To infinity and beyond. Or Lubbock and back.

So, last Friday, Crazy Daisy and I hopped into the Escape and headed to The Wild Wild West for a little bit of fun and a few shenanigans.

Now that I have a Phone with a lower case i in front of it, I have taken about a bajillion pictures. And then, one of the girls got a hold of my phone and took over 56 pictures of herself making funny faces. I deleted those. Immediately. (After posting one or two on The Face Book.)

Instead of a long post with lots of details, I'll just throw out a long post with lots of pictures. And then some more.

Here's a pictorial representation of what went down while out west.

This is Daisy's favorite person ever. The Uncle loves her as much as she loves him. It is quite the reunion when those two get back together. Imagine Peaches and Herb singing "Reunited".

This is one of the two reasons I came out West. Katybug is in the local Moonlight Musical, starring in The King and I.  It was wonderful. Except for the teeny little bit about it being three hours long.

And the part about it being outside.
In Lubbock.
During the hottest summer on record.

This is what Daisy did most of the weekend. It doubled as both a way to rest and be near me, and also hide from That Other Dog.

Daisy in her favorite spot. A bed. I have a picture of Kells Bells from about eight years ago that has a little bitty Daisy sitting watch over a little bitty Kells Bells.

Here's where the trip gets very scary. In a few short months, this kid turns sixteen. And she'll be getting this car. It's time she started to learn how to drive it. So, The Aunt and I took her to a local empty school parking lot. And I held on in the back seat for.dear.life.

The other reason I headed West was that this kid turned 12. I got a text that said "you'd be the favorite cousin if you got her a hamster." I responded with a text that said "but would I be the least favorite niece?"

In the end, I got the parental permission, and we welcomed Pepper the Fancy Russian Dwarf hamster to the family. After he'd been a member of the family for approximately two hours, he bit my finger and I cursed at him.

Welcome to the family Pepper.

While we were driving to The Olive Garden (where they have tridents instead of forks) the kid pulled out a tooth. She covered her face until I promised not to post the photo on The Face Book and then she posed for the picture. I said nothing about the blog, though.

Here is where she disposed of the tooth. She no longer believes in The Tooth Fairy, so instead of keeping the tooth and placing it under the pillow, she chucked it out the window and told her mother that she was owed $5.

Teenagers. Ugh.

This is one of the other dogs that we go visit. This is Elvis, and he is precious. And big, and slobbery, and a little malcontent when it comes to other dogs on the television. And animals on the television. And children on the television.

But he loves his little duck. Yes, he does.

While at The Olive Garden, I tried a new type of red, sparkly wine that had notes of cherry and raspberry and other such delightful things.

I like it.

I liked it a lot.

I think I need another glass.

Or seven.

Katybug continued to play with my phone, and I continued to explore my love of the photo bomb any of their pictures.

The birthday girl.

She's something special.

Special indeed.



And I am home now and about to fall asleep sitting up.

Tomorrow I begin the transition back into the real world.
I head to my classroom.