The Quick 5 That Almost Wasn't (Or, Will Write for Blue Parrot)

I wasn't going to write this today.  It's been a slow week of much of the same, and I was feeling less than inspired.  Then my cousin mentioned Blue Parrot spaghetti, and my dad said something about taking her some (in Colorado Springs) and I said he should bring some by here on the way down, and he said "Not without a Quick 5."  I don't know if he's joking or not, but on the off chance that he's not, here you go.  (If he IS joking, that's really mean.  You don't joke about Blue Parrot.)

1.  I suppose it's common knowledge that we won the Chick-fil-a photo contest.  Barely.  We were neck and neck with another family.  I wrote last week about how we were ahead all week and would win unless something crazy happened.  Well, something crazy happened.  We were ahead by around 40 likes on Friday.  Then Friday evening I just happened to check through, feeling like a goob since we were ahead so far, and LO AND BEHOLD a family was ahead of us by a couple of likes!  So we spent Saturday calling family and making sure they liked it and shared it.  We were at my parents' house, and even my fabulous mother was calling and texting friends, making sure they liked it too.  Well, the lead between us and them kept changing, back and forth, all day.  At 4:55, we were behind by one or two.  The contest ended at 5:00.  Well, at 5:00 on the nose, we were ahead by ONE.  At 5:03, they were ahead by three or four.  We weren't sure if the people at Chick-fil-a were watching and checked at 5:00 or were just going to check after 5:00 sometime.  But they did.  Which means we won.  We had 130 likes to their 129 at 5:00.  And we got our prize in the mail yesterday: 17 free chicken sandwich meals and 18 free kids meals.  It was worth all the calling and texting, even though we felt so silly for caring so much.  It's a great prize.  (I also noticed that the other family got a second place prize.  I'm glad for them.)

2.  Swimming lessons ended today, and Alaina passed!  She sort of passed last year, with the condition that we practice bobs.  Well, we don't swim much, so we didn't practice bobs, and that's why I put her in Level 1 again.  But this year she passed with flying colors.  And Joya is very much looking forward to next year when she can get in the pool too.

3.  We hit another milestone with Bria this week: laughing at her sisters.  Until now, she would giggle if you tickled her (she's very ticklish) or flew her through the air like an airplane.  But the other night, after a very fussy day, I had her on my lap, facing out.  Alaina put a pillow on her head, let it drop, then fell on it.  And Bria started cracking up.  So both Alaina and Joya started falling over.  And Bria belly laughed every time.  Makes me wonder what would happen if we let her watch The Three Stooges.

4.  Have any of you been watching the new show Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls?  You should.  If you like adventure/survival/camping/Feast Pit type things.  Or Bear Grylls.  It's on NBC at 8:00pm. 

5.  It's been awhile, so it's time for another comparison:

Alaina - 5 months

Joya - 5 months

Bria - 5 months

My niece is being born today.  Yay!

Dad, I'm a meatball fan...although I would gladly give up the meatball for MORE spaghetti.  :)