Air Show 2009

Me and Tora. Tora is an old friend who is a navigator on C-130s. He flew in a C-130 yesterday at the Air Show.

Me, Mick and Jeff at the Air Show

We had a beautiful day of weather in middle Georgia for the Air Show. Mick (Jennifer's Dad) traveled all the way from the U.K. to enjoy the Air Show. We sure do wish Mike and Jen and the kids could've been here too! We spent the day touring the aircraft, watching the aerial performances and eating way too much junk food.

Jeff and I also took the Marine Corps pull up challenge and won t-shirts. I did the female version (flexed arm hang) for 70 seconds. And, Jeff did the 20 pull ups required to earn a t-shirt. We may be knocking on the door or already at the age of 40 but we still can hang with the youngsters. :-)

Anna sitting in the cockpit of a C-130 at the airshow

Rachel at the Air Show

Rachel, Anna and Me standing in front of a C-5. This is the aircraft that I work in support of for the USAF. The C-5 motto is "Size Does Matter." :-)

Jeff knocking out the 20 pull ups to earn his t-shirt from the Marines. The Marines don't have nuthin' on P90X. :-) My husband rocks!

Disney World

We had a great trip to Orlando and the weather was gorgeous the entire trip. As usual, we would've loved to spend more time. Unfortunately, the cold crud seemed to linger with us for the trip. Jeff and I both had it. Rachel and Anna now have it. I'll probably be visiting the pediatrician with them tomorrow. It took antibiotics to help Jeff and I get rid of it (and we still aren't over it 100%). And, I suspect Anna and Rachel need the same. But, they pressed on like little troopers as they did not let illness slow them down one iota at Disney.

We arrived Thursday evening late in the day and then woke up early and went to the Magic Kingdom on Friday. Our friend, Roger, joined us at the park on Friday as well as Saturday and Sunday. Either Roger is a glutton for punishment or we simply entertain him. I haven't figured out which it is yet.

We went to EPCOT on Saturday, Valentines Day.

Here is an interesting bit of trivia for all you Disney fans...EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. Jeff said that he thinks it really stands for "Every Person Comes Out Tired." That isn't what Mr. Disney said but I think Jeff's opinion is more appropriate.

Roger also joined us at EPCOT and we met up with Mike, a coworker of Jeff's, and Mike's wife, Wendy. It was Mike and Wendy's first visit to EPCOT so we served as tour guides to help them navigate and to choose how to most efficiently spend their time since they only planned to be there for one day.

I think the best part of our visit to EPCOT was the stop at the World of Coke exhibit. Neither Jeff nor I have ever stopped there out of all of our visits to EPCOT. Actually, we never even noticed it being there. Nor have we ever visited the World of Coke in Atlanta, GA. So, we made it a point to stop there on Saturday. But, Jeff was set up. Roger had been to the World of Coke before. And, he knew which Coke products were good and which weren't. He deceitfully encouraged Jeff to try the Italian Coke product called "Beverly." Of course, the rest of us were in on it too. Roger told Jeff how delicious it was. So, it was the first thing that Jeff went for. And, Jeff was thirsty so he took a big gulp. Jeff took a big swig and quickly said, "Oh God!" I thought I was going to pee my pants I was laughing so hard. I took a small taste of the Beverly drink myself and I have to admit, it was pretty bad! Poor Jeff....I almost felt sorry for him....almost. Are you kidding? Feel sorry for him? We live for stuff like that! :-)

During our trip around the World Showcase at EPCOT, we visited the American pavilion. We wanted Mike and Wendy to see the show there as it is one of the better ones in the World Showcase so we waited for it to start. And, in usual Disney style, there was entertainment to keep you busy while waiting for the main show to start. Anna was singled out by the singers. Most people would answer the city and state that they are from when asked where they live. Anna gave a different answer which was very appropriate considering where we were in the World Showcase. You'll have to watch the video to see how it turned out. However, I keep trying to add the video here and am not having much luck for some reason. I'll try to do it another day to see if I have any better success.

We spent Sunday at Hollywood Studios. The highlight of that visit was going to the new American Idol Experience show. We never watch TV at home so neither Rachel nor Anna have ever seen the show on TV but they sure did enjoy it at Disney. They enjoyed it so much that we went to two different shows that day. It's pretty realistic too. We got to vote on the people too. The park guests voluntarily audition to be in the show. And, the winner at the end of the day gets a pass to be at the front of the line at a real American Idol audition. They even had judges that were similar to the three on the real show....including a guy that was a bit candid like Simon is in the real show. We had a blast!

We spent Monday at the Animal Kingdom which is my least favorite of the parks. But, we still had a great visit nonetheless. The Everest ride always kicks my bootie.

Tuesday was our final day at Disney and it was also Anna's 6th Birthday. We spent it at the Magic Kingdom. Anna's favorite character is Winnie The Pooh so we got her a stuffed Pooh bear that was as big as her and it was waiting for her when she woke up on her birthday. Jeff and Rachel ventured to the Magic Kingdom the night before Anna's birthday to buy the giant Pooh for Anna.

She also got some Pooh earrings and a Pooh necklace from us. She had the best time at the park too. Since Disney is allowing any guest in for free on their birthday in 2009, we got other perks since we were already Annual pass holders. Anna got a $62 gift card from the park to use while at the Magic Kingdom. She bought toys for herself and Rachel. Anna was sad that we had to leave a bit early to return home to Georgia today. We had to return home today as Jeff has to travel for work to Dayton, OH, tomorrow. It's hard to believe our little girl is 6 already!

On the way home from Orlando, Rachel noticed a billboard as we we driving down the interstate. She asked us, "What are adult toys?" Jeff began explaining..."You know, remote controlled airplanes (I added, "and, battery controlled.") And, Jeff said, "Lots of action packed movies." I know our children have to learn about the real world at some point but some times they aren't quite ready for the real world and then parents are left in trying to figure out how to explain something to a child who is not mentally ready to comprehend the full scope of the subject. Or, in our case, you lie (sort of) a little just to get past the moment. Of course, the "We Bare All" sign was just a few miles up the road too.

Lordy! Lordy! Jeff is 40!

Jeff has a fun-filled day from walking into his well decorated cubicle (I did it after he left work on Friday) to cake with his coworkers and leaving work to a decorated jeep (courtesy of his coworkers). He says that he'll return the favor to me when I turn 40. But, he would've had fun at my expense anyway. So, I figured I'd enjoy it as much as I could today. I would share pictures of his cubicle at work but I couldn't take pictures in his facility.

I asked him if he was going to do something crazy like have a midlife crisis and go out and get his ear pierced. He said if he was going to do something crazy, he'd go out and get another motorcycle.

I've had a lot of fun at his expense today but I think anyone who knows Jeff will say he does not look 40. He certainly doesn't act 40, but then again, I'm not quite sure he acts as if he ever left puberty just yet either. :-)

I told Anna and Rachel to tell their Daddy, "Lordy, Lordy, Daddy is 40!" when he got home today. Anna decided to tell him after dinner tonight. He asked her where she had heard it and she tattled on me.

Juicy

I mentioned in my post yesterday that we attended several birthday parties this past weekend. At one of the parties, one of the Mom's had on a sweatsuit that had the word "Juicy" written across the back. Jeff noticed it and he had an odd look on his face when he saw it. I asked him what he was up to as I know that look and he nodded his head in the woman's direction that had on that sweatsuit. I guess I didn't think anything about it as I had seen many Hollywood females wearing Juicy Couture clothing when I've read People magazine, etc. I explained to Jeff that it was a popular clothing brand name. He was perplexed by it. He said, 'why not wear something that just says "wet and wild?"' I can see his point....most men don't keep up with women's fashions and I'm sure the majority thought exactly as he had when they saw the print on that woman's sweatsuit.
He said he was going to develop a mens clothing line that had "Throbbing" plastered across the back. He thinks it'll sell like gangbusters.
If you ever wondered where Anna gets her personality from...you need not look far.

Birthday Weekend

Lunch with Grandma and Papa

Gail and Harold came to visit with us this weekend to celebrate Jeff's and Anna's birthdays a bit early since we planned to be in Orlando during Anna's birthday.

Gail and Harold went to their school on Friday and had lunch with the girls. Anna and Rachel love it when family members have lunch with them at school.

And, the girls can invite up to two friends to eat with them. Rachel picked her best friend Chloe and another classmate, Elizabeth.
Weekend of Birthday Parties

We had a very busy weekend. Rachel was invited to two birthday parties and Anna was invited to one. We had one party 5:00 Friday night, one at 12:30 on Saturday and the last one at 2:00 on Saturday. The last party was at a local place that has putt-putt golf, games, batting cages, go-carts, etc. I spent about 20 minutes in the batting cage. I've always loved to play softball or baseball. However, you'd think I'd have the good sense to not push the limits. My shoulders and back are killing me today.

Lesson learned: We will not accept invitations to that many parties again in one weekend. It was a bit much. We were exhausted from all of the running around.

After all the parties, Gail and Harold took the girls to see a movie and then Jeff and I got a date night out for just the two of us. We went to dinner and then saw a movie. The movie we saw is New in Town. It was a cute movie. The plot was predictable. But, it was something humorous which we both needed.

Jeff's Birthday Cake

I wasn't sure what theme I would choose for Jeff's 40th birthday cake but I found a cute design at the local cake decorating store. In this family, chocolate has to be the predominant flavor of any cake. So, this theme worked well.

It took me a while to do today. I don't think he thought it was nearly as humorous as I did though.

Anna...an American Girl

Gail and Harold gave Anna her birthday presents early. Anna received Ruthie, an American Girl doll, for Christmas. Gail and Harold gave her several more pieces from the American Girl collection for her birthday.

Question of the Week:

Before finishing typing this post, Anna walked up to me asked me, 'Mommy, what does "deep doo-doo" mean?'

I'll close this post on that note. I don't even want to think about in what context she learned that term.

A Healthy Competition

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to is. ~~ Vince Lombardi

We decided to go bowling today; something we haven't done in a while. There is no greater competition for Jeff than me. He loves, no, relishes it when he beats me at any game or competition. You could say, I bring out the best in him. I thought I'd share one of his strikes today. You can see that he does not gloat at all when he does well. Such a sweet, modest soul. One of the many attributes that made me fall in love with him.

Kitty Litter Surprise

This is what happens when the wife is away for business travel during the husband's office Christmas party.

I was in Marietta last week and Jeff was left on his own to come up with a contribution for the office Christmas party. He made kitty litter surprise which is actually quite tasty...it just looks disgusting. I have to give him credit for the excellent job that he did on making it look realistic. Something tells me though that if I'm out of town again during an office party, they'll probably ask Jeff to contribute paper plates and napkins.

Jeff Is Going To Be Jealous

Meet Christian.

He lives next door.

As I was updating the blog, I heard him yell for me...."Miss Angela, I have something for you." Then he walks up the steps and brings me a little rose from his yard.

Jeff calls him "Eddie." For anyone who ever watched "Leave it to Beaver," you'll understand the humor behind that. He is a precocious little boy. Although, people who work with Jeff also call him "Eddie" too because Jeff is the one in the office who looks so innocent yet causes the most mischief. I guess it's easy for Jeff to recognize his fellow bretheren. :-)

I've been blessed with two daughters who love to pick and bring me flowers too. I used to bring flowers to my Mom all the time when I was a little girl. But, I think it's sweet when Christian does it too. I much prefer him to our last neighbor's teenage son who had a crush on me. Their teenage son said he liked older women. His Mom used to get a good laugh from the whole thing. What can I say, the younger men love me! :-)

Once upon a time, the young girls loved Jeff. I distinctly remember some young girls...maybe 12 or 13....flirting with him at the movie theater when we first started dating. He had that really young look about him back then...still does in many respects. However, one of the neighborhood teenage girls who is friends with our niece saw him riding the skateboard down our driveway recently and she said, "Look at the old man on the skateboard." I didn't think Jeff would ever recover from that. Poor fella. That's OK. At least someone didn't think that a person who is as old as me was his child. That happened to me about a year ago! Talk about crushing..........

Power Rangers Strike!

Jeff does kind of look like a Power Ranger, doesn't he? Being the good sport that he is, he even posed for me as I told him that he reminded me of a Power Ranger in his new leathers, helmet and gloves. I guess he sort of reminds me of a storm trooper too. I think I'll nickname him "Casper" as in the Friendly Ghost. Ha!

I'm guessing track days are not too much further ahead on the horizon. Rachel, Anna, and I need to practice up on being motorcycle track groupies. We'll sit by the sidelines and cheer him on! Actually, if he keeps this up I may have to suit up myself. I have yet to ride the new Ducati; with or without Jeff. There simply hasn't been time for either of us to ride it.

Pat the Husband

I was reading my August copy of Readers Digest and found this small article on page 26.

An author has written a parody on the children's book, "Pat the Bunny." The new book is called "Pat the husband."

The funny part about this is that right after I read the article above about this book, Jeff came into the kitchen and packed his lunch in a plastic grocery bag and then sat it on the floor right in his path directly in front of the refrigerator. He went to brush his teeth and then I noticed him circling the hallway and looking in the kitchen as if he was looking for something so I asked him, "What are you looking for?" He replied, "my lunch." It was then that I laughed while pointing to the bag on the floor directly in front of him. I then showed him this Readers Digest article about this book. I'm not sure that he found it nearly as humorous as I did. I think Jeff was happier thinking there is a conspiracy under foot.