I have had a crazy week. Shannon had her regional competition for high school cheerleading. It is amazing that she lived long enough to compete because her big sister Erin almost killed her the day before at work study. They do work study at their school to help defray the cost of tuition. It is better to do a week in the summer so their schedule during the school year isn't as full. Apparently little Miss Shannon didn't have the best attitude when they were taking apart soccer goals and cleaning out school storage sheds in 98 degree weather. Erin had just about enough of Shannon's eye rolls and sighs. They made it home in one piece without a punch, scratch or hair pull. Miracles never cease. I took off work on Wednesday to help with hair and make up for the cheerleaders. We started at 9:00 AM, they were not competing until 6:00 PM but needed to be ready by 1:00 so they could watch the JV squad perform. The girls were all really sweet except one. This girl in particular almost got every little red hair ripped out of her head. Shannon is really tender headed, that combined with the eye rolling, sighing, whining and general bad attitude was enough to push me over the edge. I saw Erin in the hallway and shared with her that I was ready to kill her little sister. She said "Oh my God, I know, every time Shannon asks me to straighten her hair it ends in a fist fight." The girls did really well at the competition and won a bid to compete at the State Championship in November. It makes me a nervous wreck to watch my baby thrown up so high in the air. Granted, hours earlier I was ready to throw her out a classroom window. Here is the link to the video of the competition .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tidsT8U6rs

I had fun on my girls weekend. It was nice that the group that I went with were pretty tame. We shopped, talked about our kids and watched a couple of movies in the evening. When did I become so boring???? I missed an anniversary party on Friday night. Dave went without me and called me on his way home to tell me about it. He seemed to have a good time, I was sorry that I missed it. The next morning Erin called me to snitch on her dad, she said "Oh my God mom, you should have seen what dad wore to the party, khaki shorts, socks and tennis shoes."I asked her why she let him out of the house dressed for a bar b que. She said that she wasn't home when he left. Lauren called me a few hours later with a matching story. I learned an important lesson this weekend, I won't leave again without laying out his clothes.

Dave, Ryan and Mike were out fishing when I got home. Lauren was throwing a fit because they had been gone so long. When they returned, Mike told her it was really hard to argue with her on the phone when she called to yell at him when he was sitting two feet away from her dad on a tiny boat. Poor Mike, he is learning to just say yes dear, early on. I bought him a shirt for his birthday on my shopping trip. It was a Columbia blue color to match my beautiful daughter's eyes. Dave has a closet full of shirts the same color to match my eyes. Never mind the fact that they both have green eyes, sometimes it is a little more important to make us look better.

Shannon has her Regional competition on Wednesday for cheerleading. I am going early to help with hair and make-up. I am new to this whole cheerleading thing, I am used to sweaty soccer players and stinky shin guards. Giddy cheerleaders will be a whole new experience for me.

My husband called me on his way home from work. He was a little stressed because he got another call while we were talking. He has had the same phone for two years and still can't figure out how to work the call waiting feature. He said every time he tries to click over, he ends up hitting the mute button and talking to the same person. Call me crazy, but if you are still hitting the mute button after two years, it may be a good idea to try a different button. I used to think all of his quirks were cute!!!

I got my van back on Wednesday, I am officially $1,800 poorer. Oh well, it's just money, I have always thought money was over rated anyway. Maybe the kids could start a new trend and go to school barefoot this year. I lent the van to my friends for their vacation in Destin Fl, they are leaving at 2 in the morning. I will breathe much easier once I know that they arrive with the transmission intact. I would hate to spoil their vacation by them spending it at an auto garage vs the beach. It seems to be driving perfect, so hopefully it will be fine.

Ryan had another birthday party to go to, this time I did the shopping and got him a masculine red, gift bag. I asked Dave to drop him off, I was waiting for my friend to come by so I could show him how to work the TV and video game hook up in the van before we traded cars. Dave acted aggravated that he had to take OUR son somewhere because he was supposed to meet Lauren's boyfriend Mike to go fishing. I'm sure the fish can wait, he could tell that this was one little battle that he had no chance of winning. I asked him where Ryan was and he said "in the car." I went out to the car and asked, "do you have a pillow, change of clothes, toothbrush??" He said, "umm, I brought a pair of shorts." I looked in the bag and he had a pair of shorts with stains all over them packed. We went inside to re-pack and grab the gift off the kitchen table that he forgot. I told Dave to find out what time pick up was in the morning. I asked him last night what time he needed to be picked up. He said it was in between 3 and 5. That was a pretty big window. He told me they were going to go swimming. I said, "he didn't pack his swim trunks." Dave said "don't worry, our kids are able to adjust well." I wanted to say, "no, they are used to adjusting because their father is completely incompetent." Instead I said, Yeah they sure are. I am leaving this afternoon for a girls weekend at the lake. When Ryan found out he threw a fit. I asked why he was so upset. He said, "that's not fair that everyone gets to go except me." I laughed and said, it's not a Murphy girl weekend, just some of my high school friends. He thought that I was bringing all of his sisters. Is he crazy, I am getting away from all of my offspring this weekend. I think there may be lots of "adjusting" with daddy this weekend.