Last Comedy Update

Lance didn't get a call back, but he had a great time yesterday. I now have a little more info on how NBC did the auditions.

The "known comics," (those who have performed at Gotham or other big clubs) were given a time to audition, they didn't have to wait in line to try to make it through the first cut. These are the people that will most likely go right on to the next phase of the competition. By the time Lance's group got in, there wasn't even much serious consideration going on, if any. They had already met their quota from the day's auditions. Lance went on in a group of 6, and they waited to be pointed at in random order to speak. He says that a production assistant was doing the pointing and he didn't even let them finish a joke before he pointed at someone else.

Lance did get to meet a few stars like Bill Bellamy and a guy from The Sopranos, and another one or two that I don't remember. He also met a professional comic who is blind and Lance helped him get around during his audition. He got to hang out in Time's Square for the day. He got to see how shows like this are made. And, he may be seen on tv for a few seconds when the New York audition episode is aired. All in all a great experience. I'm glad he tried it.

Comedy Update

Lance is now headed home, and should be here in a few hours [see previous post]. I have a million questions about how this whole audition process works and what his day was like. He is not much of a phone talker and is exhausted, so my curiosity will have to wait. For now I'll give you the condensed version I got during our last conversation.

Over 300 people showed up to the audition today. It was a very long day of waiting around to get your time before the "judges" (I don't know what these people are called). He thinks he did well, but does not expect a call back. They were told that those called back would need to be there tomorrow for a 2nd audition.

Comedy

Right now Lance is waiting in line at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City to try out for Last Comic Standing. He is number 208. And, he just told a joke on a radio show doing a broadcast there.

I'll update more later.

Super Bowl

We enjoyed watching the Super Bowl at our house this year with a few friends. This may seem like a lame party to you, but for me it was a first, and it was perfect.

Lance has worked in student ministry for 20 years now. He has spent the last 17 years hosting Super Bowl parties at churches for students.

These parties have been great fun, and I have attended almost every one. But, this year I actually got to sit on my couch next to Lance and watch the game. It was a great game and a great, relaxing time for both of us.

Dreams

I can always count on Chloe for some blogging material.

Last night as I was leaving her room after stories and prayers Chloe asked me if I had dreams. I said, "Yes." She looked at me funny, so I said, "The kind you have when you are sleeping?" She said, "No, the kind you have when you're awake." She then said, "You know how I wanted to be a fisherman when I grow up? Well, now I just want to be a plain old Momma with babies."

Neglect

Well, I've neglected my blog for a while now. The reasons for this are:

1) I've had nothing to write

2) I started a Facebook account

I still love my blog. I'll be back. I just need some stories or inspiration. And, I need Facebook to be a little less addictive.

Good Day

This view from my kitchen window

plus . . .

A pot of soup simmering on my stove all afternoon

plus . . .

My girls getting out of school 2 hours early

equals . . .

one very good day.

Pizza

We ordered the new $5.00 Pizza Mia pizzas from Pizza Hut yesterday. They advertise that these are "specially prepared with rich whole milk mozzarella, old world sauce from vine-ripened California tomatoes, fine white great plains flour, and other wholesome ingredients."

They tasted all right. But, I like regular Pizza Hut pizza much better. So, why do I have to order these special, better pizzas to get a good price? Why are these better ingredients cheaper? Why can't they just sell me a regular old Pizza Hut thin crust pizza for $5.00?

What Are You Watching?

Here's what I have scheduled to record on my DVR:

• The Office
• Lost (just waiting until it's back in February)
• Ace of Cakes
• Celebrity Apprentice
  
• Life
  
• The Cosby Show
• Unwrapped
  
• Little House on the Prairie

Now it's your turn. What are you watching? What's on your DVR or Tivo? Give us your list.

Cruella

We heard Chloe singing this song last night in the bath tub. But, her version went like this:

"Umbrella de Vil, Umbrella de Vil . . . Umbrella, Umbrella de Vil"

Me Gusta Tex-Mex

I love me some Mexican food! More accurately, I love Tex-Mex. Lance and I are always looking for good Mexican restaurants. There aren't very many in Maryland. That's one thing we miss about Texas and something we enjoy when we travel back home. During our Christmas vacation we ate at 3 Mexican restaurants, 2 are old favorites of ours and 1 was new to us. All were great.

Lance and I are also always looking for great hot sauce. (It's called hot sauce where I'm from, aka salsa). I was pleasantly surprised this week when I walked into my local Food Lion and found these:

We really like the Triple Pepper Salsa and the Mexican Four Cheese Salsa con Queso. I've tried many brands and flavors and been disappointed, but I think I might have found the best store bought hot sauce and queso that I've had. I'll keep looking, but for now I'll be buying more of these new products from Pace.

Only at Wal-Mart

I turned down an aisle at Wal-Mart the other day and my path was blocked by a family with a skunk. I think I said "Wow!" when I noticed the animal. The family proceeded to turn toward me and the lady brought the skunk closer. She assumed that I wanted a better look at the thing. It was brown and white, not black and white, so I verified that it was indeed a skunk. I was completely stuck on the aisle with this family and they weren't moving anywhere but closer to me. So, I asked if skunks made good pets. I was told that they made great pets and that this skunk was a year old and slept with the woman holding it every night. She continued to hold the skunk near me, and told me that it wouldn't bite. I didn't know what to do but pet it. So, I did and then they moved aside so that I could get to the light bulbs I needed and continue my shopping.

I am convinced that the above would only happen at Wal-Mart. Never at Target. Two completely different clienteles. But, that's a whole other post.

On a side note, my kids are crazy about animals. I went to the web to find a picture of a skunk like the one I saw to show them. There I found out that pet skunks are illegal in 30 states, including Maryland. Hmmmm.

Amazing

This is one crazy story. Can you believe it?

I'm Back!

Actually, we got back home to Maryland on New Year's Eve, but I'm just now getting back to the blog.

The quick run down of our trip is as follows:

• 16 days
• 9 states
• 3,153 miles
• lots of family and friends
• lots of fun

I will probably post more details later along with pictures. Things have been non stop since our return.

Happy New Year!

Another Christmas Memory

Last year I shared this Christmas memory. Here is another one of my favorites. . .

One December night in 2004, our first Christmas in Maryland, we heard sirens blaring and saw lights flashing in our neighborhood. I went out to see what was happening. To my surprise, I saw a procession of firefighters walking down the street as a fire truck escorted by other rescue vehicles, all with lights and sirens ablaze, made their way through our neighborhood. On top of the fire truck, spotlighted for all to see, sat Santa. This was too cool. I ran back into the house yelling for everyone to come and see. I found Rachel and Chloe and dragged them out of the house. Hannah was upstairs in the shower at the time, so Lance ran up to the bathroom, wrapped a towel around her, grabbed her, and ran toward the closest window. He opened the blinds and they watched as the parade of people and vehicles passed our house.

After the excitement was over, Lance looked down at Hannah and noticed her pale face and shocked expression. She had no clue what was going on, but heard the sirens as Lance pulled her out of the shower. She thought that our house was on fire because he was running with her to the window. Hannah was just waiting for her dad to open the window so that they could jump to safety.

Party Time

Birthday parties are great fun. They are also a lot of work and super expensive. When we made the move to Maryland 4 years ago, instead of having big parties every year for the girls, we decided to begin having birthday parties for them every other year. On the non-party birthdays we still do special things with our family and sometimes a few close friends. We still make a really big deal out of celebrating the special day.

I am loving the every other year party thing. And, I must give some credit to my friend Suzie. She does parties for her 6 kids every other year, too. And talking to her helped me decide to make this change. I mean, come on, there is great pressure to have a big blowout every year. I am glad to have freed myself up from this. I think my kids still have a chance at becoming normal, well adjusted adults someday even though they only had birthday parties every other year.

Well, this year Rachel's birthday was Thanksgiving week. It was her 10th, double digits, a big deal. So, we celebrated her all day (really all week) long. It was also a party year for her. Here are a few photos from the big day that I am finally getting around to posting.

Winter Weather, Part 2

Here are some photos to go with the previous post.

Winter Weather

I spent the first 32 years of my life in Louisiana and Texas, so maybe that makes me appreciate the winter weather here in Maryland a little more. Maybe after living here for only 4 years, I just haven't gotten used to it yet. I don't know, but I don't think I could ever grow tired of snow.

I was so excited Monday to see the first snow flurries and flakes of the season swirling around outside. Well, it has been snowing here since early this morning today, and it is beautiful. I love the snow. I love snow days. Chloe and I have been home today. I thought it would be a great day to get some of the many things that I need to do done at the house. But, I should have known, most of my day has been spent just staring out of the windows watching the snow blanket my yard. I always find it difficult to get much done when snow is falling. I find myself being drawn to the windows again and again.

In honor of the first snow of the season, here are some of my favorite things about snow/snow days:

• school cancellations
• sledding down the hills in our neighborhood
• building snowmen and snow forts
• looking out of my windows at the snow covered trees in the woods behind my house
• cooking large pots of soup and chili
• shoveling my driveway and sidewalks
• seeing those giant piles of snow the plows leave in parking lots that last for weeks and weeks
• hot chocolate and popcorn
• staying in my pj's all day
• the silence that everything being covered in snow brings
• how bright everything looks outside at night when the moon shines on the snow

Schools are closing 2 hours early today. Rachel just got home and Hannah will be here soon. I'm going to get the hot chocolate ready.

Just Another Sunday Together at LifePoint

Here it is. The finale from Children's/Student Ministry Weekend Services at Lifepoint, May 2007.

Holiday Update

We had a great Thanksgiving week. I love having my girls home from school. Here is a recap along with some photos:

• Went to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and Enchanted at the movievater. (This is what Chloe calls the movie theater.) Mr. Magorium's was not so great, but we all loved Enchanted.
• Celebrated Rachel's 10th birthday on the 19th. She had her favorite breakfast foods (chocolate chip pancakes and breakfast burritos), opened her presents, played with her sisters, and chose to eat at Bob Evan's that night for dinner.
• Got the great news that a test my Mom had done last week at the hospital showed no major problems.
• Snuggled up in the bed together and watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Spent Thanksgiving Day with good friends, ate a lot and watched the Cowboys win again.
• Stayed up late playing Mexican Train (dominoes) with Hannah and Rachel.
• Went swimming at the Y a couple of times.
• Went shopping at Pet's Mart with our dog, Annie.
• Went to see the Westminster Christmas Parade on Main Street. It was cold, but fun.
• Took Chloe to the birthday parties of two of her favorite 4 year old boys. One she calls "my best boy, Tyler," and the other she calls "my prince, Elijah."

Turkey Day Test

Thanks for this one, Jen. I am mashed potatos. What are you?

You Are Mashed Potatoes

Ordinary, comforting, and more than a little predictable. You're the glue that holds everyone together.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Rachel's 10th Birthday

Here are some photos from our day. I will write more later, just want to get these pictures up for grandparents to see tonight.

Quarter Quiz

This is a fun little test that my Mom sent me. I scored an 18 out of 20. My girls have been collecting each of these quarters as they come out, so maybe that helped.

Do you know what's on your change? Find out here.

Game Day

Another win for the Cowboys today! 8-1, what a season so far.

Lance spent the day at the game in New York with friends tailgating and watching the Cowboys win again. He's on his way home now, and has had a great day.

More 4 Year Old Wisdom

We had a dry summer here in Maryland and were having a dry fall. I mean, hardly any rain at all for weeks on end. In October, for the first time in a long time, it really rained. Chloe and I were looking out at the rain, talking about God giving us rain and how much the rain was needed. She looked at me with big round eyes and said, "We do need rain, because I heard there was almost a shrought."

Chloe got this little notebook in a bag of party favors. She brought it home, asked her sisters how to write Chloe's Diary, and spent about 10 minutes carefully titling her notebook with a marker. She likes to open her "diary" and practice writing letters and numbers on it's pages. The "diary" went missing somewhere in our house. Chloe sat on the couch the other day and found it behind a cushion. She was so excited, as she came running to me I heard her shout, "Mom, I found my diarrhea."

Chloe likes to help me find a parking spot when we go places. She didn't understand why we were passing up so many available open spots every time we went shopping. So, a while back I showed her the handicapped spaces, the signs, the stick figures in wheelchairs painted on the pavement, and explained what this meant, and why we didn't park there. This week as we walked into Wal-Mart, Chloe said, "Look, they're in the handicapped parking, they must use a wheelbarrow."