How do you spell Nana?

Kendall and I had a disagreement about how to spell "Nana."  I insisted it was n-a-n-a.  She insisted it was m-o-m.  Finally, she brought me my phone, unlocked it, opened up my contacts favorites and said, "See!  Here is Nana's phone number!"  Listed under "Mom."

Embracing a bit of white trash culture

This would be considered an eye sore in proper Dallas ... aka "Snobville."  Thankfully, we are now in Richardson, so it's ok.  Actually, I'm pretty sure it would not be ok with my rental management company.  But seeing as how it took them over a week to have anyone return numerous calls and emails about a plugged up kitchen sink, I'm also pretty sure they don't pay much attention to me.  

Even got it a cover.  

Kendall and I have enjoyed it together .... and I may or may not have gotten in one night naked with a glass of wine after bedtime and after dark.

Late 4th of July post

For the second year in a row, we were 4th of July Scrooges and missed the fireworks.  Well, I am a 4th of July Scrooge.  Kendall is just a kid who adheres to her bedtime like surgical glue.  She tried, bless her little heart, to stay awake.  She even instructed me to carry her to my car if she fell asleep, drive to my office (40 minutes away), carry her in, and wake her for the fireworks which we would then enjoy from a climate controlled high rise in downtown Dallas.  Had she been awake, I might have entertained this notion and am 100% certain that the indoor scenario beats sitting outside in 100 degree heat with skeeters and a million sweaty smelly strangers and then sitting in the car for another 3 hours battling traffic to get home.  I was just as happy to be in bed with two sedated dogs when the noise started.  We did go to the JCC earlier in the day for a pool party and ate hot dogs, watermelon, corn on the cob and ice cream.  4th of July - done.  Humbug.

Not Mama's genes at work here ...

Kendall refuses to work on reading for more than 5 - 10 seconds.  Only wants to do math.  If the numbers get much bigger, Mama's gonna have to break out the calculator.  

Weekend sleep-in update

Dear Kendall, thank you for quietly getting up this morning and going into the family room without waking me up.  Perhaps when we have a bigger house, we can revisit the 6AM tap dancing issue.

Five Point Five

The long awaited HALF birthday.  A 6 month wait, to be precise.  We celebrated with dinner at Black-Eyed Pea which, thankfully, has recently replaced Chili's as Kendall's favorite restaurant.   They have a fried green tomato BLT sandwich that is heaven on a plate.   

This kid has been coveting this ginormous giraffe for almost a year now.  She has saved up her allowance on several occasions in hopes of making the major purchase, only to ultimately purchase something else because she never quite had enough and clearly money burns holes in piggy banks.  But she keeps trying so I have to give her credit.  Saving money quarter by quarter in this economy requires significant will power and patience.  Did I mention she came home from camp last week with an "award" for being "patient?" I am convinced she uses up her reserves of patience during the day while I'm at work which is why they are 100% depleted by the time she gets home ... but I digress.  

A combination of admiration for her tenacity and several glasses of wine resulted in a late night online purchase of "Layna Lena" the giraffe.  "LL" may not be long for this world because Kendall insists on sitting on her.  My guess is she'll be a permanently splatted giraffe within a week.  Then again, maybe not since almost precisely 24 hours after receiving "LL," Kendall had to surrender her as a consequence for rude behavior.  Did I mention she also came home from camp this week with an award for "good manners?"  Anyhow, I spent far too much money on that thing for it to stay in the garage for too long.  But Kendall doesn't need to know this.  

I think I'm going to start celebrating MY half birthday.  The attractiveness of receiving fairly unwarranted gifts may just outweigh the ugliness of acknowledging my age.