Mugging for the camera

Big celebration at my house tonight; friends and family gathered to wish Brian a Happy 21st (March 2 is the official date), and to, in all probability, send him off for 18-24 months. There's a slim possibility that he'll be home next weekend, but it's slim at best.

We didn't take any chances, we feasted and laughed. Momo did a beautiful "Marilyn sings to JFK" birthday rendition for Brian, shaking her pregnant fanny all over the place. Brian asked for educational books to take to Iraq, so that's all he opened from us tonight. And of course, hugs abound at the end of the evening. Hey, if we get to do it again next week, all the better.

Ouch, I am going to miss this kid of mine, and I work on focusing on the positive, and not shedding unnecessary tears. It's hard work sometimes, but I do OK, for the most part. That said, as long as we're focusing on the fun, I'm going to share a couple stupid shots with you.

You may have noticed that besides pigging out, our party entertainment often consists of mugging for the camera. Kyle, Lathrop and Brian were posing for a group shot, when I told them, "show me your bedroom eyes." They acquiesced without blinking an eye.

Meow, eh?

Here's Kyle with the "Hottie" pillow my mother bought me, while Brian strikes his best "hottie" pose:

We decided to try to play that game where someone stands behind you, puts his arms through yours, and tricks the audience.

We're not that good at it; you can kind of tell that Brian's standing behind me. Still...that looks like it could be my hand, right? Right?

This one's a little more...realistic, don't you think? [Thanks to cropping tool in Photoshop]

Here I am smoothing out my eyebrows. Really. Brian is NOT in this picture.

Cowboy Brian rides again.

I'll post more pix and tales later. Right now it's 1 a.m., and I'm hitting the road for a 12 hour drive to Fort Benning, GA in the morning, and a return drive on Tuesday. I'm sure the boys will be sleeping most of the trip, so any of you have that have my phone number, want to give me a shout out, I'm sure I'll appreciate the company (hands free, of course!).

And those of you that can't call...send me a mental hand squeeze tomorrow night, will ya? It's hang on tight time.