A Little Marvin Gay with a side of Babaghanoush

So, where in the hell did the weekend go? Geez. All of a sudden, it's MONDAY. We had a busy weekend. Saturday was spent shopping with Hawkins and Grammy. Scott's mom felt like spending some major money on the kid and there was no stopping her. Actually, when she was insisting that Hawkins needed some tennis shoes, I had to get a little firm with her. I mean, he's not even walking yet. I'm the one who needs new tennis shoes! The soles of my nikes are peeling off on the heel and flap like flip flops every time a take a step. You should hear them when it rains. Water gets inside the sole and so I have the flap and the squish and squeak when I walk on hard surfaces. It's embarrassing! We got a new fancy camera and a camcorder over the weekend. Molly, of course, has already enlisted Scott to tape the wedding since she doesn't have a videographer. Like she says, "If you've got a talent or something I can use, I'll exploit it for my wedding." That brings me to the wedding shower for Molly and Steve and Christina and Will which was the inspiration for the title of this post.

Okay, so the theme of the shower was love songs. We had a quiz game similar to the Newlywed Game called "Engaged Encounter" (which Jeannette totally stole from preCanaa classes). The twist was the bonus round in which Will and Steve had to do artist impersonations of Janet Jackson and Sinead O'Connor and the audience had to guess who they were impersonating. Then, poor Molly and Christina had to do interpretive dance to a song while listening to it through headphones and the audience had to guess the song. The highlight of this was Molly's interpretive dancing to "Let's Get it On." I haven't laughed so hard since Scott and I ate at a Brazillian Churascurria (sp???) in Florida and nearly blew up the condo we were staying in with our EXCESSIVE GAS. It was heinous, but hilarious, too. I don't know how to describe Molly's dancing. No one was figuring out the song, however, and so she was forced to really go the extra mile. I'll put it this way, Elvis ain't got nothin' on Molly. She was basically getting it on with an imaginary dance partner. And if Steve wasn't jealous, he should have been. I laughed so hard I cried. Jeannette and Waleed had an awesome spread including some hummus and babaghanoush from an Arab deli they discovered. Scott and I love Arab food and so we're gonna be all over that place. Everyone got a cd of love songs to take home, too, which included such classics as "Islands in the Stream," "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart," and of course, I had to add a little Aretha and Willie to the mix. Nobody sings about love like those two. Jeannette and Waleed know how to throw a shindig. We had a great time.

On Sunday, we had the Bradley Method reunion. OF COURSE, I was the only class member to end up with a c-section. Surprisingly, I was also the only mom to be late. Over 2 WEEKS late! And although Hawkins is the youngest baby by a month or two, he's the biggest. And cutest and smartest. He put those other babies to shame! We met at a park and had a picnic under the shade of little oak tree. I was happy to see that I wasn't the only one that hasn't lost all my baby weight yet. I'm giving myself nine months total. It's just this stupid gut! Anyway, I know no one wants to hear about all my weight issues. It was great to see those other moms. Those of us that work are going to start a little play group together. I just hope they can handle Hawkins being so much better looking and better behaved than all their babies. I don't want anyone to feel bad.

On the religious front, Hawkins will be baptized on the weekend of July 21st. Hopefully, once he's an official Catholic, he won't cry as much in church. Uncle Charles is doing the laying on of hands and such and I'm really excited about that. It's always been my dream for Unc to baptize my children. So, it's neat that it's actually going to come true! He baptized me when I was little, too. We got a little white shorts and shirt set that he's going to wear instead of a gown. Hopefully it'll still fit him a couple months from now.

I'm getting my books today for my summer classes. I'm taking elementary school Math I and II. Mrs. Vansant would be so proud. Think of your fiercest teacher and then multiply that sternness by 300. Now you've got a picture of Mrs. Van Sant. For those of you who don't know, I'm beginning my master's program in Elementary Ed. this summer. I should be done in two years going part-time. After years of soul searching, I've finally figured out what I want to do. My preference is to teach pre-school or kindergarten, but we'll see how I feel after I'm deeper into the program. It feels really great to know. I just wish I hadn't taken so damn long to figure it all out. Later on down the line, I would like to teach special ed., but I thought I'd start out in elem. ed. and get certified for special ed. later.

This weekend, after Grammy leaves we're heading to St. Louis for the weekend for a Wheeler gathering. Daniel and Scott will finally meet. Soulmates? Perhaps. Aunt Carole did force them to talk on the phone once, but they were both pretty awkward. Hopefully, meeting in person will seal the deal on their friendship. They both adore me. They have that in common. We'll see what happens. Plus, Hawkins will get to meet the extended fam. Should be fun.

Happy Monday, y'all.