Co(r)nfusion

So there was a little confusion in our house this week. And anytime I need to use the word "confusion" I have to say "cornfusion" because that's what Roman's Latin teacher says. For example: "Those declensions can be a little cornfusing." or "Don't be cornfused by those prefixes." It is something she and I giggle about all the time and we have no idea if he really means to say it that way or not. It's changed that word for us forever!

Anyhoo....my sweet hubby called at the beginning of the week and the conversation went like this:

R: I've been given tickets to the OU-Nebraska game on Saturday.
B: The OSU-Nebraska game! Oh wow! but Oh no! I never did get my Cool Chicks Wear Orange shirt. (notice the breakdown in communication when somehow my brain got excited about sitting in a suite at T. Boone Pickens Stadium!!!) I've got to get off the phone right now so I can get online and order one. I hope I can get one this late.
R: I thought we could invite the N's. (the biggest OU fans in the world.) Do you wanna go? (never noticing the breakdown in communication on my part.)
B: Duh. Gotta jet. Gotta get that shirt ordered!

I get off the phone and on the computer to find the shirt. It's a company called "Cool Chicks Wear..." and I skip the online ordering and call up the company cuz this is such an emergency. It's 8:15 and I've obviously reached the mother of small children who are not happy about having their breakfast interrupted. But I don't care because this is important. I NEED this shirt before I set foot on OSU's campus again! The lady is super nice and says I will have my shirt the next day. Whew. Because she's in Tulsa (how handy) and I was going to make the drive to get it if I needed to!!

I'm all set now, right?

Now that I can think straight, the deets of my conversation with the husband start going through my mind. Why are we inviting the N's to an OSU game? The firm has season tickets to OU games. Why did Richard say he would have to borrow an OU shirt from Randy?

Then it hit me like a Mack truck. There would be no OSU-Nebraska game and no one in Norman would think my new shirt was very cute! waaaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhh!

The shirt came on Wednesday and it is SUPAH cute. Turns out, I'm not going to be able to go the OU game anyway - Roman is playing in a tournament this weekend and has a 5 o'clock game Saturday evening. So, Richard's making it a "guy thing."

Now I'm left wondering 2 things: 1.) Is my brain so orange that it wouldn't even accept the possibility of an OU game? (I do like OU football, honestly.) 2.) How much attention does my husband pay to our phone conversations???

Oh well! At least I've got my shirt!

Catch ya later,

B

Corn Maze

Let me just start this post with my usual, ginormous **SIGH** that I always have when I try to put several pictures in a post. And, yes, I would rather just complain than take the time to research the reason for my problem because I'm sure the search would reveal "USER ERROR!!"

I also know that when I hit the "publish post" button, all the captions will move at least 3 paragraphs from the photo it belongs with. And, these photos loaded in the opposite order that I wanted them. So here's the wrap up at the beginning:

Two cute girls, one evening at the corn maze = lots of fun!

The last thing we did, was make S'mores over the camp fire. Yummo! to quote my fave chef. It wasn't much of a fire. And, if you look closely, there aren't any marshmallows on the girls' wires. We were wrapping up and I realized I didn't get a picture of them roasting marshmallows so I made them pose this picture!!!

The girls rode in this barrell train pulled by a riding lawn mower. It would "whip" them around - as much as that was going 5 mph! I think Macy had bruises on her knees from Roman leaning on them!

This duck race was so much fun! The girls each had a rubber ducky in their lane and they pumped the water to make him race down the pipe.

Seriously, they did this about a gazillion times!

Ahhhhhh.......the corn maze. We started it before the sun went down but got so hungry in the middle that we finished later with our flashlights! We had to answer "Oklahoma Facts" questions to find our way through. Thank goodness because I am seriously directionally challenged. But, we did have the human GPS, Richard, with us to get us out after dark!

I think these flowers are zinnias (?????) Doesn't matter - they were beautiful just like these two girlies!

We really had so much fun that night. The weather was perfect. There were so many things to do that I didn't post pictures of - like the tire horses made into a merry-go-round sort of ride and the corn cannon where the girls shot ears of corn out of a cannon-ish gun thing and the giant hay bales they climbed on forever! We did a hay ride and walked through a huge pumpkin field.

The girls said they wanted to go in the Haunted Hay Maze. But, really, Roman can't even go in the Halloween Express store without holding my hand and avoiding all the mats on the floor that, when stepped on, make creepy noises! We just stuck with the tame stuff. It was freaky enough being in that giant maze in the dark!

I almost forgot my favorite part of the evening! They had a small petting zoo with lambs and goats. We were getting food out of a machine so we could feed them when a tiny, baby goat is suddenly right there trying to get it out of the machine. It was a little startling but, I look up and Macy is about 50 feet away. The girl moved like lightning away from that goat! It was so funny. She did eventually come back over and feed that sweet baby right out of her hand.

So much fun. We have fall weather once again. Yippee!!!

Happy Fall, Y'all

B

Little Nuggets That Don't Get Their Own Post

1.) Thanks, Jesus, for your presence every minute of every day.

2.) We turned in our info card at Wildwood yesterday.

3.) Josh is having a killer sports week: Scored the only goal in his 1-0 win tonight at his soccer game. Scored 3 extra points in his football game last Thursday. Got a sticker for his helmet. Coach said that was a big deal!

4.) No photos of Friday night. Couldn't wear the new jeans because they were made for a giant. Couldn't get hair as big as I wanted. But, the evening was more enjoyable than I expected. Ginormous shrimp cocktail = happy me!

5.) OU Women's soccer game on Sunday was a blast. Huge horse mascot scared the boogers out of me. Roman's team did Goal Patrol - now they all dream of playing at OU.

6.) Bunco tonight. Won the cutest snow man that I think will live in my house all year long.

7.) Hyped up on cappucino right now - probably won't sleep tonight. Expect more rambling posts.

Peace out,

B

An Open Letter To My Children (or why I blog)

Dear Wright Children,

If you're reading this, I must be dead.

Naw. Just jokin'!!

This thought came to me several weeks ago and I just now can find the time to really put my thoughts into words and get them on the screen. I was pondering life's great question: Why do I blog? (You know me and my a.d.h.d - I thought about it for about 5 seconds and moved on to something else profound!)

When my friend Katrina's mom died, she found a book her mom had been working on. It was a fill-in-the-blank kind of book about her mom's life and her memories. Ferne had been working on it for K. What a great discovery for my sweet friend.

Of course, that made me think about my own mother. I have mom issues. It's not something I need to go into great detail about. It is what it is and it certainly shapes the mother I am to my children. But, because I know very little about my mom and her life I started realizing that blogging is my way of preserving little glimpses into my own life for my children to see years from now! (That was a little wordy, wasn't it??) I want them to know what a full and wonderful life I have and that if they find they are a little twisted, sarcastic, fun-loving, love the Lord, have great hair - well, just maybe, they got some of that from me! (The hair is a given - you've all seen their dad!!)

And, for my friends that read my posts, well, you are just gravy. The cherry on top. You bless me daily with your comments (or with your e-mails or phone calls because you can't figure out how to leave a comment...you know who you are...*wink*) I feel like we are sharing life together and that puts a big ol' smile on this girlie's face!

So back to you, Wright children. Being your mom is the greatest adventure I could have ever asked for and I wouldn't change a thing. Every smile, every victory, every tear, every challenge, every change, every giggle, every tickle fight, every doorknob (secret Wright inside joke), every minute is precious to me and I write it on my heart. I don't want to miss a thing.

Love,

Mom

High School Musical Mania

I have a confession to make. I should prolly be embarassed.

I'm not.

I shouldn't even tell you this.

But, I'm gonna.

You might make total fun of me.

Oh well. Here goes...

I really, really like High School Musical. All three of them. A lot.

We saw #3 yesterday and I cried, laughed, sang, chair-danced and clapped. (yes, I clapped in the theater. very excitedly and big. could a hole just open up and swallow me now???)

I think I started crying as soon as the movie started knowing it was about their senior year and that this is the end.

I've tried rationalizing the whole thing. Like "It made me think of Josh getting ready to graduate" (in 6 years) or "It was so similar to my own highschool years." (Ummm......not even close!) I wish it were really like that in high school, right? No Zach Effrons or Corbin Bleus at Guthrie High! We had some cuties but they were waaaaay out of this chickie's league.

Anyhoo...it's over. It was a great run. See the movie - even you mom's of boys. And I leave you with this burning question for you to ponder - completely hypothetical, of course.

How wrong is it for a 40-year-old woman to have a crush on Zach Effron?????

We're all in this together,

B

I Heart the 80's

80's hair rocks! I'm going to see how big I can get my hair for the "thing" tonight. bwahahahaha

I'm off to find the AquaNet!!!!!!

Just Jeans

Have you noticed how casual everyone seems to dress these days?

People that I am quite sure have never set foot on a track are seen every day in a jogging suit. (And by people, I mean me.)

Jeans used to be for farmers. Now they put a little bling on the pockets and a little stitching on the hip and you can wear those puppies to the prom!

This is not a rant. No way. No how. I am all about casual dress. I can't seem to buy a shirt if it doesn't have a hood on it and today, I finally got out of my flip flops only because it was so cold. Of course, I put on my favorite pair of New Balance sneakers!!

I have said that being an RN was the death of my fashion sense. Working in scrubs is the equivalent of working in pajamas. I haven't tucked anything in since before I was pregnant with Joshua. And when my friend, Mindi, said she couldn't go to a church that her kids couldn't wear their jeans and flip flops to - I immediately made that my own motto! Eventually, the dresses and skirts in my closet will be long-forgotten.

Oh yeah. The point of this post.............I have to go to a "THING" tomorrow night for my hubby's firm. A social, get-to-know-you thing for all the audit partners of the new and improved firm. Wives are included. I happen to be a wife.

Dress is casual. Oh, thank goodness! Right up my alley. Where's that hooded sweater and my faux-Ugg boots?? Richard is too sweet to say it, but it's really not that casual. Rats. Jeans are fine but all of mine are frayed at the bottoms.

So, I went shopping for jeans today.

I know I could stop right there because I heard the collective "poor thing" uttered by all of you from around the country and I can feel you shaking your head in sympathy. I know you understand.

I went into the dressing room with 6 pairs of jeans. 4 pair in my size and 2 in the size I wish I was. Some in petite sizes cuz I learned a long time ago that my stomach should be attached to a person 4 inches taller than me so my jeans are always a little too long. All different "washes" of denim. All different back pocket styles. (Sidebar: the back pocket is always the deal breaker for me. They have to make my behind look good, KWIM??) All with different percentages of spandex/stretch in them. Ugh. I hate stretchy jeans. But I wear them or else I would be cut in half.

After a lifetime of trying them on and looking from every angle, I chose the ones in the picture above. They are a dark denim and I've heard it said on "What Not To Wear" or Oprah that they can be a little dressier. But I really got them because of the promise on the tag. If you make the picture larger it says "Close Fit Slims Your Curves."

I hope those babies go right up to my neck cuz I've got a lot of curves!

B

Note to self

The next time one of our children (subliminal message: Brandon) buys a car that requires a special key/lug nut to remove a tire that has gone flat, be sure to kidnap/steal/hide said key/lug nut in a place that said child (Brandon) has no access to, requiring said child (Brandon) to ask his/her parents to retrieve it for him/her.

Guess how I've spent the last two days!! And guess how long it takes a dad to strip a lug not off without the special key!!

:)

B.

Roman's Big Day

Two big things happened in the life of our little girl

yesterday. hmmmmmm.....what could it be? tee hee.

Her glasses came in. Aren't they so cute? And no comments about how big she looks in them. Her "big-ness" is really depressing me these days!

I made a huge mistake when we picked them up.
Me: So, she only needs to wear them in the classroom when she can't see the board, right?

Eye glass lady: Well, now, if she needs to wear them all the time, that's OK.

Roman: I think I can see everything better with them on. Maybe I need to wear them all the time.

How quickly the "I can't see things 10 feet away" became "I'm blind and can't see anything without these supah cute Candies glasses on."

Oh well. I'm hoping the "new" will wear off soon. Maybe after Kylee and Macy see them...

Roman's biggest news of the day.............drum roll please.........................she was accepted into the All State Children's Choir!! Woo hoo! It all started when (I know. I know. I always say that.) her music teacher retired last year from Bryant. Mrs. Yeager has been the music teacher for all of my children. We love her.

About a month ago, she contacted us wanting to sponsor Roman for this OMEA choir that was for unchanged voices, 4th - 8th grade. They only take 150 children from the whole state and don't take many 4th graders but she thought Roman had a chance. She helped Roman make an audition CD and SHAZAM - she made it.

We're not really "in" to these things, but Mrs. Yeager says it's a big deal. We're just excited to get to spend some time with this fabulous lady!

We're off to spend our last perfect day of fall outside. Tomorrow's high is 52 degrees! EEEEK!

B.

Product Placement

Product placement: I've placed this product on my counter in hopes that Starbucks will reward me with a lifetime supply of this ice cream for all this free advertising they are receiving.

You never know who's reading your blog, right?

Side note - I don't like ice cream usually. I do like every other form that sugar takes, but not ice cream. Three bites of this lasts me all day. It is possibly straight from heaven.

You can get it at Walmart.

No kidding.

Warning: Sugar rush and brain freeze ahead!

B.

Head of advertising at my house

Wahoo

I know it sounds like I'm really excited about something. Wahoo!! and then fill in the blank, right? Not this time.

This is a Wahoo board I bought several years ago at a flea market. (Canton rocks!!) I bought it to put up on top of my TV armoire with an old tricycle I had up there.

But instead of putting it up there, we bought marbles and started playing it. And it is f.u.n., FUN! We go through phases. It lives under our couch. Sometimes it doesn't come out for months (except, of course, when I vacuum weekly. yeah, right. some of you are getting a serious laugh out of that one! bwahahaha) and other times, like now, we play it at least once every day.

It's really the Pilgrim version of the game Sorry! that is a popular board game of this time. We are serious players in the Wright house. We don't say sorry - we say WAHOO when we knock someone back into their starting position and it's a death race to get all our marbles into the safety zone.

But how serious can it be when we are all ROFL because Josh, in an effort to "off" his sister, missed his safety zone. Twice!!!

Priceless.

We're getting ready for a match tonight after we "hear" the score of the OSU game (what's that about? Not putting my sweet #8 team on TV this week???? Are you with me OSUDickson??) and watching the OU game. Bruises may be had by all at the end of this evening! *wink*

It's a beautiful day here - I'm off to beg my pansies to GROW!

Peace, love and pansies,

B

Fall Break

There's something you should know about me. I L.O.V.E. when there is no school. I look forward to breaks probably more than my children do. Summer break. MLK day. Teacher's meetings. Zone days. Spring break.

And don't even get me started about snow days. That has to be the grandest treat of all.

So we are in the middle of Fall Break. All of us except for Roman. She doesn't get a break. (Don't feel too sorry for her - she IS off every Monday of every week!! yippee) Richard has even taken off a few days. We usually try to get out of town to Robbers Cave which is way fun. It's a huge cave/rock area that we climb on for hours chasing lizards. They have a festival during this time which is just a small-town craft show with some food booths. Yay!

This year is a little different. Roman had school yesterday. Josh is leaving this morning to go with some friends to their grandparent's farm for a couple of days. (Josh has been with them before and it is one of his favorite things to do.) We thought Roman might have a soccer game tonight. All these things to do so we didn't really plan anything big to do.

Tonight we are taking Roman and some friends to a corn maze. The thrill of trying to find our way through a huge patch of corn with only a flashlight and some cryptic clues might be more than we can take!!

If you don't hear from me in a day or two, send in the search party!!

Hope you're getting a break of your own. Take a little time to smell the hay. (Just make sure you have some Kleenex and Claritin with you!!)

Lator gators,

B.

Friendship

I have great friends. I really do. Real women of all ages that relate to me in different areas of my life. One of those gals sent me the following poem and it spoke volumes to me. Maybe because it confirms that I'm a little twisted!

Are you tired of those sissy "friendship" poems that always sound good but never actually come close to reality? Well, these promises speak of true friendship - no cutesy smiley faces, just the stone cold truth.

1.) When you are sad - I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew.

2.) When you are blue - I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3.) When you smile - I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.

4.) When you are scared - I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5.) When you are worried - I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6.) When you are confused - I will use little words.

7.) When you are sick - stay away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever the heck you have.

8.) When you fall - I will point and laugh at your clumsy butt.

9.) This is my oath - I pledge it to the end. Because you are my friend.

Friendship is like peeing your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth!

Aren't you glad you're my friend??? I**heart** you all!!

B

Forty - the UN-fabulous Part

So, I turned the big 4-0 in December. Not really a big deal to me. I've never been one to fuss and fret about getting older. Sometimes I really forget that I'm not still in my 20's! (Jumproping always reminds me.)

But on the very day of my birthday, something happened.

I was sitting in the cheetah chair reading while watching TV. I looked up from my book at the TV and suddenly the screen was blurry, my eyes were crossing and my head started to spin. OK. Just the screen was blurry but the other stuff made the story sound waaaaaaay better! *giggle*

It wasn't just a freak occurence. It kept happening everytime I would read.

I knew what had happened I just didn't want to believe it! My body was falling apart on me. First the bladder, now the eyes.

So, today I had an eye exam. My very first in my whole life! It wasn't too bad. I've had worse exams that I won't mention. (ahem. **clearing my throat**)

Anyhoo...the doctor said I just needed reading glasses and that I could pick them up basically anywhere. After I begged "Are you sure I don't need some supah cute Sarah Palin glasses???" I picked up these cute boogers at, of all places, the grocery store!! Notice the BLING on the sides.

Might as well be stylin' if I have to wear them at all. Just sayin'!

Roman had to get glasses, also. She got to pick out her frames. I tried to get her to go with the Palin look - but, no luck. They are very cute on her. She can't wait to show Kylee!!

Gotta go read something with my new specs!

B.

That's Entertainment!

What does your family like to do on a beautiful fall day when the temp is 80 degrees, the sun is shining and there's a soft breeze blowing?

My family likes to jump rope.

Inside.

I don't really even know how this started but by the time we were finished we were all howling laughing and, if the truth be told, peeing just a little!! (Let's just say that child-bearing doesn't lend itself to jump-roping ten years later. KWIM? 'nuff said.)

I've put the three videos in separate posts because blogger doesn't like me when I try to upload more than one of anything to a post.

Enjoy!

And Then...

Then Josh took a turn. He has no "flair" for jumproping. He just bursts right in, jumps for a few turns and is done. This is basically how it went everytime he jumped.

No. Really. We're not surprised he can walk and breathe at the same time. tee hee

We couldn't stop laughing.

And finally...

And, last is Brandon. We were all rolling on the floor after this one.

So, that's just a little glimpse into our everyday, insane life. It really doesn't take much to keep us entertained on a Saturday afternoon.

Lator gators,

B.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Fall. Autumn. Fabulous.

It is absolutely my most favorite season.

I love everything about it. The temps outside. The smells. The colors. Oh, the colors. Pumpkins. Leaves everywhere. The food. Wearing hoodies with shorts and flip flops. Scarecrows. Crisp air. Blankets at football and soccer games. Sunflower-ish "weeds" that fill fields with extraordinary color and beauty. Mums in every color. Monarchs passing through. Trees changing color every day. The smell of smoke from fireplaces in the air. Indescribable sunsets.

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." --George Eliot

Hope you're enjoying the season!

B.

My Husband

First of all, my hubby is not a golfer. But look at that form! Looks like he could take on Tiger Woods, doesn't he?

He's really not even that crazy about the sport. He just plays in tournaments when it's required for his j.o.b. (ya know - "The firm encourages golf tournaments." from the movie "The Firm." like "The firm encourages children." I think Lisa Moran and I used to say that about everything back in the day when I married into the firm!!) Wow - that was pure RAMBLE!

Now what was the point of this post? Oh yeah - my husband. He's a thinker. A ponderer. A philosopher. (You might remember the post where I stated I am none of these things.)

One of our favorite things to do is lay on our backs, side by side, on the bed with the door bolted, locked tight (i.e. no kids allowed!) and just talk out the day. He regularly says to me "Where are we going?" "What are we accomplishing with our lives?" "Are you happy?" My answers are usually surface: "To the grocery store, laundry and more than I deserve."

But he really thinks about these things. He looks at the big picture and always wants to be sure what we're doing with our lives lines up with what the Lord wants us to be doing. He wants our children to understand there's more to life than all the things that bombard them daily in the world. He takes such good care of us. I think that's why loving my Heavenly Father comes so easily for me. My husband points our family in that direction every day.

I love that man.

B.

Look What I Can Do!

Have you ever (secretly, like me!) watched MadTV? It's like Saturday Night Live and there's a character on there called Stuart. It's a grown man portraying a bratty little boy who kind of throws

his feet up behind him and says "Look what I can do" and it's really nothing. But it makes me hold my sides while I laugh so hard I think I might explode!

That's how I feel about changing my blog layout. I clicked on a link on my friend Alicia's blog, followed a few simple directions and SHAZAAM!! Look what I can do!!!

There are other things I can add. Lots of other things. Things that will push my A.D.D. over the cliff!

I've decided not to even try to add my playlist to my blog because I can't listen to it and read or type or prolly a whole other list of things! Sad, but TRU DAT!

Someone sent me this cartoon labeled "How to fail a test with dignity" or something like that. I wanted to share it because it made me giggle. A lot.

I hope you get a chuckle out of it. We all need to laugh more, don't ya think?

Maybe I'll go figure out how to add a signature now. :)

B

Stamp for sanity

So in the middle of my crazy-busy week last week, I got together with my stampin' friends at my house. We stamped the day away and these are the cards I made. Again, pretty much all Stampin' Up goodies were used.

The cupcake on the top card was traced out of the catalog and then transferred to patterned paper. The cherry on top was covered in stickles (like liquid glitter) and the sentiment says "Hey Cupcake!" I printed that out on my computer.

The bottom left card is an apron - could you tell that??? The tag that slips into the pocket says "Celebrating You."

The real test is if I actually send these puppies out to anyone or if they just live their life in my cabinet! I love making cards - I just don't always use them. So weird, I know.

I do have to share what I made for lunch that day. (drum roll, please.) QUICHE. That's right. I made a quiche with ham, broccoli and mushrooms in it. AND - it was sooooooooo easy. Have you always thought it must be difficult to make quiche? I have. I can't even use enough o's to tell you how very easy it was. And then for dessert, I made a frozen strawberry dessert. (Seriously, that was the name of it!) Turns out, it was just like ice cream. Good, but not very exciting in the end.

We always have so much fun and such lively conversation. I would stamp with those gals everyday if we could!

ttfn,

B

The Great Church Search

I've been getting a few questions about the search. Questions like "How's that working out for you?" "Where are you going now?" "Are you really just sleeping in on Sunday mornings and watching church on TV in the afternoon?"

The answers are good, Wildwood and I wish. bwahahahaha

I know I've mentioned Wildwood previously and we've been there about 5 or 6 times now. We really like it. We ALMOST turned in our information card today. It's filled out and ready to be walked to the info table. It just wouldn't take itself and I wasn't quite ready!

The pastor has been doing a series on Jonah. Ahhhhhh.........Jonah. Jonah, Jonah, Jonah. One of my all-time favorite stories because it really could be written about me. (Thank goodness it wasn't me because fish grosses me out and to think of being vomited by a fish...........I just can't really go there!)

I have felt like Jonah on the ship when the sailors have to throw him overboard to stop the sea from taking them all. I felt like that at EHC. Twice. The first was when we stopped teaching. We'd been doing it so long we weren't really doing it right or for the right reasons anymore. So we jumped out of the way so the Lord could work in a new way. And then when we knew it was time to find a new church home......again, we needed to get out of the way. That time we held on to the side of the ship as long as we could. We prolly left fingernail scratches all the way down the side!!

So, now here we are at Wildwood. Praying for a definite answer if this is where we put down roots. We aren't real sure what to do now. Who do we talk to? Are we ready to commit? Do we line up doctrinally? (Ya know they started as a Mennonite (sp?) church in the 60's. They're non-denom now but what if they convert back? I don't really look good in long black dresses with a little white cap!!! And I don't want to give up my 'stang for a horse and buggy!)

New ground. More stretching and growing. Time to turn in that card, I guess, so the contact from their staff can begin. Stop running, Jonah. And don't go near the water!

B

Are we going to Hollywood?

Well..........what a crazy 24 hours we just spent! After getting up at 6 am to be in line by 7 am and standing in that line for 5 hours.............Patrick didn't make it past the first round of auditions!



Bummer.





Seriously, huge bummer. But so much fun and something we wouldn't have missed for anything. If you are an American Idol fan like we are, it's amazing to see this part of the process.



(In this photo, I'm trying to give you an idea about the length of the line we stood in at 7.)



It's been a big secret - Fox confidentiality issues - but now I'm ready to spill the deets. It all started in September....



Patrick calls on a Sunday night and says he's in Norman and wants to stop by to tell us something. (Back it up - at this point he's already moved back to Stillwater so for him to be in Norman really had us wondering.) Patrick has never had to sit us down face-to-face to tell us anything. (interpreted to mean we've never really had a moment's worry with that boy! This is usually what we get from Brandon!!) Anyhoo...he tells us that he has been in Kansas City for the last 4 days auditioning for American Idol and he had gotten the Golden Ticket to advance to the next round of auditions.



At that audition, there had been "thousands" of people trying to make it and only about 150 people had been selected to go to the next round. That was very exciting. So for this round, he could take 7 people with him and wanted us to go.



(This photo is of Pat and Miranda - a contestant he met at the first audition. She's from Florida and we fell in love with her and her friend, Lily. She didn't advance either.)



So, Patrick and his groupies (Nana, Aunt Robbie, Brandon, Walter (friend), Roman, Joshua, Richard and me) had to be in line at 7 am outside the hotel to get wristbands. Have you noticed that the sun really isn't quite up at 7 am??? Especially in the shadow of a huge, honkin' hotel! It was c.h.i.l.l.y., chilly! (After we got our wristbands, we ditched Patrick in the line and went back in for breakfast!)


We did come back out when we heard they were starting to do some filming of the line!! Got to get our 5 seconds of fame, right?



(Here we all are. Except Aunt Robbie. Where'd she go???)



Around 9:30, they started sending the contestants in to get their numbers. (The stickers they wear across the tops of their tummys) After they had all the contestants in a huge conference room, they started letting family in. The producers were pretty straight-forward saying that this was the last city, the bar was set high and you had to be way better than the person sitting next to you. And then the real fun began...



This room is jam-packed. Everyone has to learn the song "Sign, Sealed, Delivered" - you know the song- "Here I am, baby. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. I'm yours" Of course, everyone is clapping and singing it at the top of their lungs. Oh wait. That was me!! oops! Contestants were up dancing for the cameras. Ya know the ones that are dressed "differently" that probably can't sing worth a lick but will make it through so Simon can make total fun of them? Those are the ones that really hammed it up for the cameras.



I didn't take pictures of some of "those" contestants but they were interesting. There was a guy in a yellow and orange suit. Carried a banana and called himself "The Banana Man." Two girls in over-the-top cheerleader outfits. A guy in a pimp hat and jacket that looked like it had dollar bills all over it. His sunglasses were dollar signs. A girl dressed like an old west saloon girl that was with another girl dressed just like her and a guy in total cowboy gear.



By this point they were taking rows of contestants to the first room to audition. From there they went to the "big room" if they made it. Patrick finally auditioned right before noon. He was only in the room for about a minute before they told him he "just wasn't what they were looking for." That was the standard line they used. He said he was really nervous this time and missed the last note that he sang. I don't think any of the friends he made at the first audition made it through this time, either.

Just like that, it was over. No Simon-Randy-Paula. No "listen up dawg." No going to Hollywood.

Thanks to everyone for sharing our excitement of just getting that far. It was definitely a life-experience.

Maybe, just maybe, now he can concentrate on college. Maybe not. He told us he's now in a band. Aye yi yi.

B.