Busch Stadium Tour

We finished our visit yesterday with Grammy & Pawpaw Rodgers and Cousins Trent and Caroline. As luck would have it, we planned our Busch Stadium tour and ballgame on the hottest day of the year. The tour of the stadium is well worth doing it once, however, I would say that the Lambeau Field tour in Green Bay is 10x better. (At Lambeau you actually get to go in the locker room and go through "the tunnel" to get to the field. Very cool.)

It was still fun, even though it was hot. I will say I have attended my last game in the middle of the summer. Yes, the game was in the evening, but it was still miserably hot. We were fortunate to not get kicked out of the seats in the very top row (row #11 to be exact) of the stadium. Our tickets were in row 4 of the highest level. When people came by to sit there, we just switched seats with them. Little did they know row #11 is the only row in the entire stadium that gets a breeze! That at least made the game bearable. Losing the game did not help matters, and I'm not even going to go there.

Out on the field

The girls

Any guesses on who this player is? I really don't know, but I do think he is a card or two short of a full deck since he was doing sit-ups and working out in 150 degree heat. He probably plays for the Astros.

Me in the dugout. The dugout is not nearly as cool as one would expect. It smells like a mix between vomit and chewed tobacco. It was quite gross. If I owned this team, there would be some Glade Plug-ins installed, and chewing tobacco would be banned.

One of the "exclusive" areas of the stadium

The view from the press box. Not too shabby for Redbird Rachel.

A little rest at the Plaza after the tour before heading back to the game

Did You Miss Me?

Doubtful, but I thought I would ask. When bad things happen, the normal schedule just gets thrown all out of whack.

We returned back from the wedding several weeks ago to have our sewer back-up twice in the basement. Nice. Since this has happened twice before in the last 3 months, it caused a bit of concern. Luckily, our plumber friend snaked the sewer drain, and we are back in business temporarily. Because it should not be backing up this often, he suggested running their video camera through the sewer line to locate the problem. Done. Problem found. The neighbor's GIANT tree has roots that have created a blockage in our line where only about a quarter-size amount of water/waste can get through. Nice. We have to fill out several forms for the city/sewer department to come out and basically rip out half of our front yard to replace the clay line with plastic lines so the roots won't get through.

Besides that- ants have decided to set up camp in the kitchen. I despise ants. Not as much as I despise mice and other ROUS, but I have grown to have a great disdain for them over the last several days. Came upstairs last night to find approximately 500 (no exaggeration) ants crawling by the fireplace. Gross! I spent most of this morning cleaning and spraying the counters, cabinet surfaces, and edges with vinegar. It just smells lovely in the kitchen. (At least it's clean.) I'm hoping I don't have to remove everything to clean the inside of the cabinets as well. Hmmm... maybe when Grammy comes.

Thankfully, Mike ironed all the clothes I am selling at the JBF consignment sale this weekend. I've been sorting and tagging in between these hiccups of home ownership. Maybe once I get the stuff for the sale dropped off tomorrow, I will have time to post a few pics.

Read This Book

I highly recommend reading this book. It will open your eyes and may make you think twice about the benefits of computers in the classroom as well as technological "benefits" in general for future generations.

Free Movie Wednesday

The kids and I headed out to Wehrenberg for their weekly free movie. We saw The Muppet Movie. This is mainly because it is the only "G" rated movie they were showing.

Having not seen this movie for over 30 years, it was amazing to see how many of the actors appearing are no longer with us. Practically every scene I was thinking, "Oh that's so-and-so, he passed away." Orson Welles, Richard Pryor, Milton Berle, Dom Deluise, Edgar Bergen, James Coburn, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, and the late great Jim Henson.

I think the kids would have preferred to see "Little Einsteins" on the big screen, but they did say they liked it and had fun, despite the stale popcorn. That was $5 down the drain.

When we came out of the theater Red Robin was there passing out free kids meal certificates. BONUS! Since I had already planned to take the kids to Sonic to use their free corn dog coupons from the library, the Red Robin meals will be used another day.

Pup pup forgot to take off his p.j.'s before we left

My sandwich, not what I ordered, but I didn't want to say anything. I would never order a hamburger with barbecue sauce (or on toast.) It was too hot to sit outside and wait for a different one.

Enjoying their corn dogs

Someone's needs a nap

After lunch we headed to TJ's and Marshalls to find some replacement goggles. They were somehow left in Grammy's dirty clothes bag. No such luck, they'll have to wait for Grammy's next visit to get them. I did stumble upon these hot little numbers...

Honestly, I'm all about supporting my Redbirds, but even this is too much for me. I think the majority agrees with me since they had at least 40 pair on the clearance rack. If any of you think you might want to sport these flashy kicks at the next game, let me know and I can hook you up. I doubt they will run out anytime soon.

Matt & Allison's Wedding

We returned yesterday from Indy where we attended Matt, my nephew, and Allison's wedding. I would have posted these last night, but we came home to find our sewer had backed up again. Nice. Thankfully, to make a long story short, our plumber friend was able to temporarily rescue us. More on that in another post. Anyway, I decided to put the pictures into a slideshow rather than try and pick out just a few to post.

Wedding photogs are so worth the money. It took me several hours to edit these photos and put this together. I'm sure they could do it much faster with better results. The photos look a little grainy in this video, but they are actually in focus. Let me know what you think.

My New Favorite

Alex has definitely become my favorite on So You Think You Can Dance?! It was Kent from Wopopa...yada yada, Ohio, but Alex is just beyond good. Each week he continues to get better and better. His performance last night was hip hop with Twitch. It was A-ma-zing, especially when you consider he is a ballet dancer. If you aren't familiar with the show, they typically dance male-female, but Alex drew Twitch's name out of the hat, so NappyTab (Napoleon & Tabitha) choreographed the routine below. Standing O's all around when they finished.

Beautiful Day for the Park

We headed off to Millenium Park today. The kids really liked it, and it was a nice change from the usual park close to our house. I didn't bring clothes, so they weren't able to play in the fountains. But I will make a point to do that next time, as well as pack a lunch.

Cashing In

Today we stopped by the library to pick up prizes for reaching the 1st pit stop in the summer reading program. The kids earned a few freebies from Sonic, some Magic House coupons, and these snazzy straw glasses. They have been quite a hit since we got home.




Speaking of, our credit union hosts a "Night at the Magic House" every May. They always give out door prizes, and this year Carlie actually won.



Pretty sweet prize. Although with the mortgage interest they get from us every month, I think they can swing it.

Time to Cool Off

Some days, you just need ice cream!

Wickedly Good

Has it really been 10 days since my last post? I guess I've been busy. Today, I finished off the weekend with a Kappa Delta theater outing at the Fox. We went to see Wicked.



It was fabulous! My favorite songs were "Popular" and "Defying Gravity." The only negative thing I could say about it, if I had to, is that the 2nd half (after the intermission) wasn't nearly as good as the first half. The songs just weren't nearly as powerful, and the story seemed rushed. Maybe it was just the venue. Possibly seeing it in another city may make a difference. If I do see it again, I would pay the big bucks to be closer. The 2nd to last row in the UB makes it difficult to get all the facial expressions, even with binoculars.

Always Looking for Bargains

With Doug and Casey's wedding coming up in October, I figured I better start looking for my dress. Casey was kind enough to let us select any dress we wanted as long as it was David's Bridal Apple color. I'm normally not one for strapless dresses, but I came across this one on ebay and ended up winning.



The dress had only been worn once, and the cool thing was, the girl threw in matching shoes, purse, and straps-- all for a whopping $45 (which included shipping!!) Don't know if I will actually wear the shoes. I do not wear heels, and these bad boys are probably 3" or more high. I don't think Casey would want me stumbling down the aisle like a cheap drunk. Doesn't matter though, even if I ditch the shoes, I still got the dress for 75% off of what it would have been new. I always love a good bargain.

Your New Favorite Pants

NOT! I got my daily email from LOFT and was shocked to see that these would be my new favorite pants



Really? These have got to be some of the ugliest, most unflattering pants I have ever seen. Plus, they are silk. Not what you want to wear in the St. Louis heat and humidity. The back of the pants have an elastic waistband and no pockets. Sorry, even Cameron Diaz could not make these look good. These will be on their "final sale" rack by summer's end (if not before.)

New Neighbors

A couple of baby fawns and their mama have pretty much taken up residence in our backyard this past week.

Dinner on a Dime

Last night I made a quick and easy chicken recipe from a book I picked up at Borders not too long ago. Mike raved about it, but will probably be grossed out when he reads the recipe below. The meal itself was under $10 for our family of four, and we had leftovers to be eaten at tonight's meal.

Baked Chicken Tenderloins (8) $2.69
Frozen Green Beans $0.99
Grapes $2.49
Pillsbury Grands Biscuits $0.69 (I had a coupon)



Baked Chicken Tenderloins Recipe

Heat oven to 375. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Use a pastry brush to cover chicken top and bottom with mayonnaise.

Roll chicken strips in Italian Seasoned bread crumbs and place in pan.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until juices run clear.

(P.S. Mike would be grossed out because mayo makes him gag.)

It's That Time Again

Hoping the haircut and highlights (not the facial expression) turn out a little something like this...

EZ Key Lime Pie

THIS

+

THIS

=

Freeze at least 1 hour prior to serving. YUM!!

A week of Highlights

In the midst of me getting things done, here were some other goings on...

Carlie's last day of school

Carlie and Mrs. Fry

Yes, Miss O. is also in kindergarten. She just has a good 10 inches+ on Carlie.

Greek Festival

A celebration of culture, food, fun, and all things Kappa Delta (Ha!)

Getting Some Stuff Done

This late day post is because I have been spending the day getting stuff done. I finally finished painting the crown moulding that has been up almost a year now. That would make for quite a boring picture, so no picture.

Here is the first nugget of wisdom (we are studying Proverbs) brought to you by Pastor Ron on Procrastination.

**Perfectionists procrastinate because they want everything perfect.**
I can so relate


Perfectionists, is this you?

-Trouble completing projects because your own high standards haven't been met? (Like those scrapbooks gathering dust because the pictures aren't that good, and the paper and stickers aren't quite right)

- Preoccupied with details, rules, schedules others don't care about?


Ecclesiastes 11:4 says "If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done."


Wise Moves for Perfectionists to stop Procrastinating
* Focus on achieveable, not ideal
* Put a time limit on tasks
* Make short, practical to-do lists
(for example, --Finish painting crown moulding-- Check!)

Is This You?

Pastor Ron gave a great message last night on Procrastination. I will post some of the sermon notes tomorrow. If this is an area you are struggling with, the notes can help you figure out why you procrastinate and how to change it. He showed this video, and some days I can definitely relate... Time to "Get Some Stuff Done!!" (Make sure to have the volume up so you can hear the narration.)

Friday Fun

Have y'all seen this? It just makes me laugh, but we need more people like Dale Peterson in my opinion...