Jonas Brothers Mania

My brother, although I love him dearly, has an almost unbearably large ego. But he's not arrogant or cocky. He just thinks he's the best. At everything. Growing up he used to like to tell me, "If I killed you? Who would notice?" The brother that put me into a figure-4 leg lock and then kicked me in the mouth (purely by accident, we weren't trained professional athletes, after all). He did this the week after I had my braces off. The result? My bottom teeth were straight for one week. Although we're technically adults now...he still likes to torture me. He still likes to say and do things to get under my sister's skin and drive her crazy. Yes, this is the brother I idolized. The brother I cried all day for when he left for college. Call me crazy.


Unfortunately for the rest of us, recent events will probably only add to his "charm." He has 4 daughters ranging in age from 20-11. His youngest 2 daughters REALLY REALLY like the Jonas Brothers. As any good father would, he got them tickets to the recent concert here in Pittsburgh. But he went one step further, he got them VIP tickets to the Jonas Brothers Sound Check Party before the concert. While they were there, the Jonas Brothers asked for 4 friends to come sit on the stage while they performed. My nieces and their 2 friends were picked. It was totally random, but now they will think their Dad is "the man"and had this all arranged, as he's taking full credit:

We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

I guess you could say I've been on summer hiatus from blogging. Rob and I took a 5 year anniversary trip without Bobby. So, needless to say after being away and not seeing "Mr. Snuggables" for almost 2 weeks, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. But as Bobby says, "I'm Back, Baby"--yes, he is quoting George from Seinfeld.

Rob and I went to Texas. We did a whirlwind tour of Dallas, The Woodlands (to see my friend, Melissa), Houston and Galveston (to go to Schlitterbahn Water Park). Bobby had a great vacation at the beach with my parents. So, at least he wasn't at home while Rob and I were frolicking in the 111 degree heat.

We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas. It was excellent. In addition to a Manager's Reception from 5:30-6:30 with free hooch, they had a nightly "Cookies & Milk" Happy Hour. This was the sole reason I picked to stay in this hotel. MMM. Cookies. It was a nice touch. The hotel itself was gorgeous and we had a huge suite with a full kitchen (not that we cooked) and the staff was so friendly. I highly recommend staying there if you're ever in the Dallas area.

Now, when we decided to head to the Lone Star State, I said I wanted to immerse myself in the cowboy life. This of course meant that I was going to wear my cowboy hat and ride a mechanical bull. In my mind I envisioned myself looking all sexy and natural like Debra Winger in Urban Cowboy:

Thankfully, there are no videos of my bucking bull ride because I didn't look quite as good. The reality did not match my vision; after struggling to even get on the bull, this was me just hanging on for dear life hoping I didn't impale myself on one of the horns...

So, riding the bull was my vacation "to-do". Rob's was to visit "Southfork". He is a huge "Dallas" fan. I have the rubber bins full of VHS tapes of the show in my basement to prove it. I am the complete opposite of a huge "Dallas" fan. But, I willingly visited Southfork and took the tour. It wasn't as bad as I imagined. It was actually enjoyable because they let you walk around the house on your own and I even got some decorating ideas for our next house:

I think big oil paintings of Rob and I would be a good decorating scheme.

The great conversationalist

Bobby is at my parents' beach house for the next 10 days. Without me.

I miss him and think about him every minute. All my daily routines are missing the "Bobby factor".

My parents call several times a day to update me and let me talk to him. At 2 years old, he isn't a phone person. The conversation usually goes like this:

Me: Hello?

Grammy Pat: It's MAMA!!

Me: Put me on speakerphone. HI BOBBY. It's Mama!

Grammy Pat: BOBBY! It's mama. Come talk to mama.

Me: Bobby, are you at the beach? Did you jump the waves? Did you dig in the sand?

Grammy Pat: BOBBY! Get over here and talk to your mother. Say I love you Mama.

Bobby: I looove ewww mama.

Me: I love you, Bobby.

Grammy Pat: Ok, he's running away/playing/done.

Me: Alright. Give him a kiss and hug for me. Talk to you later.