Food, Glorious Food!

From the way I left this blog unattended, you'd think we were still on the highway, seeing the sights. Sadly, we returned home last Saturday after a 2 night stop over at my mom's outside of Shreveport, LA. I kept meaning to finish the road trip tale, but all I wanted to do at my mom's was sleep and eat. Speaking of eating...
My good friend Niki once told me her dad has a saying..."If you are at least 100 miles from home, what you eat in the way of calories does not count". Ok, sounds good to me!

What is it about eating unusual food and lots of food that makes someone (me) want to grab her camera and record for all to see? All I know is it's a good thing no one had a camera trained on me when, after choosing to eat chicken pot pie twice on the trip, I find out one serving has over 800 calories! Anyone who's worth their weight in "southernness" knows that chicken pot pie is not served or consumed with just one serving. Heck, you're not even full when you get down to the "pot"!

Did I mention this trip fell during the Easter holiday? Question: How many peeps can a 44 year old woman (who should know better) cram in her mouth before her 9 year old wonders aloud, "Hey, who ate all the peeps"? If it wasn't for that yellow sugar dusting my mouth, I'd still be in the clear.

And did I mention my sister Linda gave me 2 packages (12 count total) of marshmallow filled chocolate bunnies ? Would you care to guess how many the children ate? I'm ashamed to tell you the answer is two! At one point Corbin hinted, "Those marshmallow bunnies sure were good!". Operative word being were! All that remained were shiny green wrappers hidden deep under the passenger seat.
Somewhere close to the end of the journey, I decided enough was enough. Sure, it had been fun, ordering whatever I wanted, throwing caution to the wind (and watching it land on my backside). However, come Monday morning, I was determined to undo the damage, turn over a new leaf and eat healthy again.

I'm happy to report I've done just that! No more peeps, bunnies, or chickens in pie form will cross these lips for awhile!

A little less like Goldie Hawn...

.....and more like Angelina Jolie by midday on Tuesday. Thank you for the concern you all have shown. After you quit laughing, of course!

I'm happy to report the lips have shrunk back to their normal size, but I can empathize with the young boy in "A Christmas Story". You know, the one who sticks his tongue to the pole on the school playground in the dead of winter. I could swear that's where my bottom lip has been!

A few "Wally World" photos for your viewing pleasure:

We made it to Graceland!
Fred says he's never spent so much money to see a dead guy's stuff!

The Birds and the Bees

The Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN has a time honored tradition involving ducks. Everyday at 11:00 am several ducks are escorted down the elevator from their 11th floor penthouse home. The elevator doors open and the ducks waddle down a short red carpet and hop into the lobby fountain and swim happily until 5:00 pm when they reverse their route and head back upstairs.

We arrived about 10:45 am on Wednesday to see the show as did about 100 other tourists. 11:00 came, the elevator doors opened, cameras were poised and out the cute little guys cames. The three of them waddled quickly to the fountain and jumped in.

If only I'd had my video camera filming what happened next. Apparently the mallard duck has been harboring "special" feelings for one of his fellow ducks. If you look closely at the photo, particularly under the mallard's beak, you'll see what was on his mind as soon as his webbed feet hit the water..... Needless to say, all the children surrounding the fountain thought they were "fighting" and laughed and laughed and laughed!

OK kids, that concludes our lesson on sex education.

Number one on the top ten list of things I never thought I'd do in a mall

To borrow from the last posting's title of "In theory it seemed like a good idea at the time"....

While Fred went to dinner in downtown Nashville with a friend, the kids and I headed to a nearby mall. Bliss for Gabbie and surely the highlight of the trip so far for her.

As we were leaving the mall around 8:30 pm, I noticed 2 people lying in dental-type chairs getting their teeth whitened with laser bleaching. I've been thinking about having this done for about a month and after a little bit of conversation with the technician I decided to go for it!

Pretty easy! Sit in the chair, bite down on trays filled with a solution, slip on a pair of glasses and let the pretty blue light do it's thing.

After 25 minutes I was astounded at the results! My teeth were truly 4 shades whiter! I marveled at the difference it made in my smile. Corbin and Gabbie marveled at the difference. Fred marveled at the difference.




And then I woke up this morning...

I don't know if I look more like a duck or Goldie Hawn in that movie where she has her lips done!

Whatever the case, I had some kind of reaction and benadryl IS NOT helping. A call to "LaserBright" let me know the same scenario has happened to others who had the inside of their lips inside the bleaching trays. The person I spoke with assured me it will be gone by tomorrow. TOMORROW?? You mean I have to look like I came to Nashville to have plastic surgery for the rest of the day?

I'll be sure to take a photo of my pretty teeth for you when I know you've stopped laughing long enough that the tears do not cloud your vision!

In theory, it sounded like a good idea

"Hey kids, we're on our way to Chattanooga, where Aunt Linda lives. You know, she lives so far from us, and you never get to spend any time with her and she's sure to have Easter gifts waiting for you".

Always one to give options, I continued, "Would you like to spend the night in a hotel again with me and dad or share a special evening with Aunt Linda? Did I mention she bought you lots of Easter Candy?

With the children safely tucked away with Aunt Linda and her cat, Chinny, Fred and I checked into The Chattanoogan Hotel. Beautiful, spacious room with 2 baths, an enormous living area and separate bedroom. Pretty much a suite with a sweet low price! All of this room, no arguing voices to referee, a martini for Leigh, cozy bathrobes and.....