Billboard Music Awards

It looks like I picked the right day to come out of my blogging shell...just in time for the Billboard Music Awards!  Yee Haw!


Rhianna opens with one of the most vulgar songs played on the radio today.  And now I have to send Maddie out of the room.  (It's not at all obvious that I'm quickly approaching middle age, is it?)


And there's Britney! She looks like she's been taking her meds regularly.  Yay, Brit Brit!


Random Fact: The Billboard Music Awards are live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  I stayed there when I got married.  But not when I got divorced.


Justin Beiber, Taylor Swift, Eminem, and Susan Boyle all nominated for Billboard 200 Album Artist. If that isn't a random group I don't know what is.


Elvis in Las Vegas.  How original!


Maddie's back in the room just in time to see The Bieb win.  She's now explaining to me why he and Selena Gomez make a great couple.  She should know.  She reads Tiger Beat.


And here come The Black Eyed Peas.  Fergie's dress is by Lite Brite.  An ode to her younger Kids, Incorperated days, perhaps?


Keith Urban.  Yum. My.


Ken Jeong isn't funny.  Bless his heart.


Tim Allen!  Not as yummy as Keith, but I was able to identify him without Google's help (unlike Ken and the last two guys that sang).


Wonderful tribute to Beyonce.  She is a class act.  And what a performance! And then her mama got to present her award.  How sweet!


And now I'm a little bored.


Still bored.  And trying to figure out who the guys with Snoop Dogg are.  I don't even care enough to Google it.


Justin Beiber wins again.  I wonder what his Plan B is when his voice changes?


Ok, I'm giving up.  Either I'm old and cynical or this is just terrible.  I'm blaming it on no Lady Gaga.

Hello!

I know, I know.


It's been eons since I last posted.  I seemed to have lost my blogging mojo for a while, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things shortly.  (And this includes visiting and COMMENTING on all of YOUR blog posts, too!)


Our lives around here the last few months could be summed up with one word:


DANCE.


When we last chatted, Maddie had just finished her starring performance as Clara in The Nutcracker.


January involved lots of extra classes for both her regular dance studio and her competition team.


February involved more practice and two weekends of dance competition in Biloxi and New Orleans.


March was even more practices.


April included two dance recitals (in addition to ALL the practice).


And that brings us to May.  After two dance recitals last weekend, we have put away our dance shoes, tights, and leotards for three glorious weeks.  In June, we have a dance intensive with the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet and then we get ready for the Miss Mississippi Pageant.  Maddie is dancing again as part of Miss MS's princess program and I'll be working backstage- complete with my own headset and all black ensemble. Add two more dance intensives at our own dance studios and that pretty much sums up our summer plans and gets you all up to date on life around these parts.


Now, aren't you glad I've been quiet?  Instead of 3-4 months of nonstop dance talk you get one post.


You're welcome.

Pictures!

I know you've all been chomping at the bit for my second post about our Disney World trip (ha ha!) and now that The Nutcracker is finally over I'll get to it soon (and never fear, there will be a post on that, too), but first, I wanted to show you some pics we had made before we left for all the grandparents' Christmas presents.

Disney World 2010 Part 1

Yes, I know that I've been back over a week now, but this is honestly the first chance I've had a chance to sit down and download pics...and what's a trip recap without pics?


It's boring.


It's probably boring to all of the rest of you, too (with the exception of about three people) but he we go:

Our plane finally landed in Orlando, and as you can see Maddie is super excited to be back in the land of Princesses and pixie dust.  As you can also see, Marley (to the left) is super excited to have a column to hide behind while she poops.

Waiting in line for the Magical Express (the first of many, MANY lines we'll wait in this week).  Stickers are our friend.

Finally onboard the bus.  Marley believes this is the Happiest Place on Earth before stepping foot in the park.  Big buses with no car seats.

On our way to the resort!  My sister, Courtney, and Marley (or Bob, as I like to call her).  I think those sunglasses would look so cute on me.  She better not leave them unattended.



Cheesy, but so true.

Bob checking out the room while she munches on her leftover chicken nuggets.

So maybe this isn't the most reviting vacation recap thus far, but Blogger is taking a ridiculous amount of time to load pictures and I'm fading fast.  This is our last week of Nutcracker rehearsal before Maddie's big debut as Clara on Sunday and naturally, she's sick.  For some reason, her body thinks she's an infant again and she has The Croup.  I just made her sit in her bathroom with the hot shower running and then made her sit outside in the frigid cold to see if she may start to sound semi human again instead of the barking seal she's been imitating all day.  Please cross your fingers and say a prayer for her.  She's worked SO hard over the last couple of months and I want her to enjoy this week and not spend it at the pediatrician's office.

Stay tuned for part two and an explanation as to why you haven't seen the other half of our group yet. 

There is No Excuse for Laziness this Year

It's been four years since I've sent out any Christmas cards.  I'm really ashamed and I wish I had a good explanation for my laziness, but honestly, there is none.  Not any good ones at least.


The other day on Twitter I saw that Shutterfly was offering 50 Christmas cards free to bloggers.  It's as if the Christmas card gods were telling me to get off my rear and SEND OUT SOME CARDS TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.  And who am I to argue with that?!


I've ordered calendars for the grandparents the last couple of years from Shutterfly so I know that they're all about quality.  In fact, 12 Months of Maddie is now a required gift every year.  There is no way that I'll get around NOT doing it ever again.  (Which reminds me...I really need to get busy on that!)


After getting on the Shutterfly website and looking around at all the options, I realize now that I should be kicked for not doing this sooner.  There are so many!  It's Christmas card heaven!


I love this one.

And this one.

And this one, too.

Picking my favorite has been way harder than I thought.

They also have super cute cards for Holiday Parties and any other party or gift needs.  I'm impressed and I bet you will be too!

Happy Thanksgiving

...to all of you!  I'm so thankful for all of my sweet blog friends. I'll be back soon with an update and lots of Disney pics!

Today I am Thankful...

For a job that allows me to take Maddie to school every morning and to be apart of all her extra stuff in the afternoons.  This Monday-Friday stuff ROCKS.  I had no idea what I've been missing out on all these years!

Today I Am Thankful...

For a mom who lives across the street and makes dinner for us 3-4 times a week.  I'm not really sure where this version of my mom was when I was growing up, but I'm not complaining.  I definitely appreciate it more know than I would've 15 years ago.  It lightens my load a TON. 

I'm hoping that she'll really take pity on me and do something about the never-ending pile of laundry in there.

An Update. Because Those are the Only Posts I Know How to Write Anymore

- First off, I have to do a bit of bragging.  Maddie tried out for the role of Clara in this year's performance of The Nutcracker at her dance studio and after an entire week of patiently waiting, we found out on Thursday night that she got the part!  After lots of cheers and celebrating, the news has finally sunk in that, as much as we've felt like our life revolved around dance, we really have had no idea how much worse it could be.  So all the complaining I've done about not having time to post?  It's about to get a lot worse.


- The new job is still going great and I'm finally getting the hang of clinic life and all that it entails.  I've traded Babyland for Speculumland and as much as I miss delivering babies, the benefits to having an 8-5 job with a preteen with an overabundance of extra curricular activities is too numerous to list.  For the first time in a long time, I'm a full time mom again and it's awesome (mostly).


- Since we're all friends here, I'd like to say this:  Hello, my name is Casey and I'm addicted to Angry Birds on my iPhone.


- Maddie has Stanford Achievement Tests this week and she informed me today that she must have a nutritious breakfast every morning before school.  Poptarts count, right?  Because, HELLO! Fruit! 


- We're finalizing the last of our plans for Disney World and as of today, we have 47 days to go before we leave!  And if you're tired of hearing about it already, I apologize in advance for the amount of talking I'll be doing immediately before/during/after our trip.


So there you have it.  My life is super busy, yet still super boring to read about.  Maybe it's a good thing I haven't been posting regularly.

Reason #268 Why I Love Twitter

I followed a link on Twitter the other day and found this website.  It's hilarious because it's SO true for most of us Southern girls.  See what you think.