Apparently, I have some pretty clear opinions about punctuation

This week my sweet husband left me a note before he went on his last trip. It was appropriately sweet and funny.

When I commented to him about how something he wrote made me laugh, he said, "I'm glad you liked the note. I really tried to avoid using too many parentheses."

To which I replied, "Why were you trying to avoid parentheses?"

"Well," he said, "You once told me that you weren't a big fan of parentheses. That you would much prefer it if people used hyphens more often."

And before I could even express my surprise and wonder that I ever said that to him, I realized that this is exactly the sort of weird, English teacher thing I would say. I am blessed to have a husband who can appreciate and respect my grammatical idiosyncrasies.

Overheard in the Library

Mrs. Curry speaking to student (we'll call him "E") who was in the midst of arguing with his teacher: E-help yourself out and just stop arguing. It isn't going to get you anywhere except in more trouble.

E stops arguing. Meanwhile another student (we'll call her "A") is listening and nodding with a wise look on her face.

Mrs Curry: You know E, arguing with a teacher is just like digging yourself into a big hole, deeper and deeper . . .

A: When you already know there's no buried treasure down there.

Back in the Wac: Part 2

I know that some of you have been waiting patiently for part 2 of our Waco visit. And some of you have been waiting not so patiently. And some of you have not been waiting at all.

Let me confess-I currently do not have the love for Blogger with its snail's pace uploading of my pictures and its putting the pictures at the top of the post no matter where my cursor actually is when I click insert. I know, I could write posts without pictures, but that would not be near as fun, and I count on the pictures to add that necessary exclamation point to my witty prose. (Confession-when I take pictures, I am thinking about the blog post that will go with them.)

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Outside the theatre building was this marvelous advertisement for the show.

And check out this sign on the ticket office window.

That's right-all but one performance was sold out! And the performance that wasn't sold out was added late in the game because there was such a demand for tickets.

The performance of Bye Bye Birdie was A-MAY-ZING! Of course, there was no flash photography allowed-but fortunately I happen to know one of the actresses, and I scored some exclusive photos (without having to be all shady and TMZ like).

Cast photo in the "Telephone Hour" set

The MacAfee Home

My sister, channeling the lesser known, "creepy old lady" side of Mae Peterson.

After the performance, the stars came out to greet their public. I got to see Deborah (Lauren's sister-in-law)!

We miss you Lauren. Oh yes we do-oo!
(I am also missing my neck in this picture-Tyra would be disappointed)

Then the stars of the show graced us with their presence. Patrick played Albert Peterson. Lindsay played his mother, Mae. Ironically, this is much like their real-life relationship, except not all creepy and co-dependent.

Clearly, Cindy, Lia and Lia's friends were practically giddy to be in the presence of such a talent as Patrick.

Then, in tribute to our dad, who wasn't able to come up for this performance (he had seen it twice the weekend before) Lindsay and I got Sean to fill in on our traditional "Chunk the Deuce" picture. (The history of the "Chunk the Deuce" picture is long and requires its own post. Instead of running off on that tangent, I'll just post some of the other CTD pics below the one we took with Sean. You know-for reference.)

And, because we were in the company of theatrical royalty, we were also treated to a backstage tour.

See-this was big time.

We weren't cast or crew, but we knew important people.

Dressing area

The call board.

Lindsay's spot in the dressing room.

My lovely, talented, little sister.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again-I love Waco! And it is even more fun to visit when I get to see my sister :)

Back in the Wac: Part 1

This past weekend, Sean and I had the privilege of driving up to Waco to see my sister star in the Baylor theatre production of Bye Bye Birdie.

Being a Baylor alumni, I was thrilled to have a chance to get back to the campus-which has so many more cool things than it did when I was there. There are new dorms on campus and a posh new science building complete with fun fountains. Not to mention all the amazing additions to the city of Waco-a Cheddars, a Bahama Bucks AND a Panera. I am currently pondering career and/or educational paths that will bring me back to this now bustling metropolis.

When we arrived, we met up with my mom, my Aunt Dale and Lindsay's BF since Kindergarten, Holly. Lindsay lives at the best apartment complex because each apartment has a fun red porch swing in front of it. These apartments did exist during my time at Baylor-however, I never had the privilege to live in them. Lindsay on the other hand, has rocked The Center and the "red swing" apartments-which, as any Baylor people will know, is high society!

There was all the appropriate squealing and hugging and picture taking-


and comparing of cute shoes.

But our time with the burgeoning starlet was short lived as she had to make her way to the theatre. I was fortunate enough to capture a photo of her intense, pre-show ritual.

While Lindsay was off getting ready for the show, the rest of us decided to walk around campus for a bit. I love the Baylor campus. So many great memories come flooding back and an amazing feeling of peace and contentment comes over me. I'm sure Sean got a little tired of me exclaiming, "I LOVE BAYLOR" all day.

I was most excited to see the new Brooks hall-and lucky for us, it was a recruiting weekend, so all the buildings were open. So I got to see the highly acclaimed Brooks up close and personal. Again-my fellow Baylor peeps will understand why this is a big deal. Let's just say the old Brooks was a bit, um, ghetto. It was leveled and a new masterpiece-a "living and learning community"-was built in its place.

Just take a look at the Brooks dining hall-

It's totally like Harry Potter-except without the magic-'cause that kind of thing is frowned upon at Baptist universities.

I didn't take any pictures of the actual dorm rooms (which were amazing) because the girls were already weirded out by me when I told them I went to Baylor 7 years ago. The way they looked at me definitely communicated their belief that I was incredibly old. But I did take a picture of the dorm chapel-


and a shot of the cafeteria from the outside.

Some more photos of our jaunt around the campus:

Holly and me on the green and gold swings

The Immortal 10 Memorial and Pat Neff

My home away from home-the Carroll Science English Building

And then it was off to the theatre . . .

For Lauren

Who tagged me on this book meme and who sent me a Facebook message which said, "i am here to tell you that it is time for a new blog post. because your purpose in life is to entertain me, you know."

Well because I heart you Lauren, here goes-

First, the book meme rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Well, clearly, problem number one, as Lauren aptly pointed out when she tagged me, is that I am tempted to go find a cool book rather than grab the one closest to me. The first place I looked was on the shelf above my computer. No good! Dictionaries and thesauri do not an interesting book meme make.

So then I faced an ethical dilemma. Do I wait until after I've "rearranged" my computer space to do said meme, or do I give poor Lauren-who did, after all, just have a baby-some much needed brain stimulation?

Then, a ray of light fell on a box of books at my feet. Yes! A box of books that I brought home to catalog. Perfect!

I reached over to grab one-pulled it out-and was bummed at the one I took-so I reached back in and came out with a book titled Dear Max by Sally Grindley. I have not yet read this book, so turning to page 123 and seeing what is written there will be just as much of a surprise to me as it is to you, fair readers.

Wait-

Do I post the 5th sentence, plus the next three. Or just sentences 6-9? Is it the 5th complete sentence?

This seemed much easier when Lauren did it.

Well, just to be thorough-

5th sentence: "Then, I when I sit down to put it onto paper, it will all come out in a joyful rush" (Grindley 123).

Sentences 6-9: "I'm glad you're working hard to finish your story. I hope you'll send me a copy, because I can't wait to read it. Love, D.J." (Grindley 123).

Now does that last sentence count? Should I include the sentence after, just in case?

Bonus sentence: "P.S. How did soccer practice go?" (Grindley 123).

Well, I was hoping that my sentences would somehow lead me into a profound, philosophical musing on life. Instead I think it proved that I am not good at memes.

And now to finish off with direction numero cinco-I tag Margaret, April, Laura, Kim and Bonnie.

Oh, and anyone else who wants to be tagged-'cause I don't want anyone to be left out . . .

Coolest Pajamas Ever

UPDATE: Clearly many of you agree that these footie pajamas are the most amazing jammies ever created. You can order your own at Jumpin Jammerz-with or without feet (though clearly they are cooler with feet). As I child, I LOVED these kind of pjs (which I called blanket sleepers) and I was devastated when I got too big to wear them anymore. But thanks to this incredible gift from my amazing husband, I can now revisit my childhood anytime I want by zipping myself into this snuggly, warm, penguin-covered cocoon!

Holiday Commercials: An Editorial

'Tis the season for many things-one of which is holiday commercials.

I always look forward to seeing the Hershey Kiss holiday commercial:



There is something about the kisses acting like a bell choir and the little kiss at the end ringing his heart out that just signals the beginning of the holiday season for me.

I also enjoy this commercial:



If you know my sister, you need no explanation as to why I think this is a fabulous holiday commercial.

However, if you do not know my sister-allow me to give you a small glimpse into the strangeness which is my family.

I don't know exactly when it began-but somewhere along the line my sister began asking for a pony for holidays, birthdays and any special occasion. When someone would ask her, "What do you want for your birthday?" she would reply with complete seriousness, "A pony." If my mom came home from the grocery store and told Lindsay that she picked up something for her, Lindsay would say, "I hope it's a pony!" This year at Thanksgiving, we all had to write down what we were thankful for. Lindsay wrote, "I am thankful for the pony I am sure to get this Christmas."

Whether she really ever wanted a pony, or believed she would get one, the pony has turned into a running joke with my family. And honestly, if the life-sized pony at Wal-Mart was not so gosh darn expensive, we probably would buy it for her this year. I mean, it is sort of realistic and comes with a grooming comb!

So this commercial makes me laugh because if Lindsay were in it, she would be totally pumped to have a pony and would be making fun of her friends who only got cell phones.

Unfortunately, along with the good commercials, I am forced to endure some holiday offerings that are quite annoying.

The Lexus commercial.

Interestingly enough, this commercial is not on YouTube. Maybe because other people, like myself, are tired of seeing people get Lexuses with ginormous bows on them for Christmas. Thank you Lexus people-we get it. The only gift worth getting is a Lexus with a huge red bow. Thank you for making me feel insecure about my Saturn.

But the worst holiday commercial of all is the Victoria's Secret commercial wherein Heidi Klum believes she has permission-nay talent-to sing.



You should be thankful I only posted the short one.

Isn't it enough that her husband Seal can sing? Why do attractive famous people think that because they are pretty and famous that they can then dive in to other professions-such as singer, or children's book author? I'm just wondering.

However, the holidays are too joyous of a time to end on a negative note. So I will leave you with a montage of clips from another holiday favorite of mine-The Charlie Brown Christmas Special.