Fish out of water!

Well I kicked off my spring break week with seeing the Eli Young Band at the Austin Rodeo. We had a great time screaming "When It Rains" and "Guinevere" with all the drunkies. Well I screamed the songs, Randy just swayed with the music. He's a swayer and not a dancer. Whoa, can we just say Randy and I stuck out like sore thumbs at this rodeo.


First and foremost attire!

Randy at least had some rodeo spirit. He wore his boots. I, on the other hand, do not own one western thing. Let's face it. I would look absolutely ridiculous in yee-haw wear. Some people can pull it off, but I cannot. I think it's that whole girly pink, lace, bows on shoes, motif I try.
















Aren't my pink ruffle ballerina slippers adorable? I got some weird looks, but my mom always told me when I was younger that if people stare at you, they could just be jealous. She had to tell me this because I had such low self-esteem since I was an incredibly chunky child. Oh how I love that lady! So I think the cowgirls were jealous of my ballerina slippers.


Secondly, Randy and I don't really do that whole "let's get plastered in public."

Now not judging, I have tons of friends who enjoy the bubbly, fizz, wine, spirits, and drinks. Heck, give me some Mexican food, and I'll sign up on the pina colada/daquiri list myself. Randy on the other hand, has never ever touched the stuff. He doesn't even know what beer tastes like. This is phenomenal due to the fact that he grew up in LaGrange.

So I snuck my watter bottle into the arena. The couple next to me, snuck in other things. More to that in a minute.

Randy was a first time rodeo go-er. Well, we did many things wrong. First and foremost, eat before you go. We spent 24 bucks on dinner, and we were still hungry. Not to mention, it was all junk.

Secondly, the arena is incredibly dusty and hot. Unless you are sitting at the bottom, you might be cooler. But bring eye drops because those bulls don't exactly keep the dirt on the ground.

Well we get there at 7pm. The EYB will be appearing at 9:30. Bull riding was the main event, and let me just tell you, people are nuts about bull riding. Randy and I clapped, but I don't think we had the zest it takes to properly cheer on bull riding. I certainly didn't join the woman next to me in screaming "Stay On!" "Stay On!" This little segment of the show was entertaining for about 15 minutes.

I don't think I would have gotten through the night if it wasn't for the very entertaining crowd we had surrounding us. This is the best part of the night.....

So "Stay On" screamer is out with her hubby. She was a very sweet lady, and as you all know I have no trouble chatting it up with strangers. This woman though was the definition of TMI. At one point, she leans over to me and says "Sweetheart, I apologize for being so wild tonight." I didn't know what to say, so I smiled, and said "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." ??????

Then about ten minutes later, the lady leans over and says "I'm so sorry for being wild. We haven't been away on a night out from our toddler in a long time."

Okay, I get it. She's here to have a good time.

But no, she wanted to confirm this for a third time. Five minutes later after more screaming "Turn him loose" and more "Stay On" and an occasional "Yee-haw!" (I'm not kidding.) She leans over again to apologize for her behavior. Okay lady, how wild are you planning on getting? That's the third warning.

I think she was just building me up and preparing me for witnessing the goods she snuck in.

She then takes out a bottle of Jack Daniel's from her purse. I'm thinking oh she's probably going to mix it with her soda. But she's not sporting the old coca cola, it's a keystone light. This has turned out to better than the concert. I am watching, (who am I kidding, staring) with incredible interest. I'm thinking, "okay, no soda, she's about to pass that to her hubby for a swig."

NOPE! She takes a big gulp herself.

At this point, I'm trying not to stare and not draw any attention as I'm frantically hitting Randy on the side of his leg for him to join the witnessing. I had so many questions for her.

1) Does your throat burn now?
2) How did you not just make a face after that?
3) What will you do when your toddler wakes up to go to the bathroom tonight?
4) Do you have a DD due to your fondness of JD?
5) Where did you park? ....so we're nowhere near you.

Randy and I also got incredible stares and bad looks when we got up and left during the bull riding. Yep, after 10 bulls, I was bored and craving beef. So we walked around the fair grounds. Well when we got back to our seat for the concert, the entertainment (the JD couple) left. I was shocked!

We should have just split the price of the tickets. They could have had their rodeo fun, and we could have had the swaying and screaming songs fun. The argument could easily be, "who wasted money on their tickets?"

Spring Break!

One more day!


Want to know the three best things about working in education? Here's a hint....the answers are all two words, and the second word is "Break"

1) Christmas Break
2) Spring Break
3) Summer Break

I can't wait for the countdown to begin. I actually want it to be the morning, so the day can be over.

We then have 53 school days for those who are counting. I'm not, but just in case you are.


Top ten things I'm looking forward to over spring break (in no particular order)
(I'm all about these lists)

1) Eli Young concert on Saturday night at the Austin Rodeo
2) Spending time with my mom and dad in Weimar
3) Shopping with Jana
4) lunch with Anna---mmmmm Mesa Rosa
5) Afternoon reading outside
6) girls night out for Cheesecake Factory and Phantom of the Opera
7) hair cut and highlighted (alleluia! I'm starting to look like a skunk)
8) Food.network.all.day.long
9) sleeping in!
10) not thinking about work for 9 days!

Have a great weekend people!

Oh Broadway How I Love You

Broadways are my thing.....well actually they're our things. When I say "our" I don't mean Randy. That was a good guess, NOT! Can you see Randy enjoying a play in song?

Been there, done that, made that mistake before. Randy and I went to see Chicago when we were dating. Big mistake... I look over at him during the play, and he was making airplane noises while he flapped his finger against his lips. "I can't understand anything they're singing. Why don't they just talk?" Men...... Don't get me started on boring baseball.

When I say "our" I mean my fabulous friend Jana. I love her so much! She is my sunshine on a rainy day. I love how we can have hours of conversation with such minimal effort. She also is the funniest person I know. Jana and I pretty much see every Broadway that comes to Austin. She's my favorite date for those Sunday matinees.

On Sunday we saw "A Fiddler on the Roof." It was okay. I now know what Mazzletop (sp?) means like in that Black-Eye Pea song, "Tonight is going to be a good night." Yah, I know I'm hip! But overall not my favorite Broadway. Most of the time if I don't rank the show in my top ten, I just like to identify Broadway songs. This one had "If I were a rich man, na, na, na, na." and "Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match."


So then I started thinking what are my top faves and what songs stick out from each one.


Here we go....My top ten Broadway plays with an occasional song lyric


10) Legally Blonde
9) Les Miserables
8) Into the Woods
7) Hairspray...."Good morning Baltimore"
6) Cabaret
5) Christmas Spectacular
4) Lion King.... do I even need to sing Hakunna Matada?
3) Damn Yankees...."Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets."
2) South Pacific...."I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair."
1) Wicked

After I did this list, I couldn't exactly place the following, but these are also winners in my book....

Of Mice and Men
Thoroughly Modern Millie
A View from the Bridge
1776


Not a big fan of Chicago (weird), the Glass Menagerie, Rent (although I do love that Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes song), Avenue Q (too dirty)

I am dying to see Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia, and Stomp.
Next up, Phantom of the Opera. Whoo whoo!

I wish I could live my life in song. How fun would that be? If all of sudden when we were having a conversation, I'd bust out in song? Maybe I should try this on Randy.

Weekend O' Fun

This past weekend was busy but very fun!

One of Randy's college roommates tied the knot on Saturday, and we had a great time celebrating his wedding. Dustin is a very special person to both of us. He was a groomsmen in our wedding, and he lived with Randy for two years in college. Dustin and I loved ganging up on Randy. Actually all of his roommates and I ganged up on Randy. One time, I made a "Bad Boyfriend of the Week" certificate and hung it on their fridge in their apartment. Well the next time I was over, the boys all had signed it and put "Witnesses" under the signature line. Hahahahahaha! Boo yah! (do people still say that? my sixth graders said no! but they're only 11)

Okay back to the topic at hand. See how distracted I am all the time. It's a game in my room. "Let's see who can get Mrs. Lueders off topic the most today." Okay I did it again! Back to the w- word!


I absolutely love weddings. Oh my goodness, if only I had a blog when I was planning mine. Let's just say I'd blow up the blogging scene. I was all over that. I love seeing the bride's creativity shine through on her special day, and Roxane didn't hold anything back. It was simply beautiful, and a fun time. Here are some pictures to recap their special day.

Rehearsal Dinner! They had the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception at the Tenroc Ranch in Salado.


We'll get more to the Salado part in a minute.




Aren't the wedding decorations just beautiful? I loved them!



















The head table!

















This was taken actually the night before, so it doesn't have the same effect. The pink roses with black and Tiffany blue was so classy!








The roommate picture! My favorite Longhorns! p.s. they take this picture at every wedding:)















I was the house mom!





I love these guys!









Check out the hot guy they sat me by at dinner....




(We won't mention how my dress matched a tablecloth. I meant to do this. Really! I did!)






This cake was too pretty to cut!


















Yah if you hadn't figured it out yet, it was a Longhorn wedding. You should have seen the look Mr. Templin gave those aggies who did this pathetic little hissing thing during one of the toasts. That look was the best part of the night. Ahhhh how I love Mr. Templin's devoted UT heart. He'd give Randy a big run for his money in the "Biggest UT fan" race.


As mentioned earlier, the wedding was held in historic Salado. Oh my goodness! I'm taking my mom back so we can shop and go antiquing! What? You mean you need to be old to go antiquing? I don't think so! Anyone can smell like moth balls as you shop for dusty "crap" as Randy calls it. I love it! I found this really cool green vase that was made in the 1950s. I don't really care if it was made last week, so I guess that means I'm not into antiques? Whatever! I don't care how old the stuff is. I only buy for the look.

Also I had the best little hamburger in this downtown cafe. Sure I was the youngest person by 50 years (not kidding), but hey good food is no stranger to young or old. I also scored a UT snowman for my Christmas decor at an overpriced gift shop. But who can resist a gift shop?


Salado might just be my new best friend.

Weirdness

This blog is overwhelming me. The thing is I have all these random blog posts/entries just floating in my head, and sometimes I don't have access to a computer. Maybe I should switch to a paper journal. This whole self-expression thing is limited by lack of time in front of the computer screen.....grrr.....

Why am I so busy? I don't even have a kid. Blasted, I mentioned that again, didn't I? Blame it on facebook. That thing is psychic. It has all these baby ads on the side of my facebook pages. It's evil!

So this actually happened a week or two ago, but it's so incredible I just have to blog about it. Are you ready for the weirdest thing you've ever heard?





I'm not just talking slightly weird; I'm talking crazy. As in I need to pull out my DSM diagnosis manual and start reading through it, because Randy's dream has to be somewhere in there.


About two weeks ago Randy wakes me up in the middle of the night. No, he was not coughing up his lung; we're past that people. He woke me up around 3am with a nice swift hit on the arm. Groggily (is that a word?) I said, "What do you want?" I was not a happy camper. But then I thought "Oh no, Randy never wakes up in the middle of the night. Is the house on fire? I don't smell smoke. Where's my sweet baby girl, Mopac?" So I replied again with "What's wrong?"

Are you ready for this?



He said rapidly, "Penny there's a snake in the bed."


Ummmmm....yah!

You know as in a green thing that slithers. Do you think I could make this up if I tried?


Okay, so I thought at this point I must be dreaming, and I rolled over. But he hit me again, "Penny did you hear me? There's a snake in the bed."


Ummm crazy man in my bed!!!!! I replied with the only answer I could (of course through gritted teeth) "Go back to bed Randy."

Then he jumps out of bed. "Penny, Penny there's a snake in the bed. I felt it."

Now do you really want this to be a "I told you so" incident later?

Really? Really Randy? But then I thought well I don't want to get bit. Maybe one crawled in. I know, silly right, but hey it's 3 am, and I'm half asleep. Not to mention my husband is dancing around our bedroom in his boxers yelling "There's a snake. Get out of the bed."

I turned on the lights, and much to his satisfaction, I started stripping off our blankets and comforter as he watched hovering by the door. But yet he claims he has this thing called a man stick? Hmmm....right!

So snake exterminator Penny cleared the area, and we returned back to bed.


Never a dull moment in the Lueders' household.

I didn't know if I should laugh or hit him with my pillow.

Really Fast

Okay, Okay this has to be super fast people. I have main idea and summary assessments waiting for me.

1) Happy, happy birthday Dr. Seuss! I love you!

2) Dr. Seuss books are on sale at Wal-Mart. $2.65....I ordered everyone at that price. Thanks Jon! You rock for the tip.

3) It drives me crazy that the church I pass each and every day has a grammatical error on their church sign. "The wages of sin is death." No, no, no, no! I mean the message is Yes, yes, yes! But they based the subject-verb agreement on the object of the preposition. I need to find an A, a R, and an E so I can replace "is."

4) I forgot to add "I cleaned the sinks" under kitchen cleaning accomplishments when listing all the chores I did on Saturday. I'm just saying....JS...

5) Thanks for all the blog love.....I am so excited that people like it! Be a follower! Write me a comment! Give me a request....okay, I'm getting over myself now. But seriously, be a follower. I'm collecting those:) (insert toot, toot here)

Weekend Update

Hi I'm Seth Meyers.....okay bad joke, I know.

This weekend was crazy! I can't believe it's Sunday. Do I have to go to work tomorrow?

Friday night we went to the Stars Hockey game at the Cedar Park Center. I love hockey! It was my second hockey experience since I've seen the Colorado Avalanche play before. Let me tell you, it's fun! I love the back and forth excitement, flying pucks, and the heckling fans. Okay maybe I don't like the heckling fans. Think Nascar people! I was getting a little irritated with all the "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" chants. I leaned over to tell this to Randy, but he was in the middle of shouting, "Refs, quit trying to break it up!" Nevertheless the Stars beat the Houston Arrows 3 to 2. Good times!

Saturday I spent the whole day cleaning. When I say whole day, it was from 1pm to 10 pm. Here's what I did.....

-dusted the living room, dining room, bedrooms
-cleaned the downstairs and two upstairs bathrooms (took out the trash, toilets, sinks, fixtures, floors, bath tubs, mopped, mirrors)
-mopped all the tile
-vacuumed all the carpet
-cleaned the kitchen (microwave, toaster, oven, fridge, base boards, chloroxed the counters, the top of the fridge)
-filed all the paid bills
-changed and laundered our bedsheets- Yes I did just say "laundered"
-3 loads of laundry
-cleaned/dusted all window sills and downstairs base boards

I know that was a long and exhausting list, but it is very very important for me to list EVERYTHING I did. This way when I'm complaining about how tired I am and am begging for a back rub, I'm more equipped with ammunition.

1st rule of marriage: You never sell youself short. You just didn't clean the kitchen. You list EVERYTHING about that chore. See note above. I even told Randy I replaced all the dish towels. When you list every menial task, your SIGH can be much louder at the end of your list. You're welcome for this very important tip.

Oh I also treated myself to a bunch of flowers from our local HEB florist. There's something about fresh flowers in a clean house.


Sunday we spent family time in Bastrop! I love seeing Randy's MaMa. She's a lovely lady. The food was delicious, and I enjoyed spending time outside in the beautiful weather. And check out this cutie.....









Not me silly head.... the baby!



Meet Landon Hellums. He's a total cutie pie. Randy's cousin Jeremy and his lovely wife Kari are the proud parents of this little guy. He's so loveable. I want to take him home each time I see him. Don't I have "good parent to be" written all over my face? I think so too!!!


I will be a busy bee this week, so the blog might suffer. I know you're searching frantically for the nearest tissue box, but I have alot going on. This is the last week of the six week. (alleluia) So I'll be grading like crazy. Tomorrow we're going to watch the UT basketball game more than likely get slaughtered by OU. Still mourning how bad we've become. Then Randy is a groomsmen in his college roomie's wedding this weekend. I know I have promised lots of fun posts to people. But hold on tight, more recipes, my mom's new puppy, Randy's latest crazy dream, and pictures of my classroom are in the works. I need to start posting twice a day. It's insane how much I have to say!

Have a fabulous week!