Pain In My Rear-Tire

"What do you want for Christmas, bud?" my dad asked me, on Christmas Eve. (He's always called me Bud, since I was little...couldn't tell you why.)
"I don't know, Daddy...I'll tell you the same thing I did when I was 7- a horse, haha," I said, only half kidding.

Later that day, while walking past my 4Runner he pointed to my rear, driver's side tire. The words that followed are words I'm not fond of hearing...

"See the nail? Do you want to pull it out or leave it in there?" he asked me.
"Leave it! Isn't that what's keeping the tire inflated?" I responded, he looked at me like I'd given him the wrong answer.
"Okay, do whatever you would do if it was your car," I told him.

He snatched the nail out of the tire and I heard something I really didn't want to hear...

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, the air sailing on out of my tire! NOOOO!!

Luckily, my dad was able to push the nail back into the hole in order to temperarily plug the hole. (I tried to hide my I told you so dance from him. )

Later that afternoon my dad took my 4Runner to see if the tire could be plugged or patched. Of course, the nail was in the sidewall- so there would be no patching or plugging...the purchase of a brand new tire would be the only solution. Fan-freakin-tastic. And since I'm all gangsta and have 22's on my 4Runner...that tire would cost me almost triple what it would cost me if I wasn't 'all gangsta'...awesome.

"Well, Daddy...I know what you can get me for Christmas now! :)" I said, with a big grin.

He just laughed...hysterically...and asked me for the cash for the tire.

Any Excuse to Re-Arrange!

As I've mentioned before, I'm a compulsive re-arranger. Little Miss gave me a great excuse while we were in North Carolina to come home and completely give her room a makeover. The last few weeks we were in NY prior to our two months in NC, I noticed Little Miss was having a really hard time staying asleep in her toddler bed. I attributed this to the fact that she sensed the tour was coming up and just wanted to sleep with us. I think that was about a quarter of it...but once we got to NC she slept like a baby in her big-girl, twin sized bed. Hmmmm. I slept with her one night and noticed that in the middle of her slumber, she would wake up and turn herself completely sideways. (ie: she would practically prop her feet on my stomach, so that the two of us looked like we making the letter 't') If she did this in her toddler bed, she would end up in the floor...which is most likely why she would meet me at her door many nights and force her way into our bed. Long story longer...here is her new room!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Can you tell that both our kitties think the room is theirs?

I left her toddler bed in her room for her stuffed animals...and so she can use it as a couch. She loves that idea- especially since she doesn't have to sleep in it! And you can tell...Borat thinks it's his bed. He's slept on it almost 24/7 since the re-arranging occurred.

Little Miss's birthday present from Bub and Gran'Daddy arrived yesterday...she loves it! I'm hoping she'll cook dinner tonight. ;)

Horses + Ice Cream = Perfect Saturday

Ah, the weekend.

We spent most of our day riding through Manteo just like this...

Little Miss even took her afternoon nap atop Trouble. (Really, is there any better way to take a nap!?) After our ride, we met with some of my dad's truck-driver pals for dinner. Several of the guys he works with have October birthdays, as does my mom, so we all got together to celebrate. Honestly, I think my dad was just using that as an excuse to show off his grand baby. ;) She had a great time- especially during the dessert portion of our meal. She got to eat and hold her own ice cream cone! A first for her- and shockingly she didn't completely cover herself in it!

She wanted to share...;)

Cheeeeeeeze!Kisses to Grandaddy!
Shopping in the gift shop with Grandaddy- and of course, they both went right for the toy cars!

It was a wonderful day...and I'm totally tuckered out! I wish I could've napped on Trouble this afternoon too!

Tomorrow we are going to take the horses to Nags Head Woods. It's gorgeous back there- I might have to stop and grab a disposable camera for the ride. ;)

City to City

Whew...the last few days went by too quick! 

From Chicago we went on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin...

• I got a speeding ticket...on guess what highway? Eden Expressway...right after paying a toll at Eden Spur. (80 in a 65...if you must know.)
• We spent the night in the hotel where Jeffery Dahmer killed one of his earlier victims. I slept surprisingly well- although I felt like all the workers in the hotel were creepy and robotic. (They had Aveda shampoo...I was particularly thrilled about that.)
• Ate TGIFriday's in Miller's Park/Brewer's Stadium.

From Milwaukee to Detroit, Michigan...

• I drove the exact speed limit for the entire 7 hour drive. I cursed as literally every car zoomed past us.
• I sneezed through 3 states.
• We ordered the best room service dinner I've ever had in my life- after the show. Homemade French Onion soup like you wouldn't believe!

From Detroit to Cinncinati, Ohio...

• Again, I drove the exact speed limit for the entire 4.5 hour drive. And again...cursed as literally every car zoomed past us. (I hope they all got speeding tickets too!)
• We stayed at a gorgeous hotel...that must've been 100+ years old. I was sad to be informed that it would only be open for another 2 weeks.
• I finally ate at a Steak'n'Shake! (I know...the whole no red meat thing is kind of off. Eh well.) It was incredible! The burgers...the shakes- Oh My God. It's a good thing we don't have one anywhere near us or I'd eat there for literally every meal.

From Cinncinati to the OBX...

• I woke up after only 2 hours of sleep...and seriously considered switching my flight to the next city on the La Coka tour. The thought of seeing Little Miss in roughly 7 hours made me get out of bed...
• The rental shuttle dropped me off in the Cinncinati Airport terminal for US Airways...but there were no signs directing me where to find US Airways. There were also no people in the airport.
• While I looked around, praying for someone to come help me...my duffle bag's shoulder strap broke on both sides. How does that happen at the same exact time!? After I gathered my bag, I finally found out where to find US Airways.
• My flight to Charlotte was uneventful...except for my ears filling up and refusing to pop until this morning.
• While I was waiting for my connecting flight to Norfolk, my mom called and informed me that their neighbors doghouse had caught fire...and if they hadn't been getting up early to come get me from the airport- the flames could've caught fire to the neighbors house, as well as my parents house. (The dogs are fine, thankfully!)

I think that's about all the fun stories I have from my trip!

Oh...and since I failed to mention how incredible La Coka's shows were (it really goes without saying)...here are a few pictures-

I'm An American

Today Little Miss and I spent the morning at the aquarium with my daddy. It was lovely. :)

"Does anyone else see the giant alligator behind me"

"Kisses to that adorable baby!! Oh, that's me!"

Check out the octopus hat...how cute is Little Miss? We hoped to find an octopus in the aquarium but were sad to find that he'd just passed away a few days ago..:(

Happy Birthday, Uncle Seth!