The End of Summer

Summer is almost over...school starts Monday (woo hoo!). The past two weeks has been spent trying to cram in all the summer activities that we hadn't gotten to in the past two and a half months. Here's a sample:

For the past few years we've gone out to Lake Conroe at least once during the summer and rented a pontoon boat for the day. This year, the lake was quite a bit rougher than it's been in the past. No one seemed to mind except me...






We went to see an Astros game courtesy of the Kimberlins. They gave us tickets as a thank you for watching their dog, Molly, while they went to Italy. It was a great game up until the 7th inning when everything fell apart and the Astros ended up losing to Milwaukee. I don't think we've ever been to a game when they've won. I'd like to see them win just once. Then I can be done paying out the nose for food and drinks and the requisite "souvenirs." Jim actually bought Jackson a $60 Astros jersey this time! I don't know which is worse...a useless foam finger for the bargain price of $15 or a shirt for my 8 year old son that cost more than almost every piece of clothing in my closet. All in the name of family fun.






We also try to squeeze in at least one day trip to the beach in Galveston each summer. This year, I took the kids one day with my friend Dorothy and her two boys. We met Heather and Brandy and all the kids down there. We spent a few hours on the beach (which this year wasn't as gross as it's been in the past so that was a bonus)and then Dorothy and I took our kids to Rainforest Cafe for lunch. A fun way to spend one of the last few days of summer.





And last weekend, we took one last trip...to San Antonio and SeaWorld. We went with the Kellers and the Cumberlands and had a great time. We stayed at an awesome hotel--the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. It has an amazing pool complex and lazy river and is extremely family friendly. We really could have spent the whole time just hanging out there. But we had purchased season passes to SeaWorld when we were there for spring break and wanted to get our money's worth. We went to SeaWorld two days and did it all including Jordan's first roller coaster ride!





We did all this in about two weeks, and that doesn't include bowling, the movies, and splashtown where we didn't take pictures. We definitely ended summer with a bang!

12 on the 12th

I started doing the 12 on the 12th project last August thanks to my friend Heather. It's been a year now and I've really enjoyed the excuse or means to capture slices of our everyday life. But, since I've completed a year (well, most of the year...I missed November, March, and May) I think I need a new project for the next year...what do you think? Anyone got any good ideas?

Anyway, since it is August 12th, I thought I better get the compilations I've completed for the past 3 months posted starting with April.



1. Jensen and her babies strewn all over the place.

2. A moving box because we were getting ready to move out of one temporary apartment into another. We had given 30 days notice, but unfortunately, our house would not be ready in time. Meanwhile, they rented the apartment we were in necessitating a move into another apartment. Ugh.

3. Jensen and her babies later in the day.

4. Jordan trying not to be captured in a photo.

5. Gotcha!

6. Me at the house trying to get some of the painting finished upstairs. We needed to have the house re-painted and to save a little money we decided to do the upstairs rooms ourselves.

7. & 8. Jackson and his Heelys. These are tennis shoes that have a removable wheel in the heel of each shoe. You can sort of skate along in them or remove the wheel and use them like regular shoes.

9., 10., 11., & 12. Some of the things I like about our house: the light fixtures, the microwave down at counter level so the kids can reach it, our wood stairs, and our front door.

I skipped May, mainly because we had just moved into our house on May 11th. So on the 12th I'm sure I was surrounded by boxes trying to make some order of our home. I actually wish I had remembered to take pictures on the 12th. I would have liked to have a record of that happy time!

June



1. Jackson's crazy bed head hair. He had been growing his hair out since the beginning of the year. I hated the growing out process but love the end result! Over the summer it has gotten so blonde he looks like a little surfer dude. Unfortunately, he's been talking about getting it all cut off again. I'm dragging my feet on taking him to get it cut hoping he changes his mind.

2. Jordan eating breakfast at the counter. The kids eat almost all meals except "family dinners" sitting on the barstools at the counter.

3. During the summer, the first laundry load of the day usually consists of pool towels from the day before. I wash a lot of towels.

4. One of the "joys" of summer...grocery shopping with all three kids.

5. Heelys make grocery shopping bearable for Jackson.

6. & 7. Jensen had been taking a gymnastics class once a week this summer at the Little Gym. This is a new place that opened up very close to our house. It's soooo convenient and she really loves it.

8. The Gameboy makes watching Jensen's gymnastics class bearable for Jackson.

9. & 10. Jordan competed in the Summer Champs swim meet that was June 11-13. It was her first year competing in this meet. You have to make certain qualifying times in order to compete. It's a competition between all the area suumer league swim teams. There were 18 teams competing and our team alone had over 100 swimmers entered. The Gators won the overall trophy. Jordan swam freestyle, backstroke and butterfly plus two relays...100 medley and 100 free. Her Medley team took 6th place and her free team took 3rd place overall. So awesome! The meet was held at Atascocita High School in the evenings. Teams set up in the high school parking lot and man, was it hot!

11. Our house as it looked this day...the day before our landscaping was set to begin. What a mess!

And, finally, July




1. Looking for activities to fill the time after swim season, I signed Jackson and Jordan up for a week-long tennis camp at the Kingwood Athletic Club. They've both been wanting to learn to play tennis and we had gotten them raquets last summer. The camp was only an hour a day each day of the week, but the kids got a taste of tennis and really seemed to like it.

2. & 3. After tennis, it was off to Sam's Club. Madison Enochs had done the tennis camp too so we picked her up and brought her along. We were going to Sam's to stock up on stuff to take on our beach vacation.

4. & 5. Filled up the Suburban with gas while at Sam's. Gas was around $2.90 per gallon that week.

6. Lunch was also at Sam's Club. There's no better bargain around! A giant slice of pizza that two kids share, plus a giant drink that two kids also share for under $2.00. You can't beat that!

7. Next stop, the dollar store. Typically, not one of my favorite places but I told the kids they could pick out some activities and treats for the 10 hour car ride to the beach next week. I had read about a car activity that I was going to try. I made a copy of the map of our route for each kid. I circled a few cities/towns along the way. When we reached each place, the kids would get a little bag with some goodies in it. The kids enjoyed this activity and I would try it again on a long car ride.

8. After all our errands the girls decided to go swimming, while the boys...

9. decided to play on the computer. Typical. This is Jackson and his friend Austin. They are two blonde peas in a pod.

10. Starting to set aside the groceries to take to the beach. Most of my time this week was spent packing and planning for our beach trip. We leave on Sunday, July 15th to Gulf Shores (Ft. Morgan), Alabama for a week long stay in a condo at The Beach Club.

11. Our house with our landscaping finally done!

12. With all the landscaping we did, front and back, these pots of ferns on the front porch are actually my favorite thing. I bought the urns at...your guessed it...Sam's Club!

So that wraps up my 12 on the 12th project for 2006-2007. I'm on the hunt for a new project to start in January so if you have any ideas, let me know!

Blog-iversary

I realized the other day that I've been keeping my blog for a year now. My first post was Aug. 1, 2006. I loved looking back at my posts over the past year...last night I sat and read all 67 of them. Sometimes I'm hard on myself about going a few weeks without blogging (I actually missed two whole months!) but 67 posts is pretty good...more than one per week. I've never been much of a journal keeper so I'm so happy that i've stuck with this. So many little things I've written about, I had already forgotten! And it's not the events that I write about that are so interesting me a year later, but the way I was feeling about the things right at the time. If I were to sit down now and try to write about our trip to Michigan last August, I would never recall my feelings and the details the way I could then.

So, happy anniversary to "R and 4 Js." I think I'll keep you around.

You know you're raising a southern girl when...

...one July morning in southeast Texas said girl goes outside at about 9:00 a.m. and says "Mom, it's cold outside." I burst out laughing and looked up the current temperature online. It was a frigid 85 degrees. At 9:00 a.m.

Just a little story I've been meaning to blog about.

What we've been doing...

Petsitting! Molly belongs to our neighbors, the Kimberlins. They went to Italy for two weeks (lucky dogs) and Molly is a little too neurotic to spend two weeks in a kennel so we offered to take her in. Well, Jensen offered to take her in and we were kind of put on the spot...:-) In the past we've been the ones that have needed pet sitters but it has been more than a year now since we've had a dog in the house. Cosmo, I know you're up there saying "I don't know what that is, but it's not a dog." Actually, it's Jim that says that but if you were here I don't know if you'd be able to tolerate Molly either. Most of us around here have a love/hate relationship with her. For some it's a hate/hate relationship.







And for some, it's all love. Molly definitely has her quirks but Jensen has just been soooo happy to have her here that it makes it all worth it. That girl loves all critters no matter how irritating they may be. We really gotta get her a dog. Anyone have any suggestions of small, shed-free, non-yappy dogs out there?

And there has been one bonus...yesterday Molly killed a snake in our backyard. It was just a garden snake, but a snake nonetheless so at least she's good for one thing. We have her for 5 more days...I'll be starting the countdown.

Summer Doldrums

Wow, 2 weeks goes by fast! When I last updated we were getting ready to go on vacation. Now we are back and the summer doldrums are setting in. We had a great vacation but often when we get back from a trip I feel a little let down...I've got no other trips to look forward to and we face 30 more days of hot summer before school starts. I've got about a million things I should be doing around here, but just don't feel motivated to do any of them. This past week we've been home more than we're used to and when I'm home I tend to eat. I've gained 4 pounds in the past 2 weeks. Gotta put the brakes on that. Hopefully I can snap myself out of this next week but in the meantime. let's relive our beach vacation!

We left Kingwood on Sunday, July 15th at about 5:45 a.m. Crazy early, I know, but we were caravanning with friends and they wanted to get there early. I'm pretty proud of myself that we actually left somewhat on time.

We drove about 9 or 10 hours through a lot of pouring down rain through Louisiana, Mississippi and on to Alabama. We made a stop in Lake Charles, LA at a cajun meat market to pick up some sausage, stuffed pork chops, stuffed chicken, etc. for the grill. Cajun meat markets are the best! We even sampled cracklins (not sure what this is...near as I can tell it's fried pork fat). It was pretty disgusting and I won't be trying that again.

We arrived at our destination--the Beach Club in Fort Morgan, AL--at about 3:00 p.m. Got the car unpacked in the rain then went down to the beach. It was still sprinkling but we didn't really care. It was nice to be on the beach.



The next day the rain had gone and we spent the day on the beach. The only problem we encountered were the jelly fish. That put a little damper on the ocean for the kids since everytime we were down at the beach at least one of the kids got stung. Luckily there were 5 different pools, tennis courts, and a playground to also keep them occupied.














To take a break from the beach we went to a nearby waterpark one day. On another afternoon Jim took the kids to see a movie while the moms went shopping at the outlet mall.

All too soon it was time to pack up and head out. Our drive home was in much better weather and was pretty uneventful...just the way I like it. Even though we had a great time I don't think I'd stay at this particular condo complex again. Fort Morgan seems way too out of the way for me. I prefer to be closer to stores, restaurants, etc. Plus they only had two community grills to use for the entire complex! When we go on vacation we like to grill. Our group ended up going out to buy our own grill to use. All in all, though, it was another fun year at the beach. Now...what are we going to do for the rest of the summer...

On Our Way

It's been a few days since I've written but I've been busy getting things ready for our vacation. We leave tomorrow for a week at the beach...gulf shores, AL. Believe it or not, the Alabama gulf coast has beautiful beaches and the drive is shorter than going to Florida. I'm all for shorter drives.



Our car is packed and we'll be leaving at about 5:30 a.m. caravaning with our friends, the Enochses.

Last night Jim and I went to see The Fray in concert. We saw them at an outdoor venue called Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion (for you Michigan people it's exactly like Pine Knob). It was about 98 degrees here last night and not exactly perfect weather for an outdoor concert. This was the first time I've been to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion and I don't think I'll ever see another concert there in the summer. The music was awesome but i was too hot and sweaty to enjoy it. Except for when they did the cover of Shakira's Hips Don't Lie. It was awesome! I tried to find a clip from our concert on youtube. It wasn't there but this one was. It seemed so spontaneous at our concert...like they'd never done it before...one search of youtube and I discovered I was very wrong. Doesn't matter. I enjoyed it all the same.

Talk to you from the beach.

An Unexpected Good Day

When Heather asked me to go to Ikea today with her with all 5 of our kids in tow I thought..."well, that doesn't sound very fun." But I knew she wanted to purchase the same cabinets I have up in our playroom and I have a big car that can haul them home so I said okay. It turned out to be a great day. Another friend of ours, Brandy, met us at Ikea with her son Dylan. Most of the kids went into the play room area they have at the store (how awesome is that?) except for the very small (Dylan and Megan) and the very tall (Jordan). As it turns out. Jordan had a blast with Dylan who really seemed to like her. Now all Jordan can talk about is "babysitting" Dylan even though she's only a "baby" herself.

We got our shopping done...I managed to find a few random items like a wine decanter that one of the sommeliers in a tasting room in Sonoma recommended to bulletin and magnetic boards for Jordan's room...and Heather got her cabinets. We loaded it all in the car and took the troops to Jillians for lunch (aka Dave and Busters) which is a restaurant slash arcade. We ate. We spilled. We played. We went home tired and happy.

Sometimes the "lazy, nothing to do" aspect of the summer gets to me so it's nice to have a day filled with activity with friends.

I hate that I don't have a pic from today so I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Happy 4th and other stuff

It's been a wet July here in Texas so far. I think I read in the paper that it's rained the last 23 days in a row...yuck. This year, the 4th of July was on a Wednesday...weird to have it in the middle of the week. It was overcast in the a.m. but we decided to go to the Kingwood parade anyway. It started drizzling about halfway through but we were sitting under some trees so we didn't get too wet. The kids don't seem to mind the rain.






We had just planned a cookout with some of our neighbors and luckily we have a porte cochere--a covered area over part of our driveway--on our house (never even heard of this until we moved to Texas but now wouldn't want to live without it). We grilled under there and set up tables to eat. The rain actually held out for most of the evening and the guys were able to set off all the fireworks they had purchased (probably $300 or $400 worth combined!).

On Thursday Jordan had a sleepover with her two good friends on the street, Madison and Kristina. She's been dying to have a sleepover since we moved back into the house but with early morning summer swim practices/meets we didn't have one until now. The girls all braided their hair, watched a movie, ate popcorn, listened to music, talked and stayed up late. Typical sleepover stuff. Luckily, Jackson was asked to spend the night at his friend Austin's house the same night so no little brother around to bug them.



On Friday we had the Kellers over for dinner. They have the distinction of being our first dinner guests since we've moved back in. I've hosted girls' night and some of the neighborhood friends have ended up eating over here after grilling out but this was the first time we've cooked for others since we've been back. It was a fun time!



This week (July 2nd) also marked the two year anniversary of our fire. We are so happy to be back in our house but things are far from over. We're still dealing with the arbitration case against our contractor and our Ford lawsuit hasn't even started yet. Currently our trial date is set for November, but our neighbor's insurance company just intervened in the suit so that will probably mean another delay. We have lost so much financially and emotionally that some days it seems like we will never recover.




On a happier note, this week also marked the first time in two years that we've had kids swimming in our pool. That was a good day! The kids have all grown so much in the past 2 years that our pool suddenly seems really small but at least it's ours and it's up and running.

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Dear Jackson,

I'm writing this letter one month past your 8th birthday...time has such a way of flying by. Your birthday falls at the end of school every year (this year the last day of school was 5/25 and your birthday was 2 days later) and that is always such a crazy time. Plus this year, we moved back into our house just two weeks before your birthday. Now one month later we are getting settled into our home and into our summer routine.

You had an up and down year I would say, but mostly up and you definitely finished strong. You started off your 8th year with a broken arm which was not a good way to start the summer. That meant no swim team last summer but you did swim this year and had a pretty good time, I think. You even made it to the All Star meet for breast stroke. That's pretty darn good after missing all of last season.





Other than swimming, you also played baseball this year. You were part of a great team and had so much fun. You really improved over the season and your team ended up going to the championship game. Your lost and it was heartbreaking but it was so exciting to watch!



This was your first year of Cub Scouts and I think you really enjoyed it...campouts, archery, bb gun shooting, what's not to love! I'm hoping that you'll want to do it again next year.




You had an up and down year at school. You are such a bright, energetic kid and you really excel at math. But there are some subjects you don't love and those don't get your full attention (spelling, writing, penmanship). You ended up getting two Cs one marking period and daddy and I got pretty upset with you. But you worked hard the rest of the year and ended up getting mostly Bs with an A in math. Daddy and I were very proud of you at the end of the year. I'm really hoping that you find your groove with school...maybe 3rd grade will be the year. You have so many years of schooling ahead of you and I just wish you enjoyed it more.



Another big accomplishment this year was making your First Communion. We were so proud of you.



This was the year that you finally started losing some teeth. This is such a great snaggl-tooth photo. I love it! And for some reason this year you decided to start growing your hair out. For years you've had your hair cut super short--"a number 2 all over." I definitely like the longer locks but I think you were a little disappointed at first. I think you thought it was going to grow out straight and you kept trying to plaster it down with gel and other products. It is definitely not straight and I think you've decided to go with it. I think it is just so darn cute!





I love you Jackson. You keep my on my toes and brighten my days.

Love,
Mom

Happy Father's Day

We had a kind of low key father's day but great none the less. Breakfast in bed for Jim then off to see Fantastic Four in the afternoon. A big steak dinner to polish it all off.

The day really doesn't do justice to how much you mean to our family. You are a great dad...so much better than my words can describe. You are definitely a hands on, feet wet, bed wrestling kind of Dad. The 3 Js adore you and so do I. I could never do this without you. I love you.

Wine Country

Three weeks since my last post...can't seem to get the hang of this blogging thing. We've been so busy. This happens to me every year. The last two weeks of school is a crazy time...performances, ceremonies, parties, gifts, swim team, etc. Throw into the mix that Jackson and Jordan also have their birthdays during that time period...gets really crazy. This year we also planned a trip to Sonoma for the first weekend after school got out so I've been busy trying to get ready for that. Now we're back from an awesome trip and I hope the lazy days of summer can settle in.

We had a great trip to Sonoma with two other couples (the Enochses and the Kimberlins). Denise came to stay the kids and they (the kids) had a great time. I think Denise did too. She did a great job--even took them to the Space Center for an outing and had two of their friends sleep over. She's brave!

I had never been to that part of the country before but had always wanted to go. Now I want to live there...if I had an extra couple of million dollars laying around. The scenery is just gorgeous. It really seems like you could be in France or Italy. We visited mostly small wineries that I had never heard of and we had awesome experiences--tours, private tastings, beautiful lunches. I'd definitely like to go back some day and see Napa Valley.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!

More than a week has passed since your birthday which was May 11th (last Friday) aka "the day we moved back into our house" so it was and has been a busy birthday week! This was a big one...you turned 10. Double digits. Wow.

I'm going to relate a story that illustrates what a terriffic person you are. A day or two before your birthday Daddy and I were talking to you about how the timing is so bad for celebrating your birthday because we were in the throes of moving from the temporary apartment back into the house. We were explaining that we hadn't even gotten you a gift yet. We were feeling so guilty and neglectful as parents and promised to make it up to you. We told you that on Saturday or Sunday we would go out and get you whatever you wanted (this is safe to say to you becuase you never want much; if we ever said such a thing to your brother we'd have to be prepared to just hand over our wallets). A lot of kids I know would whine and complain and be pouty about it but not you. You said, "that's okay; moving back into our house is the best present." Wow.



It is almost the end of the school year. 4th grade is coming to a close and it's onward and upward to 5th grade. You had a great year at school...a teacher you really clicked with, great friends in your class, awesome grades, a spot on the "Rockin' Recorders," and now a spot on the safety patrol for next year.



This was also your first year of gymnastics competition. You did great and had a great time with your team. You continue to love gymnastics and still want to do it again next year.



The gymnastics practice schedule doesn't leave much time for other activities but you are on the GTR Gators swim team for another year. This marks your 5th year on the team. Every summer we have so much fun being part of the swim team even though it means getting up at the crack of dawn every Saturday for 6 weeks and daily swim practices. As I write this you and Jackson are at the first dual swim meet of the season with Daddy. I can't wait to see how you do this year.



All in all you had a great year even through all the upheaval in our lives. You've been so adaptable to all the moves we've had to make (first to the house on Fern Creek, then to the apartment, then to a second apartment, and finally back to our house on Misty River) and have continued to thrive. Hopefully in the next year there will be more stability in our lives and you will thrive even more and really enjoy the year of being 10!

You always make me and Daddy so proud in everything you do. We love you, Jordan!

One of Those Days

Just because I feel like whining, this is how my day went:
* 5:30 a.m. alarm goes off. I get up at about 5:40 and start a pot of coffee. Drink coffee and check e-mail.
* 6:00 a.m. shower
* 6:30 a.m. wake up kids (one was sleeping in my bed since Jim is out of town so that one was easy).
* 6:30 - 7:27 a.m. Get kids dressed, fed, lunches made, etc. Yell at Jordan for backtalk. Off to school for 7:30 a.m. parent/child book club meeting before school starts. Late as usual.
* 8:06 a.m. back to the apartment to get Jensen's things for school and put my makeup on since I didn't have time to do it before.
* 8:40 a.m. Take Jensen to school. Get there about 8:55...late as usual.
* 9:00 a.m. Go to house on Misty River to unpack more boxes.
* 9:30 a.m. Meet with landscaper. Go to his nursery to see some stone selections. Get call from city inspector that he is at my house and needs to get in. Rush back to house.
* 10:00 a.m. House passes mechanical inspection...the last inspection (we think).
* 10:30 a.m. Back to landscaper and off to see a few houses he's done.
*11:00 a.m. Bed Bath and Beyond to get items for the bed, bath, and beyond. The list is endless.
* 1:00 p.m. Drop off beach towels to be monogrammed for birthday gifts. Pick up lunch on the way back to house.
*1:30 p.m. Back at house to unpack a few more boxes and wait for people from Star Furniture to show up to fix something they delivered last week.
* 2:00 p.m. No guys from Star furniture yet, but I have to leave to go pick Jensen up from school.
* 2:30 p.m. Back to apartment to pack up kids' gear for swim practice. Head out to pick Jackson and Jordan up from school.
* 3:00 p.m. Back to house. Wait for guys from Star Furniture. Kids play out on the street with other neighbor kids. That is awesome!
* 4:45 p.m. Neighbor Jen takes Jackson and Jordan to swim practice for me (love her) since I am still waiting for guys from Star Furniture.
* 5:20 p.m. Guys finally show up. Fix the problem while they sweat all over everything.
* 5:55 p.m. Guys are done in the nick of time and I leave to go pick up kids at swim practice. Rush back to house, kids inhale leftover pizza and change clothes.
* 6:30 p.m. Last Cub Scout meeting of the year.
* 7:45 p.m. Meeting over; head back to apartment.
* 8:00 p.m. Get kids showered, in pjs and off to bed.
* 9:00 p.m. Ahhhhh.

Wow

It's been over two months since I last updated here. There's been many times that I've wanted to post, but felt overwhelmed with the need to catch everyone up to date. So much has gone on in the past two months that I just never knew where to start. So I decided not to. I decided just to start fresh tonight with what happened today. And what happened today was Jackson's First Communion.

You'll never see him look so angelic, pious and clean so take a good look. We were so proud of him today. He made it through another school year of CCE and was definitely ready for this big day.

Being in church today felt good. Most weeks we're there I'm so worried about whether or not the kids are behaving, whether or not they're disturbing the people around them, etc. to pay much attention to what's actually going on. Today, though, I had a definite feeling that this was a good place to be. Whenever we're at church I do three things. 1). I thank God for getting Jim and I through our recent tough times without killing each other and now that we are preparing to move back into our house I thank Him more and more. 2). I pray for Him to keep all of our family safe and healthy. And, 3). I ask God to help me be a better mother. I always feel the need when I'm there to pray for some help in being the best parent I can be. I don't know if He hears me or feels the need to intercede but I always feel the need for a little extra help.

Anyway, to celebrate Jackson's accomplishment we planned lunch at The Aquarium restaurant downtown. It is a pretty cool place and we all really enjoyed it. Surrounding the restaurant is a little amusement park with a ferris wheel, train ride, arcade games, etc. We spent a little time doing that stuff before heading back home. Jackson had a baseball practice in the afternoon then Jim had to catch a flight out of town for the next few days. I think Jackson had a good day and is definitely excited to have made his First Communion and able to "take the bread" at church each week along with Jordan. I definitely had a good day...feeling very proud of my son and loving my family.

Here's a funny story. When we were driving out of the church parking lot, Jackson said, "Mom, I think that woman over there is wearing the same dress you are." I looked across the parking lot and saw a 75 year old woman wearing a dress, while not exactly the same, remarkably similar to mine. And when I left the house this morning I thought, "hey, I look pretty good in this dress." Hmmm.