Bowles Blog

Booty-licious

24 Hours of Booty ride is complete.

Number of  laps:  64

Miles ridden:  190

Elapsed time:  22 hours

Amount of sleep:  1.5 hours

Congratulations Baby Sexy, we're very proud of you for such a great ride!

P.S.  Lance Jr.  is now fast asleep,  overcome with fatigue even before his chocolate cake is out of the oven.

Let's Do Lunch

And Game Cube and years of catching up and pictures on the porch.  In two hours.

We had a very nice visit from my "long lost" cousin John and my Aunt Nancy.  Who are both currently living in North Carolina.  Which means we have relatives here!  They are both going right to the top of our visiting list.  The kids had a great time playing Mario Party with John and were very happy when he and Ebby figured out how to play with 4 players.  When it was time for John and Nancy to leave all 3 kids wanted to go with them.  If it weren't for the dentist appointments this afternoon I would've been grabbing the car seats and kissing 'em goodbye.  Maybe next time.  Or maybe if John's post college job search doesn't work out we could interest him in a child care position...

Signs of the South

Feeling very much as though I'm living in the South today.  Which I am.  So here's a quirky little list, sort of a cross between Letterman's Top 10 and Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be a Redneck...

• Arrived in the mail today:  an "invitation" to receive a free trial issue of Southern Lady magazine.  Their stated mission is "to delight, inspire, and celebrate the ladies who live in the South-and those who just wish they did."  And I'm not saying I'm thinking about mailing back the postage paid card.  I'm not...
• Seen on the front page of the Money section of the Charlotte Observer the other day:  Pimp My Golf Cart!  Followed by a detailed articles showing all the hip accessories you can have installed on your chariot o' the links. 
• Made by me today:  Simple syrup.  Sure, it's just a mixture of sugar and water that you bring to a boil and let cool.  But really, it's so much more.  It's the authentic way to make unsweetened iced tea into sweet tea, the beverage of choice here in the South (after anything on the menu at Starbucks).  Just adding sugar is so, well, Northern. And granular. In addition, just about every drink recipe they publish in the Charlotte Observer calls for simple syrup.  I don't think I even knew what simple syrup was before I moved here.  Grenadine yes.  Simple syrup, a novelty.
• Spotted in the local weekly advertiser paper:  $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction  of the person or persons responsible for the theft of racing engines and associated equipment from Braun Racing, Mooresville, North Carolina.  Apparently someone(s) made off with 3 high performance engines, precision gears, and tools back in March and is still at large.  Wonder if they've checked eBay.  The notice also mentions that the items are "bulky" and that the code phrase for their tip line is "SPEED SNATCH".  Very catchy.  They certainly do take their auto racing seriously down here!

That's it for now, y'all.  But this could become a regular irregular feature here at the Bowles Blog.  Southern Moments....

New Catch Phrase, etc.

How to tell Ebby, Will & Cuyler are spending a little too much time together:  their new phrase of choice.  And that phrase is, drumroll please...

Baby Sexy.

Sometimes reversed to Sexy Baby.

Meaning:  something between hubba hubba and that's cool.

Examples:  Will, the other night after I gave him a piggyback:  Thanks Mama Baby Sexy.

or in Daddy's car the other night on the way to the pool, all three:  This car is Baby Sexy!

Usage:  Heavy the past few days.  Often heard in less than desireable venues (i.e. pediatrician's office, community pool)

Point of Origin:  Unknown at this point but definitely stirred up by Ms. EBB

What we're gonna do about it:  Try no to laugh, generally ignore it and hope Baby Sexy has ridden its course by the time they go to camp at the Y next week!

In other news...

Beat the Heat Part 3:  The heat cannot be beaten.  The heat won.  The pool water is about 98 degrees by the time we go at 7pm.  The good news is that by that time of day the air has cooled down to 95 degrees so when you get out of the pool it's almost refreshing.

If you can't beat the heat, join it:  Ignoring all the sage advice of every NC weatherperson, RLB headed out for some exercise this afternoon around 4:45pm.  First running/walking with the dog and then lawnmowing.  Front and Back. 

We hear that cooler temps are coming.  And maybe even rain.  Looks like it will be raining from about 7pm Friday to 7pm Saturday.  That would be the 24 Hours of Booty timeframe...

And finally, the feel good story of the day:  We tuned up our own lawnmower.  I picked up the sharpened blade today and this afternoon RLB installed the new air filter, spark plug and good as new blade.  Mowed the lawn and said it was running great.  Total cost:  $12.87.  Chatting with our neighbor Diane tonight she mentioned they had their lawnmower serviced/tuned up this spring.  Total cost:  $125.  We so rock. 

And good night.

Beat the Heat Part 2

• Begin the day with some art.  Have kids draw pictures and help make cards
• Allow one game of SuperMario Party 6 on GameCube
• Make cookies out of Play-Doh
• Take all 3 kids to doctor for annual physicals.  If you're 5 yrs old you get to have 3 shots in addition to getting weighed, measured, etc.
• More Play-Doh
• Sew up an apron for the daughter who wants to play restaurant and can't find her waitress costume

Serve cereal for dinner (actually that works no matter what the temperature)

Head to the pool at 7pm

Finish off the evening by watching a cool movie, Snow Dogs

And yes, it's supposed to be hot again tomorrow.  Good times!

If You Can't Take the Heat...

Go to the Concord Mills Mall?!?  Maybe not the number one answer but it's what we did yesterday afternoon.  You might be wondering how long it takes to go to the mall with 3 kids.  Well...First, they have to get motivated to go (about 1 hour).  While they are motivating, Mommy makes a list of the errands that need to get done and gathers goods to support said errands (i.e. rug to be returned, DVD to go back to library, misc. lawnmower parts).  We first get in the car at 11:45.  I attempt to close the garage door with the remote but no dice.  Must go into the garage and re-bend the aluminum arm the sensor is on.  Garage closes.  Back out about 20 feet.  Realize I forgot the bag of lawnmower parts.  Pull back in and go in the house to get them.  Drive to local chamber of commerce.  Discuss why all 3 children have to get out of the car for 90 second errand.  Go inside and find out they don't have what I want.  Back into the car, buckle up and realize I've forgotten AC Moore flyer/coupon.  Drive 3.5 minutes back home to get them.  Next stop:  library.  Again convince children  to get out of car.  Stand in line to return overdue DVD (The Brave Little Toaster), pay fine of $1.  Gather children, nearly leaving Will at water bubbler.  Kids have to walk along the stone wall and jump onto the grass on the way out.  On to Ace Hardware.  Attempt to go the "back way" but am thwarted by work crew and "road closed" signs.  End up going the "long way".  Make it to the hardware store (yes, another discussion about getting out of the car with Will) and stop to admire 5ft tall stuffed rabbit wearing a hula skirt in the window.  Not sure what that has to do with hardware (they had penguins and snow in the other window).  Go inside, wait for someone to help us find a spark plug and air filter for the mower.  Someone does and then he takes the blade and promises it will be sharpened by Wednesday.  Excellent, a return trip! Call children over to check out line, they are playing on Radio Flyer display.  I pay, they ask for popcorn.  At Ace they give out free fresh-popped popcorn in retro paper cones.  We wait for someone to help us and head to the car with 3 popcorn filled cones.  Buckling seat belts with popcorn is a bit of a challenge for the boys but Ebby talks them thru it and we're off to the mall--finally.  It's already been an hour.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the stop at the bank.  At least we went to the drive-thru there.

Once at the behemoth retail center time slips away (I refer you back to the no-watch comment a few days ago).  We return items, buy stickers and a few scrapbook essentials, have DQ Blizzards for lunch, check out the hermit crabs, lament the cost of clothing and lack of cute stuff for boys, run the track at Oshkosh, visit the bathroom twice, play (very nicely) at the Lego table at Carter's, and finally limp our way back thru TJMaxx and HomeGoods where children hide beneath clothing racks, sit on every upholstered chair they see, and play peek-a-boo in the giant hanging rug display.  I am obliviously flipping thru rugs when the phone rings and the huse-band asks if I'm home and can do him a favor.  Ah, it's 4:30.  Where did the afternoon go?  So we were home by 5:20 (saw 4 NASCAR semis on the way) and it was business as usual for dinner by 6:15.

Just another day of summer in the Carolinas...

Going to the Dogs

Dogs, Part 1:  It had been a while since we had a birthday here in Bowlesland but that drought came to an end on Saturday when Jake turned 2.  Of course his birthday is in July, when else would it be?  This year we actually celebrated his big day with a family field trip to the doggie bakery.  Which was (amazingly) my idea.  Of course I had hoped to also visit a scrapbook store about 10 minutes from the bakery but that did not come to pass.  Hmmm.  At any rate, we arrived at Barbara's Canine Cafe and it was Yappy Hour!  What luck!

Jake snacked happily and met many new doggie pals--including Boris & Natasha, the canine children of a work associate of Bob's.   The Canine Cafe was pretty cool, even for the non-dog lovers among us.  You can even have dog birthday parties there--complete with goody bags that proclaim, "Thanks for coming to my pawty".  Can you stand it?  We got a Mutt Muffin for Jake to enjoy at home.  Although they use human quality ingredients and many of the goodies look good enough to eat, they only have dog treats at the Canine Cafe.  The lone disappointment for the kids.

Dogs, Part 2:  While we were watching the final stage (sniffle, sniffle) of the Tour de France yesterday, Cuyler was  doing some coloring in his new Scooby Doo coloring book.  Sometime between watching Lance toast his seventh victory with his Discovery Channel teammates and Vino's sprint past Levi Leipheimer at 75k, Cuyler made the following announcement:  "Scooby Doo has won the Tour de France.  He wins 2,000 monies!".  Go Scooby!

Powerless

Again.  Twice today in fact.  The first time was this morning when the posse from Duke Energy pulled up across the street and set up a 7-cone work zone.  They replaced the transformer we were told was too small for the number of houses on the street.  The tiny transformer being the reason for the power outage the other night.  By the time I walked over to ask how long the power would be out for they finished and were packing up.  Total time=less than a half hour (it's hard to tell precisely because all of the clocks I normally look at are electric and my watch has needed a new battery for a couple of months).  So we figure we're good to go with the electricity, shouldn't be any more problems...Fast forward to this afternoon around 5:30 and once again the telltale sound of everything grinding to a halt.  That "blllooop" sound of the giant plug being pulled. This outage lasted longer, over an hour I'd say.  Long enough to shut down the pool for the night and draw many of the neighbors outside.  Which with the 95 degree heat of the day still holding on struck me as a bit crazy.  I guess these Carolinians are just too darn sociable.  I saw no fewer than 6 of 'em out lounging, chatting, and imbibing as I walked the block with Jake.  When life gives you lemons...throw a few brews in the cooler and head for the neighbors' stoop!

8 is Great

Happy Birthday to Ebby!  Due to a (relatively) brief power outage last night birthday greetings not posted exactly on time.  Hope she doesn't mind.  She had a friend sleepover Monday night, spent time at the pool, then headed to Charlotte for an early dinner at Uno's.  Upon returning home both Mommy and Daddy overtaken by fatigue/headache and aforementioned power outage.  We finally recovered enough to have cake on the deck with ice cream that was softened to quite a nice scooping consistency.  With all of the excitement, sugar, and activity of the past few weeks next week's trips  to the doctor and dentist should be, ah, interesting.

In other news, one of Cuyler's "pool blisters" gave way yesterday.  He left quite a dramatic trail of watery blood drops and blood paper towels on the pool deck.  The lifeguard was seen scrubbing up the blood with chlorine heavy pool water so hopefully CSI will find no trace of us.  In downtown/Uptown Charlotte yesterday we stumbled upon a really cool park across from the convention center.  It had some sort of literary theme with lots of concrete sculptures, mosaic work, quotes, giant fish and a walkway rebus.  There was even a mulitsensory section with speakers integrated into the stone walls.  Why the sound coming out was of flushing toilets I'm not sure. 

Can you decipher this?  Let me know if you can identify the quote and the author...(no cheating BGD)

Booty Call

What does it mean when your husband calls to tell you he'll be participating in 24 Hours of Booty??  Or that in the description of such you find the phrase "riding the gentle & scenic Booty Loop"?

Well of course it means it's July and the hubby has cycling fever!  What did you think?  He signed up today for this ride which aims to raise funds and awareness for charities such as The Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Brain Tumor Fund for the Carolinas.  Rob/Bob is riding in the name of my cousin, Jean-Marie, who was diagnosed a couple of  years ago with a non-cancerous brain tumor.  He's not sure yet if he'll be riding for one hour or 23 but he is gathering all the camping gear we have in order to set up a base camp in Meyers Park.  By camping equipment I mean a pop up canopy and an air mattress.  Here we go again...

If anyone is interested in donating, here's the link:

Booty Donations

Thank you!