Ric's annual chili cookoff was this weekend! And we have quite a story. It is also Missy's fall break weekend, so she has school off until Wednesday. Friday, Beth went to go get her and bring her home, and we found that she had bleached her hair, sort of. She and a friend tried to color it blonde but they didn't know how much colorant they needed, so they only had one bottle and ran out way too soon. So, about half of Missy's hair was blonde on one side, and the rest was unchanged. Saturday morning, Missy and Beth went out to find a hair salon to get the rest of her hair done. So she is totally blonde now. Later on Saturday, we headed up to Michigan for the chili cookoff. Beth made a crock pot full of the chili she was sure was going to win: a jalapeno popper chili. With jalapeno slices and cream cheese and everything. It smelled great, and she was kind of playing the audience, so she was optimistic about her chances. We got to Ric's around 6:30ish, by which time the crock pot had been unplugged for a few hours, which is a good thing as you'll see. Carrying the pot out to the deck, Beth tripped on a stone lining a flower garden next to the house and fell flat, and the chili went everywhere. They had to hose some off the side of the house and off the deck. There was a big pile that the many dogs there seemed to be enjoying. Beth bashed her side into the stones, smacked her shin, landed on both hands hard, dented up the crock pot, and got the chili all over her new blouse. So she spent the rest of the evening sitting down and did not win the cook off, although she was awarded a special honorable mention ribbon by nomination of Sam. We stayed longer than we should've, probably, but left around 10. Stopped at Judy's briefly because she said she had something for me... which turned out to be a Michigan State sweatshirt that she found at a thrift store. It didn't fit me, but it fit Missy perfectly, so it's hers now. The rest of the weekend was not really full of activity because Beth was so sore she could hardly move. 

I finally got Natalie moved out of her now-ex-boyfriend's house. She's been in FW for a month or so but he still had some clothes and things of hers. She asked a couple weeks ago if I could get her clothes back so I've asked him a few times, and he finally put everything all together for me to pick up. There was more than I expected. I was wondering when I was going to get a chance to bring it to her when she solved that problem for me by showing up at the house unexpectedly. She was hoping to get some of her warmer clothes out of the closet here, so I was able to get all of her stuff to her then. Her friend was driving them in a Mustang so things were pretty crammed in, but they got everything they needed and got the doors closed. She also said they were moving out of their place and she and her friend & friend's fiance are moving to Ohio. So I hope things continue to work out. Maybe she'll be able to get all the rest of her stuff out of here.