BOB THE BUILDER: I'M COMING FOR YOUR JOB.......

I am a smart girl. I am a funny girl. I am a pretty girl. I am an athletic girl. I am a loving girl. But one thing I am NOT is a "fix-it" girl. That's why I got so excited this weekend when I did the unthinkable......I fixed my own toilet seat.  Some of you may have noticed that I mentioned a couple of times about needing to fix my toilet seat in my master bathroom. Welp, I woke up Sunday morning and BOOM...decided it was the day to conquer "the throne". Frankly,  I was sick of having my bum pinched everytime I sat down. Everyone can pick their jaws up off the ground now. It really wasn't that hard.  I grabbed my handy-dandy toolbox that my Auntie Chris gave my upon HS graduation.  Yes, it is over 11 years old and the contents haven't been updated since then except for my own little additions.  Bobby pins, post it notes, an old makeup sponge (I think I tried to paint something with it once), excess rhinestones, broken jewelry now occupy most of the space but it still has all the essentials for a young and single girl!!! Turns out I didn't really need the tools anyways.  Oh well. At least it got dusted off.

TA DAAAAAA!!!! Here it is....all fixed up and pretty with no more duck tape.

On top of my new found confidence in my fix-it skills there was another silver lining to all this......my new found LOVE of Home Depot.  Not so much because I love the products they sell or the ambiance in their stores.......but most certainly for the cute boys they have working there. I think I saw one in every aisle.  Sign me up for a Home Depot card! Holllaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS......

WARNING: Longest post EVER. But my trip was FAB so I have to share.........


Sorry for the long pause in blogging.......I went home this weekend to my parents house and it was just what the doctor prescribed for this homesick chica. My family has been through a lot in the last sixth months. I've lost my uncle, my grandma, and my grandpa. It's been tough on everyone, but especially my Dad. I was so happy to be able to go home and hang out with Ballgame. After an 8 hour travel day and my mom being LATE to pick me up, I hope he felt the love. HA! We did a lot of just hanging out, which was perfect. My little brother, Mr. Really Busy Cop Man, even came down and took me out to lunch. I'm so special. There is no way I could tell everything that went on.....but here are some of the major highlights.......

I got to sun myself everyday at Le Spa D'Leland (the 'rents house).

We had to take Crystal to the vet.  She had a little plastic surgery (this only happens in Califonia) to remove some growths on her face. In all the fuss over my Grandpa, my Mom had forgotten to get the stitches out so I volunteered to go with them to offer moral support......

She just realized we were NOT going to Auntie Chris's....panic sets in.........

All done!  Isn't she puuuurdy?!?! You can tell her confidence level is already up! HA!

After all the errands,  Mom and I also did a little bonding (shopping).   My favorite find? This glam purse my Mom actually discovered. I love it 'cause I can wear it with gold or silver, dressed up or dressed down, with black or brown. On top of all that it has tons of sparkle. And what girl doesn't love that?!?! It really has endless options and since I'm on a budget (or try to be on one) I need that in my accessories..........

I couldn't find a pic of my new flip flops that I got from Dillards. Leopard print with a rhinestone bow. DIE.  They will be perfect for those hot nights in Italy when I will be strolling along with the random Italian hunk I have met on my trip. I know, I wish.  The reality is I will be traveling with 15 players and 6 coaches/staff members that would NEVER let me get away with something like that (without some major teasing, anyways) but a girl can still dream, right?!?!  SIGH.   I also picked up some red bling earings for the lake.  They match my new swimsuit perfectly so I will definetly be making a statement out at Clinton Lake. HA! 

The week wasn't all play though....We did have to throw some of my Dad's work stuff in there too.  These pools and purses don't pay for themselves people! HA! We had the Pacific softball and golf coaches over for dinner to celebrate their NCAA tournament seasons. My favorite part of these dinners is seeing how my Momma sets her table. She is even better than Martha Stewart. Stefanie Stewart.

Temptation is everywhere for me in California because it has several fast food places I love but can't get in KS.  Jack in the Box and In and Out are the top two. I am actually thankful we don't have them because I would easliy be like 400lbs.  I was able to stick to my diet though because of this place.....my parents outdoor kitchen. Teddy Ballgame can grill some delish and carb friendly steaks and hamburgers so that's what we did most nights.  The outdoor kitchen is certainly my most favorite place on earth...........

Eventhough Mom and I did some serious damage to her credit card (we chose to think about it as helping the economy) my favorite things I got were things we didn't have to buy. My Mom got this tiny red glass heart from Hungary. She had given me the turquiose ones when I moved into my house and I think the little red one is the perfect addition to the clan.  They are kept on my Mackenzie Childs heart, which was also a gift from my Mom. Do you sense a theme with her gifts to me? We really must HEART each other. HA!

Probably the most special thing I got was a pin from my Grandpa's military uniform.  I searched through a huge bag of memoriabilia and found this little gem......

How cute will it look on my coat this winter? I got several beautiful jewelry pieces from my Grandma. I wear most of them everyday.  I love that I now have something from my Grandpa and will wear it proudly.  Love you Grandpa!

Anyhoo.....there are tons of other stories and tid bits from my trip, but I just don't have time to list them all. Like when we called the police for a noise compliant on our neighbors, only to realize we couldn't hear the noise if we were INSIDE the house. In all honest, we were really just mad we weren't invited to the party HA!  I am so thankful to Bonnie that she let me take this unexpected time off to go home and help my family regroup from the past 6 months. Eventhough it's been hard we still have a lot to be thankful for.

I get to go pick up Lulu at lunch and I am so excited............It was lonely last night without her. 

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

HAPPY DADDY'S DAY!!!

Happy Father's Day to the greatest man I know....Teddy  Ballgame.

Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for loving my brother and me unconditionally.  Thank you for being a wonderful husband to our mother. Thank you for being the greatest provider.  Thank you for being so funny.  Thank you for running with me every morning before high school. Thank you for being the referee between Mom and me and thank you for always making us both feel like we won the arugment.  Thank you for giving the BEST advice. Thank you for always being right.  Thank you for TRYING to tutor me in math when I was in jr high. Thank you for realizing that was a  bad idea. Thank you for not dissowning me when I crashed Mom's new car into pillars when I was 15.  Thank you for pocket dialing my 20 times a day. HAHAHAHA! 

Long story short.....THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

I love you so BIG!!!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA DAUGHTER

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE........

Not much to report from the weekend.  Pretty boring stuff, but sometimes boring is good. Camp ended at noon on Saturday so I got a whole lot accomplished around my house and with my laundry situation. And let me tell you, THAT was a situation.  I am happy to report that my guest room in now back to a guest room and all my 35 loads of laundry (only a slight exageration) are folded, hung and put away.  LOVE that.  I have this thing about leaving on a trip and having my house be perfect.  I think I get it from my Mom.  Coming home to a clean house after being away is really nice. I love everything about my little house except for my carpet in my living room. That is the next situation I have to tackle. I did get out a little bit and ran a few errands. I haven't been able to find a iPhone 4 cover that I love without breaking the bank so I took matters into my own hands and made my own. I got a $4.99 pink cover from TJ MAXX and then scooted over to Micheals and bought some stickers....TA-DAAAAAAA:

It's isn't what I want for my "forever cover" but for right now I think it is really cute.  Other than that, not much more to report from the weekend. I worked out both days, and hung out with Hudy and the dogs both nights.  We went over and visited our friend Karen last night and hung out with her family. Hudy and Ashlyn (Karen's daughter) went after it on the hoop in their driveway.  Hudy, of course, showed no mercy eventhough Aslyn in 6.  Typical. 

One thing that I didn't accomplish was getting any sun. I missed the boat day because I thought I had to meet the camp pizza guy at noon on Saturday. Turns out my job was given to someone else without anybody telling me. GRRRRRRRR! It was the most perfect boat day too. Oh well, I will get plenty of sun at my parents house. 

Anyhoo.....I just have a few more hours before I leave and tonight I will be sleeping in my room in California.  Love that.  I forgot to check into my flight so I got a "B-52". All you Southwest people know what I'm talking about.  I can't even tell my Dad. He will dissown me. We don't get anything less then "A" in our family.

I can't wait to be in California and see my family. We have had a lot of loss over the past year and I hope that everyone can start healing soon.  I'm going to steal KU basketball's motto from this season.... "F.O.E." ....Family Over Everything.



Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

LOVE YOU GRANDPA!

 My Grandpa passed away yesterday morning. I missed him by just a few days.  The last few months wasn't pretty so I am thankful that he is in a more comfortable place now.  The last time I saw my Grandpa he wasn't doing well at all and I'm sad that him in the hospital is the last image I have of him.  I know memories are what I make them so I choose to remember my Grandpa as a grandpa, a father, a husband, a war hero, a friend, an athlete, a volunteer, and a car lover.  That guy ALWAYS had the coolest cars.  He and my Dad had a wonderful and close relationship.  He was soo proud of my Dad and I know my Dad was proud of him.  I will miss his stories. He told the best stories.  I am still going home on Monday to see my family and I can't wait to give everyone a squeeze.

I LOVE YOU GRANDPA!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

I'M A SURVIVOR

Welp, we survived day 1!   Everyone is still smiling! It actually wasn't that bad....just a few hiccups, but that is normal.  No cute single dads yet but we still have 3 camps to go so I am holding out hope. The social at  Bonnie's house was good except for the fact that her movie theater screen didn't work so we had to call a technician.  Rich people problems! HA!  I haven't really been following the NBA finals so I had no clue who to root for. Last night I chose the Heat because they have a couple of KU players.  Usually I go on jeresy colors if I don't really have a favorite. 

I got home pretty late and woke up early to workout. I am one of those people who needs 8 hours of sleep MINIMUM to survive. I will def be relying heavily on caffine today.  We go with camp all day and then another social tonight. It is pouring rain here so that is a bummer. Thank goodness basketball is an indoor sport. HA!  I was switching bags from my purse to the camp-friendly backpack (blah) and I realized that there were some things I just couldn't get through the day with out. My "camp survival kit" contains the following:

My phone.  Our office is in CONSTANT communication. I mean, the last text I got last night was at 11:23 PM last night.  No, during camp, we don't sleep. I have Bonnie calling, Cappy texting, Brooke emailing, and me sneaking peeks at my facebook in between sessions. The phone is our lifeline:

Fountain Diet Coke. This one is specific. Not plastic-bottle Diet Coke.  The kind you get at a gas station or Sonic. With the rabbit pebble ice. I would take a can in a pinch but def prefer the fountain drink. My co-workers know if they want to get me to do something for them.....bring me a fountain diet coke.

My "lippy."  My lipstick.  MAC Sappho is the standard summer color but I would put anything with a dark pink/light red tint on. When I'm feeling/looking tired (today) it brightens up my face. As my Momma says, "Lipstick is the exclamation point on your face!"  Word.

Comfortable shoes. I do a LOT of walking during camp.  We operate out of three gyms, our office, and the dorms. I am supposed to be rocking Adidas kicks, but I go with sparkly Toms. Close enough. I have them in three colors- black, silver and gold. I  L.O.V.E. my TOMS.

My favorite co-workers.  Of course I'm missing Coach O. but the cupboard wasn't left bare.  I still have a whole office full of great peeps that I get to spend A LOT of camp time with:)  I couldn't do it without them :)

So anyhoo, I don't know if any of you are planning on runnning/starting your own camp this summer (not recommended) but at least you know what gets me through these days.   HA! Our office motto during June is basically, "Survive and move on." HA!


Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

CAMP IS A FOUR LETTER WORD

It's JUNE and, around here, that means CAMP season.  To most people on the outside, camp is a wonderful thing.  Kids playing, meeting new friends, meeting our players (who are the counselors) and honing their basketball skills. Parents enjoy some free time.  But to those of us who actually run the camps, CAMP is a four letter word.  Bonnie Henrickson Basketball Camp starts today. You can smell it in the air.  Brooke has her registration "bible" out, the coaches have their drills and itineraries tucked in their pocket, the managers have the stations set up and Cappy (our fearless camp director)  has her economy size bottle of excederine-migranie in her backpack.  Everything is running smoothly so far except it is  HOT HOT HOT here and one of our gyms is not air conditioned.  I have fielded no less then 1,000 phone calls from camp parents throughout the year.  Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it sounds....... Do you supervise the kids in the dorm? (No, we let them run wild and free. If they haven't learned their survival skills by 10 years old, this isn't the camp for them.)  It says on the camp forms that they will need baskteball shoes. My child just has sneakers. Will those be ok? (No, unless your 12 year old has an authentic pair of Adidas basketball shoes, she will not be allowed at camp.)  Do you provide water for the campers? (Nope, Bonnie has a strict rule against water.  We like to teach toughness at our camp.)  I mean, SERIOUSLY?!?!

This first camp we run is our Elite Camp which is actually my favorite because we use it as a huge recruiting tool. I won't go into the boring "industry explanation" of what that means....The "Amanda explination" is that we get to have coaches socials every night........YES!!!!!  Bonnie and Cappy let me run those. I mean, they have me on staff for a reason people!  Tonight is hanging out at Bonnie's and watching the NBA Finals.  Tomorrow night is Johnny's Tavern. I talked Bonnie into an "open tab" so things could get interesting. 

In all seriousness though, I do really enjoy camp time.  The kids, for the most part, are cute and it's fun to see our players interacting with them.  It really is more of a relaxed atmosphere in the office too.  Except for Cappy, who has already taken half her bottle of Excedrine! 

Today I'm suppoused to be in the camp-issued polo and khakis but Cappy knows not to hold her breath on that one....I mean, what if there is a cute and single dad?

I'm off to registration!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA