Girls' Night Out

Good Monday morning!

ANNOUNCEMENT #1 - They are back! They came walking through the door around 7:30 p.m. Friday evening looking a little tired, but happy and excited. Oh, the stories they had to share! (We had a few stories, too, but none quite as thrilling as seeing the First Daughter, eating their first lobster, conquering the Metro, etc., etc.) Most of my stories had to do with all the things I lost the week they were gone (my glasses, my keys, my box of 4th of July table decorations, etc., etc.). Mikie found my glasses last night. We're still looking for the keys and the etc., etc. LITTLE KNOWN FACT #1 - I tend to misplace things when I'm stressed. LITTLE KNOWN FACT #2 - I tend to get stressed when all my guys aren't in the same state for days at a time. LITTLE KNOWN FACT #3 - I'm really bad about turning library books in late... and rental movies, too. FACT #3 has nothing to do with FACTS #1 and #2, but since I'm confessing some of my negative behaviors, I thought I'd throw it in the mix.

ANNOUNCEMENT #2 - The month of June I had 850 hits. That is second only to the month I shared Josh's Journey (868), so I'm only 150 away from my goal of 1,000 (a month) by October 16. I just knew you were all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering.

ANNOUNCEMENT #3 - This is my 182nd post today. As you know, it is now my custom to have a contest every 100th post. By my calculations that means Tuesday, July 28 will be the day of my 200th post, and thus, the day of the THIRD CONTEST held on this blog. As of today, I haven't decided what the contest should be about, so I am deep in thought as to what we should do. Think, think, think. I'll be letting you know what I've decided next Monday, July 13.

I've got a lot to talk about today. I'll begin with my Showcase Pic. All of the cousins are dressed in Old Navy patriotic t-shirts. There's a story behind those t-shirts. On the blog, I ALWAYS tell you to visit this website... http://blog.al.com/bargain-mom/ (referred to us by Jennifer). The "Bargain Mom" mentioned Old Navy was selling these specific t-shirts for $1 apiece Friday morning while supplies lasted. Well, Bev and Tommy went to Old Navy to purchase our family matching t-shirts for a patriotic 4th of July picture. When they arrived, there were no huge crowds and there was a table FULL of these t-shirts... under a sign that read $5 each.

She called (less than thrilled with me, I might add), and I re-read the info on the website to her over the phone. She talked to a manager who told her the sale had been cancelled. In fact, it had not been advertised in the paper or TV. Bev told her we saw it on the Internet and the manager honored the advertisement. Bev bought five, Tommy bought five and I was going to pay the full $5 for a t-shirt for Mikie. (Five t-shirts for $9 is still a good deal.) However, the manager had pity on our uneven numbered family and gave us the 11th t-shirt for $1! Go Old Navy!

The picture you see is only of the cousins. We took the big group shot of all 11 of us with my good camera... You know. The one that still uses film!

I will say it once again... Check that website weekly. It is full of good info.

I added 4th of July pictures to the Gallery, and I'll be adding a few pictures every day for the next couple of weeks from Mike and Austin's trip. Today's pictures feature the breathtaking Shenandoah Valley.

4th of July - Our 4th of July was memorable. We enjoyed our lunch and our time at the pool. We then headed back to the house for homemade ice cream and fixins'. As I said last week, we had decided to go to the Argo Drive-In to watch Ice Age 3 (very good), and we arrived 90 minutes early to avoid the crowds. I think 25 cars showed up... TOTAL. It's funny. One 4th of July it was so packed we had to go home, and this 4th, we could have asked 100 of our closest friends to join us and we would have been fine. We also could have arrived two minutes before showtime. But we made the most of it, and we had a good time.

We had changed the dosage on Josh's medication Friday night (as per all our doctors' instructions and permission), and on Saturday morning he woke up itchy and with hives. Not severe, but definitely a reaction. After doctor and pharmacist calls, we put him on Benedryl which made him tired, but held the hives at bay for the day. Toward the end of the movie Saturday night, he complained of itching and not feeling well. A quick trip to the concession stand to check him out under the light showed that he was a "solid hive" from the neck down. His breathing was fine, but he said he had a "twinge" in the back of his throat. Beverly and family cleaned up our mess, and we headed to Trussville to the paramedics.

Let me say now I have NEVER met a bad paramedic. Unfortunately, we've had to meet several the last four years, and they have all been wonderful, professional, helpful and kind. The Trussville paramedic was no exception. He offered ambulatory transport to the nearest hospital (five minutes away), but since breathing was still good, we decided to go ourselves.

Here's a little miracle for you. Ten o'clock on a 4th of July evening and the only people in the ER are a family of four waiting on a family member who had already been taken back, a young woman with a spider bite and us. They took us back within minutes, gave Josh two shots which immediately started working, and we were out of the ER within an hour. UNHEARD OF! Kudos to the ER at St. Vincent's East, July 4, 2009!

Josh is still "hivey" today, but we're hopeful that each and every day he will get better and better. Our main concern is the medication he has been using for three years will still be effective at the original dose. That's the most important thing right now... So if you're a praying blog reader, that is our specific prayer request. All we want is for his original medication dosage to still be effective! This is so important for so many different reasons. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

NOTE: Have you ever noticed when you're around someone with hives it makes YOU itch? I'm about to take a Benedryl myself.

And that's only one of the "things" we've been dealing with this past weekend in the Faulkner household. I'll save the others for another day. I don't want to change the name of the blog from "A Simple Life" to "A Depressing You-Don't-To-Be-Me Life." (Plus, I have totally forgotten how to change the heading on my blog. We're keeping it "Simple," folks.)

I know what you're thinking? "How can Belinda possibly be in the mood to share a Party/Event with us today?" Hey! We can always party, people! So, with that in mind, let's have a Girls' Night Out, shall we?

Girls' Night Out

That's right. It's EXTREMELY important to spend ENORMOUS amounts of time with our families. It is also CRUCIAL to spend TONS of time reconnecting with just our spouses on a regular basis. But it absolutely needs to be a TOP PRIORITY to BE A GIRL now and again. Now, we're not talking every other night. Depending on the "season" of your life, how often you get together with a group of girls may vary, but it is a MUST! (If you haven't noticed, I feel the need to "capitalize" today.)

There are hundreds of ways to spend time with the girls, so I'll name just a few...

1. Plan an evening to go out to eat and go to one girl's house after the meal for coffee and dessert.

2. Plan a "chick flick" movie night with popcorn and a soda (and a visit to Starbucks before you head home).

3. We had a "Lunch Bunch" a few years ago, and we got together for lunch at a local restaurant in the area so the working girls could meet us, too. We met once a month, and each month a different girl got to pick the restaurant. Occasionally, someone would have to miss for whatever reason, but we always had a nice little group who would come.

4. We used to have monthly "scrapbooking" days during the school year. We would skip the months of December and May because they were just too hectic, but the other months we would scrap, eat lunch and enjoy several hours of uninterrupted girl time.

5. I know a group of women who have an annual trip to the beach together. It is "set in stone," and they look forward to those days together each and every year.

6. I have started seeing some old girlfriends from 20+ years ago each Christmas for brunch. One of the girls lives out-of-state, so we try to work it around when she'll be in Birmingham for Christmas. It is a December highlight.

7. Of course, there are Bunko groups all over the place where women come together and play this game for an evening of friendly competition, and then visit for a little while afterward.

8. We have our annual Christmas Tea. This year will be our 11th year of going to a different tea room one Saturday afternoon in December. It is a major time of catching up with everybody.

These are just a few suggestions. If you have any other thoughts or ideas, feel free to share them. But if you can't remember the last time you got together with a bunch of girls, it has obviously been too long.

Don't wait for an invitation. Be an instigator. You don't have to host anything at your home. You just have to pick up the phone and ask a few people to meet you at a fun restaurant for a few hours of fellowship. Easy, easy, easy.

Have a memorable Monday. TELL someone you love them TODAY. SHOW someone you love them TODAY. Even if it is just by leaving a piece of candy on their pillow tonight. I'll have a new SUPER EASY recipe for you tomorrow. We had it for our 4th of July meal and everyone loved it. And when I say SUPER EASY, I mean a two year-old could do it. Well, not really, but I know you SUPER MOMS out there could definitely pull it off. (And, of course, it is copied, so I'll be giving credit where credit is due.)

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.