Renters, Miss America & Turning 32

Our house got a rental contract yesterday!  Yippee!  We're waiting to hear when the renters officially want to move in.  If they can wait until the first full weekend of February, that'll give our flooring guys time to finish in the new house.  If they want to be in by the beginning of February, we'll move all of our stuff into the garage of the new house and crash at someone's house for a week until the wood floors are done.  Either way, we're excited!  You'd think all of the excitement would spur me to pack more boxes... I've been laying on the couch or the floor most of the day, watching the kids play and reading them books.  I feel like I'm splitting in two 'down below,' and that's not exactly a box-packing state of being.  Part of me (okay, all of me) secretly hopes Hayden decides to arrive this week or next so that I'll feel good enough to actually be helpful during the move.

I finished watching Miss America a little while ago.  Did anyone else watch it this weekend?  I was surprised that ABC carried it... for so many years it struggled to even make it to TV, let alone a major network.  It's good to see the 90th anniversary was televised and hopefully highly-watched.  I'm a big fan of the 'ole pageant.  Having proudly competed in Miss OK while I was in college, I have the behind-the-scenes knowledge that makes watching it much more fun.  Take for instance the interviews that Brooke Burke was trying to do while the finalists were racing backstage to get changed.  I think I would've knocked the girl down and told her to shut up, that I had a swimsuit to get into (complete with butt spray to get the thing to stay in place).  You've never seen nudity like you see nudity backstage at a pageant.  Toplessness is everywhere, and there's actually a 'boob taper' (ours was a little elderly woman... bless her heart) who helps you duct tape your boobs into upright and 'locked & loaded' position.  I'll never forget when Jason and I first started dating, he was looking at some of my Miss OK pictures, and there was an evening gown picture where my 'girls' were particularly large and perky, and he looked at me with questioning eyes, and I simply said, "No, they don't really look like that" and went into detail of the proper technique of boob taping.  I think he was scarred for life.  Anyway, enough about the nakedness... it was a really cool experience, and I enjoy watching the pageant each year, much to my husband's eye-rolling.  He loves to tease me about my pageant days and asks me often what my platform is.  He doesn't ever watch Miss America with me, which is perfectly fine.  Who really wants their husband viewing great bikini bodies while 36 weeks pregnant?

A couple of things I found odd/interesting this year:

1) The contestant who talked about her wig a little too much.  At one point she even addressed 'throwing it on the kitchen table' while hanging out with friends and family.  TMI, sweetheart.  And don't you know her friends and family LOVE when she does that... "Sis, will you move your wig and pass me the gravy?"

2) The fact that I couldn't place Miss California but knew I had seen her before.  I googled her and realized she competed on American Idol Season 8.

3) The contestant whose random little factoids during evening gown highlighted that she was a princess in a remote village in somewhere like Cambodia.  What???

Jax is hollering from his crib, so I'm off to rescue the boy.  I'll try not to do too many pageant stances or waves the rest of the day.

Oh yes, I almost forgot.  Yesterday I turned 32 and it was a fantastic day!  Hubby made me breakfast in bed, the kids went to the in-laws' at 1 p.m., and the two of us came back to the house and watched a movie and lounged the rest of the afternoon.  That night we went out to eat and back to the in-laws' for cake.  It was so much fun!  And here's a picture of the darling cake Uncle Trav had made... it was delicious chocolate with raspberry filling.