Two Things

I sent the kids to bed the other night. Ava came down to find Eric, and I heard her corner him in the kitchen, saying in her cute little girl voice, "Dad, two things....One, hurry up and come tuck us in. Two, you HAVE  to tell us a story when you do."

Eric replied, "Oh, I HAVE to?? Or what?"

Still in her cute little girl voice, "Or I'll do something bad!"

5 minutes later he was upstairs telling them stories. He came downstairs afterwards mimicking her..."Dad, two things....two things."

The funniest part of this story is all that day I'd been getting all the people in my life to watch Homeland. I'd sent my dad, and Richard, and John and Karen Burns links and instructions on how to watch the whole season online. My dad had already watched a few episodes, Richard promised to watch them this weekend while Solomon was away, and John Burns was in the process of starting the first episode that night. I mentioned to John that my dad had already watched 4 episodes and really liked it. John said, "Good grief, do all the men in your life just do whatever you tell them to??"

I just smiled and typed..."Two things:"

(To Eric's credit, he is an expert storyteller. The kids die for his "When I was a little kid" stories. They'll do anything to get him on a roll at night...)

This Is Your Birthday Song...

At midnight on my birthday, I was in a rehearsal room at the UCWDC World Championships in Orlando. Richard, John and Antoinette stopped dancing and burst out in song. It was something else. Then, Antoinette sang a little solo birthday song to me, the cutest song I ever heard. I tried to get her to sing it again on camera, but she wouldn't. I tried so hard, but that girl is STUH-BERN!!!!! She was awfully cute while refusing, though...

Swallow, Fido!

My friend John Burns has many quirks. I could blog for a year and still not hit on them all. But here's a fun one: he can't swallow a pill! He has to chew them up with water for a LOOONG time. I had to get video proof. By the time I started this video, he'd already finished one and had two more to take. Yes, 1:44 is how long it took him to take two pills. I kept wanting to do the dog thing where you put the pill way down in a dog's throat and then rub its throat up and down real hard to make it swallow....

I heart John Burns.

I Thank The Bank For The Money, Thank God For You

(The title? Come on y'all, vintage Sawyer Brown!)


While I'm most grateful for this cute bunch today, I'd like to take a minute to be grateful for my friends. Oh yes, I have a few of them, don't look so shocked...

First, the original and still the best, Melissa. She's the devil on my left AND the angel on my right. How else would she be able to stick around so long...


While changing their dirty diapers, I never thought that my 4 oldest nieces would grow up to be 4 of my best friends, but here we are.

the one I'd go on a field trip with any day of the week, Bonnie May

the one I love getting late night calls from, Brianne Elizabeth

the one who knows what I look like doing "Superman! BANANA!", Brooke Suzanne

and the one who feels my sweat pain, Bethany Gates.

My dance partner Richard, who became one of my best friends our first Christmas as partners when he looked at me and said, "So...I like you, you like me, we don't have to get gifts for each other, right?" And then solidified our friendship when he later said, "Um, my dead gramma in her casket can spin faster than you." And his partner Solomon, who is wickedly intelligent but still treats me like a goddess. Bizarre, I know.

Hold on, I'm going to go so far as to add two more, who over the past year have become peas to my carrots. Everyone's Sugar Daddy, John Burns, who makes this list not just because his grammar is as good as mine, but because he gets me even though he doesn't like to admit it. (I'd add his wife Karen to this list but she's prettier than I, so screw that idea...)

..and the beautiful Antoinette Santoro, who makes me laugh for real, not the fake laugh that I usually use around most of you. Her sense of humor is so much larger than her chest, thank goodness, which is basically just average....

There! See? I have friends!

(Now, to hope that none of these people comment on this post with, "What? Who are you? Do I know you??")