565

Several people have asked me about the significance of the numbers 565 up in the left hand corner of my blog.

I wish I knew. That stupid number is just up there, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make it go away. Today, I saw another blogger who had chosen the same template and was also cursed by that #@%$@# 565.

If any of you experienced bloggers know how to make it disappear, please enlighten me. Otherwise, I'll start trying to manufacture some significance.

Thanks, Grammy!!

There are lots of things to love about Lexi's Grammy, Mary Anne. One is that she is an excellent seamstress. She's made Lexi lots of neat things. Tonight, Lexi received a package from Grammy containing:

1 Dora Pillow

1 set of Dora jammies, pants or shorts option included

1 handmade purple blankie that Lexi has been requesting

I think you can see how this package went over.

Thanks Grammy.

Zac Attack, Smartico and Joker Josh

This weekend, we had some visitors.

One of my oldest friends, Lisa, brought her three kids to visit. Lisa and I have been friends since we were in fourth grade, and Sarah (age 11), Zac (age 12) and Joshua (age 8) and I have been friends since they were born. Lexi just met them all but considers them her personal heroes, especially Sarah.

These three cool kids live in Pennsylvania, though we're trying to talk them into moving to Kansas City. They're into it.

Our weekend included lots of eating, shopping and Apples to Apples playing. The big kids even did some babysitting, and they were quite skilled. I'm going to try to post a few pics from our fun time.

Stuff we did

We checked out Derby's Rock River Rapids. (It only took me 40 minutes and six trips through Derby to find it.) Lexi went to school because I wasn't real sure how she'd like it. She'd like it.

It was one 2-year-old's first visit to a Japanese grill. During the big fire, she whispered to me, "I wanna go home." But she never cried. And she ate. A lot. That's my girl.

Lisa helped Lexi make a comfy cozy bed in a guest room laundry basket. Cozy!!!

I'm a v. v. v. bad blogger

But I have an excuse! My best friend from high school, Lisa, has been at my house since Thursday with her kiddos and we've been running around town and eating nonstop. They're leaving today -- headed for a family reunion in Topeka before going back home to Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, not Kansas), which is too far away. Tonight I promise to update with lots of fun pictures from our weekend.

Watch this show

There's nothing on TV this summer. But even if there were, I would still love "Top Chef," which airs Wednesday nights on Bravo. It's a cooking competition among professional chefs, and as a "foodie," I'm fascinated.

The best part about this season: I've actually been to one of the cheftestants' restaurants. Tre is the chef de cuisine at Abacus in Dallas, where a few years ago I had a delicious and incredibly expensive meal. I can't remember exactly what I ate, which is unusual for me, but every time Tre prepares a dish on "Top Chef" I think -- "Yeah, it looked something like that..."

The other best part about the show is host(ess?) Padma Lakshmi, an incredibly self-aware sexpot who speaks like a Valium junkie with a mouth full of marbles. She's mesmerizing though, and I'm not sure whether I love her or loathe her.

Oh, and on the first episode, Anthony Bourdain was a guest judge. I love Anthony Bourdain.

Please watch so we can discuss. It's on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

This is us

Welcome to my blog. You might be thinking to yourself that my title sounds a bit boastful. And you would be right. But what the heck do you name a blog? My poor friend Amy was so flummoxed by this question, she settled for "My Blog." Not that there's anything wrong with that, Amy.

After two to three minutes of brainstorming, I picked Best Blog Ever because it sounds like Best Week Ever, and that's one funny show.

Anyway, that's me in the prison shirt. The cute one is Lexi, age 2. The furry one is Nick. The pug is Norton. Not pictured: Bentley the cat. This photo was taken with the self timer in Nick's basement office (he did the totally '80s paint job himself) because Lexi needed a "family picture" for school. Nick had just gotten out of bed and was still in his underwear, but I promised him no one would ever know. Woops.