A new sushi place opened up down the street... their spicy tuna crunch roll is da' bomb! Mmm mmm mmm.

I think if I had the ability to blow $8-$15 a day on lunch I'd definitely be eating sushi every day. I just started eating it in December and I can't believe I missed out on something so yummy for so long. Plus, using chopsticks is really cool! Once I master them I'll buy a real pair for home. So I can be an elitist! You know, kinda like guys buy their own pool sticks instead of using the funky, bent ones in the pool hall.

This weekend was so much fun. I love summer time because my weekends usually turn into awesome times when we travel. This weekend I got to hang with the Dogz and a bunch of other people. Instead of camping as we usually do, my Ex got a hotel room and we (my son and I) bunked in with him. While I missed the night-time conversations and hanging out with all the different people, I enjoyed a good nights rest and a finicky hot-n-cold shower.

On the second night it turns out the partying got a bit out of hand back where we would have been camping and someone actually ended up getting stabbed three times. Yeah, good times. *rolls eyes* Can't people have fun without drinking too much and turning into beasts? Last year there was just lots of noise, people hooting and hollering, cars driving around with their stereos thumping, the sound of beer bottles clinking... there was even a fight in the parking lot around 2am and the Po-Po were called, but at least no one got hurt.

By the way, the guy who got stabbed is okay. "It's just a flesh wound!"

The upside.. my son took 1st place in his division! YEAH BABY!! I was surprised because there had been a tie and a "dance off" and I was sure the other kid was going to get first place because his dance moves were so smooth. But no. My boy took it! When he went up to accept his prize I was proud to see that he took his hat off (instead of being a punk and leaving it on) and shook everyone's hand. It showed he had respect for the people who were running the event as well as for the other dancers. A singer from another group even turned at looked at me and my Ex and said that was a respectful gesture. My boy makes me so proud. You know, even if he didn't get first I'd still be super proud of him, it is just the way he handles himself when he does win, his humble nature, that really makes my heart swell.

In the singing category the Dogz didn't do so well. They got 3rd place which was odd. They should have gotten 2nd (1st place went to a group that is like famous and we knew 1st was out of reach - unless someone on that group keeled over and did a face plant in the middle of their competition song!) but, as competition politics always go, the Dogz got kicked to the curb and took 3rd. I really like the group that got 2nd, they are friends of mine and everything, but they aren't really on point all the time and they mess up on important things. There is always some kind of mess up at this event when it comes to the singing competition and I should never be shocked at the outcome. All in all it was a good time. This coming weekend I will be working with Toe and the guys... the next show I'll be doing on the p*ww*w trail will be... mid-August. What? That doesn't seem right. Holy cow. I just checked my schedule and I guess that is right. Looks like I'll be with Toe every weekend for the next nine weeks. At least some of the time I'm working with him will be at p*ww*ws. Coolio.

PICTURE TIME!!!!

These are all from this past weekend...

The Dogz... in action!

Rob's big mouth.

Mikey, Chris and Blue.

Chris and Blue.

A women's f@ncy dancer.

Another women's f@ncy dancer.

Men's f@ncy (my buddy Yeri).

Another men's f@ncy.

F@ncy dance bustles hanging up in the arbor.

Women's Jingle.

Women's Traditional (Tradish! -Lauren is AWESOME! She's an amazing singer too!)

A different women's tradish style.

Men's Northern Tradish.

A couple Eastern Men's tradish.

Isn't she the cutest!

Back at the No-tell Motel. Rob, Mike, Rich and Chris.

Mike cheers (???) as Rob laughs. Why is his mouth always open??

Some chinese food. We also had Domino's pizza and wings. Nothing like junk food to get the gas started for bunking in together!

Men's Gr@ss Dance.

More grassers.

Even more grassers. I love Gr@ss dancers!

These are some Eastern W@r dancers.

Friends of mine in another singing group.

Another cute little one!

An Aztec dancer (Cute, but I think he was about 15! Bummer!) :-P

Our drum. :-)

So, when I'm not with Toe, this is how I spend my weekends. I've spent all my summers since I was little at p*ww*ws. I love it. My son loves it too. Actually, he might be headed to New Jersey with another singing group this coming weekend. I'm nervous about letting him go by himself even though I trust the guys he'd be going with but he's still only 13 and it is a couple hours away. I'm hoping he'll decide to stay home so that if my cousin goes into labor and they can't stop it this time he will be here for the twins' birth (especially since one of the babies will be his namesake!), and then I don't have to be the mean mommie who tells him he can't go to Jersey. Two years ago a group from Canada wanted to take him up there to sing... what is it with people trying to snatch up my boy? He is good... but he's just a kid!

My cell phone got wet the other day and the middle buttons (0852) don't work anymore. Not only do they not work, those numbers automatically dial any time I flip the phone open. I took it to the Sprint store which was amazingly uncrowded and, after replacing the keypad without a victorious result, they handed me a crappy loaner phone and said they'd have to get my phone replaced. They also said they had loaded my contacts into said loaner phone... LIARS! At first they wanted to just give me the loaner and push me out the door but I requested some kind of proof that I had left my phone with them. I don't want to be stuck with this cheesy Razr phone!! This way if in a week or two they say they don't have a replacement phone for me and can't find any record of my phone being left there I have their work order. I don't trust any place that takes my property without giving me proof of taking it.

Trust no one.

Oh... the new X-Files movie, "I Want to Believe" is coming out! I'm not sure if I should be excited or just expect disappointment right up front. I'll go watch it though. Any excuse to buy salty popcorn and douse it with rich, buttery-like oil before shoving it into my face and I'm there!

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