Vacation: Summarized

Okay, so... if there isn't someone hovering over me with a deadline, I'm not good at writing my stories.
Here is my summer vacation in a quick summary.... good golly.

*I was brave and used the restroom with The World's Largest Spider watching me. I even stayed to wash my hands in there instead of the kitchen without screaming. I calmly left and told Jessica about the spider. She attacked with spray and handed me a Swiffer to jump on it as back up in case it came at us. When it looked like it was morphing into a something with greater strength, I hugged the Swiffer and ran. She was Batman, but I will never be a good Robin.

* Jessica has a humongous television. It's great because everyone is about my size, so I got up to the TV and "booty danced" with the people, waiting for Jessica to notice from the kitchen. Before she noticed, her fiance (who had only met me twice before this) walked into the room. He asked what I was doing. I told him I meant for Jessica to discover me.

Later, my phone rang, and he did my booty dance to my phone.

*Jessica told me that her weird neighbor was in the yard talking to her fiance. I wanted to know what the neighbor looked like, and I thought only the three of us were home. So I walked on my tip toes with my shoulders scrunched and slowly made my way to the window. Jessica left the room to do her hair. Before I got to the window, the door flew open and Jessica's future brother-in-law caught me being creepy and sneaky... all by myself.

I felt bad that I was all Jessica had to represent the family.

*Jessica had a wonderful rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The dinner was at an awesome Texas BBQ restaurant, like nothing we'd find in Iowa. The Husband always has debates with Jessica about Pop vs Coke. At dinner, he discovered the waitress was from Michigan, so when she took drink orders, he said, "I'll have a POP and you know what I mean!!!" I couldn't believe him. The waitress thought he was a crack up and delivered his Dr. Pepper, then she turned to a young waitress and said, "Now, you make sure his POP is always filled, okay?? Don't let his POP get low!!" And the poor young waitress was so confused. She was looking all over and asked, "What's a pop?? What is pop???" And I leaned over all embarrassed and said, "It's coke." So she thought her coworker was serious and didn't let Kevin's soda get anywhere near empty.

*Jessica got married. She honestly looked like she came out of a Disney Princess story, she was so beautiful, with her hair down in curls and her make up done just right. Her dad and her groom were sooooooo handsome in their tuxes. The four flower girls were precious in their dresses. And I felt so pretty in the bridesmaid dress she picked out. Everything took place outside by a lake, under a beautifully decorated gazebo. Something I used to dream about, but was too paranoid to try... I was certain if I did that, it would rain. Everyone was hot but me, because it was at least 100 degrees. I must have a high tolerance. My robotic tendencies kicked in and I didn't cry. I just took in the beauty of their love and felt so happy for my cousin to find love and glad that she found someone who appreciates everything about her. There is so much to appreciate!

*The husband of my cousin Nicole tried to tell The Husband how to get into Dallas as part of our trip home. He said there are 8,000 ways in. As Kevin put it, we discovered all of the ways to stay out. We tried for a very long time to get IN to Dallas, but we got frustrated after an embarassing amount of time and decided it was just time to go to Arkansas.

*We intended to camp, but as it always goes, it rained. So we actually accidentally saw Bill Clinton's boyhood home. By "saw" I mean we drove by it quickly and then went to a place called Hot Springs, found a cool hotel suite for $50 and intended to experience the hot springs in the morning.

*We couldn't find any springs the next day. We drove up a mountain, had lunch and went to Memphis.

*In Memphis, I became a star in my own mind. We went to BB King's Club and watched an awesome blues band perform. I got all involved and danced while I ate, so they spotted me and asked me to come up and dance with them. I was like, "Hmm... This is scary... but fun... but...." Kevin told me, "GO!!" So I did. I thought I was a big deal

*I had made a pact with myself that I would karaoke alone this year. We were walking down the major street at found a (quiet) karaoke bar and I decided it was time. To make it feel safe, I sang "Hit Me Baby" in Britney Spears voice. THEN I got all confident and sang "Hopelessly Devoted" from Grease. The few people who were there were just as scared as me and we formed a bond from the singing and fright. It was fun.

*We walked down the street more that time and were stopped three times by people who knew me from karaoke or the dancing. One of the times was from the bassist in the band at BB King's. THEN Kevin and I were like, "We made it! We're a big deal!" ha

*We watched ducks at a hotel who line up every morning and every night in a single line, go to the elevator, ride down it, and waddle to the hotel's pond. It was cute!

*We went to the Civil Rights Museum located where Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was heart wrenching. To know that just in my parents' lifetime, people were treated inappropriately simply because their skin color was different is sickening. Abraham Lincoln's time wasn't the end, it was just the beginning. Segregated schools, separate drinking fountains, segregating the bus. Starting violence during their nonviolent walks for equality. It's upsetting. And actually seeing where MLK sat before he was shot and the spot where he was shot AND the spot were the assasin was.... ah!
On to something happier!!

*We went to Sun Studio, where Elvis started his career... and Johnny Cash recorded.... and even Maroon 5 has recorded!! I just couldn't get over the fact that I stood where Elvis had been. I love that man. love him. love.

*We ended our trip in MO where we spent the day at a water park being children. I was only brave enough for a waterslide once. I hate feeling like I'm going to fall off the slide. So we spent most of the day on the lazy river and the waaaave pooooool!!! I love the wave pool.

And that concludes my summary of the vacation.

Next up... thoughts about my birthday.