:(

Dennis's Grandma died.

RALLY RALLY RALLY

We spent the whole day chasing rally cars and getting Dennis's car good and muddy at the 100 Acre Wood Rally in southern Missouri.



This is Lion's Park in Potosi, which is one of our favorite places to watch the cars because you can see them go all the way around the little gravel road in the park. It's neat. The Lion's had cooked up some awesome chili and hamburgers too.

It was fun, the weather was so nice, and the event was much more on time. There were also a lot more "authority figures" which sucked...

...and nothing bad happened at all...

We took Chris to Henges shooting range today. At first there was a guy next to us with a .45 that was so loud, it made Chris cry. Then some guys next to us were shooting a Garand, so Chris wanted to start shooting our .22 rifle. He did, and he did well, and he liked it.

Dennis was really uptight about it all along, but it wound up being OK once we gave Chris a chance.

EEEE-diot Holidays

Valentine's Suck-o-Matic. Not in the good way :(

I made dinner, Penne w/ Vodka cream sauce, yummy salad, yummy chocolate dessert, real whipped cream. It was good! We had P'Sghetti's good bread to go with it.

Then I got a headache and went to bed.

Dennis was sad. I was crabby and sleepy.

He did laundry.

Blah.

Blah.

Boring.

I got him a "sappy" card. He says it is the first non-funny, non-animal card I've ever gotten for him. It says something like, "If I had it to do over, I'd find you sooner so I could love you longer." (Hey, there is humor there, "Me love you long time." He just didn't get it...) He got me a card that was pukee as well, some cupcakes, and a car wash card. Yeah, Valentine's Day is a top priority around here!

Well, I am going to make it up to him today ;)

Happy Appletime

I made it to Chris's Valentine's Day party at his school! I just had to tell him "Happy Appletime" in person. I guess Paul's phone is disconnected?

Anyway, I'm in a hurry, why the hell am I online? I am supposed to be cooking dinner.

There is no squirrel

Well, it was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the weather was fine for a nice hike in the woods. Right? Sure, but if you happen to be squirrel hunting, and see NO squirrels in the woods, it sucks! Seriously, I had a great time again. But the squirrels are all in the neighborhood, not out in the boonies. *grr* We did have a nice long conversation with a yellow bellied flicker though. It sounded a lot like a grey squirrel, so we stalked it. Nope, just a bird. LOL!

I shot Dennis's .22 at a "Bubba Cola" can as consolation.

It WAS a beautiful day.

Weepy

I'm having one of those wonderous days that women sometimes have, when everything in the world is worthy of tears. I worked hard not to cry while making dinner. It's just hormones. So, of course, I finished Madame Bovary today, and now I'm watching Slavery and the Making of America on PBS tonight. *bawl*


*sniffle*

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

Dennis keeps breathing gross, deep "huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh" breaths on me. Around me. In the apartment.

He's trying to make noise with a turkey call.

Lord, will it ever end?

Sweepstakes Win

I won a Third Prize from Walgreens. First Prize was $10,000 for Chris's college fund. I got a $100 Walgreens Gift Card.

This is what $100 will get you at Walgreens:


Almay Eye Makeup Remover - $4.69
Maybelline Wet Shine Lip Gloss - $5.99
Loreal Colour Juice Lip Gloss - $7.49
Almay Bright Eyes Mascara - $7.49
Almay Eye Liner - $6.99
Hallmark Greeting Cards (6) - $5.94
Swab Plus Dental Whitening System - $14.99 (lost $3.00)
Reach Fluoride Floss - $2.99
Oral B Toothbrush (2) - $5.58
OB Tampons (2) - $13.98
Olay Daily Facials Refill - $5.99
Listerine - $6.99

There was a SAVE $3.00 NOW thing on the front of the tooth whitener, but I forgot about it. I also wanted to get a 6 pack of Caress soap, but forgetting the coupon put me over $100, so I put it back. I wish I would have remembered it. It was pretty fun, and I like my lip gloss. That was the one thing I kept thinking about while I waited for my gift card to get here.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

I've been watching Mardi Gras on Nola.com's webcams. Every year this makes me itchy to get back to New Orleans. I'm also considering trying to drag Dennis down to the Fat Tuesday Parade tonight.

It seems foreign that the parade is going down Washington Avenue instead of through Soulard, but it is exciting that it seems to be catching on, I guess? Except that it becomes less fun and "secret," and more like everything else that gets popular in St. Louis. By that I mean white bread, strictly enforced, overcrowded, overhyped, and bound to make you feel inferior somehow. The biggest concern becomes where to park instead of how much fun it is going to be. When we first started going to Soulard Mardi Gras, Tuesday was the "big" day, and we couldn't convince anyone else from school to come with us. I still don't really understand doing Fat TUESDAY on Saturday, but whatever. I'm also not a huge fan of Washington Avenue anymore. It caught on in that damn exclusivist way too. It used to be a thrill just to go there, but now it's just another place to encounter velvet ropes.

I need to stop complaining and just listen to the weather forecast. Maybe it will be fun to go tonight if it really does snow!

Squirrel Hunting

I have officially gone hunting!

Dennis and I went out in the woods behind his parent's house today. I had a 20 gauge, and he had his new .22 rifle. (And his silly Bi-Fur-Pod, which I refuse to call anything but "shooting sticks.") It started raining when we were still at the car getting the rifle out of its case. Squirrels apparently sleep in their nests during showers. We tromped around, I shot twice at a Bud Light can so I could see what the gun was like, I learned how to load and unload and work the action on it with cold, wet hands. We sat for about 45 minutes on one hill crest that was ringed with oaks and about four squirrel nests. Dennis saw something poke its head out of one of the nests, but that was about it. I had a good time anyway. We just got finished breaking the guns down and cleaning them all out.

Mardi Gras Parade

UGH!

This year Soulard Mardi Gras was a total bust. Dennis is working on his Dad's truck today, so it was just Chris and myself. We got down there in pleanty of time. We parked across the highway just a little south of Gus's Pretzels. It was a long walk across 55 on Arsenal, through the brewery, and then up Broadway. We stopped right at the end of the parade route, and set ourselves up on a nice spot of fence. There was a good 10' hole when we got there.

Some people began to gather around us. Then right at 11:00, the Harley's came through. A woman and two girls came to stand by us, and the girls managed to scoot my polite son all the way down the fence to a group of drunk young women. I tried to convince Chris to be a little "mean" but he just didn't get the whole spot-staking concept yet. Oddly, one of the little girls recognized me from hunter's education last weekend. How strange is that?

We waited and waited and waited, still in a fairly big hole, about an hour and fifteen minutes for the parade to finally come. Then a huge push of people swarmed around us. A tall guy behind me kept hitting me in the head. Adults were reaching around and even over Chris. The floats were mostly out of beads, or just weren't throwing them. I caught a few, but I was mostly jostled and I was really worried about Chris. I've taken him to Mardi Gras about six times, and I've NEVER been in such a rude bunch of people. I've never seen the crowd so angry, and I've never felt so grated. It's always been so much fun, and we've always had good luck with finding a little clump of families, who let the kids up to the front and block the more rowdy people like a herd of elephants.

I think it is because the extremely nice weather brought out near record crowds, and we were on the market side of Broadway. We're usually always on the river side. This is also the first year we waited down at the far end, instead of up nearer the market, or by the big curve. I'll go again, but I'll stay on the river side, and hopefully I'll get a chance to bring Dennis down with me to help me corral Chris in a little pocket of safety.

So we left early, bought some Gus's pretzels on the way out, and we're still waiting for Dennis to come home. He said he'd be here about two hours ago...