babybloomr

I’M STILL NOT SICK!!

Sorry to get a little scream-y there, but I just felt like that needed to be said with a lot of conviction. Mainly because though Charlotte is better and back in school and Russ is better and back on the road, Madi is NOT better (though not worse) and I’m just now realizing that trying to run a house full of sick people after being gone for a week and trying to catch up with everything (Oh hai laundry!) is kind of exhausting.

So yeah, I’m tired. You know that kind of everything-looks-big-right-now kind of tired? That kind. But NOT sick. Or depressed or anything. I’m happy! Just tired.

I have this blog entry about half written that’s all about this reality show I watched about kid’s beauty pageants and it’s got pictures that I ‘grabbed’ from the show’s website and everything, but honestly, every time I try to finish it I just end up staring at the screen, or picking at a hangnail or deciding to clean out the fish tank instead (you’re welcome, yellow guppy). So I’m thinking this blog entry is maybe gonna have to wait, at least until I can stay awake while I’m writing it– and when you think about it, if writing it is putting me to sleep, maybe it needs a lot more work than I think it does!

In it’s stead, I will now share with you a short little clip that has been flying around the intrawebs lately that totally makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it. As always, I apologize if you’ve already seen it–but even if you have, watch it again, this stuff is funny!

(My favorite part is the look on his face at the very end…)

FYI, the coughing isn’t coming from me, just every other member of the household.

I kept the girls home from school, they are still running temp and now Russ has officially succumbed. They are all still sleeping, I think. Wait– there’s some hacking coming from upstairs… Yep, somebody’s up, sounds like Charlotte. I am sitting in the kitchen in that comfy estate sale leather chair I love, feet up on the ottoman, with the sleeping dogs beside me (and behind my neck– Phoebe’s butt is curled around me like a big fluffy black and white blow-up travel pillow. Only itchy.) The cupboards are bare, so a trip to the grocery is in my near future. I think some homemade chicken soup is most definitely called for around here. Also? UNPACKING, which could take a looooong time, especially with everyone pretty much out of commission. But before I officially jumped back into re-entry mode, I wanted to show you a few more pictures from the cruise. Are you up for it? (Rhetorical question, I’ve already downloaded the photos.) Here goes:

**This is Lexi, Dean and Kim Hopper’s youngest daughter/Karlye Hopper’s little sister. She is just darling, such a little pistol and she and Madi are totally crazy about each other. This was taken at dinner up in the ‘fancy dining room’, as the girls call it. (BTW– most of these were taken when Char was sick, so they will be a little Madi-heavy.)

**On every cruise, there is always one night when they do this huge dessert extravaganza for the midnight buffet. It really is something to see, it extends all the way around the pool in about four different locations. There are elaborate ice sculptures, carved watermelons and lavishly decorated pastries.  Everyone dutifully brings their camera and takes lots of pictures and then stands in line for a long time so they can fill their plates up and eat themselves into a sugar coma. Since I am such a savvy veteran, I’ll give you a Cruise Tip:  The time to take photos is when they are setting it all up, and you might want to go to the always-open ice cream bar to eat actually eat dessert because there are no lines. And to tell the truth, sometimes those gorgeous display desserts look a little better than they taste… and the next day they usually still have plenty of the leftover extravaganza stuff for you to devour, anyway. (See how educational this blog is?!) Here’s what it looked like:

**They poured white chocolate onto cookie sheets, drizzled it with milk chocolate and then with a very sharp knife, cut them into artistic shapes and stuck them right in the middle of those cakes. Good idea, right?

**Big honking fish ice sculpture– these things looked like they weighed a ton.

**How cute is that chocolate penguin?

**This guy set up a made-to-order crepes suzette/bananas Foster bar. Now THIS would be worth standing in line for.

**This was the construction phase of the ice dragon sculpture. There were a couple of teeter-tottery close calls while they were assembling this baby. I now know a couple of Indonesian swear words, I think.

**Successfully completed, nobody died.

**The culinary team responsible for all the gorgeousness– (never trust a skinny chef.)

Here are some random shots from around the ship:

**Our stateroom bed.

**Our sweet room steward left these for us every night. I am a total sucker for this kind of stuff.

**Towel sting ray with chocolates for eyes– come on, people, that’s ART!

**Upstairs shot of the ‘fancy dining room’. I have no idea what that stuff hanging from the ceiling is– some kind of glass jellyfish sculptures or something. Pretty, though.

**The pool bar at night.

**Close-up of the brass barstools– massively uncomfortable, but very cute.

**Mirrored stairway

**Half-nekkid wall art. I think these are supposed to be ship figureheads. Who do a lot of sit-ups, apparently.

**The Loft– the teenage lair where Madi and friends spent a lot of late hours talking. And studying the bible, I’M SURE.

**Madi and Karlye on their way to The Loft.

**Hey, it wasn’t all fun and games. We made her work the table, too.

**Now for some concert shots– this is Russ singing “Really Big News” to Madi.

**(Here’s where poor 102.4 degree Char was during all of this:)

**I’ll leave you with these lovely memories of Mexico…

**And finally– I could SO be a Mexican wrestler. An obnoxiously-happy-yet-kinda-scary-middle-aged-blonde Mexican wrestler.