Green thumb??

I had never really felt the "need" to work out in my yard like my dad always did, but this spring, something has come over me. I want to be outside, getting dirty (okay, not too dirty--I did scream bloody murder when a worm landed on my leg), and making sure the landscape looks nice enough to compete with my neighbors.

This is what I have done:

and this is what Arturo did while I slaved away outside. Thanks babe. :)

Omigod, omigod....snappies!

The annual "Mother/Daughter Weekend" was a big hit! Legally Blonde was better than I thought it would be. If fact, I would say Legally Blonde ranks up there with Wicked! Now that's a compliment!

(Who can go to a Legally Blonde broadway show and NOT come away with a hot pink feather boa?)

Becky Gulsvig played the part of Elle Woods. I was VERY excited to see both her and Rhiannon Hanson from MTV's "The Search for the Next Elle Woods". These girls were outstanding. I can't believe Becky didn't win. She was PERFECT as Elle!!!

The puppies were adorable as well. We all laughed and awwwwwed...when the pups "spoke" on cue. :)

Paulette had an incredible voice as well! When the UPS guy came sauntering across the stage, all the girls screamed and clapped. The music went along perfectly with him too...kind of a Chippendale or stripper song.

Elle and Emmett were too cute together. Even though we knew they would be together in the end, the audience cheered when they finally kissed and made it official. :)

**Show photos credit online. Thanks!

Chugga Chugga...

The only picture I don't have that I wish I did was a picture of Arturo and me when we first arrived to the show. Apparently our gracious Lord Almighty decided to use that exact moment to dump buckets of rain water directly over the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City. By the time we ran from the car to the theatre, Arturo and I looked like we had just stepped out of the shower. Neither one of us had a dry spot on us, especially Arturo. Poor Arturo...he had to go back outside to take our "illegal" camera to the car!

Butch Walker opened up for Train. While I had never, ever heard of him, he put on a great show! I've looked him up on Youtube since the concert and plan to download his albums. He's definitely a rocker, but he also has a tender, meloncholy sound to his voice.

The moment Pat stepped out on stage, the crowd went crazy! He's sexy and can sing. What more can a girl want????

I was ready for the show. For DAYS prior, my classes listened to Train's album "Save Me, San Francisco". The kids were tired of it, but you know every time "Soul Sister" played, most of them sang along! :) My two new favorite songs of Train's after seeing the show are "Parachute" and "If it's Love". Pat said "If it's Love" will be their next single. Just wait for it... :)

Pat came down to the floor to sing "Marry Me" and decided that the entire audience should be married. The best part, besides seeing him a little closer, was watching the older women grope him like he was Elvis.

Butch Walker came back out to finish the show and sang with Pat. I love how this picture turned out--gritty with a rocker's edge--just how the show was! :)

**I have two videos to upload, but for the life of me, I can't figure out to upload them now! How did I do it before???

First Day of Spring

Are you kidding me? I wake up to NINE inches of snow on the first day of spring! What happened to our 60+ degrees just a few days ago? Needless to say, I was hoping our speech tourney would have been cancelled, but now I'm glad that the show went on because now I am done until October or so. :) I just can't get over the snow...

a spring and summer of entertainment

Part of a newfound resolution for me is to spend money. Ha! I wish it were that easy, but I've decided I'm tired of sitting at home and missing out on all these great concerts and shows because I don't think I have the money. Yet I'll go to Walmart and spend $50 or more on random crap...makes no sense to me.

Over the past two days, I've spent money on three upcoming shows--Train (April 6), Michael Buble (June 26), and the Broadway show "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (July 9). These three have been added to the list, alongside the Broadway show "Legally Blonde" (April 10) that Mom and I already have tickets for. Needless to say, I should have much to blog about after each show!

If you don't know Train, you should! Their current album, "Save Me, San Francisco" has become my new workout music. Plus the song you hear on the radio, "Hey Soul Sister", is a great one to belt out in the car!

Michael Buble is coming here to KC in June to the Sprint Center, and while I thought he was out of my league concert-wise, I decided this will be my treat to myself for making it through another school year. I'll also be teaching summer school again, so this will be an added bonus!

Both "Legally Blonde" and "25th Annual..." have been on my Broadway list since they hit NYC. These will be two shows I hope never to forget.

The spelling bee show is supposed to be hilarious! For example, during one song, a "kid" misspells a word because he can't control his...ummm...growing member. :) Can't wait for that one!

randomness

I just received my new Ipod in the mail today--I am sooooo excited! I bought it off of eBay a couple of weeks ago. I saved about...a hundred bucks compared to one at Walmart. It's lime green and holds way more than I need! I really wanted it for the gym--I'm tired of being so bored and not being able to hear anything but the sound of the machines. Maybe this will help pass the time and I won't think about being there as long. Now I've spent most of the evening transferring songs from my computer. I think I've put about 1000 songs on it, a pretty good mix of fast and mellow, with a few inbetween, from David Cook and Bon Jovi to Jack Johnson and Rascal Flatts.

Happy New Year!!!!

I just want to wish you all a very happy new year! I know this year will bring about change for all of us, not just me, so here's to a happy, healthy, and a brand new 2009! Cheers!

Books galore

Since my last post, quite a bit has gone on, but nothing that I thought deserved a MAIN post because who really wants to read about school? It seems that's the only thing in my life right now. Let's see... since my last post, my mom has come to visit. We had a great time shopping and eating! Of course, she loved seeing and spending time with her granddog, Soze, more than she actually did us. That's okay--anything to get her up here!

I have read three (and almost four!) books in the last month. My reading seems to go in shifts. I will go forever without really reading an entire book, but since I force my kids to read on a regular schedule, it also forces me to read with them. I have read Eat Pray Love, a book about finding yourself when all hope is gone.

This memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert was beautifully written, although to me, the middle dragged a bit. It's a true story of her year-long purge after a divorce. She travels to Italy (EAT), then to India and lives in an ashram (PRAY), and finally makes her way to Ubud, Bali where she meets the man who becomes her husband (LOVE). Like I said, this book was fantastic and I know the author has been on Oprah. I need to search Youtube and find the clip! When I went to the author's website for a picture of the book, I noticed it said that the movie rights had been sold for a film to star Julia Roberts. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair when I read that! The entire time I was reading this book, the woman in my mind looked just like Julia! I'm still in shock--those things never work out!

My next literary venture was the newest Nicholas Sparks novel, The Lucky One. Those that know me know that Sparks is my all-time favorite "chug down a book" guy. He's one that I can read in a weekend and be totally satisfied. This newest book did not dissappoint. I'll admit that this was the first one that did not make me cry, but I think it was because I had cried so much seeing "Nights in Rodanthe", his newest movie, that I was all cried out. Plus, this book held so much more action at the end than his usual ones do that I was surprised by the ending. This one was totally unpredictable for me!

Once I finished The Lucky One, I finally got my hands on Twilight. OH MY GOD!!!! I know the kids, mostly girls, have been reading this series like crazy, and I used to think, "eh, how good can it be? It's about VAMPIRES, for crying out loud!" Well, the Twilight craze has caught up to me. Once I started reading about Bella and Edward, which by the way, Isabella is now my new favorite baby girl name, I just couldn't stop. I literally could not put the book down! I was reading in class while the kids were reading, I was reading in the car while I was stopped at a red light, and I read it home until I finished. I think I read the book in 3 days. Now I have started New Moon and will continue this series until I'm spent. It is killing me to know what happens!!!! Funny as it may sound for those who haven't read it yet, I totally want the chick to become a vampire just so the two who were MEANT to be together can actually be together. I know--this is what my life has become! I'm rooting for vampires!! Not only that, but I have told Todd (I gave him no options on this one--thanks Hon!) that he and I will be at the movie theater when "Twilight" opens November 21st. No ifs, ands, or buts. I have only seen the trailer once, but I don't care. I will be there, and I just hope that the powers that be have done the book justice. I'm sure I'll blog more about my addiction to this series as I read. If not, I'll wait until I'm finished and then give you the low-down. I plan to be finished with the series by the movie's release. I don't think that will be too difficult considering it's been 4 days now, and I'm in the middle of book two.

Comedy Club Central

Last night Todd and I experienced our very first comedy club. Man, what have we be missing?? I use the word experienced because it truly was just that. We didn't "go" to a comedy club; we didn't "attend" a comedy club; it was definitely an "experience." Todd won tickets to the show from JACK FM radio station, and since we had wanted to go for a while, we thought it would make a great evening. It was a FABULOUS evening--I laughed so hard at some points that tears were streaming down my face! Craig Gass was the headliner comedien, and he was freakin' awesome!
Craig has done so many national stuff--he's roasted Gene Simmons and Tommy Lee on Comedy Central, co-hosted Howard Stern (he's still the sound guy on Howard Stern), does so many impressions, but I know him mainly as Miranda's Weight Watcher-donut-loving boyfriend in an episode of "Sex and the City."

Craig's show is DEFINITELY R-rated and is not suitable for children of any age or adults who easily get offended. His impressions were uncanny--Al Pacino, Sam Kinison, Adam Sandler, Christopher Walken (the best I think), and Tracey Morgan.

I gotta run because we are meeting Todd's parents for dinner, but if you ever get a chance to see this guy in action, go do it. Just leave your children and morals at home!