P-A-R-T-Y?!??

Saturday night was the banquet for all of us Block people that stuck it out the whole season. It was...






















AWESOME!!!

Ruth and I met in McKinney and then drove to Southfork Ranch, home of the fictional J.R. Ewing. We got caricatures, ate a lot, talked a lot, and gambled the night away (fake money, of course).

Date Day!

On Friday I got out of work earlier than usual and Jacob was also done with school. We recognized this once-in-a-lifetime chance to go out alone together and decided to take advantage! We considered going to the movies because we don't get very many chances to do that, but our window of opportunity was pretty limited concerning movie selections, and then I had a brilliant idea.






YES! We went bowling. It was great. Talking, laughing, general good-time stuff, and it was cheap! I had forgotten that bowling is fairly inexpensive. Like $2.00 a game--less than going to the movies (even with matinee prices)! And the best part was...



I totally creamed Jacob.

Doing Taxes Is Seasonal Work

Today was my last day of work. Yesterday was the last day for everyone else in the office. I was just closing up shop today.

It was odd. I got that same sensation I did in high school when it was the last day of school. There are the people that you don't really say goodbye to or "have a good summer" because, well, you're gonna see them all summer. Then there are the people that were your friends, but not really good enough friends to hang out with outside of school (unless through a mutual friend or a party of some sort). What do you say to these people?

Anyway, that was the sensation I got. What do I say to these people? They were nice. We were even friends of sorts. But, let's face it, I won't see them again (except for maybe the 0.01% chance we stick around here and the even lesser chance that I'll come back and work for H&R Block next tax season).

So, we just shook hands, did the whole pleasure-working-with-you thing, exchanged phone numbers with one co-worker (we all know nothing will come of that), and that was it. Goodbye Henry and Richard Block tax services...

Forever.

Maybe.

Indication?

Today I was over at Melody's house, chatting, and one of her friends dropped by. She had her newborn boy with her! Actually, the baby wasn't a newborn, it was almost four months old, but it LOOKed like a newborn because it was a premie and only weighs nine pounds (!!!... when Tycho was four months old, he was closer to 15 pounds). So I got to hold the baby and...

Tycho did NOT like this. He tried to get me to hold him as well (while I was still holding the baby). And then when I said no he started to cry and pointed at the intruder (pour little baby Brody, didn't do anything wrong). Of course this made little Brody cry and I handed him back to his mom. Tycho was very clingy until we went home.

Is this an indication of how future events will play out? I should probably start reading up on how to get Tycho to adjust to a new baby. Oh, the joys of parenting.



p.s. Today was the last day of tax season!!!! I'm happy, but also blah because now I have to get another job.

Donut-Cake (Get it?)

If you really want to be inspired, see this post. If you want to hear a sad sad story about one of my many failures as a cook, keep reading.

It started out okay.

Batter tasted good (Aside: I'm surprised I haven't gotten salmonella yet, because I've eaten plenty of raw eggs in the form of cake/muffin/brownie batter in my time).


I don't have round cake pans, so I settled for one regular cake and figured it would turn out pretty much the same.


I made some icing (just some concoction of butter, milk, cocoa, and lots of powdered sugar). It was warm and delish.

Cake finished. Looked great. Stuck a fork in it and all that good stuff. Let it cool.

Took it to the counter and...



And my pregnant, hormone-infected body reared its ugly head. I cried. I HATE crying. Never do it if I can help it. Apparently hormones are stronger than willpower. But my cute son came over and hugged me and so did my cute husband and we picked up the pieces and attempted to reassemble the cake.

And, yes, we still ate it. Tasty. Even my husband thought so, who prefers brownies over cake any day.

If You Think Home-Schooling Is Nutty...

I read an article about kids being school-homed (raised in school, instead of at home). Many parents are finding creative ways to use public schools to take care of their kids for them, through after-school programs, extracurricular activities, or simply gross neglect. The justification being that a teacher can take care of 40 kids at once and yet this working mom can barely keep track of her only child, or that "more parents are finding that their homes are not equipped to instill the right values in their children." (ahem, talk about massive passiveness in that quote... it SHOULD read, "parents are NOT EQUIPPING their homes to instill, etc... Yes, parents, it's your fault. Let's be more active, shall we, and start blaming the real culprits...) Life skills such as proper nutrition and basic socialization apparently get neglected at home, and parents rely on educators to guide and nurture their kids.

Seriously?

Ridiculous.

Although, I did like the last sentence, and hope that school-homing parents will ponder:

"Though school-homing has proven to be an ideal solution for millions of uninvolved parents, increasingly overburdened public schools have recently led to a steady upswing in the number of students being prison-homed."


p.s. What is the world coming to?

Fun-Filled Easter Weekend

Loved General Conference.

Quote of the moment: "Any two can do anything, as long as one of those two is God."

Holland was intense, Bednar was great (as always), Prez Monson talked like all 12 million people watching were in his own living room just having a chat with an old friend (so easy to listen to). The theme according to me? Family. Duty to, relationships with, challenges concerning, etc. But the inspiring eight hours of wonderful are over... until six months from now anyway.

Our celebration of Christ rising from death: pictures probably make it seem commercial, but thanks to family prayer, reading scriptures, and testimonies shared, it was wonderful both spiritually and secularly. We had an Easter-egg hunt, Easter baskets, colored eggs, and made egg-salad sandwiches with the colored eggs. Tycho loved every minute. And I loved Tycho loving every minute. The festivities lasted until 10pm Sunday when we came back to reality (a.k.a. Sherman).


















Side note/car update: ran the car out of gas completely, so air and other assorted things got in the pump. My lovely genius-of-a-husband got it all cleaned out and fixed and I dedicate this post to him cuz, without him, the above awesomeness would not have been!

Spoke Too Soon

I guess I jinxed it with my last post. The car won't start!! Can't get to work and, more importantly, if we don't get it started we can't go to Fort Worth! ARGH. Seriously bummed right now.

Party It Up, Conference-Style

Easter/General Conference weekend people!! And we Morrills are hitting up F-dub, which I'm surprised my husband agreed to since we went there just 2 weeks ago. BUT the Stephens Clan didn't get to see Tycho last time, so this is a great opportunity. This weekend = Saturday sessions of GC, coloring eggs and lunch in between, then Easter egg hunt and barbeque in the backyard, and, of course, assorted board games. It's gonna be fun for real. Andy's not working, Pops isn't working, so everyone's gonna be home chillin' with us. So excited!