Queen of my heart

My sister, Lauren, got nominated for Eldon High School homecoming queen, and I couldn't have been prouder. Beautiful, smart and talented...she's perfect for the role.

Homecoming was on Friday, Sept. 26. Since I couldn't make it to the football game to see whether or not Lauren got crowned, I decided to drive down to Eldon to see Lauren in the parade. Flat Jason joined me.

We made it down a little early and visited with Lauren before the parade. She was riding with Trever Griswold, who had been crowned homecoming king at the pep assembly earlier in the day. FJ totally embarrassed Lauren as he tried on Trever's crown. Then he sat in the car while we were waiting for the parade to start.

It was a warm day, so on our way to find a place to watch the parade, we stopped off to get some water for Lauren and Trever. Then we found Mom and Grandma in front of Henley Jewelers, and we watched the parade together. They were pretty excited that Lauren was in the parade.

Later that night, Dad walked Lauren out on the football field for the ceremony, but Lauren wasn't crowned queen. I think someone made a mistake, but it's ok. It doesn't change how great Lauren is! I love you, girl!

Meneely Madness

It's that special time of year again...Meneely Reunion. Flat Jason was super-excited to see all the cousins again, especially after all the fun they had together at Uncle John and Aunt Marilyn's farm. Check out those photos here.

The Meneely dinner started like usual. After the blessing, Howie's Crew attacked the dessert table while everyone else lined up like civilized people to load their plates with the "real" food.

I signed the guestbook as Amanda Stapp and Flat Jason, and after meeting some opposition, I put both of our names in the doorprize drawing, which was looking pretty promising with fabulous favors such as rhubarb and a stuffed toy monkey. Little did I know, the cousins didn't want me to enter Flat Jason in the drawing because they had already entered him multiple times as "Flat Jason," "Jason Stapp," and "Amanda's Two-dimensional Husband." Each time he was called, the cousins would yell about me entering his name more than once, and when someone from our family got called, a cheer would errupt from the far corner of the room. I ended up with a Pink Panther coloring and activity book - score! I picked up a manicure/pedicure set for Flat Jason. Lauren was the lucky devil who got the rhubarb.

After the drawing, we went outside to play in the park across the road. We played on the swings, the merry-go-round and the slides. And we took lots of pictures. Lauren and I also had a duel using the rhubarb stalks as swords. I'm pretty sure I won the battle - Lauren fought with two stalks, and they were both broken down more than mine in the end.

Soon it was time to call it a day. FJ and I headed back to Columbia, where we stopped to wash the car because it was kinda dirty. It was nice and pretty when we left the car wash, but what does washing the car do? Encourage rain, of course. (Cue the opening of the heavens.) Erin R. texted me that there was a big rainbow in the east. I couldn't see it, but all I can say is, "You're welcome."

Didn't know Flat Jason was THAT country...

It was Saturday night and time for dancing! Flat Jason and I headed to Kingdom City to meet our friend Josh for some fun at KC Country, a dance hall in town. FJ was well-rested and ready to go; he stayed at home while I joined Diana, Jason and Jeremy to see John Oliver in Jesse Auditorium Friday night, and he also took a nap Saturday afternoon.

We got there in time to learn some line dances before the band took the stage. Learning the dances beforehand was very helpful because, as we learned, when you don't know the dances, it's hard to pick up on a dark dance floor. We met a lot of nice people, including some Westminster students, a smattering of young people from Jefferson City and Josh's grandma, who was helping teach me how to dance. We finally left when it closed around 1 a.m., perhaps not the best idea considering the Meneely reunion the next day, but we had a good time!

Twilight Festival

Flat Jason and I headed to Flat Branch Park for Twilight Festival for the Stream Extravaganza night. There were tons of booths about native plants and animals and conservation. There were even kiddie pools filled with water and aquatic life.

Our first stop was the clown dressed in a flag costume for a pink balloon flower. Next we stopped by the Columbia Public Works booth to talk to the guys and get an "I heart Worms" sticker. We talked to our friend Dan from CCH and then Flat Jason decided he needed a massage.

Luckily, the Greenway Massage Team had a chair and FJ got his neck and shoulders rubbed...and the lady didn't charge us for it!

After the massage, we were getting a little hungry, so we headed toward the food, but they were out of burgers. We decided to wait and chat with some Mizzou students. We found 2008 Missouri Beef Queen, and AgJ major, Sarah Jackson promoting beef.

We also talked to a few Ag Rho guys who knew John, including his former roommate Matt, who was working the grill. I must say I don't mind working the connections. Flat Jason helped cook while I waited, and we got the first burger off the grill. Thanks, guys!

Having secured sustanance, we mosied across the road to the other side of Flat Branch Park. It was the music that drew us. We ate dinner while we listened to the Fried Crawdaddies play. A neat band, they played mostly upbeat tunes, mostly encouraged by the young dancers in the crowd. It was a lovely way to end the evening.

A blast from the past

Ok, so maybe the not-so-distant past. My buddy Todd, whom I met in college and hadn't seen for a year or two, was in town today, and he stopped by for a visit. We caught up over burritos at Chipotle. Flat Jason got to eat part of Todd's burrito because the guy working there gave it to him before he realized it was Todd's order. (The guy working there also tried to pick FJ's nose, but we won't talk about that!) The Chipotle-worker-dude was hilarious, so I'm sad I didn't ask for his name.

Great Balls of Fire...

Flat Jason hosted a Debut the Shoes party at Town and Country to celebrate my awesome new bowling shoes. Oh yeah! They are black with white stars. The stars are supposed to glow, either in the dark or in black light. I'm not sure which, and I haven't tested them. We got to the bowling alley a little after 9 p.m. to get the sweet low rates on bowling games and sneaked in some cupcakes to eat. What's a party without cake?

AshLee, JR and AJ came to celebrate. My friend Brian and his fiancee, who bowl with more regularity than Flat Jason and I, were also there and had saved a lane next to them for us to bowl on.

Unfortunately for us, our lane, Lane 28, was all jacked up. We constantly fixed the score and reset the pins. After the first game, which AJ won and I scored a 98 (I was sooo close to 100!), we happily switched to Lane 31. No more problems, mostly. I ended up winning the second game with a score of 116. Wa-hoo!

I must say I was very happy that so many people came, especially AshLee. She expressed her distaste for the game at the beginning of the evening, but by the end, I think she was close to converted. It was definitely a fun night.

Flat Jason stays home

It's been rainy lately, and Flat Jason has been taking it easy. He stayed at home on Thursday when I went to an ag journalism reunion at MU. This year is the J-school's centennial and there were tons of events last week. So, of course ag j needed an event, too. It was fun seeing everyone again, and I got sent home with the balloons!

On Friday, I went to Forum Boulevard Christian Church's craft night. FJ stayed home because it was a girls only thing. I met up with Erin R. and Mandi. I ended up helping Erin with a present she was working on, and I crocheted a couple of ornaments myself. It was fun to just hang out and chat. Erin thought we should do it every Friday, but as it turns out, she can't do it next Friday.

On Saturday, after work, I met Lauren in Jefferson City. The goal of the evening was to see The Marquette Weekend play. Boy, we had no idea how tough that was going to be. Long story short, we bought t-shirts, braved pouring rain and flood conditions and endured three and a half hours of nonsense before the guys went on. BUT, when they went on, it was all worth it...wasn't it, Lauren?

Thursday funk and pity party

So, I'm not gonna lie. I've been trying to keep the blog as upbeat as possible, writing about all the fun things that Flat Jason and I have been doing, the people we've been meeting, and skipping over the more mundane ( and lonely) parts of life. I mean, who really wants to tune in to hear how much life sucks when your husband is deployed? I certainly don't go looking for downers during my day.

But, I think the funk I was in on Thursday is worth mentioning. It really wouldn't be representative of the whole "married-but-single" experience if you didn't hear about a rough time or two, would it?

I had decided that, after work, Flat Jason and I would go to the Tomato Festival out at the University of Missouri's Bradford Research and Extension Center. It was something I've gone to for a couple of years, and it's been fun tasting the tomatoes and peppers and looking at the flowers in the rose garden. Unfortunately, the day started with rain, and the rain continued off and on. So, I nixed the idea of going to the festival. The rain also discouraged any thoughts I had entertained of checking out the Twilight Festival downtown.

"What to do?" I thought. I suddenly felt depressed and wished Jason was in town to hang out with me. Definitely missing him...36 weeks until he was done in Kosovo...and 12 weeks until he was stateside for leave. Still 12 weeks? I counted again. Still 12 weeks...how could that be? 12 weeks has been the count for, like, three weeks. Either I can't count or time is seriously standing still...

Hmm...there was a group of people from work going to El Maguey's for food and margaritas, but I probably wouldn't be good company now. I certainly didn't feel like hitting the gym, even though it probably would make me feel better...eventually.

Nope. I decided to go home and throw myself a pity party. On the way home, I called my sister. Lauren let me cry and carry on about how much I missed Jason and then began distracting me with funny stories. After I had been home for about 30 minutes, I was laughing again. Have I told you how amazing my sister is?

So the pity party was over before it really began, and I can't say I mind. Thanks, Lauren.

Mud Room with Mandi

I was looking for fun on Friday evening, so I called Mandi to see if she was free and wanted to go to the Mud Room. She said yes, so I met her there.

The Mud Room has a neat service project going on right now called Cup of Kindness. You get free studio time to paint when you purchase and paint a mug to be given as a gift for a cancer patient in town. In October, every person hospitalized for cancer in any of Columbia’s five hospitals will receive a Cup of Kindness. The Mud Room is donating the glazing and firing of mugs painted by the community and Jackie O'Roarke, a cancer survivor, is sponsoring the project.

I think our mugs turned out great! I wanted to make a happy mug, so I painted mine with yellow, my favorite color, and added flowers. I wished that Erin didn't have to work; aside from being tons of fun, she could have written, "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day..." in her neat handwriting. I was singing that the entire time we were painting. LOL Mandi painted a calming mug. It reminded me of the sea, waves washing over each other, lots of shades of blue and green.

After the Mud Room, we headed to Pizza Hut for some dinner. We tried the new Tuscani pastas. Mmm...yummy! Convo at dinner was good, too. I'm defintely blessed to have a been-there, done-that friend for this deployment. She totally gets what I say and where I'm coming from. I love hanging out with Mandi!

KC Irish Fest...good times...

My biking buddy Jeremy always tells me about the cool fairs and festivals that he attends as we bike around Columbia. Recently he mentioned he was going to the KC Irish Fest and I said that sounds like fun, so Flat Jason and I planned to meet him there.

Holy cow! It was fun! The festival was Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but Flat Jason and I only made it for the bands on Sunday. The festival was at Crown Center and on State Street. All the fountains, except the fountain garden, were dyed green. It was really pretty, and the weather was perfect. We walked around and checked out the booths. They tons of neat things from jewelry to kilts and pinch hats to crosses.

They even had a heritage area where they had sessions about Irish language, sports, stories and other heritage-y things. We stopped at a little area they had set aside for demonstrations by people in costume who represented the Irish Americans that fought in the Civil War. Flat Jason posed with one of the soldiers' swords.

I'm not sure what a pumpkin had to do with the festival, but I couldn't pass up a cutout. I usually make Jason do those...we must have done five or six when we went to the Renaissance Festival...

After we looked around, we claimed some seats in front of the Boulevard Stage. We made sure to get seats a little way back and in the shade. Our afternoon/evening line-up was Barra MacNeils, Beoga, Pogey and the Elders.

Pogey is my new favorite band! They were high energy and totally got the audience involved. Even though we weren't up front, we got some people around us to stand up and dance with us. Jumping, clapping, singing, yelling...it's been a while since I've had that much fun at a concert!

Way up north...

The last weekend of August was Uncle John and Aunt Marilyn's 40th Anniversary so Flat Jason and I headed north to Chillicothe on Friday for fun and festivities. On our way, we stopped by Grandma's grave in Meadville.

Then we headed to Grandpa's house. On Saturday, the rest of the Barnett crew made it to Grandpa's house in time for a weenie roast in the backyard. We ladies sent the men out to prepare the feast while we readied the kitchen for dinner. John and Grandpa roasted the hot dogs on a pitchfork while Flat Jason supervised.

Later, we headed to Uncle John and Aunt Marilyn's house. We played games with the cousins and visited. Then Lauren and I cut out to take some photos. Luckily, we made it back in time for the world premeire of a movie Tracy had made from snapshots of Uncle John and Aunt Marilyn through the years.

Then we turned on the MU game and watched the Mizzou Tigers beat the Illini, 52-42...and I called my friend, Patches, to rub the win in his face! LOL It was a good day.