Success

Yay!!! I hope you'll take a second to stop and enjoy the simple elegance of that fabulous new header.  

Whew.  This design stuff really takes it out of me, but thanks to Sneaky Momma Blog Design, I was able to create this header, by myself, for FREE!  Thanks so much for the tip, Emily, and thank you to everyone else who offered help and ideas.  I have spent most of nap time looking through all the choices, and since I'm evidently a glutton for punishment, I decided to try it myself once more with a few tips from Sneaky Momma.  Novice though I am, I am feeling the sweet sensation of success after a discouraging beginning!

Now that I know just enough to be dangerous, I'm on to see what else I can do...

 (new signature, too!)

help!

If you've looked at my blog in the past 15 hours, you'll have noticed that I tried to take things into my own hands regarding a new blog layout, and it didn't turn out pretty.  I'm always thinking that I have more talent in creative technology than I do, and then finding out the hard way what my deficiencies really are.  So now, in my ambitious but un-inspired attempts to design a new blog header for myself, I have accidently deleted my old one.  And on top of that, I can't seem to get even the small things, like making the pictures on the side bar look the same size, to work for me.  

I am not a blog designer.  Just like I am not a hair dresser.   Evidently these things just require a little hands on experimentation before I can come to grips with them.  

So I would love some help.  Are any of you up to the challenge of a blog makeover, or do you know someone who is? I am now officially in the hiring, instead of designing, business.

cow mania

Did you know that today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a?  I hope so, because if you didn't, you missed a rare opportunity to dress up like a cow and get free food.  We at the Luce household were not going to let that chance pass us by, so our Friday night began with a trip out to Chick-fil-a. I hit a road block when I surveyed the girls' closets and found nothing that screamed cow, but there were old white shirts that had been put into the play clothes pile, just begging to have a cow drawn on them with a fat black marker.  So that's exactly what I did.  

Our night at Chick-fil-a started with a photo with the cow himself, and it only got better from there.

I'm going to zoom in on Marianna's shirt so that you can see my handy work.  It is what it is: a home made, semi-embarrasing attempt at getting free fast food. But I'm gonna have to say, the finished product was surprisingly cute.

Now this is where the night really gets good.  Right before we walked into the store, a family coming out gave Nathan and I their home made cow costumes, consisting of black garbage bags, with holes cut out for the head and arms, covered with taped on pieces of white construction paper.  

Classy just doesn't begin to cover it.

And do you know how much we paid for our two combo dinner? $0.00.  It was completely free. Sure, some may view the price paid in pride, but come on, if you take yourself too seriously to dress up as a cow, then what fun are you really having? The atmosphere at Chick-fil-a was cow-razy for sure, but more than that, it was good, old-fashioned, silly fun to see adults and kids alike walking around in their homemade cow gear as if they were sporting the latest fashion instead of construction paper.  Way to go Chick-fil-a for continuing to cement yourself as #1 in the fast food industry in our hearts!

I think it's only appropriate to end this post post with a youtube video every Chick-fil-a lover must see.  I find myself humming this around the house pretty often.  Maybe you will to.

observations made on a Friday

****REVISED POST****

I was sitting here thinking about those Fiber One bars again, wondering how the advertisers were sleeping at night, when I decided to do a google image search for the product. Do you know what I found.  The old boxes had FIVE bars in them.  Yes.  FIVE.  I was dead wrong below. Please forgive me, Fiber One, for sullying your good name!! I am very, very sorry!  And I am very, very happy that the advertising "gimmick" turned out to be the real deal.  One delicious extra bar per box!

I'll start with this. Today, while sitting at a stop light and casually observing the cars around me, I saw something I have previously not seen while in a driving situation.  The man in the lane next to me was taking advantage of the 30 second break in pace to have a full blown flossing session with his teeth.  And I'm not talking about a toothpick; this was all an all out, two hands involved procedure.  

I sat mesmerized for several seconds, watching what I have previously only seen take place in front of a bathroom mirror, happening before my eyes at the intersection of Stage and Whitten.  The act itself was not extraordinary, but something about that middle aged man sitting in his pick up truck, working the floss with high intensity effort in and out of his back molars, caught my attention and made me smile.  

I thought, there is a man who is using his time efficiently.  You hear all those studies about how much time we waste in the car at stop lights.  Not this man. He can go to bed at night with his conscience laid to rest on that point.  I'm not ready to pack my floss in the glove compartment yet, but there are certainly worse ways to spend your time in the car.

My next observation came as I was putting up groceries.  I got to my box of Fiber One bars and noticed the large print across the box said "One FREE bar inside!".  The old boxes contained six bars, so I ripped into the new one expecting to see seven delicious, mouth watering Oats & Chocolate bars waiting on me. Nope.  Still six.  Still the same price.  

I'm guessing here, but I'd say the only thing that changed in the Fiber One cereal bar department is the person in charge of advertising.  It appears that the price for 5 bars went up exactly 16.6% per bar, allowing that last bar to be, as advertised, "FREE."  A bad economy evidently calls for an extra dose of propaganda to be poured out onto the consumer.  I've got to say, I'm not a fan. I sure do love the bars, but not the new methods of marketing.

Not my only observations on this Friday, but probably my two most interesting. I hope you all have a great weekend!  

Ga reat!

Our tickets actually corresponded with the calendar date this go around, making our second trip to the Orpheum quite a bit more exciting than the first!  Wicked was amazifying in every way, and now that I know what I would have missed, I'm doubly glad our tickets were for tonight and not a previous date.

For those of you who haven't seen it, but hope to, I will warn you when you should read no longer.  I went in last night without a clue as to the plot, and I think that made it every bit more exciting.  I'm so glad we went in as blank slates, totally prepared to be blown away, but not at all sure in what way that would be. The only danger going into last night was high expectations.  Every single person I had talked to gave a fantastic review for the musical, raising my mental bar very, very high!  Fortunately I can say that whatever expectations I had were blown away.

It was funny, packed with talent, full of plot surprises, family friendly, and all around so much fun! I could tell when we walked in that the crowd was electric.  I have no idea how much of the audience had seen it before, but whether people had seen it or not, they were excited! Every seat was filled, and I was thrilled with our front row balcony seats that gave us an excellent view of the stage. 

Here we are in our seats, just a few minutes before the show began.

Okay, if you don't want to know any plot, stop now!  When I said I didn't know anything about the show, I mean I didn't know anything, including the fact that the Wicked Witch of the West was the hero!  I loved Elphaba.  I loved the dynamics between her and Galinda.  I loved how funny the first act was, especially since I wasn't expecting it to be funny at all.

Highlights: The highlight for me had to be the end of Act I.  I had chills up my arms by the time the curtain closed. I also enjoyed the theme: everyone was misunderstood, but the judgements made about each person were never accurate. I loved the resolution, I loved how everything tied in with the plot of The Wizard of Oz, and most of all, I loved the music.

The one thing I didn't understand was the dragon.  I really thought it was going to have its big moment somewhere along the way, but besides lighting up those red eyes here and there, it was mostly just a big decoration.  

I'm officially a fan, and I'm just about to turn on my iTunes and see about loading up some, if not all, of the music.  Wicked was wonderful.  If you haven't seen it yet, I hope you get a chance to!  Thank you Mom and Dad for such a fantastic Christmas present!

232 to 233

Here's a little now and then from our country's last birthday to the present.  Last year our family began the Independence day celebration with our first annual water balloon fight.

This year we carried on the tradition. 

And if you want to check out the high-level intensity of the fight, check out this video =)

Maybe next year Adrienne will get in on some of the action.  But for this year, she was pretty happy to kick back and watch some fireworks.  

For that matter, Marianna and her friends were a little excited about the fireworks themselves. 

And for a little more than and now?  Check out this.

That was one year ago before fireworks, and here is one year later.

One birthday to the next has brought with it a lot of change, for our country certainly and also for my girls. But one thing is definitely the same. I am so grateful to live in this country, and I am proud of all of the people who have fought and continue to fight to give us freedom.  I love this country, and I hope to pass down that love to my girls. 

a not-so-Wicked date night night

Tonight was the big night.  We got the girls over to Nathan's parents for a sleep over, and we headed downtown for a long dinner (a rare commodity these days), and of course, Wicked.  

We had planned to go to a little restaurant called Cafe 61, but as we were pulling in we noticed it was out of business, so it was on to plan B.  I'm not adventurous when it comes to dining, so after passing up some places we haven't ever been, we ended up at the Majestic.

Let me back up right here and give you a little history before I launch into tonight's evening.  Last year Nathan and I ate at the Majestic before going to see David Copperfield, and while we were there I pulled out our tickets to look at something on them.  We got up, walked to the Orpheum to see the show, and realized that I left our tickets on the table at the restaurant.  We ran back, found out that our table has been cleared, and our tickets along with it, and returned (sadly) to the Orpheum to see if anything can be done.  Fortunately, I had purchased the tickets online, so they were able to use my credit card to reissue the tickets, and disaster was averted.

With this in mind, I entered the Majestic with a weird little nagging feeling lurking in my stomach.  I kept having paranoid thoughts about losing the tickets even though I had checked to make sure they were in my wallet at least three times.  We ate, enjoying a fantastic meal and taking our sweet time, until the check finally came.  I reached for my purse to get out a gift card, and after a thorough searching, my stomach sinks as I realize my wallet is missing, tickets and all. 

AGGHH! Terrible Deja vu came rushing back as I considered the three most likely scenarios.  1) My wallet fell out of my purse, 2) My wallet was stolen, or 3)My wallet was in the car. Realizing that number 3 was the only scenario where we would have a chance of finding my wallet, we raced back to the parking garage to see if it's there.

Let's just put it this way.  On the way out of the parking garage walking to the restaurant, I told Nathan he was going a little too fast for my footwear; on the way back to the parking garage, he had a little trouble keeping up. I didn't run, but I came close.  I just couldn't believe this was happening again.  We make it back to the car, do a quick check, and find the wallet!

Whew. I gave a little out loud, "Thank you, God!" prayer, and we laughed all the way to the Orpheum, strolling once again now that the tickets were in hand.

I could hear the music playing as soon as we stepped in the doors, and the adrenaline started pumping.  It was so exciting to walk in, the crowd bustling all around, with everyone dressed up and the anticipation sky high.  I handed the door lady our tickets, tapping my toes and giddy to get in.  Then I heard a weird little beep from the ticket scanner and a "Hmm.. wait just a moment and let me see what that's all about."

She looks at her little machine and then looks up at me and says, "Honey, you're tickets are for July 7th."  Seventh.  Second.  They sound a lot alike, but there's a big difference.  A perky ticket lady next to her piped in with, "At least your tickets are for next Tuesday and not two days ago!"  Amen, sister.  I am glad about that.  But still.  There is something sad about having to fight your way out of a bustling theatre, to head back to the parking garage, to get in your ca, to drive home at 7:10 on your evening out on the town.  

How did I get it wrong?  I have no idea.  Absolutely no clue whatsoever.  The tickets, the very ones I had examined several times today, had the date printed right on them, but in my mind, we were going on the 2nd and no amount of looking was able to penetrate my brain and get that notion out of my head.  Oh well. Tuesday it is.

So what did we do with the rest of our Wicked-less night?  Nathan had a softball game that he had planned on skipping, and now that we were on to plan C, we decided to go home, grab his jersey, and hit the fields.  It was a good night, just not the one we had in mind =)  And don't worry... that Wicked review is still coming.  Just five days later than anticipated.