High Five for Friday (3.2.18)

1. Last week the TAMU engineering student group with which Tom works hosted a karaoke fundraiser. That same night and at the same time, I had to attend a meeting for a committee on which I serve. Because Tom had to attend his event (he was a "featured performer") and my meeting wasn't appropriate for kids, both Will and Hallie tagged along to karaoke night.

"Featuring Prof. Thomas Ferris" among others.

Will couldn't muster up the courage to sing, but Hallie crushed Love is an Open Door and Let it Go...with Tom. Can you imagine attending - as a college student - karaoke night and watching your professor sing Frozen songs with his eight-year-old daughter? I imagine it would be hysterical or adorable or maybe a little of both, and Tom was willing to brave what his students might say (and what videos they might post on the internet) to make Hallie's night. He's a rock star dad, in more ways than one.

My apologies for the poor quality of this video. Unfortunately Hallie was too short to be seen behind the barrel and karaoke equipment and the cameraman (ahem, Will) wasn't paying very close attention to the task at hand.

Tom also sang Hakuna Matata with another professor, which may have pushed the needle toward hysterical...

2. Will had a soccer game scheduled for 9:30am Saturday morning in Houston. I woke up early and checked my phone for weather updates, and when I saw a message from the team manager indicating that the fields were open and the game was a go, Will and I loaded up and pulled out of the driveway at 7:11am. An hour and a half later we arrived at the athletic complex in Houston. While Will put on his shinguards, I disconnected my phone's bluetooth from the car's audio system...and started to see notifications coming through on our team app.

"Fields closed."

And then...

"Game cancelled."

You guys. These notifications had come in at 7:14am, just three minutes after I pulled out of my driveway in College Station. Will and I got up early on a Saturday and drove all the way to Houston only to find out his team wouldn't be playing after all.

Normally this kind of shake-up would lead to a meltdown...by me. I plan and organize most aspects of our lives because if I didn't, we wouldn't get anywhere on time nor would we be able to balance school, work, music, dance, sports, etc. I also HATE wasting time and money, and this unnecessary 90-minute drive to Houston wasted both.

But for some reason, this time a drastic change in plans didn't break me. Will and I decided to make the best of our situation, so we started with a walk/jog/adventure through the park. We eventually ran into three other friends/teammates of Will's who had also made the drive, so before we climbed back in the car the boys ran off a little steam (and the parents hoped we wouldn't get a ticket for letting the boys play on the closed fields).

A little jog through the park. The pace at which Will jogs is quite
literally the same pace at which I would sprint from a burning building,
yet when we walk, he complains I go too fast and can't keep up.

The cement path on which we jogging rounded a
bend and stopped abruptly in front of a heavily wooded
area. We ventured through the trees and came out on
the other side near sandy dunes and a river.

The sand by the banks of the river was so saturated
from days (weeks? months?) of rain that it sucked
us in like quicksand...kind of creepy!

Will's sandals and my fashion sneakers weren't
the right footwear for our little hike, but we
didn't let inappropriate dress hold us back!

On the way home, we took a detour past Trader Joe's (!!!) and popped into Starbucks for a cool treat to enjoy on the drive.

Hallelujah!

My stash from this trip: mandarin oranges, pink lady apples, chicken
and veggie burgers, egg rolls, silver dollar pancakes, breakfast and fruit
bars, roasted red pepper tomato soup, salami sticks, bagel seasoning,
sriracha BBQ sauce, milk rolls, chocolate covered pretzels, and wine. 

Ready for the journey home!

Our morning did not go according to plan AT ALL, but in the end I had the best time with my boy and wouldn't trade the five hours we spent together for anything.

I know I'm biased, but that's one handsome boy.

3. Meanwhile, Hallie spent the morning with Tom at an TAMU engineering recruitment event. (She attended a lot of work events last week.) When I finally made it back to town and picked her up, she had been sitting on the floor in the corner of a lecture hall listening to professors describe and answer questions about their research for more than three hours. She was, however, still in such a good mood that I couldn't help but treat her to cookies at College Station's newest cookie shop. She ordered a "Tiffwich", a cookie and ice cream sandwich which happened to be the size of her head and made her as happy as...well, as happy as a little girl with two cookies and a pint of ice cream. And lucky me - she gave me three delicious bites.

This is how much was still left after she
had been eating nonstop for 10 minutes. 

4. Last month Hallie had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at an Aggie basketball game. She loved the experience, but left that day kind of bummed that a scheduling conflict meant she couldn't actually stay for the game. So when another opportunity to perform at an Aggie basketball game arose - this time with the Aggie Youth Dance Day - Hallie couldn't wait to go, both to dance and to see a great game of basketball.

Hallie is hard to find, but if you really look, you can see her in the front row of the back/older half of girls. Her blond hair is in a ponytail and she's wearing a skinny black headband. 

This week was chock full of great opportunities made possible by the community in which we live, and for that I'm truly grateful.

5. Happiness Highlights:

I discovered the reason why the Sam's Club chicken melt is
my favorite on-the-go lunch: "Sandwich Bros. of Wisconsin".

Last Friday night we celebrated a beautiful friend's birthday. We
gathered in comfy clothes, toasted with prosecco, and indulged in
desserts, and in between sips and bites we talked and laughed
and made plans to do the same more often.

A polaroid of me and the birthday girl, taken during
her party but also apparently during the 1970s...

This girl's hair is really starting to come into its
own - waves and even curls for days, and that blond... 😍

I guess we know what she thinks about life in Missouri...

Happy Friday, Chasing Roots!

Linking up with High Five for Friday here: