BETHANY'S FIRST FORMAL + A DATE WITH MY SISTERS - ALL ROLLED INTO ONE DAY

Do you see these three girls?

Well I love them all three with all of my soul. I keep telling the boys that their brothers are the best friends they will ever have - friends for life. I know that to be true because my two sisters are my best friends. Of course my Sweet B is my heart. And Martha, your not-so-subtle "gesture" that you're not a big fan of my incessant picture taking is ever so apparent in that picture. Heehee

Saturday was JUG’s (Bethany's sorority) winter wormal. This was a first for Umby for something like this as far as getting all gussied up (Do people still use the words "gussied up"? It was the first thing that came to mind but made me laugh when I typed it out-like it was something my Granny would say), going with a date, lead-out, etc. I wasn't going to miss it. Our first stop as soon as we got into town was the McClendon house. Tara, being the southern girl she is, always makes something yummy for us. Only this time it wasn't just something yummy. It was a spread of yummies. :) It was delicious and as always, we appreciate the hospitality. Being there also meant I got to spend some time with Bethany's two little sisters who I'm just a tad bit smitten with. ;)

After visiting, filling our bellies, and fixing a few minor dress issues (although after seeing some of the dresses those girls had on it made me realize what I thought was an "issue" with Bethany's dress paled in comparison to some things that should've been an issue on some girls' dresses. THEY'RE ONLY 15. But... moving right along), it was time for Sam to arrive. Now I'm not one to get choked up easily but I have to admit I had a lump in my throat when I saw her like this:

Watch those hands, mister! He's a tad on the vertically challenged side (and those four-inch heels B's wearing don't help- HA!) but he's a cutie.

Isn’t she beautiful! When she was first born I would catch myself looking at her thinking how beautiful she was saying to myself, “I can’t believe she’s mine.” I still do that to this day. She’s not only beautiful on the outside, she’s a beautiful person. And now she's old enough to be going to formals. With a boy. A boy. A BOY. Kinda makes me a little nauseous. Even with nausea and a lump in my throat (and maybe a few butterflies for her too) I snapped as many pictures as she would let me before giving me the "that's enough" look while still trying to be nice in front of Sam's mom.

It's so good I'm posting it twice:

It's been years since the three Burnside sisters have been anywhere together without children so Bethany's winter formal seemed like the perfect reason to make it happen. Everything fell right into place. Dawn is home now, Rachel got the girls taken care of, and Mimi and Granddaddy so graciously agreed to keep the boys for the night. I think we all were in major need of some girl time. And this trip delivered in a big big way, even if over 6 hours of that girl time had to take place in a vehicle. Hey, we'll take it however we can get it. I haven't laughed that hard or that much in a long long time.

Of course, history has a tendency of repeating itself when Martha and I are together. Which means there's going to be a glitch in the system somewhere. Some day I'm going to do a Nola/Martha post about everything we've ever tried to plan or do together and the misfortune/series of unfortunate events that have taken place with all of those. It's quite comical now and would probably be quite a long post. :) The glitch this time had to do with an expired driver's license.

We saw Bethany off to dinner with Sam and some other friends but not before a few more pictures.

He seemed to like this pose. Again, THE HANDS.

We three hermanas had a couple of hours to kill before heading to the Country Club for lead out. We wanted something quick and easy where we could sit back and chill with an adult beverage. It was 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday night which Martha and Snuggs informed me was the worst possible time to get in anywhere "quick and easy." The first place we went had a 45-minute wait. No thank-you. We drove a little further and ultimately decided on Chili's. They were just as packed but had three open seats at the bar. We'll take it.

We sat down, ordered a drink, and the young little I-really-love-my-job-as-a-Chili's-bartender girl asked for our ID's. Oh. Smiling as we get them out. Ok. Flattery will get you a good tip girl. She looks at Rachel's and says, "Do you know your license is expired?" Rachel said, "OH MY GOSH I had no idea. I'll have to take care of that Monday." Little bartender girl looks at us and says, "Well that means your license isn't valid and without a valid license we can't serve you." 

Me: "Are you kidding? SHE'S 35 YEARS OLD."

I-love-my-job girl:  "Yes, I can see that on her license, but it's not valid. So I can't serve her."

I won't say what else was said but let's just say she lost her chance for a good tip. I mean, I know we don't look our age but we certainly don't look underage. ;) We are adults. We were without our children. At a restaurant. With some time to actually sit and enjoy ourselves. WE WANTED AN ADULT BEVERAGE PEOPLE. Is that really too much to ask?

By this time it was going to be cutting it a little too close to lead out to find another similar restaurant, go in, get a table, etc., etc., etc. So we opted for pizza and beer at Pizza Hut across the street from Chili's. We crossed the street, pulled in the parking lot, and...

We discovered it's not a dine-in type Pizza Hut.

Seriously?

We all three busted out laughing.

Ultimately we settled for an even classier dinner than Chili's or Pizza Hut:  Beer and tacos at a local Mexican restaurant. Or as Dawn likes to call it, "La Chachinda."

We ate, drank, were merry, and laughed our arses off. Until of course it was time to head to the Country Club for the main event of the evening:

These pictures aren't the greatest but I'm surprised any of them turned out. I was so nervous for her - mainly because she had almost broken her neck in those heels at least two times earlier in the day. :) 

Being introduced and waiting for her date to come "lead her out." :)

Walking the walk:

The girls:

Of course the night wouldn't have been complete without a quick pic with Country Girl:

And then comes the hardest part of all:  Saying good-bye and sending her off for the party. I cannot believe she's old enough to be doing this. It's so bittersweet for so many reasons. One of the bitter parts being I vividly remember what I was doing at 15. Eeek!

What a day!

Many, many thanks to Mimi and Granddaddy for keeping my boys and letting them do things like roll down mountains of sand and dirt - and to Martha and Snuggs for making the day absolutely fantabulous!