Day 1 and a Snow Cone Reverie

I will spare you the play by play of how my tiny boy spent his first day away from us. And you know that I know how he spent his day, down to what he did and did not eat. He's going to sleep hard, and my mom who played with him non-stop will sleep even harder.

How did we spend our evening, you ask? Working late. And then snow cones. Parents gone wild, that's what it is.

I know that it's not unique to have memories of the snow cone stand of your childhood, but I just have to tell you that my hometown has the best snow cone stand I've ever visited. Even Mr. G agrees, and he's not from there so I feel as though he is terribly fair and impartial in this matter. It's called Sno-Biz. The ice is shaved to perfection, they serve it flat top style in a bigger cup so you don't lose any of it (those smarties at Sno-Biz!), and the juice is rich and delicious. My favorite order there is called a sunset, and it consists of strawberry, cherry, and orange. A perfect sunset.

That's what I order every where else I go too, but no other snow cone stand calls it by its more poetic name. Sad story, but it's totally true. Scientific testing has proven that sunsets are more delicious. Other stands are missing out.

The lesser snow cone I had last night.
I had a deadline at work yesterday that I'd been dreading so much because it was something out of my comfort zone. I even worked until midnight Saturday morning to finish so I wouldn't have anything hanging over my head the rest of the weekend, but I was still dreading Monday. And you know, Monday actually was pretty good to me. {insert long-winded lesson about stepping out of comfort zones here.}

I'm praising God, the Creator of this Monday, for that unexpected turn.

3 more days 'til I pick up my boy.

A First Time for Everything: Mrs. Gentry hits the links

Yesterday my ball, glove, and yes, even shorts matched my golf bag.

I have no shame in my pink golf game.
I think I've chronicled on here enough that my husband loves to golf enough that you get it. But yesterday I carried my own clubs out for the very first time to participate in a golf scramble with the folks at my office out at Bear Creek. All for charity, of course.

The funny thing about it is that I've had my very own set of golf clubs since Mr. G and I married. As a good wife who wanted to spend quality time with her husband, I had decided I wanted to become proficient in the game back in 2005. We hit the driving range several times. I even got a super fancy hot pink Titleist bag for my birthday that year to carry my $50 "Classic Lady" garage sale clubs.

Those clubs served me very well. Them, and also this fancy one called a "hybrid" Mr. G let me borrow that in all honestly was probably worth more than the rest of my equipment combined. As I left, he instructed me to NOT lose that club. We even played my ball a few times. (In a scramble, everyone hits, and whoever has the best shot--you use that ball.) But to be most fair, the 3 gentlemen on my Team were very nice throughout the 5 hour round. And we've worked together for 10 years (ten years!!!), so it's almost like family.

It was fun enough that I admit I would repeat it sometime, that is, if I can ever lift my arms again. Oh, and a girl will need shoes, of course.

I think Mr. Gentry might even be a little impressed.

Winner = Me.

I never win anything. Ok, that's a lie because this one time at work (years ago) I won a signed Nolan Ryan baseball while playing BINGO. (Yes, we occasionally play BINGO at work. It was the lunch hour.)

Anyway, I won a Stella & Dot giveaway from cutie cute Hollie over at Blog-o-hollic (hello, cutest blog name ever) Hollie is a Stella & Dot stylist (as well as youth minister's wife and L&D nurse, extraordinaire) and allowed me to pick something out from their super cute collection. I chose the Petra bracelet, and I ♥ it! It's a high quality product, and I know I will wear it a ton.

I'm a sucker for sweet paper goods. This is the box my bracelet came in.

At some point in the next few weeks I'll let you know what else I ♥ from Stella & Dot because there is a ton. (Husband, are you reading?) I know you will be checking this page on pins and needles for my picks.

In the meantime, if you're in the market for some new accessories (and who is not?) then click on over to Stella & Dot!

So there I was, meeting Beth Moore and all.

Thursday night I saw a post on the Living Proof Ministries blog that Beth would be doing a book signing with...wait for it...Francine Rivers!

Being a veteran of such book signings (okay, one book signing), I called ahead to see if they were distributing tickets or if I would have to wait it out in line. Yay for ticket distribution. Friday morning I ran by B&N to pick one up, and--blessed day--I managed to get Group A. So excited and no one to high five. That afternoon, I walked up at 3:35 PM and had met both ladies by 4 PM.

Beth was so kind and sweet. I told her how I felt I knew her from doing so many of her studies and reading her blog and what a pleasure it was to finally meet her in person {bet she never hears that one}. I must admit that I may or may not have repeated this two plus times. It was kind of a blur for me.

Beth and Me
Chatting with Beth's assistant who I knew from A&M and Camp Balcones Springs. Small world!

I also met Francine Rivers at the same time. She has a new book out titled Her Mother's Hope. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics, but she was so very kind. I very nearly compared how reading her page turner the Mark of the Lion series books kept me up as late as reading Twilight, but, praise God, the Lord helped me maintain my dignity.

I think book signings are one of my new favorite things.

Laziness in a Can

I've read about Batter Blaster for a while but just found it in the local Central Market. Just when you thought making pancakes couldn't get any easier, now you don't even have to add water.

This is pancake batter.

In a pressurized can.


Just shake and spray. Quite delicious and perfect for an ultra-lazy Saturday morning. Organic too.

I didn't even know he had a broom

A tribute to The Nuge.

Regarding Twilight

I would call this a book report, but it's probably closer to a commentary on the fact that I read a book (or really 4 books) about vampires, rather than a synopsis of the story itself.

I'm not sure what's more shocking to me: the fact that little conservative Baptist me read them or the fact that they were written by a Mormon housewife. But guess what? I liked it.

I had heard a murmuring about the series when they announced that the movie was coming out. I dismissed it immediately, but someone else gave me just the little encouragement I needed, so read them I did. I bought the book on the way out to New Orleans last weekend and finished it that night. By Monday I had purchased the last three books and finished Breaking Dawn Tuesday night. They are an easy read and really good. I don't think it's the best writing ever or that the characters are amazing, but I had just had to know how it ended, you know? Good story.

I kept thinking about Jane Eyre throughout it, so I was not surprised when I did some research and saw that the author was a fan of Bronte.

Was Bella a weak character? Yes. Girl needs to get a backbone and quit the whining. Would I recommend this for teenagers? I would say no, but I can think of several books that were accepted reading for me in high school that had much less wholesome story lines. (One author that sticks out in my head is D.H. Lawrence.) Are there some dark themes? Of course there are--it's about vampires. However, the whole book is about struggling to be good, even though you have a nature to be bad. And in the end, it's about the triumph of that good.

Have I seen the movie? How could I stay away? As I stood in the bathroom after the movie listening to three teenage girls remark (in so many words) how Kristen Stewart was a terrible Bella, I had a hard time restraining myself from jumping into their 15-year-old conversation. I agree, like, totally. But it was still really good.

And just in case there could be any question about it--I am totally Team Edward.

What'cha Gonna Do About It?

Go here to read about the fact that the NKOTB are bringing it back. Exactly what they are bringing back...well, who knows.

And just in case anyone is wondering, while everyone else was jumping on their bandwagon, I was staying true to Debbie Gibson.

This photo is just painful.