It's kind of freaking Ya Ya out a little. She keeps thinking someone is lurking around outside, popping her window with branches. I tried to tell her that if someone were outside they wouldn't announce themselves by hitting on the window first. She hasn't grasped the concept of stealth yet.....kids.....ya gotta love the way their minds work.

It has been raining all day. Not the wimpy drip drip kind. The hard gusts that turn the rain sideways with the force of the wind. When you are at home it is great. I did, however, encounter two auto accidents on the way to school this afternoon. That's the hate part of the relationship. Two different cars hydroplaned. One ended up against a tree upside down. The other accident happened on the freeway. Let's just say it is not a good idea to swerve to avoid a little thing when the roads are that wet. Sometimes it is easier to just run over the little thing and risk a flat tire instead of doing pirouettes in a suburban and find you are suddenly going in a northerly direction on a southbound lane. It's not the pirouettes that cause all the damage, it is that silly little car that insists on going in a southerly direction in direct opposition of your notherly direction. Let us just say that fenders and front ends are a lot harder to fix than flats.

The best part of today was dinner. It has been so hot lately that I just hate cooking. Why heat up an already hot kitchen? Isn't that why General Mills created cold cereal? It is the dinner of choice during the hot summer months! Right? Well, tonight I surprised the family with steaming, fragrant chili. It is a favorite of ours on a cold day. Of course, if you were to ask my kids they would tell you that any day in my house is a cold day. I gave up trying to explain that hot flashes make people hot.....it is easier to cover up than it is to have me walk around our house uncovered! Ewwwwww!!! I digress. The chili was delicious. The fragrance was heavenly. It is just what we needed. A good semi home cooked meal with all of us eating at the same time and practicing Spanish in between bites. BB and Ya Ya have a big test in Spanish class tomorrow.

Life doesn't get much better than this. Nice, edgy weather outside; Cozy, cuddly family safe inside. Who wouldn't love this? Don't spoil this by asking the people of Cuba and Louisiana how they fell about Gustav. Let a girl have her moments!