WHAT A MORNING!!!

Today is our day off...so naturally one might think the day would be relaxing. However, you thought wrong! Melynda and I had to wake up early to watch her adorable nephew Eric. He is almost 3 years old...so if you know three year olds then you can imagine how our morning went. He did really well for most of it, but he quite the talker...more than me (Jenni), if you can imagine that! I spent some time with him playing baseball outside. He is quite the little player and very cute. He takes his little bat and hits the ground twice, then spits and takes a few practice swings...just like he sees on TV. Lets just say its entertaining.

PLAY BALL!

However, here is where the trouble starts. We realize he needs more pull ups so we decide to make a run to Walmart. We soon learned that this is NOT what Mr. Eric wanted. The entire way to the store he was crying and saying, "I don't want to go". When we got there things got even more dramatic! He was shouting and sobbing, all the while still saying " I don't want to go to the store". When we told him we were already there, it only made matters worse. Melynda didn't know exactly what size of pull-ups he was, so she tried calling everyone to get his size - mom, dad, Eric's dad. Finally, after a nice little scene we got the pull ups and were on our way home...he was obviously way overdue for a nap.

Once we were safe inside the car, he immediately fell asleep. SHOCKER! On our arrival home, I quietly got out of the car while Mels tried to get our napper out without waking him up. But apparently our drama wasn't over for the day.

Melynda's brother's girlfriend, Danielle, has a little Pomeranian who lets just say...well he isn't the nicest dog. He growls, barks, and even bites. He doesn't like anyone here, except Danielle and Byron.

Well since, little Brody stays here most of the time, he decided it would be fun to dash out the door as soon as I opened it up for Melynda to let Eric in. Imagine this, Melynda has a half sleeping and very grumpy 2 and a half year old in her arms who she is trying not to wake. I jump in the car and dash off down the street after a little dog. See a picture below of what this kind of dog looks like. ( note this is note the exact dog, but similar)

So here I am driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood, chasing after a tiny dog, who hates me. I finally find him, but the chase goes on and on. Even when a few neighborhood kids try to help, that dog does not want to be caught. Well, I finally tricked Brody back to the house, through a series of crazy driving moves and once I tried to pick him up, he dashed off in the other direction. This little sucker is a fast runner. Mels came out and she started the chase. One of us had to stay with our finally sleeping little boy.

In the end we called Danielle and she came over, quickly found him, picked him up and brought him back. Now he is safely chained up in the back yard and the excitement of the day is hopefully finally over. (don't worry, he has food and shade)

I guess I did ask for this since I need to go to bed around 7pm tonight so I am ready for auditions tomorrow morning. We have to be there at 5 am. So maybe God was just helping me get tired so I can sleep....at least we have a funny story to tell.

As for idol...well it looks like I will be coming back with Mels on Wednesday morning after all. We hear in the paper and the news radio that the judges won't be here until September for the round before you even go to Hollywood. Therefore, my goal is to make callbacks and come back in September. My frustration is the AI website said auditions may last a few days and since Wednesday morning was my original flight, I paid another $70 to get my flight switched to Thursday evening. The good news is I can still switch my flight back to the original day and time with Mels, but not without another $40. So I am going to pay over $100 to take my original flight home. I have heard that the AI staff is not that considerate of the contestants in the earlier round, but now I am seeing why. Oh well, this is my chance and I am still excited. Don't get me wrong, I still want this and am willing to do what I need to, but my oh my, WHAT A DAY!

That's all for now, except to say...American Idol! WATCH OUT! Cause HERE I COME!!

Mel -

The excitement for Idol is mounting! During my nap yesterday I dreamt about meeting Paula - how weird considering I'm not trying out or even going to see them. I've been trying to wrap my mind around how odd it feels to be a part of 'pop culture' not just a viewer but an active participant. I mean it is one thing to go to a sporting event that is televised but being in a large arena, that come next year millions of people will be watching what happens there tomorrow. I can say - oh hey I was there singing the crowd songs along with everyone else. Weird... and totally surreal. I'm really excited for tomorrow and although it is early I can't wait to experience Idol tryouts with Jenni. Jenni commented on how I seem really quiet - its just because I'm saving up all my craziness for tomorrow... :)