Charity Ball Revealed

Howdy friends! I’m back and I am deathly afraid I am about to disappoint everyone (and by everyone I mean all 7.2 of my readers-Hey Nan and Pop!) when I reveal my Charity Ball dress choice. It was so much fun to see what everyone chose. I have to admit I was a little shocked that so many people voted for the classic blue. I guess I wish I had the guts to have shown pictures of myself actually IN the dresses, but I’m not sure the public is ready for that kind of blog. I wish I would have been able to do pictures of me in the dresses so that you could have seen that the blue was just a little bit big, and the floral was just a smidge tight. So even though it seemed the majority of people wanted either the blue with classic black pumps or the floral satin with the amazing heels, I still wasn’t sold that either of them were right – to me, there is nothing worse than being excited to dress up but tugging at your dress all night.

So for some reason, I was crazy enough to trudge back to the Post Oak mall from 1982 one more time to just double check that there wasn’t something I missed in Forever21. This may have had something to do with the fact that on Monday, I really wanted to go out of my comfort zone and get the Auntie Annie’s “Pizza Pretzel” but I chickened out and got the original. I just had to know what the Pizza Pretzel was like! Well, I am so glad my curiosity with food got the best of me. Because when I went back I found a little sequined number that I actually really like. Usually the issue with Forever21 is that the dresses are too short, or too tight. I guess they made this one dress for old gals! It was just above my knee, and the size large fit just right. It didn’t EXACTLY go with the studded pumps, but to me it was a fun and funky combo I actually really liked. And I really wanted to wear those shoes!

So here is a picture of my sweet friend Natalie and I at Charity Ball. We got ready together and watched the end of the Aggies game. Oh be still my heart. This football season has probably been some of the most heart wrenching games I have ever watched! People I know will stop me and tell me that they were heartbroken over the game, and I just want to tell them, you have no idea!

I know many of the amazing young men on that team. I know how hard it is for them to balance girlfriends, homework, and the insane practice and meeting schedules they have. I know all of the coaches and managers and graduate assistants and recruiting assistants up there. I know that they don’t know what it’s like to be off on a weekend. Ever. And so my heart aches for them. I think one of the hardest things in the world is to work really, really hard for something and be gravely disappointed. And every single weekend in football, half of the people are disappointed! That really sorta stinks. My sweet dad is probably the hardest worker I have ever met in my entire life. So when I see his face over the course of games like that, oh I just ache for him. I was recently telling a friend that I think it’s one of the hardest things in the world to watch your parent be sad. I think we are used to picking up our girlfriends, maybe even our husband. But our parents don’t often ask us to do that for them. It’s like a role reversal. And so for that reason, it is even harder to know my dad is sad!

On top of all that, I have the best hubby in the entire world. He is just so darn good to me. Sometimes I wonder how he does it all. He has a VERY intense job because he is a graduate assistant, in school for his masters degree, and coaches the tight ends. And did I mention he does all the signal calling? There are hundreds, if not thousands of signals he has to memorize, and be able to spit out at a seconds notice. And not just at the games! At practice every day too! So he has his players to coach, his signals to call, his homework in school to handle, and all of his regular Graduate Assistant duties. And when he actually gets to spend even 5 minutes with us if we get to drop him off a Starbucks, he is the most patient and kind husband, and completely in awe of our son and whatever new trick he has learned that day. He never has any bitterness about his situation. This is such a good lesson for me. Sometimes I will find myself crabby if Brooks has not taken a typical nap, or if he is cranky, and I try to remember how Zac handles things with such positivity. He is so wonderful, and I am so happy he is mine!

Ok I got off on a little tangent there – woops. That is just in a nutshell the emotions I have been feeling this fall. Lots of angst! But at the end of the day I do truly know that God has a plan for us. I try so hard not to question what he brings to the table for us. I have at times over this season questioned if we are doing the right thing, if we are a family that is ready for this coaching world. It’s very intense! But I know my husband is so talented and it makes him so happy. So I look at my job as “big mama”- making sure everything else in our house and our family is going smoothly so that he can go and enjoy his job. It’s a work in progress J After the result of the game, I actually had a 20 second feeling of – do I even want to go to Ball? But I do believe if we are going to stay in this coaching world for life, I have to be able to recover from these things swiftly for the sake of my family, and for myself. So I just pulled on my big girl panties and decided to go. Literally (more on that below). So Natalie and I finished our make up, maybe enjoying one extra glass of champagne after that four-overtime stinger, and we headed over to Ball.

I had a wonderful time catching up with people I don’t get to see often! It was so fun. I also LOVE to dance, and Ball had a really good band. Probably my only negative from the night was the issue I have come to face with my post-baby body. And her name is Spanx. Darn you wonderful underwear! Darn you. I just cannot decide if they are meant for me or not. The forever21 dress was cheap, and therefore, it was thin and showed every little rumple that existed. It seemed like all the mallocreme pumpkins I had eaten over the course of this fall had created a little community below my rear. And I needed spanx to pull it all together. However, this was my first time wearing Spanx with a dress (I have worn them before with pants, right after Brooks was born). And I discovered that with every single move I made, those darn things moved with me. If you stand perfectly still, the spanx does hold it all in, I admit! And so for a picture, or if you want to just stand in a corner all night and look 5 lbs thinner, spanx is your answer. However, it seemed like every time I leaned forward at dinner, they popped over like cotton pants, rumpling to the point that I had no choice but to straighten them out, thus definitely revealing to anyone who happened to be looking my way that I was wearing underwear almost as large as my dress. So my dilemma from this weekend is: To Spanx, or not to Spanx. This will be a work in progress. And yes, I do realize if I just stopped eating mallowcreme pumpkins and Auntie Annie pretzels, I could just wear regular undies. But then life isn’t really worth living is it?!

Until next time sweet friends!
Side note: if you are interested in buying this dress, which I feel is a steal for a super fun sequin number you could wear to a Christmas party or New Year’s Eve function, here is the link! :)
http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=f21&Category=whatsnew_app_dresses&ProductID=2086806278&VariantID=