Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

The Showcase Pics are from last night's basketball game against McAdory. We were victorious... and it shows in the girls' faces. Losing gracefully may build character, but winning sure is fun.

I've also added a little photo of the playbill from 101 Dalmatians. Austin came home from JSU to take Melia to see the play. He said they both enjoyed it very much. However, on TV it shows real dogs jumping into the arms of children in the audience. Guess what? Didn't happen! Other than not getting to pet a real Dalmatian, they had a really good time.

SEMI-FUNNY STORY ABOUT A DALMATIAN - When Austin was about seven years-old, Josh was four and Roxie was a baby in the crib, we put them all to bed one night. Mike came downstairs and opened the back door to take out the trash. As the door opened, a HUGE dog came inside. I'm not an expert on dog breeds, but it only took a second to realize it was a Dalmatian... fully grown.

It was quite the shock for me and Mike as this beast of a dog walked into our house like it owned the place. We didn't really know what to do, and let's face it... With every child born in a family, a parent's natural reaction time (which was once quite fast) doesn't speed up. It slows down significantly.

The dog looked us up and down, and made it's way to the stairs. Mike and I were still staring at each other open-mouthed when we heard Austin yelling at the top of his lungs, "THERE... IS... AN... ANIMAL... IN... OUR... ROOM! IT... IS... EATING... US!" That's when we finally sprang into parental action.

We met Mr. Dalmatian on the way down the stairs as we were running to the boys' room. He was most definitely traumatized by our boys' reaction to his obvious attempt at affection. (Code for HE WASN'T EATING THEM. HE WAS LICKING THEM... IN THE FACE... WHILE THEY WERE SLEEPING.) I have to say, that would be a horrible way to wake up.

After checking on the boys and making sure nothing vital was missing from their faces and/or bodies, we went in search of the dog. He was sitting by the back door. Once the shock wore off, it wasn't hard to tell he was a sweet, well-mannered dog. Just very lost.

The boys made their way to the foot of the stairs to see what had attacked them in their sleep, and immediately started the, "Oh, can we keep him?" scenario. Seconds earlier, they had wanted us to shoot the beast dead, but all had been forgiven.

Although we had never noticed a Dalmatian in our neighborhood before, we made a few calls until we found the owners a few streets over. They owned not one, but two, of these beautiful animals, and they were thrilled to be reunited with their pet.

And I was thrilled to once again be "pet-less." At the time, two boys and a baby girl were plenty for me and Mikie to raise. We would add a beagle to our mix four years down the road, but not that night.

NOTE - I know you think I'm spelling Dalmatian incorrectly, but it really is t-i-a-n and not t-i-o-n. I always check because I think it should be t-i-o-n, too.

Since I'm not posting Saturday or Sunday at all, today's post is full of reminders, rules and regulations. Read and follow the instructions closely. A test will follow.

REMINDER #1 - Although there will be no pictures posted Saturday and Sunday, I will still be taking Saturday and Sunday pictures. Project 365 will have THREE new pictures posted by 5:00 p.m. Monday afternoon.

REMINDER #2 - There will NOT be a Party or Event or Devotion posted Monday, January 18 on A Simple Life. There will NOT be a new post at all on A Simple Life Monday, January 18. However, this would be a good time to "catch up" on your reading if you're a Newbie or you haven't read all 318 prior posts. (I'm assuming you do not have a life of your own, and this is how you want to spend your long weekend. I may be wrong.)

REMINDER #3 - Tuesday's post will be up and running as always with a recipe and a recap of the weekend. Things will be back to normal for a while.

Now, we'll get into the Rules and Regulations. These are a little repetitive for the seasoned readers of A Simple Life, so feel free to skip ahead.

RULE AND REGULATION #1 - If you are a Newbie, click on Newbie Info on my sidebar under Labels. This will help you get started.

RULE AND REGULATION #2 - I don't have another Rule or Regulation. See? I'm not as bossy as a lot of people may think.

Weekend Happenings

We're going to the mountains. We go every year around this time (Martin Luther King Day Weekend OR President's Day Weekend) with my sister and her family and Grandmother. We all stay in a big cabin in the valley outside Pigeon Forge, and we make wonderful memories.

We're planning on spending Saturday in Gatlinburg, shopping and seeing the sights before heading back to the cabin for Katie's 16th birthday party that evening.

Sunday is supposed to be rainy, but that will NOT dampen our spirits. The guys will head to The Knifeworks (a tradition), and the women-folk will go in search of the perfect fudge (also, a tradition). We'll meet back at the cabin for a 50s "theme" dinner. Hamburgers, chili cheese fries and hot fudge sundaes are on the menu with Elvis music playing in the background. We'll then retire to the den for a game of Twister and the obligatory Hula Hoop Contest. We'll end the evening watching an Elvis movie. Classic.

In between all of these activities, we'll be hot-tubbing, taking pictures, playing football, taking pictures, sitting by the fire, taking a few more pictures and just "being." We love the mountains, and we're all looking forward to trip number 12!

I hope you and yours have a great long weekend filled with wonderful moments and memories. We'll be busy next week on A Simple Life, so check back in if you get a chance.

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

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and Mountain-Bound Belinda