The Good Guys Gang (GGG)

This weekend the boys did a great job of creating a Valentines Day weekend scavenger hunt for the girls. It all began when we went to Central Market for breakfast on Saturday. When we arrived, Jordan & Allison "happened" to be there too, soon followed by Brad & Jen and Noah & Jill. We made it just in time for breakfast and were able to visit as we eased into the morning. The boys had timed things a little early, so we all ended up strolling through Central Market and eating all the yummy samples of chocolate.When it was time to leave Central Market we were handed a stack of envelopes that were signed "The Good Guys Gang (GGG)"

Our first clue lead us to Embellish nail salon, where we were pampered with mimosa's, chick flicks, and manicures. The manicures were fully funded (tip included), and the girls ended up buying cute watches and necklaces as an added treat. After this, we were really excited to open the next envelope, but it only had an address. By the address, we could not figure out where we were headed next. The only stores at the intersection we were instructed to contained Half Price Books and Goodwill, and we couldn't fathom that after such wonderful manicures that we would go to either location. We were wrong... The boys led us straight to Goodwill, and we were instructed to pick out a tacky outfit that was under $20. We were told that we needed to wear these outfits to our next location, so we headed straight to the dresses because these could be pulled over what we already had on. Allison picked out a fabulous red and black dress that really took all of us back to our childhoods', and we all confessed that our moms sported similar attire in the 80s. She could hardly walk out of the dressing room with those shoulder pads... Jen picked out a fabulous multi-colored/sequined polyester dress (featured in the picture) with sleeves that would have allowed her to either take off in flight or give a Latin dancer a run for their money. We played fair and changed into our outfits in the parking lot, then proceeded to the next location. The next stop was Trudy's, and boy did we need this stop (despite being clothed in our fabulous attire). We walked in to Trudy's as if nothing was wrong and headed to the bar as instructed. We sat down and casually asked the bar tender if she had an envelope for us, and she looked at us like we were crazy. I mean, really, the way we were dressed did she think we would make this up? Just as our hearts sank, Jill spotted the boys in the upstairs bar where they were all laughing and pointing at us. We went upstairs and had Mexican martini's (still in our while still in our incredibly hot dresses) while Patrick held the remaining envelopes.

After the much needed drinks, we headed out of Trudy's and opened the next envelope, and little did we know that the next stop was in the same shopping center. Without knowing, Jen plugged the address in the GPS and were lead back through the neighborhood into the same shopping center. Only to arrive a Tabu, which is comparable to a Cindi's or a Fredricks of Hollywood. At this moment, the phrases "You've got to be kidding me..." or "They *would* send us in here with all the men the day before Valentines Day" started to erupt from the car. We were still in our ugly dresses and they were asking us to spend $30 to purchase something for ourselves while having our special member of the GGG in mind. Jen and I were angry, and mentioned that the boys would pay for this stop. Little did they know that they don't only carry things for the ladies, and I'll leave it at they both got what they deserved for this stop. Jill surprised all of us when she was checking out and broke out her frequent shopper card. Although we walked in angry (minus the dresses), we all walked out laughing from the experience. We were then lead to the last stop on our tour-de-Valentines which was back at the Watson's where the boys had wine and cheese waiting for us. Jen and I decided to tell Patrick and Brad that we had come in way under budget on our Tabu stop, and at this point both boys were (rightfully) concerned. We presented them with their gifts, and both wore them as eye patches as they proceeded to cook an excellent steak dinner paired with great wine. By the end of the dinner, Jordan had the guitar and was serenading the group with the song "Allison", and Jen ended up showing off her turn table skills. Needless to say it was a wonderful day filled with laughter and fun, and I can say that we are one incredibly lucky group of girls to have such wonderful husbands.

The adventures of Ranger continued....

Many of our family and friends have heard or experienced the adventures of little Ranger, and this weekend we had an experience that adds to the list. After of year of eating pillows, doggie doors, and office chairs where the incident was the fault of the 4 legged creature, we finally had an incident that was completely our fault....

This weekend Patrick's mom Ritsy was in town, so we decided to venture to the Round Rock outlet mall. The outlet mall has a discount pet store, and on this occasion the whole store was 50% off (yippee!). We spent 30 minutes picking out treats and new dog beds for our two dogs and Ritsy's dog, Gracie. We ventured home after the shopping excursion, but was in too much of a hurry to get to the next activity that we didn't immediately give the dogs any of the treats that we bought.

After returning from dinner and the American Voices concert, we went to let the dogs in, and I gave each of the dogs a Greenie. I had bought Greenies for Brinkley in the past, so didn't think much of giving the dogs this treat. Plus the dogs were going nuts over what was in the bag from the pet store. Each dog went to their respective corners or under the bed to enjoy their treat, and Gracie was the first to complete her treat, Brinkley came in a close second, and Ranger (being new to the Greenie) came in dead last. About 5 minutes later, we noticed that Gracie had developed what looked like lar spaghetti-o's all over her body, and we couldn't figure out what was going on. We called the Emergency Vet Clinic, and they told us that these we just hives and to give Gracie a Benadryl. We kept an eye on Gracie, and about 10 minutes later Patrick walked over to Ranger who was hiding under the couch pillow. Patrick noticed that Ranger was developing large bumps around his eyes, and as we kept watching poor Ranger's whole face swell. We gave him a Benadryl, and he didn't even want to be around us (which was out of the norm for him). We felt so bad and stayed up to 2AM with him making sure his breathing wasn't constrained, and thankfully it wasn't. Sunday morning was better, but he's still not back to normal. Here's a couple of shots with how bad his little face looked:

Regular Ranger:

First noticed:

Final Look: