Oh Toby!

My little boy had surgery yesterday...he will stay a BOY. hahaha I took him to see Dr. Rimstidt and mom picks him up today. I can't believe he's already 6 months old! It has been strangely quiet around the house for the past day. He sure keeps the place hopping!! I won't get home til late tonight so I won't get to see my baby until he's all settled in at home. I told mom Toby will think I'm the evil one for taking him and leaving him...mom gets to be the hero because she's picking him up and bringing him home! ha He hasn't spent a night away from his two homes. He was always with the breeder's family, Bridget, until we got him and he's spent every night with us since then. I'm sure he thinks he's been cut off! He won't have his toys, his comfy couches, or his towel and puppy pal that he sleeps with every night. I'm sure he'll be glad to get home! We are just hoping that having him neutered helps with his potty training. He did so well at first, but is starting to revert to bad habits!?! He started hiking his leg and like most men...he has terrible aim! haha I'm hoping the surgery has him back to squatting like a good lil boy!



I'll keep you posted...

"My" Girls

So...the madness of the summer rush began a few weeks ago. It was a sweltering hot June day, but we survived it! Each year the first annual event for the Queen Pageant is the Queen's Tea, a mother/daughter event, where the girls learn what will be happening the rest of the summer and get tips on how to do makeup and hair! This year we have 31 girls...yes, thirty-one, a staggering number for us! We are extremely excited about the contestants!!


I may have mentioned it before in a blog, but this is my last summer with the Queen Pageant. I have lived it, loved it, and possibly even disliked it at moments....but all in all, it's been a pretty awesome 5 years. I've seen girls go from quiet little seedlings to fully blossomed roses. I know that sounds corny, but it's true! Most moms would be surprised to find out that several of the girls have stayed in touch over the years. We (the committee & contestants) really do become a family throughout the summer. There are several girls that still come to me with life's problems and joys, and like any big sister would do, I try to help them the best I can. That's why I call them "my girls." haha The past few years I've gone to telling everyone at the Tea that this is like a sorority...the committee acts as the older sisters, watching out for the younger girls and helping them along the way...but we are also the ones who will hand out the harshest punishments should the girls break a rule. That's the way sororities work and I think it works well with the pageant too. Anyway, back to the story...


So the Queen's Tea went off without a hitch! After the event was over, all the girls are invited to a slumber party at one of the committee member's house. It is by far the most fun we have all summer! It would shock you to learn the things I've learned over the past few years...the girls are brutally honest about all aspects of their lives, something I love about them. I can say that we've truly gotten to know these girls, they trust us, and we would never do anything to break their trust. Many of the girls had to work the next morning, take SAT's, or prepare for their graduation parties...so we pigged out on pizza, breadsticks and ice cream cake, then played a bunch of icebreaker games, then stayed up all night talking and sharing our lives. It really is the ultimate slumber party! haha


Here are 30 of the 31 girls...Ash had to work late, so she didn't make the picture!

The 2008 State Fair Queen, Kristen Schmitt, also joined us for the Tea! She is such a sweetheart!

And last but not least...the girls who came to the slumber party working on an icebreaker!

Life is a Blurr

I was looking at a friends blog today when I realized I myself haven't blogged in THREE WEEKS! Goodness! I'm getting lazy! ha Actually, by the time I get home at night, I have no desire whatsoever to do anything of importance and when I get up, I get busy doing everything else and forget what I thought I would do the day before! Such is life I guess...it's all kind of a blur right now! A typical day consists of me getting up and getting ready, emailing/running errands for the Queen Pageant and for home, lunch, working noon-close, coming home and getting ready for bed, playing with Toby for awhile, watching a few minutes of tv and crashing! I keep telling myself I should be used to it by now...I worked 10 hour days pretty much all year long last year!?! BUT, I've come to realize that I didn't have Toby, I wasn't around mom, I was by myself and although I had other stuff going on...there wasn't a schedule to it like now! I have many things to post from the past 3 weeks, hopefully I'll get some of it together and through the magic of scheduled posting, have a post for you to check out a couple times this week!

Until then...hope you have a great week! The weather has been phenomenal!! :o)

My Apologies

Sorry, sorry, sorry...I have not been keeping up on my blogging! Funny how life just gets in the way!?! haha Actually today is the first time I've been able to sit down and not have anything to do in weeks...maybe months! It's raining, which although I'm tired of the rain, it is raining enough that I got a day off from work at the golf course! Woohoo!!! Besides working both jobs 60+ hours a week, sleeping, and taking care of Toby...I've been spending every other waking moment working on the Queen Pageant! For those of you who don't know, this is my last year with our County Queen Pageant. It's been a topsy-turvy-crazy-fun ride while it lasted, but it's my time to pass on all the work to someone else, actually 2 others! (Isn't it funny that it takes 2 people to do my job?!?) Anyway...I've poured my blood, sweat, and tears into being the Director for the past 5 years and it really is someone else's turn to do the same. It's bittersweet to walk away, but I'm going out on top (50th Anniversary of the pageant & we broke the all-time contestant record!) which is exactly the way I want it!! ha So, I've been recruiting like crazy the past few weeks to get this all wrapped up. Our first event is Friday night and I'm sure it'll be fun! No matter how much stress this job is, in the end, it's always fun!

Hope everyone else is enjoying the quiet, rainy day!