As promised, Prom

As promised, Prom.

Last Saturday night was prom for Bunny.

She's a Junior but the school has a Junior/Senior prom.  And her friend boy was a Senior last year, but he didn't go to prom. Much to Bunny's (and his mom's) dismay.

And somehow my girls have elevated prom to Cinderella-level Ball status.

The dress required multiple trips to Denver for shopping and alterations.

Shoes were stolen from sister over Spring Break.

Earrings were borrowed from my jewelry box.

The day of the dance we drove 2 hours to Colorado Springs in order to get hair and make-up done.

Two hairdressers, 45 bobby pins, 2 hair pins and one rubber band.

The results were worth it, I think.

All dressed up and someplace to go.

Dinner had been planned at one of the local restaurants. Except. Dinner was also supposed to be outside on the restaurant patio. Remember? We had 30" of snow on Thursday. The patio was cold and damp.

And all the prom dresses were pretty bare.

Dinner was rescued by the elementary school principal. He opened up the elementary to all the high school kids. Pizza was ordered, parents brought salad and decorations, tables were set up and dinner was served. Only in a small town. I can no more imagine that scenario happening in our Texas school district* than I can imagine.... what? I can't even think that crazy. Dancing hippos in tutus? Carlos flying airplanes? Me winning the lottery?
But, just like in Texas, the parents were swarming like paparazzi, snapping pictures left and right.

Kids and parents in the elementary school library.

Look at the view out that window.

Lucky books. 

And while Bunny was begging, borrowing and stealing from her family, her date was doing the same.

Somehow he managed to convince his grandpa to loan him his very expensive, very fast, very beautiful car for the evening. (This is a kid who maybe has been known to get a speeding ticket or two.)

I believe Mercedes could hire these two for an ad.

This is my favorite pic of the night. 

Or maybe this is my favorite. 

Aren't they adorable? 

And now, the realization.

Next year will be the last prom at our house.

Not sure I can handle this...............

*I say I cannot imagine it happening in our Texas school district because  of bureaucracy. Not because the principal might not think it was the right thing to do, although they probably wouldn't think of it at all. But because it would need to be cleared with the district and it wouldn't technically be a school function and then there is liability and who pays for the electricity to use the place and janitors, etc.   But here, everyone knows everyone or someone who knows someone else and parents stepped up and a few phone calls can work out the logistics over a course of a couple of hours.

Friday Follow Ups

Friday Follow Up....

Going to try and post this in between the electricity flashing on and off.  Excuse any inconsistencies in type, format. 

You know how I said Wednesday I wasn't worried about the snow forecast because it won't stick and it probably won't even happen? 

Ha! 

Twelve hours now that it has been snowing (okay, it did take a tiny break mid afternoon) and we probably have had at least 12 inches of snow. 

These were taken this morning.

 This rail was swept off about 7pm. 

This was taken at 9pm.

And tonight!

Briefly it rained and flattened some of the snow down. 

But there is at least 10" of snow on that rail.

And it is supposed to snow tomorrow. And maybe on Saturday. If not snow, at least rain. 

So I have been working on my little quilt commission. Triangles that make squares that make strips that will make a quilt top. A good project for a snowy day.

Crappy pic, sorry. In a hurry, racing the failing electricity.

Slowly but surely it will become a quilt.

Need to redistribute some of that red......

Happy weekend. 

Prom pics next week! Hopefully not a bunch of kids all dressed up standing in the snow. 

•••••••••••••••

And....the above was written Thursday night. 

Here I am finally at Friday morning. It was a loooonnng night. 

The electricity kept going off and on, so much so that I just unplugged the computer and printer and everything else expensive. Not sure I have that much faith in those Wal Mart surge protectors. 

And poor Carlos. For such a big dog with such a scary deep bark, he has some major anxiety issues. We knew thunder was a problem but it seldom thunders here. Apparently the electricity clicking is also VERY frightening. 

Bunny and I made the executive decision to sedate him about 11pm last night. That might have been a couple of hours too late. He paced. He tried hiding. He scratched on the door to go out. (He normally never scratches on the doors here. Ever. ) I let him out about 2 am and he wandered, but finally came back after some calling. At 4am he was so desperate to get out I thought he might be having some intestinal distress. Nope. He just RAN! I thought I was going to have to get in the car and go looking for him. Except that the drive would need to be plowed before I could leave.
O yea, it was also PITCH BLACK out.
No electricity in the country on a cloud filled night=total darkness. A shake of the food bowl got him to return.

Finally this is where he settled down.

                           

                                    Carlos! Where are you??

                           

                   There you are! Hiding amongst the shampoos.

             Poor baby. Voluntarily in the bathtub.

The electricity is still iffy. The snow is still coming down. 

This is my world this morning. 

                            

The back deck.

                               

Out the side window

                                                              

And out the front door.

Looks like it snowed all night. And it is still snowing.

My neighbor usually plows but he was over yesterday complaining about his back. And there is so much snow, I don't think he could plow anyways. Looks like we are S.T.U.C.K.  For a bit at least. 

Did I mention this cabin is all-electric?  No electricity, no heat. Fortunately the electricity doesn't stay off for long. I'm trying to get the house extra warm, just in case.

(And I'm thinking anybody on the East coast reading this is thinking "Wah, wah, wah! This is nothing compared to our winter." Which is true. We've had some lovely weather while the rest of the country suffered.  Looks as if we are having our winter in one 36 hour dump!)

So.

Spring has not sprung.

Or maybe Spring has sprung a leak......

                         

(This was finished up on my iPad which is just awful for centering, etc....so excuse the crazy pic placement.)    

                                 

   

Throw back Thursday: In Honor of No. 35, Go to My 40th High School Reunion

Throw Back Thursday: Whereby I Post Embarrassing Photos of Friends from High School


It's going to be a high school reunion. No. 35 on the list.
Forty years.  That's a long time.

So of course I had to find me some old photos...you know, to jog my memory of how darling and cute we all used to be.   As opposed to how mature and dignified we all look now.

I remember pulling up to the building at my 30th reunion. There was a valet parker. As we waited in line to get to the valet, we watched people exit their cars. I turned to the hubs and asked "Are you sure this is the right place? There are only old people here."  Yep, it was the right place.

This time I know what to expect.

But first- a stroll down memory lane.

The dances:

 A Cotillion dance with Dale.

He didn't go to our school but friend Liddy and I both dated him at different times.

And the same dress (quelle horreur) but a different date- 

this time with Curtis.

How come I can't convince my girls to wear the same dress twice? 

Mom's wonderful photography skills.

Half of Brown, Me, Emily and Kevin.
I loved that outfit but how ...homespun... these dresses look.

And Senior Prom:

This picture has been removed because 
I got tired of the "cast fetish" attention. 
But it was me, with my date, and my leg in a cast. 
My date looked like Napoleon Dynamite.
Use your imagination.

My how Prom dresses have changed. 

See here and here for Belle's prom dresses.

Makes mine look pretty tame.

(Also Bunny looked at this picture and said "Looks like Napoleon Dynamite". Yep.)

A Senior Spring Break trip to San Miguel de Allende  on the train:

 Mary and Emily

Me and Mary

The highlight of this trip might have been the flasher who stood outside our 

train compartment window while we were stopped in Monterrey.

He exposed himself while one of us (not naming names) stayed glued to the window, blocking everyone else and squealing 

"O My! Don't look! O my! O! Don't look what he's doing now!"
For about an hour.

Bobby, now Bob, sitting in my room.

Why, O Why did I have a poster of Raggedy Ann and Andy in there? 

Although I do love how Bobby/Bob color coordinates with the room. 

 Sally, Me, Liddy and that black spot on the right is our French Poodle, Eaugarte.

Studying, I think.

 Tricia, learning to macrame´ .

 Me, Charlie, Liddy

We basically all three have the same hair cut.

A particularly beautiful picture of Liddy taken in San Miguel.

And from Tricia's birthday party:

Tricia and Martha

Brown and Carol.
Sadly she is no longer with us.

Billy, Mark and Gwen 

Kevin, DeeDee, now Dee, and John

Ok. So now I'm ready to go the reunion. 

I'll recognize everyone as long as the guys still have shoulder length hair and the girls are barely wearing any make-up. 

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!


A Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

A super special shout out to MY mom.

Me and my mom. 

Sadly I had to go back to 2008 to find a picture of just the two of us.

But I guess that's okay- we both looked pretty good six years ago.

You've got to give her credit. She had two boys and still had the nerve to have a third kid. (Which makes me the baby. Gotta love me! )

She wins the zookeeper award for allowing more pets in our house than even I have.  

My brothers had snakes. And turtles. An opossum. Fish. I had an alligator.  Small furry animals.We had a goat. In the backyard. In the middle of Houston. A dog. Some cats. 
(But never a horse. I REALLY wanted a horse. Got one now!!)

She sewed.
Doll clothes.
I had the BEST dressed Troll dolls ever.  Nobody else's dolls had a real fur coat.
Me clothes.
My prom dress was conveniently crafted to disguise the hip to toe plaster cast I was sporting at the time.

My prom dress, made by mom.

Back in the 70s, pre-PC, I believe the Robert E. Lee HS 

prom theme that year was "The South Shall Rise Again".

I was a Southern Belle.

My girls would slit their throats before they put on a dress that I had made.

And for the bravest mama prize, she and my dad allowed me to go 1000 miles away, to another country, for art school when I was 18. This was before cell phones and Internet and there wasn't even a land line to keep us connected. It took a minimum of two hours just to get through to an International operator. A letter took two weeks.
None of that bothered me in the slightest but I imagine it was a bit of a challenge for them. 

I look like my dad but I've got a ton of my mom in me.
My kids say they feel sorry for people that cross me....I think I might have gotten that from my mom. Nice as can be, but don't try to screw with us.
And it seemed she could do, make, create anything, something my kids have said about me.
That is, when they aren't telling me that I don't know how to do anything.
Although she can cook.
Me, not so much. Or maybe it's just no one likes any of the stuff I like to make.
Something like that. 

So happy mothers day to my wonderful mom. 

And happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. 

Hugs and kisses. And flowers.



And a special get well/speedy recovery/Happy Mother's Day wish to my mother in law.
Poor baby fell and is now in re-hab recovering from a broken leg and a shattered shoulder.
Ow.

Tuesday Meanderings

Tuesday Meanderings….
a.k.a. No projects this week, just some odds and ends.


No real post today because…
Lots of reasons.


Belle was sick last week.
She hasn't been to a doctor here in Colorado so last minute efforts to get her in to see a doctor locally were futile. I was directed to the ER or Urgent Care.
I knew she had a bad infection and didn't want to wait, so I checked for the closest Urgent Care office with my insurance company. Turns out that would be TWO HOURS away in the Springs. Good thing we weren't feeling that urgent.
The ER seemed like over-kill, and Belle is always up for a trip to the Springs for Chick-Fil-A, so off we went. Left the house at 11:30am and were back home with meds by 6:00pm.

The next evening was one of those that starts with a phone call and ends with a nice police officer and   the exchange of insurance information. Bunny learned that throwing water balloons at people with short tempers does not end well. Even if it was an accident. (The water balloon was meant for another car.) She was followed and then hit. A new bumper for her car is in order. Thankfully no one was hurt and she was not at fault.

Pobre coche.

There was prom for  Belle which required another trip to the Springs for hair and make-up. And more Chick-Fil-A.   I spent an inordinate amount of time sewing in underpinnings, adjusting hooks and eyes and re-attaching beads and sequins to her dress before she could get out the door.
I think everyone would agree that the results were worth the effort.

Belle-Senior Prom 2014

Then today, the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, the deer were leaping about ….
and then it started to snow.  Really???
It snowed off and on but never really stuck.
Still.
It's almost May.

And…I got in my car this afternoon and the tire pressure light was glowing red.   Closer inspection revealed a very large nail in my back tire.
Can't I please just have all cars working at once with NO problems?? Please?
(Click here, here, and here to read about some of my other car problems. It will make you feel better about your life, I promise.)

So in the morning I will be bonding again with AAA.  O joy.

And since this really isn't a post-more like a list of my catastrophe of a life- I will leave you with this.
Carlos.
Watching a video of puppies.
Can we say ADORABLE????

                              

As always, if you can't see the video, click here.

Isn't he cute???


O! And a reminder that if you want to enter to win a blanket
from my new venture- Cherry Creek Co.-
click here.

A Tuesday afternoon update. 

In the midst of waiting almost 4 hours for AAA to show up, I get a call from Belle. She pulled into the school parking lot and the Hummer died. In the middle of the parking lot. Not in a space. Probably blocking other people. She sounded almost in tears although I give her credit for hitting that OnStar button even before she called me. Boys from her class came out and pushed the car into a space and out of the way. OnStar sent a tow truck. We are waiting for a diagnosis. 

And this is what came out of my tire:

The staple, not the dime, was pulled out of my tire. 

I'm thinking of moving to Mackinac Island. No cars allowed there.