Watered Down Fancy Night and Professional Portrait Photographer

I had a strange experience at the library today. Kaylee and I ran in to grab a couple of books. We took them to the desk to check out and the librarian guy just stood there staring at this one:

He turned it over and over in his hands and kept muttering, "Wow!" He asked where I found it. I said, "On the bookshelf with the other books?" to which he replied, "Really? Wow." Now call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure librarians see books on a regular basis. He acted like he'd never seen one in his life. Was it because it's such an old book? Do people not normally check out books dated 1971?

Next stop was Walmart. I sent a batch of pictures to to their 1 hour lab in an effort to find the "perfect" 1 hour photo prints. Walgreens are always too green. CVS's are always too dark. I went in to pick them up and the guy asked me for the copyright release. I gave him a puzzled look and asked what he meant. He said I have to prove I have the rights to the photos. I told him I'm the one who took them and he made me sign a copyright release to keep on file. I guess I did something right! This is the picture in question:

As I was checking out, the check out chick dropped my bottle of wine and it nearly landed on my foot. Rather than apologizing or going to get me a replacement, she said, "Do you want to go get another one?" Um no? I'm not the one who dropped it? I told her forget it. I was embarrassed enough as it was. We had to roll through the spill to get out and ended up leaving a wine trail all the way to the door. Why was I buying wine? Because this morning Kaylee decided she wanted to have Fancy Night. It's been over a year since the last one. I was hot and sweaty and not feeling very fancy but I ran the idea by Frank. His response was, "If you'd asked me if I want to have fancy night I would have said no. But Kaylee is asking. Look at it this way. I'll have to shower." Ok, fair enough! And he's right. It won't be long at all before the kids are grown and there is no one asking for fancy night. So we sucked it up and did it. Jess was a trooper. She had somewhere else she wanted to be but her dad told her she could only go if she got dressed up and ate with us first. She slipped this ugly thing over her shorts and t-shirt. Although not dressed up, at least she came to the table and ate pleasantly even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. 

Ethan, on the other hand, made his misery well known. "Why do we have to do this? What's the point? Why can't we just EAT? None of my dress clothes fit me anymore. This is so STUPID!" were a few of his complaints. I finally gave up the fight when he came out in a wrinkled polo shirt and plaid shorts. It wasn't gym shorts, so to him it was dressy. Of course, he wouldn't allow a photo to be taken.

This was the lamest fancy night in the history of all fancy nights. Frank wanted to be outside working on the Jeep. Ethan wanted to be anywhere but here. Jess wanted to be at the soccer field. I wanted to be out of my too tight pants that no longer button because they must have shrunk. Kaylee was so disappointed that we didn't drink too much wine and engage in loud singing and poor dancing. Sorry Kaylee, but our days of too much wine and being obnoxious are over now that Frank is on a weird work schedule.

Kaylee sure does clean up! She looks great without her crooked ponytail she wears on a daily basis.

"Mom, can I make Koolaid and drink it with a wine glass?"

 GEEZ, why do I look so OLD???????? When did this happen? Gross. THIS is why I HATE letting people take my picture. This is not at all what I see when I look in the mirror! Stupid camera must be broke.

Frank and I don't go together. You know how you can look at some couples and think, "Wow, they look like they belong together"? We don't. He is way handsomer than me. Poor guy got the raw end of the deal in this relationship.

Tonight's menu: Olive Garden Baked Ziti.

The highlight of the day: Frank couldn't find his belt. The man has lost a ton of weight since being on night shift and not getting to eat regular meals like a normal person. His pants wouldn't stay up so he grabbed MY belt. I think we have the same size of waist. That makes me feel so...weird. Isn't his waist supposed to be bigger than mine???

After dinner Ethan asked me, "Mom, do you think you could go buy me some wires and I could try and fix the computer monitor?" I said, "HECK YES!" He asked what he gets if he fixes it. I looked at him questioningly and he said, "If I fix it can I have a computer in my room?" Knowing he'd never get it working, I agreed but told him he couldn't use the internet for help. After about 3 minutes of grunting and plugging/unplugging, he gave up.