An explanation of this picture...

It started like this: After a drive to KY that should've been 5 hours turned into 7 (read previous "What is God Trying to Tell Me" blog for explanation) and resulted in us not getting in bed until around 2:30am, I woke up on my 35th birthday quite disheveled. Mom was in the middle of renovating much of my childhood home, thus making a good portion of the house a little dangerous for the little ones.

My 10 yr old niece was staying with us and helping out with the kids so I decided we would go to my aunt and uncle's pool to hang out for the day. I discovered, however, that I had left Lincoln's swim diapers at home in Nashville. Hmmm... Morgan needed me to drive her to my sister's to get her swimsuit anyway, so I asked her if she would mind running into Walmart and picking me up a package.

Now, I will be honest with you. You can go to Walmart in Prestonsburg, KY on any given day and find a diverse clientele. You either have the people who have taken time to groom themselves and are there pick up a few quick items because Walmart is pretty much "it" in the town... OR, you have the people that, God bless their sweet hearts, seem to have rolled out of bed, and are there for the sport of beating their children while they wander up and down the aisles. Had I gone in that day, I would've unfortunately fallen into the second category... minus the beating part, though that may have occurred as a by-product of my kids' sauciness. But, I digress.

I had on my nifty swimsuit with a t-shirt over it... hair slicked back in a hapless ponytail... van full of kids. I pulled up in front of Walmart and let Morgan out. After sitting there just a few minutes, I looked over and saw my ex-boyfriend and his daughter walking across the parking lot. At the same time, Morgan came walking out of the store. To my horror, she said something to my ex and his daughter... then he started walking back to his car as if getting something for Morgan. Huh? Morgan halfway got in the car and I briefly thought about speeding off before she got her second leg in the van... but then she shut the door and there were lots of people in the pedestrian crossing. Next thing I know, Morgan rolled down her window and my ex has stuck his entire HEAD in the passenger side of my van. Suddenly, I was very self-conscious of my leg pretty much showing, my slicked-back hair, and the make-up smeared all over my eyes. Why? I have NO idea. I guess I would feel the same way if it had been ANYONE I had gone to high school with and not seen for awhile. Ya know? Anyway, he looked up and realized it was me she was in the car with and gave a little shock and then said "Well, hey, how are you doing?" I tried not to sound too sarcastic as I said "Oh, just GREAT."

It turns out that he was Morgan's softball coach and had her all-star uniform to give to her. Fine. As I drove away, I silently prayed to God that He would somehow let me run into this person (who didn't look like time had been any better to him, I might add) again WITH makeup ON before my time I KY was through. I didn't think that was too much to ask.

So, that still does not explain the picture with the sombrero, does it?

After a day of swimming and receiving phone calls from all my loved ones wishing me a happy birthday, I went home to get ready for my mom, aunt, sister, niece, and kids to take me out to eat at the only Mexican place in Prestonsburg. It's a fun place and the food is actually really good!

After finishing our meal, we sat around and just talked for awhile. I could kind of tell my family was stalling a little bit, and it occurred to me that maybe they were waiting for the servers to come and sing Happy Birthday to me. Awww, how sweet! While waiting, I looked up and saw my ex's wife and daughter walk in. Hmmm... Next thing I see is my ex walking in and going to their table. Ha! Thanks, God! I had my makeup on and was dressed pretty ok!

Just as I was sitting there thinking how good God is to care about SILLY little things like that, that don't matter at all really, I catch a flurry of activity out of the corner of my eye. Oh, no! I expected a fun little birthday song in Spanish... but a big ole sobrero???? Mmmm, and fried ice cream. That could make up for the big hat.

Imagine my horror, though, when the seemingly drunk waiters (only half-kidding) proceeded to use my spoon to DAB WHIPPED CREAM on my face while singing a version of Happy Birthday I had never heard before and hope to never hear again. I sat in embarassment as they would not let me wipe the whip cream off until the song was over and everyone in the restaurant had taken a good little gander. Yipee.

So, that's the story of the picture of the sombrero hat, thrilling as it may be.

I want to go on record as saying that the fact that the person in this embarassing story is my ex is really of no value. I would be equally as embarassed running into anyone from high school... at both Walmart and the Mexican place. Now, I'm not an easily embarassed person... and I guess that's not even a good word for it. It was simply unfortunate. But it makes for a cute story. Ha!