Back from the Outer Banks

Two and a half days in the Outer Banks with five awesome ladies. Non-stop amazing weather. Five hours on the beach on Saturday followed by an all-night dance fest. Oh, and did I mention I spoke with a West Virginia accent the whole time? Hey Y'all! We've got a busy couple of days before I head out of town again *yippee!* for Joj's weekend o' fun.

First up? But after a weekend of over indulgence, I'm putting myself (and J) on detox this week. J was in New York City for the male half of the bachelorette weekend I just enjoyed. While my weekend was relaxing and revolved around spending as much time on the beach as possible, his involved being bundled up while roaming the streets of NYC at all hours of the night/morning with 6 other wild and crazy guys (and eating all the goods the city had to offer). This week will involve nothing but dark greens, celery sticks, maybe some seafood, sweat sessions at the gym, and WATER for us.

Secondly? Rounding home base on this intense game of hard ball that I've been playing for the last few weeks -- hopefully it'll all come to fruition today. Big changes are afoot in the professional realm, and I'd like to have my brain back, thank you.

Thirdly? Sharing the hilarious story of Leo's exciting (and heroic) weekend. The teaser? A text from J's mom on Saturday morning that read, "Carnage on the carpet! Leo killed a squirrel in the house -- I'm traumatized!" But don't worry, not everything is as it seems...he actually saved the day.

Come to Mama

One fabulous part of having so many wedding events this year? The excuse to buy new outfits and fun shoes!

Behold, the May wedding shoes.

And my June wedding shoes:

The Pigs Have Flown

Because now I've seen it all! One of the amazing things about living in Norfolk is some of the amazing traditions that this place keeps. One of which is the marching of the animals to the circus.

Our tree-lined streets were all aflutter yesterday afternoon when the newspaper posted a last-minute "article" saying that since the circus was coming, the animals would be marched from the train to the arena downtown at 7PM. Now, another interesting fact about Norfolk is that it is the home to PETA's headquarters. So it always turns into a ...circus?...when the Ringling Brothers come to town. Last year we missed it because they printed a time in the paper and then pulled the synthetic wool over PETA's eyes by showing up much later that night. Yesterday, however, they were true to their word.

Mr. Officer, protecting the streets from stampedes

Bike cops galore! Here they come!

At this point, J had to "back it up" with the dogs, since we had no idea how they'd react. Also, this is the moment that my preggo friend Carey and I started jumping up and down.

So fun! And cute! And if you look carefully, on the right side of the 'phants, PETA people were marching with signs, peaceably, because that is their right. I just had to laugh because J had been begging me to go stand on that side of the road, and if we had, PETA would've totally blocked our view. And they might've stolen Leo, thinking that we'd illegally imported a dingo.

But the elephants had their own signs. And they said, "Greatest Show on Earth." Also, I will have you know, the rest of them (other than the two pictured here) were holding the tails of the friend in front of them. That made my heart sing with glee.

There they go! It truly was one of those moments where five minutes later I was all, "Hmm, can't say that's something I've seen before."

And I guess we know who was on poop patrol!

At long last

I rely heavily on the calendar on my BlackBerry.

And when I looked at it yesterday, the next two events on my calendar read as such:

April 16-18, Outer Banks, North Carolina -- Christy's Bach party

April 23-25, KC -- Joanna's Bach and shower

WOOHOOO! Let the festivities begin.

Sniff sniff, cough cough

The fam at one of Dad's many ceremonies...my gift to you, Dad?

Being able to enjoy springtime. Love always, Stacy

When I decided to move to Virginia back in 2004, the one thing I didn't think about was the pollen. The ridiculous cartoonish amounts of pollen that falls out of the trees this time of year. The pollen that coats every car in the neighborhood. The pollen that clogs ones windshield wiper sprayers, so your car can't even fight off the pollen. The pollen that causes my eyes to water, my ears to sound like I'm underwater, my throat to burn. Ahh...the first sinus infection of the season!

And as I was sitting at work this week, sniffling-sneezing-wheezing-coughing, I had a thought. Has anyone ever done a study on military dependents to see if they're more susceptible to allergies and sinus issues? I've heard the theories about eating local honey because it exposes you to the pollen that the local bees are eating, blah blah, and if you think that it works, then you're immediately buying into my theory that military kids are already prone to having worse allergies, because they're moving around from place to place during their childhood years.

Because I don't think there's a way I can capitalize off this theory, since I'm not a scientist or pharmacist, so I share the idea with you. Considering that two out of the three people I know with the worst allergies (J-Gib and me being two of them) are Army brats. Lived everywhere this side of Timbuktu. Theory PROVED. Please add that to the list of sacrifices made by military families.

Skype it up

I don't think it's a secret that I pretty much hate technology. It started with the distrust of the DVD player (or as well called it, "The Devil's Video Device") in college. I don't have an iPhone. I don't even have the data package activated on my blackberry anymore. So when I get lost while driving, I have to call people and ask them to help me find my way. I kind of prefer my simpler way of life.

However, one bit of technology I have embraced fully is Skype. I'd originally joined to keep in touch with a friend who moved to the Middle East, but when it was mentioned by my girl Laura, I jumped at the opportunity to see her "face-to-face" while we chat. And of all the Skype dates we've had so far, this was the first that guest starred Baby Ryan James, Most Adorable Baby Ever. It was great seeing his teeth and his eyes and his ears and his belly (he showed me all of these) and also hearing his sweet voice.

He pulled off his mama's black hat and wore it for the first few minute of our chat. I was able to wow him by grabbing a black hat and suddenly appearing on screen with a similar hat. And of course Laura noticed it was the beret from my Monica Lewinsky Halloween a few years back.

And then last night, two people who embrace technology far less often than me, joined me on Skype. My parents. Why do they have a Skype account? Well, that's because they love Laura more than they love me (I tell her she's Marcia Marcia Marcia and I'm Jan Brady) and they get on there to talk with her and John. I fear they might've hit her up last night, because during our conversation, my mom exclaimed, "Oh! Laura just signed on!" :)

You'll see that Leo joined me for some quality time with his Grandma and his Aunt Ruby. I had to remind my mom that dogs understand less about technology than we do, and so when she kept saying, "Point to Ruby so he understands!" that he probably won't ever comprehend talking to his friends over the internet. Because he's a dog.

The one I tell my secrets to

Happy 6th birthday to the sweetest boy in the world!

In other words, happy birthday to a dog who:

• requires child locks on all of our lower cabinets, because he can open them, and will happily toss the contents about like it's his job
• cannot resist a plastic wrapper of any kind
• would absolutely adore a little piece of whatever you're eating, thank you
• literally sleeps with one eye open so he doesn't miss any of the action
• smells like turnips (nose) and Fritos (toes)
• has a little allergy rash on his tum-tum that we've lovingly dubbed "Trash Rash"
• runs in a gang called the Dingleberry Dorkletwins with a mid-size black dog, who pretends he doesn't exist
• will happily snack on a pot of dirt if you let him
• thinks the game, "Go Look!" is the most exciting game in the world
• is the world's best detective, in the above-mentioned game, who always finds his baby
• usually, just wants to curl up at your feet and take a nap
• loves to stare out the window at the world, and would appreciate it if we'd leave the curtains open a little more often
• keeps every day exciting, filled with snuggles and always with the best kisses

Happy birthday, Leo!