Happy Birthday Dad!

Today, my dad celebrated the big 6-0. That's right, sixty years old! I know it's hard to believe because he just looks so young. Last night we looked on the internet for all of the places you can go to get free stuff on your birthday. A lot of places require you to sign up for their club online in order to get a free gift on your birthday, so that's what we did. We printed out all of the coupons that were e-mailed to him last night and went around town to pick them up. Lucky for you, we documented the whole day.

First stop? Krispy Kreme. We did sign up for the Krispy Kreme club, but we were warned that you had to sign up ahead of time in order to get your free gift. Rumor had it that the free gift was a travel mug and a half-dozen of glazed donuts. SWEET! We walked in and told the man at the front that it was our dad's 60th birthday and we signed him up for the club, but didn't receive anything via e-mail. The man said it's for children 12 and under. To this, I responded, "Are you kidding me?!" He quickly responded with, "Unless you're 60. What kind of donut would you like, sir?" As much as I wanted to say, I heard you're supposed to get a free half-dozen and a travel mug, I didn't want to push my luck. A free donut is a free donut.

Next stop, Bed Bath and Beyond. We really only had to go here to get a friend's wedding gift. Although Bed Bath and Beyond does not offer any giveaways for your birthday, my dad did get to relax in this fun chair with a canopy to rest up for our next stop.

Next stop, Schlotzsky's. Schlotsky's will send you a coupon just for signing up with the Bun & Fun eclub, and they'll also send you a coupon for a free small Original sandwich on your birthday. We love Schlotzsky's! This was one of the best deals for your birthday!

Next stop, Trudy's! Trudy's offers you a free Mexican Martini, beer, or shot on your birthday. Dad chose the Mexican Martini. He didn't just get one Martini, they gave him the whole tumbler which ended up being 4 glasses! Don't try to pull a fast one on the people at Trudy's, they check your ID to make sure it really is your birthday.

Dad also received coupons from Baskin Robbins and Red Robin. Baskin Robbins offers you a free scoop of ice cream on your birthday (expires 5 days after your birthday) and Red Robin offers you a free burger on your birthday (expires 14 days after your birthday). Dad really wanted to use these coupons today, but we had to convince him to save room for his SURPRISE PARTY tonight at Threadgill's, an Austin local favorite.

My mom started planning a suprise party for my dad a couple of weeks ago. We told my dad that we had to pick mom up from her meeting which was off of Lamar. Threadgill's is on Lamar so it was perfect. Dave drove and none of us saw Threadgill's so we drove down Lamar, past Threadgill's. I guess Dave looked a little confused and my dad said, "Dave, if you're looking for Threadgill's, we already passed it." Shoot. We turned around and arrived at our destination within minutes. We walked in to our own private room and my dad was really excited to see 20 of his closest friends there to welcome him!

Thanks to everyone for coming out, you really made it a birthday to remember! Happy birthday, Dad!

Spring Cleaning = Free Clothes

Oh, Spring cleaning, so refreshing! It's that time of the year again; time to weed out my closet. Each Spring, I take my Fall/Winter clothes off the hangers and say goodbye to them until October or November (you never know with Texas weather). During this transition process, I like to get rid of clothes that I didn't wear all season. I'll admit, I keep some clothes in my closet just because they look cute in there, not because I wear them. Once the Winter clothes are sorted and the keepers are stored under my bed, it's time for my Spring/Summer wardrobe to make it's appearance. Before I hang these clothes up, I have to make sure that they are worthy of a hanger again this year. Some clothes don't fit and some just don't fit my taste anymore. Each Christmas, one of Jessica's presents is a box of hand-me-downs. I decided to make Christmas come early this year and surprise my sisters with a bag full of clothes for them to choose from. Because I love games, I made the giveaway into a game. Here is how the game works: We had 5 rounds and Jessica got to call the coin toss to see who would go first. I lay some clothes out on the couch and whoever won the coin toss gets to choose first. The girls choose back and forth until there are no more clothes left or until they don't want anymore clothes from that round. I clear the couch after each round. My clothes are pretty cute though, so there weren't any clothes to clear after most of the rounds. After the couch is cleared, I lay out another batch of clothes for the next round. After the game is over, they go try on their new clothes. It's a fun way for me to get rid of my clothes and it's the best shopping spree they'll ever participate in. It's a win-win.

What the Hail?

Ali and I went to our friends' softball game on Monday night and it was a good time had by all. Although they did not end up winning, they still played really well. Towards the end of the game, the weather got crazy - it was really windy and started lightning. It wasn't that cold, just windy. So typically when there is lightning, it's followed by rain, right? Sure. We would all assume that. But hail? Really? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it started hailing right after we got home. What the heck is happening? It sounds like someone is throwing rocks at our window. Nope, hail. Me, being the selfless person that I am, let Ali park her car in the covered parking spot while poor Claire (my car) got pounded by skittle-sized hail! Here is a video...

My Worst Fear Comes True... Partially

I went home this weekend for a friend's wedding reception. She and her husband eloped in Colorado about a month ago so we all came together to celebrate in Austin! After the reception, my sister and I went to see a late showing of I Love You, Man. It was freakin hilarious. I would pay to see it again and I would buy it on DVD. That's how you know it's a good movie. Side note: My parents are out of town and my sister has been staying at their house because she is watching their dog. With that being said, we got ready for bed and slept in my parents room. The A/C wasn't on so instead of trying to cool the whole house, we decided we would just turn the fan on high. Jessica and I awoke an hour later, with our hearts pounding. We heard a loud noise and the fan stopped. My first thought was that the power went out. I looked at the clock on the night stand, but it was not flashing. Hmm. Okay. Now I'm scared.

Me (whispering): Jess, what was that?
Jessica (whispering): I don't know... turn on Dad's lamp.
Me: I unplugged it to charge my phone. Turn on mom's lamp.

Jessica turned on the lamp and our eyes fixed on the ceiling. Something happened to the fan. The blades didn't look right. I got up to turn off the switch because the fan was making a loud noise that didn't sound right. There were pieces of black plastic parts scattered all over the floor. What the crap happened?! Your guess is as good as mine, maybe even better. I do know that the fan is now broken and definitely not working. I also know that my dad finds it "hard to believe that the fan would break without anyone doing anything to it." Really dad? I can't imagine that something 30 years old would ever break on its own either.

My worst fear is that my fan will spin off the ceiling in the middle of the night and chop my head off. Apparently, someone thought of a safety measure because the circle the blades are attached to is too small to fall over the part the light cover is attached to. Close call.


Ali went to the store yesterday and bought some milk. When she took it out of the bag she realized that the bag was really wet. Crap. The milk jug has a hole in the bottom. What does one do in a situation like this? Well, you definitely don't pour it out and buy another gallon, that's for sure. See below for a sufficient solution.

Before I left for Austin on Saturday morning, I went to Target with Dave, Kristen and Katelyn. Katelyn really likes to push the cart. She doesn't like it when she realizes that she is not really pushing it on her own, so you have to be discrete when you steer the cart away from the clothes rack. Here is a cute video for you!

That's all I got. Happy Tuesday! If you happen to read this in the next 45 minutes, its happy Monday to you!

Brittany Needs...

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Go to Google.com
2. Including the quotation marks, type in “[YOUR NAME] needs” (in my case, it’s “Brittany needs”)
3. Take the top 10 results and post them.

————————————————————–

1. Brittany needs to eat a sandwich.
   
2. Brittany needs her black book now.
   
3. What a Brittany needs.
4. Brittany needs her self confidence back.
   
5. Brittany needs a hero.
   
6. Brittany needs Africa. More than Africa needs her.
   
7. Brittany needs daily brushing of the hair coat to keep it free of burrs and tangles after hunting or roughhousing.
   
8. Brittany needs braces. Help me smile. I need braces, please help!
   
9. Brittany needs coordination.
   
10. Brittany needs to act like a mother instead of worrying about partying.

I agree with #7 and #9. God, please don't make me get braces again. I'll be really ticked.

Oh Nuts!

I traveled to Austin for a conference this week and Kristen and Katelyn tagged along... to Austin, not my conference. My dad had Wednesday and Thursday off and it just so happened that those were the two days we were in town - perfect! The car ride there and back was a little intense. Katelyn got a little moody and decided to throw to the side anything we handed to her to get her to stop whining. Kristen's dancing to Michael Buble did the trick. I've never been so thankful to hear laughter! While in Austin, we were able to spend some quality Bradberry time together each night. Unfortunately, Evan and Dave were not able to be there.

Katelyn is learning to mimic things that she hears. Most recently, she started saying some things she heard from Kristen. I guess I should try to stop saying "poopy head". Here is a video of Katelyn saying her new favorite phrase.

PS. I know the video is sideways, okay? Get over it.

A Mommy Update!

My mom had her first of six chemotherapy treatments on Monday, March 2rd. Everything went really well and the side effects were kept to a minimum the first couple of days. Thursday was a slight downturn - nothing sounded appetizing and she suddenly became weak and tired. She pretty much slept Thursday night into Saturday morning. Today was a better day. She was able to get out with my sister, Jessica, and my dad to shave her head! She has heard from numerous people that it is less traumatic to lose your hair all at once than it is to see it falling out each day. So she took their advice and went to the salon!

Isn't she beautiful? I admire her strength and constant optimism, among many other qualities.
Please pray for my mom's strength and healing. Pray that her little body would have the energy and strength to get through the day and that the Lord would continue to heal her. Please pray that she does not experience anymore side effects of chemo. Please pray that her ears, eyes and mind are opened to hear, see and understand the significance of this chapter in her life and what the Lord is trying to reveal to her. Her next treatment is on March 26th, I'll keep you posted.

"Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." - Psalm 20:7