Locks of Love and Lovely L

My angel with her new shorter hair

I know, I know. . . I was going to give you a break from us, but must share my darling L's afternoon. L has wanted a haircut for a little while now. Her hair was pretty long and she knew she wanted to get it short for Summer, so we waited to make sure it was long enough to donate. L has donated to Locks of Love in the past, I believe she was 5 the first time. Between the two of us, we have donated 5 times in the past 6 years.
Check them out: http://www.locksoflove.org/

Here are some photos of her as she got her hair cut this afternoon at Anna & Friends. I asked Becki to glue her hair back on once L turned to me to show me the finished cut - she looks so grown up. And looks even more beautiful . . . if that is possible.

This won't hurt a bit

Ahhhh... this is the life

Look ma . . . no hair



Beautiful Thoughtful Fierce

Spring Break 2008

Spring Break 2008. Ruidoso, New Mexico

The long and somewhat relaxing drive.

Helen and the kids playing a rousing game of UNO.

Sort of a disjointed effort on our parts to spend a week at the house in New Mexico for Spring Break. Helen the kids and I arrived Saturday the 15th. Wes arrived the evening of the16th. Monday the 17th W, L, M and I went skiing at Ski Apache. It was crowded with Spring breakers and the snow was not great, but it felt good to get out there and ski for a bit. L had a rough start, but after lunch she was good as new and tore up the mountain . . . well, Lower Deep Freeze anyway. M had a morning lesson and then spent some time with Wes on the bunny slopes. M and I went for about 30 minutes and he decided he was OVER IT and wanted to have a snack and chill out in the car. L and I spent the last hour of the day splitting up to ski our favorite runs and then meeting back so we could ride the lift up. She was quite an independent one this year... can't believe she is growing up so fast. I have no pictures as of now, maybe Wes will share when he gets home.

Tuesday through Thursday is somewhat a blur of activity scattered with rest and relaxation.
Tuesday Wes went to El Paso to pick up his friend Stephen. Unfortunately Stephen was delayed due to bad weather at DFW and ended up not making it. Wes did end up staying out in the area to get pictures of trains until Wednesday though. Tuesday L and I went in to town to have a little girls only shopping time. L found several books she had wanted, I found shoes. . . we both found chocolate! The rest of the day was spent with me going for a jog in my new shoes...gasp at 7800 ft above sea level it was more of a fast walk with intermittent jogging and breathing (yes, I said intermittent breathing), the kids played outside and inside quite nicely and we lazed around until it was time for dinner. We got all dolled up for Pasta Mania night at the club.

Ready to go eat . . . would you like some cheese with that?

Pasta Mania is always an entertaining dining experience when you have kids. It is similar to an omelet station - you have your 3 pastas, 3 sauces and all kinds of add ins. You pile up your add ins and tell the chef what pasta and sauce you want and viola! you have your very own pasta creation. L was adventurous on her 2nd round and got the chili pasta, decided she loved it and got more so she could take it home . . . for breakfast. M got his first plate of pasta, the sauce was wrong, but he tried it and was very diplomatic in letting us know that the sauce was not exactly what he wanted, but he would eat it as it was still "okay". Then he went up to get his second plate (all by himself... why do they grow up so fast?) and was pleased with the outcome. THEN we got our dessert and he was in heaven with his lemon cake. He was so pleased that he found the manager and told her exactly how he felt about his wonderful dining experience and about the best cake he had ever eaten. We have decided that he will be a food critic when he grows up.

Wednesday was a go go go kind of day. I packed a picnic cooler and took the kids out for the day. We went to Smokey Bear National Monument in Capitan, NM first. M had read the story of Smokey Bear this past Fall and when we decided to come out here for Spring break - I told him we would take him to where Smokey Bear was found and then later buried. He took his time looking at everything and was very interested in all things Smokey Bear.

Coloring at Smokey Bear Museum.

M taking his time to read everything.

We were done at Smokey Bear and had planned to have a picnic lunch, but it was still early. So - we decided to go to the Valley of Fires to have our lunch - just a quick 40 minute drive away. Really an interesting area if you are ever West of Carrizozo NM and have about an hour - check it out. Google 'Valley of Fires, NM' - it looks pretty amazing from the satellite view. We had our picnic (how is it that food always tastes better on a picnic?) and then went for the hike around the park before we headed home.

L & M at Valley of Fires Recreation area

Valley of Fires - Martian landscapes on the malpais

We had a restful afternoon on Wednesday. I was packing up to go back to Texas Thursday morning and the kids and Helen went to the fort and played. Wes returned home in time for Lobster Night at the club. I think if you title dinner it makes it more of an extravaganza and more people show up. I will have to remember that for the future.... "Hey kids- tonight is Frozen Chicken Nuggets and Tater Tots Night!". No?
We celebrated M's 7th b-day after Lobster Night . . . here we are ready for dinner with our almost birthday boy (how old are you?!?).

M making a wish

Why M really likes to go to NM.

That is a recap of the part of Spring Break that I was on. I am sure Wes will update his blog with any gaps I have and with the days I was gone.

Thursday morning I left for Texas to have a break from Spring break. As much as I love to go on vacation and get away from it all - I do love to be in Texas, to be in my home state. AND - you can drive 80 on I-10 . . . what's not to love about TX?

I wound up in Kerrville. I knew I wanted to go to Fredericksburg to do some shopping, but I also wanted to see some of the Texas hill country. Friday morning I went for a hike at the Lost Maples State natural area near Vanderpool, TX. Really pretty and relaxing hike - something I would love to do in the Fall when the maples turn color. Just gorgeous area and the hike wasn't bad at all - the views were well worth it. I did not pack my camera thinking I would not make it with any extras on the 4 1/2 mile hike... I regret that I did not bring it this time. You can check out the park at this website though: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lost_maples/

After cleaning up - I headed to Fredericksburg to do a little shopping. I did not realize that it was Texas Hell Week and there were hundreds of cyclists in town and many on the stretch of road between Kerrville and Fredericksburg. I applaud these folks for their bravery in cycling the Texas Hill Country AND their drive to do this for a whole week. Needless to say - town was jam packed with people. I ended up at Wildseed Ranch, just East of town - if you need something to plant in or decorate your garden with - they have it. I could have spent a whole day there getting ideas and picking out plants and flowers for my yard. I may have to go back for some Fall plants. I did get some seeds to plant for color in the front flower beds. I will try to remember to post pictures when they come up. Went to a winery and got a few bottles to try. Toured the Nimitz Museum, had been there when I was in high school... they changed the name to the National Museum of the Pacific War, although the museum part is more a history of Chester Nimitz than the war itself. If you have not been in a long while, go again - they have added a lot to the museum since I was in high school... and if you know me - you know that was a LONG time ago....

Saturday I headed to San Marcos to see Keri and Eric and have breakfast with them, Kim S and Luke. We ate at The Root Cellar (http://www.rootcellarcafe.com) in San Marcos - I highly recommend you stop here for breakfast sometime. I hear their other menu items are just as spectacular and I hope to get to try them all in time. Had a coffee at Mochas and Javas before heading back to Keri & Eric's place to play with the cats and hang out for a bit. Eric - thank you for the suggestion of a caramel mocha... oh so delightful and kept me awake for the drive home.

That turned out much longer than I intended . . . I will make up for it by being quiet for a while. I don't see anything exciting on my social calendar until later in April. Something in San Marcos about Eric turning OLD . . . ?

Crazy DFW Weather Week

Snow, sun, snow, sun, fog, sun... what is a girl to wear?

Just had to share my drive in to work on Tuesday. Boring stuff really, unless you like fog.


It was foggy at the house and cleared up a bit then got bad, worse and bad again by the time I got to work. The left shot below was probably where it was the worst and traffic was going less than 10 MPH for about 7 miles. The right shot is just before I turn in to the office. Everyone was driving like they had never driven before. North Texas drivers make me laugh sometimes.

I do love changes in the weather and am fascinated with the weather patterns here in North Texas. I love the saying "If you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait five minutes." I would say Mother Nature has given us quite a show lately with the weather and believe five minutes has been her limit on consistency.

And. . . I like the show she is putting on now with Spring just coming into sight. I love my drive to work for many reasons, especially now when the trees are budding and everything is starting to green up. There are hundreds of Bradford Pear trees lining the street as I drive to work. They are all blossoming now and it makes me smile. Even in the fog, they are beautiful.
I am just glad the SUN day was on Sunday when I got to drive a NASCAR. hee hee hee

Safe driving until next time....

NASCAR on a Sunday morning

WOW! I have been waiting over a year for today... it was well worth the wait.

Sunrise at Texas Motor Speedway

Grab a coke and some popcorn . . . I fear I am going to make this longer than it needs to be.

Of course I couldn't sleep and was up at 3:30 after finally falling asleep after 11:15 AND there was a time change involved... I will let you figure the math on that one. Drivers were instructed to be there at 7 AM for the 7:30 class start. I was super excited to get out there and left the house at 6:30 for the 7 minute drive to TMS. I left the house with everyone still sleeping as they were not sure I would be in this class. It was dark and a bit chilly, I was about the 15th person there and took my time walking around the garage looking at the cars. After I registered, and called everyone to tell them I really WAS in this class not the fictional May 9th class my email confirmed me for. I saw one green car and thought it would be cool to drive that car.

I wandered around the garage and had a fantastic time people watching until class started. The instructor was right out of Days of Thunder... and funny as hell. 15 minutes of classroom instruction then we went out on to the track for our instructional ride around the track. I got to ride shotgun - this is where it does not suck to be a girl in this manly world of motor sports. We went three laps at over 100 MPH in this 10 passenger van while the driver gave us instructions on how to drive and where the turns were. I have decided when I grow up that I want that job.
After being properly instructed we were assigned groups. I ended up in group 2 so I would be going pretty early in the day. My family support group all showed up about 20 minutes before my ride started.

Getting geared up was somewhat comical - we were told numerous times to make sure our suit was quite roomy so we could maneuver our bodies into the cars. The humor came in watching about 6 guys and 2 girls have to change into something a little more comfy. I honestly wanted to see them try to get in the cars with their super tight and sexy driving gear on. I went for a large, which I must say was quite roomy and so attractive. I got a couple of looks when I asked where the pink ones were - they were all blue... WHAT?!?You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good.

-Men in Black

There were probably 120 - 140 people there by 8:15, drivers and observers. I counted only 3 female drivers in the crowd of about 60 to 70 drivers. I thought there would be more... or maybe I wanted there to be more? The first group went at 8:15. My turn was next!

My nerves were getting to me at this point....

They called my group over to the wall to give us car assignments. I got #18, looked around and GUESS WHAT... it was the green car. Happy day just got happier!

Jumping in... and posing for a picture.

Neil was my co-pilot and I was thankful to have him...or I would have been in a wall. The car pulls to the left so you steer pulling right the whole time, even when turning left the whole darn time. You don't really notice too much after about lap 6, but I am sure I will notice tomorrow. Goodness I need to work out.

Look at my pretty green car! That IS me. AAACK!

I must say - it was a rush to go that fast... it took me about 3 laps to find my lead foot...then it was ON! Passing someone on the straightaway after turn 2 was quite a rush! I probably made it up to 130-135 consistently on the straight aways, but was somewhat more timid than I anticipated and did not make it to the 150 mark as far as I know. I was trying to process all the steps and rules, drive a car and enjoy the experience. A difficult task for me as I tend to over-think things to a fault. NEXT time will be all about the speed!

My next adventure will have to be attending a NASCAR event. Although, I fear I would be more interested in watching the people in attendance than what is happening on the track.

Wes, Thank you for the certificate... I know you think I am a crazy chick, but I had a blast!

Thank you for coming along for the ride. I would recommend this to anyone that has a lead foot, an interest in fast cars, more than 3 speeding tickets in their life, the desire to pull right while turning left, or just as something totally awesome to do on a Sunday morning.Parting shot as I drove away - Turn 2 at TMS.

Team Texas NASCAR driving extravaganza

A sneak peek.... I will update tonight when my adrenaline is not so high!

Nice suit... this racing thing is all about the sexy....

Catching up . . . now that I have mad picture skillz

Just catching up . It is "quiet" around the house today. We are all still in a food coma from lunch.

Thought I would take a second to post some pictures I have scattered throughout the memory of my computer. Enjoy. . .

Keri and Eric are here to watch me drive fast tomorrow. These guys make me super happy when they come to visit... and they are so freakin' cute together.



Here are Ryan (nephew), Kim (sister) and Kim Sasser. Ryan and sister Kim are also here for the big "race" weekend. Ryan is even wearing the same sweatshirt this weekend. I know what to get him for his birthday now.


Here is my munchkin #1. How can anyone be so cute? She is NOT excited about waking up early tomorrow, but will put up with it if I feed her steak for lunch. (kids these days)



And munchkin #2 with his favorite person in the world - Miss Dana, his piano teacher. After his very first piano lesson he said "Mom, if every Friday is this wonderful, I want every day to be Friday". Yeah, me too kid... me too.



I realized as I was putting these pictures on here that I need to take more pictures. I have a ton of "big event" type photos, but very few of the snapshots that make up our lives. I rely heavily on Wes to take photos and my daughter to an extent, with her snazzy digital. I have fallen behind in my duties as a record keeper of our lives. I will strive to do better and in the end... hope that you can enjoy more of the quirky things we end up doing (if enjoy is the word I want to use here? ?).

I hope to have some photos up of my NASCAR driving experience in the next few days.

Snowy Day in North TX

Winter wonderland is what I would use to describe the feel when I walked outside late this afternoon.

This is the first real snow I remember this year. I would have to say that I am not really big on cold weather, but I do like to look at the pretty white stuff falling from the sky. OH - and I like to have some on the ground when we go skiing. The problem with snow when you live up here is that nobody knows how to drive in the stuff. I decided to take off work early to get home before the mad dash to beat traffic started. My 45 minute drive took just over an hour - I consider that lucky. Then it was off to get L and get some work done before dinner with mom in law and M. Seems M and mom in law had some fun and made a snow family with a few other kids on the block. L and I had hot chocolate and "chilled" out.

Here are some shots of the snow family :


And my little snow family....

L's random quote of the day . . . "MOM! It's snowing snowballs!!! WOW! Real snowballs!."

Don't know if you can SEE how big the flakes are....

That is all from here. Hope all this clears up by Sunday!!!

Now that I figured out the pictures... i will try to go back and add some. If I find a free minute.

I have to add this from my drive to work the next morning....

This is one of my favorite places along my 20+ mile drive to work every day. There is a house on the hill that overlooks the pond. I imagine it as a peaceful place. Driving by every Monday through Friday from Summer 06 to Spring 07 it was amazing to watch how the drought took its toll on the pond as the water level receded. The lowest level was 1/2 the distance of the pond in. It was sad to see the cows standing there in the mud trying to get some clean water. Watching the pond recover over the past several months has been a relief. To see snow around the pond in MARCH is just crazy. I started carrying my camera with me too late to catch the time lapse during the drought, but I have it in my head... ;)

March . . . already?

Where does the time go?

March may be one of my favorite months. I love the renewal and rebirth of Mother Earth. Waking up now, at this time of year, I hear the birds singing and it makes me happy. It makes me look forward to what the day will bring. Sitting on the back porch over the past several weeks to have my coffee or just some quiet, I have watched a transformation begin with the garden. I looked out this morning and the star magnolias are beautiful, blooming white on stark bare branches. The flowers in the north bed are coming back and the weeds are peeking their little heads out...possibly the one thing I do not like about March. All that and Spring training is underway... oh JOY!

Busy Busy Busy the past few weeks.
Had a meeting in town the 18th through 20th - always a lot of work, but it is fulfilling. This was a great meeting and getting to work with Susy on a project was fun and insightful . . and fun.
Working in the beauty industry does have it's perks. I was able to get a hair appointment at the Frederic Fekkai salon in Dallas on the 22nd. I worked in the morning and then went to get a Fekkai Fabulous hair cut. I will tell you that I am not a girly girl and I do not like to have to go to get my hair cut, nails done or anything that requires someone fussing over me... BUT... this was an experience I could possibly get used to. Oh yeah, did I mention that it was free?

Our Spring National Sales Meeting was held in Columbus this year. I would have to say that this was one of the best the company has held in a long time. Truly a learning environment and a values driven meeting. Fantastic! I was there Sunday through Thursday... and was able to reconnect with a lot of business partners I have worked with throughout my years at BBW and also make many new friends. I will post pictures once I get them... the photographer was only at the evening events, so it may look like all we do is party, but we really did work. ;)

• 3/27/08 - Finally...pictures

It was great to come home Thursday night to the kids. They stayed up late to welcome me home and were agreeable to being smothered in hugs and kisses.

I am looking forward to next weekend. I will make sure someone gets pictures and post them (or have my 6 year old post them) so you can see me all geared up.