Family & Fun

For the last few days I've had family in town. David had a men's retreat last weekend so on Friday on the spur of the moment, Carol decided to come down for the night with Anne. It was so nice to have some adult time with her without all the kiddos running around under foot. A rare moment for us to have fun ladies time that of course included cheap mexican and margaritas for Carol (you know I don't like tequila - yuck!) We mostly just hung out and she got lots of hours of sleep which seeing that Sunday was her birthday was a welcome gift. I was so glad to have some time with my chunk-a-munk of a niece too. "Little" Anne is 25lbs at 11 months and starting to walk some, amazing. Saturday morning we went up to Kennesaw to shop at some of the stores that she doesn't have in Dayton before she headed back home.

Saturday afternoon Dad & Linda arrived again and they will be with us until Thursday. Sunday we just relaxed most of the day and ordered pizza to top off our lazy day so no one would have to cook. Monday night we headed off to the braves game. I LOVE going to Braves games, but don't normally indulge. Thankfully, Dad treated so we could go and have a fun night at Turner Field on our single income. It was alot of fun and a mostly great game despite the loss to the Cardinals. (Note - they won tonight though so hopefully tomorrow will go in our favor too!) Plus, David got his cotton candy & I got my pretzel - the real reason that we go to the ballpark.

Today was certainly out of the ordinary. It started with a cake for a repeat client then Linda & I ran a few errands. The most unusual thing happened at 4pm this afternoon...I had the pleasure of participating via the web on my BFF Lacey's 4D ultrasound. It was so much fun! I got to find out with her, along with her hubby in Iraq and family in NC, that she is having a little girl! It was very exciting indeed. I knew she was having a girl and certainly hoped she was and couldn't be more thrilled for her. This is baby #4 for her, boy, girl, boy, and now girl!

Tonight Dad & his friend Tom from Savannah, who joined us last night as well, took in another Braves game and Linda & I watched Bride Wars. It was definitely a chick flick but very cute and David finally watched Max Payne which he said was "bleh, and they added 80% more plot to the video game." Tomorrow will be another low key day, which I am coming to enjoy. I've read 4 books in the last 2 weeks, perhaps I'll finish #5 tomorrow.

Weekend Update

On Friday we headed down to LA (lower Alabama) for a quiet weekend with David's folks. We rarely get time with just them, so we really enjoy any time we can steal away together. We didn't get in until late Friday so we just chatted a bit before calling it a night. Saturday morning we ran a few errands and decided to head down to Mobile for the afternoon. We stopped at Felix's Fish Camp for lunch - where I had yummy chicken alfredo and the rest of the family enjoyed delicious, fresh seafood.

Then we headed into downtown to the opening of Brad Robertson's Gallery. The Robertson's are family friends and Brad's younger brother Kevin is one of David's best friends from high school and was a groomsman in our wedding. Brad's art is really interesting with lots of textures and simply beautiful. Brad was still putting the finishing touches on the gallery which was amazing and I had flashbacks to helping my friend Andrea set up her gallery for her senior show...what alot of work! Anyway, we were glad to get down there to support him in his new venture - we hope he has much success! ;)

Afterwards, we headed home for a quiet evening. Momma had made David's favorite dinner, Roast & gravy. Later another high school buddy, Ben, came over to hang out for a while too and it was fun to get to visit with him a bit.

Yesterday we went to church and had lunch at the buffet at the interstate before heading home. We hit traffic around Newnan and took back roads the rest of the way. It was a beautiful ride and when we got home our new phones had arrives and we had alot of fun getting them set up. So that was our weekend - hope you had a great one too! ;)

Just for Fun

David & I LOVE Comedy. One of the best thing about moving to Atlanta has been exposure to lots of great comics, many of whom we've had the pleasure of seeing in person. Just a few of our favorites have been Brian Regan, Jeff Dunham and Jim Gaffigan. I thought I'd share some of our favorites from these guys, just for fun. Hope you laugh and enjoy these guys like we do!

We had the pleasure of seeing Brian perform from his 3rd album and he was fantastic! One of my favorites is from his first album though. Perhaps it was that Deb & Blayne played it for us to introduce us to him, I'm not sure, but Stupid in School definitely resonates as one of my favorite pieces.

We saw Jeff when he was trying out his material for Achmed the Dead Terrorist. He is the best ventriloquist ever and we love all his characters, but Walter is just over the top hysterical. Here's a great bit about marriage from Walter.

We saw Jim last fall when he was still on his Beyond the Pale tour. I had scores us some great seats in the 3rd row, center on the isle..oh yeah. The guy who opened for him looked like Wolverine
and after the show, we stayed around to meet Jim. The guy who opened for him (who's name escapes me...) walked up to David while we were in line and said that they should play a joke on Jim and say they were brothers. Turns out, Jim had seen us (we happened to be in his limited sight line with the spot) and thought they were related and got a big kick out of them making that joke. It was one for the books. =)

This weekend we watched his new special which aired a week or so ago on Comedy Central with my dad & Linda. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, but now living in the south, we by far enjoyed this bit about the Waffle House the best. Enjoy!

Kids, Movies & my soapbox

Today we all headed to the movies for a relaxing afternoon. Dad & David went to see Observe & Report which David said "ok, but way too much penis for one day" and Linda & I went to see Monsters vs. Aliens which was cute and had alot of recognizable voices, but not as good as Monsters Inc. I guess Pixar kicks Dreamworks hiney...not that I'm surprised. ;0)

Here's my soapbox: The thing that irritated me the most about the movie was the mom in the row with us that brought her 5 year old (who was so well behaved and enjoyed the movie) and her 2 year old, who fussed, screamed, cried and wouldn't sit still the entire movie and finally about 15 minutes before it ended fell on the steps, cracked his head and really started wailing. I'm all for taking kids to movies, but what posses parents to bring 2 year olds to a 1 1/2+ hr movie?? Get a sitter. You're already paying for him to come to the movie, so why not just get a sitter and let your older kid enjoy the flick? Urgh, it annoys me. I've often said that DFAS should camp outside of movie theatres for delinquent parents. When we saw Dark Knight at the IMAX, there were a good handful of kids under 7 there (at a 9pm show for an R rated movie that was 2+ hrs long!). I know adults that were scared and creeped out by that movie. The joker was no joke (pun intended). He was psychotic and why parents would bring their young kids to that movie is beyond me.

Ok, I'm hopping down now. Thanks for the vent. ;)

Catching up...

Sometimes I wonder how it was possible for me to work a 40 (well 70 if we're being realistic!) hour work week and get anything else done! One thing I know for sure it I'm sleeping more. At least 8 hours a night, so that accounts for about 2 hours, but still...where does the time go?!?

This week has been kinda crazy. My dad & stepmom are driving down today for a visit and we have been undergoing construction of our master bathroom. So this week was supposed to be super productive, right?

Well it didn't start out too great. Monday my washing machine decided to conk out on me, mid load. Now if you've stayed at our house, you may think this is a blessing...(for those of you who haven't had the pleasure - it sounds like a helicopter is landing on our roof during the spin cycle!). Well the timing money wise sucks, but I must say that I am thrilled with my new washer...and thank God for Best Buy's 18 months no interest financing and the wonderful sales guy who cut us a good deal. ;0) Unfortunately delivery & installation wasn't as smooth, but we got those bumps worked out too and it's all up and running. And after 3 days that leaves me just enough time to do the 8 loads of laundry that have piled up!

This new washer is so much quieter...I can't believe I spent the last 4 years with that old piece of crap. Well, I guess I should clarify. If our set was on a slab it wouldn't have been an issue, but those original front loaders weren't designed to not shake the heck out of a house if they weren't on a concrete slab. Anywho - I'm just thrilled with the new set we have and am hoping to get a friend to diagnose the problem so we can sell them on craigslist.

Moving on to the bathroom. There is still so much to do. We had thought we'd be alot further along by now, but the flooring has been a real pain to get up and it wasn't until last night that David finally finished that portion of the job. We are thinking we'll just take some time off while Dad & Linda are here to enjoy time with them and start working again later. We can all share a bathroom, and the shower works in ours, so we'll see when it gets done. At least I was able to organize all the chaos to a minimum so it looks and feels a little more clean in our bedroom.

On a final note - I was sad to see Scott go on Idol last night. I think he sang so much better last night than he did on Tuesday, much more on pitch and just quality vocals. So here's to Danny, my other fav...lets see if he sticks around!

An Impromptu Trip

We got word last Tuesday night that my grandfather wasn't doing well. Wednesday night we found out that he had been admitted to the ICU with a slew of problems. We decided to work it out to leave Thursday night to head up there and visit but not before a few things got done, including new brakes and an oil change for the car. Before any of that though, we woke up Thursday morning to this in our yard:

Our church's youth group is doing a fund raiser where you can "Flock" someone by sending this flock of flamingos to their yard. It is always fun and I have to give props to the youth that did our yard as it had been raining for days and the grass was REALLY long and thick. ;)

Next up I had a wedding cake to make and thankfully was able to deliver it early so we could head out of town late Thursday night. I have never made a wedding cake in 1 day before and I hope to never have to do it again! It did turn out lovely though...
We decided to stop half way and stayed in Wytheville, VA at a Marriott property (for the great bed) and got some quality sleep before getting up early Friday and heading off for the other 4 hours of the trip through WV.

Friday we had a nice visit with my grandfather and we were so glad to have been able to get up there and see him. He isn't doing well, Saturday we found out he has a staph infection, he did have a heart attack, and he has pneumonia. Not good for a 91 year old man. Thankfully they have things "under control" and since we got home he has been admitted to a nursing facility where he'll spend the next 3 weeks or so while he's recovering from everything. He is less than thrilled to be there, but he's gotta do what he's gotta do to get better.

While we were in town we got to see my cousin's sweet baby, Maggie (who is just a doll and changing so much each time we see her) and the rest of my family. My dad & step mom even came up Saturday to have lunch with us and my brother & his wife who came in to town late Friday night. It was unexpected to get to see all that family, but really fun since we don't get to see them very often. That afternoon we took Maggie out for a few pictures in a dress that was Jennifer's when she was a little girl. She was recovering from being sick and the weather was dreary, but I think we got some good shots anyway.

This last one was just too funny...mmm, sweet potatoes. ;0)

We appreciate your prayers for my grandfather's recovery, for the physicians and my family as they take care of him and for my grandmother who is lonely without him at home with her. Thanks!

Visiting the Trumbos & our scrapbooking retreat

I have been so busy lately. Lots of travelling for me as well as another house project. Here's the latest on what we've been up to.

March 18th I headed up to Clarksville, TN to visit with my dear friend Lacey and her 3 kiddos. We had such a great time together. I always covet any time I can steal away with her and since I'm not working I got to spend a few extra days with them, which was great! Thursday afternoon they were predicting lots of rain, but the sun held out and we headed up to her neighborhood entrance where there were patches of flowers and got some pictures.

AinsleyReidJakeAinsley & Reid picking flowersReid giving mommy a kiss

Over the weekend, Lacey's sweet mother-in-law, Belinda, came down and took care of the kids for us while we headed to Paris Landing State Park for our scrapbooking weekend. God bless her as it was a full weekend of house showing and events for the kids and I know she worked hard! We had a great time scrapping, probably our last since Lacey is moving in the fall to NC. It was bittersweet but wonderful at the same time. We both got alot done, which was great and we had fun which is the most important part. ;)

The scrap roomMy messy scrap spaceLacey ScrapbookingThe girls, Me, Lacey, Kathy, Nicki & Kelly, our gracious hostLacey & I

It was a wonderful trip!