Let Me Think On It

The Write Stuff

2011-09-07T07:58:00.002-04:00

"Mom, you need to update your blog."

"Mom, why haven't you updated your blog."

"Did you write about (insert very important event here)?"

Sigh. Life has somehow taken me away from this writing thing that I actually enjoy. Of course, I actually enjoy many things. That's the problem, I think.

I enjoy my job. I enjoy that I get a paycheck to do said job. I enjoy playing with my photos. I enjoy making photobooks with said photos. I enjoy my husband. I enjoy watching movies, going out to eat and just hanging with said husband. Oh, and then there are the offspring. I enjoy having time with them, all of them. And don't even let me get started about that sweet, cuddly, adorable little grandbaby.

Can I borrow a cup of time, please?

Time is zooming all around me. It is not unusual for me to work a few to several hours overtime here and there. A girl gets tired. The laundry doesn't care about the tired thing. My kids have all but grown up in the blink of an eye. This year really sealed that reality for me. Two babies graduated from high school.

Look at all of us together!!

I don't have the proper words to describe the pride I feel. At the same time, those milestones are a reminder that my babies are now faced with the reality of adult responsibility. It's a good thing. And I guess I am supposed to be looking forward to more Me time in the coming years. But a big part of Me Time over the last 18+ years has happily been wrapped up in Kid Time. Who's gonna need me anymore?

Sigh.

Oh, I know it'll be fine.

Distracted

2011-03-13T12:47:00.000-04:00

Okay, first, don’t even freak out about today’s song. I just love the Stones and it has the word Mother in it. And, of course you know that I am NOT old. But hey. Rock out, babeeez. hehe

The other night Mackenzie asked, “Mom, why is the ironing board up here?” (Here being the top part of our two-level bedroom, the level where I don’t iron.)

I replied, “Well, I thought it would be easier to iron all this stuff in front of the TV. I got interrupted before I finished, and now here it sits.”

I started thinking back to the last time this happened. 30 years? No, come to think of it…never. Dang. I guess I am just a little tired and busy being the super working outside the home Mom these days. Oh well. At least it’s just my own stuff. Which I save up for weeks until I absolutely need to wear it. Hopefully I won’t need to wear that sweater on the right till next year. Spring, do you hear me???

Speaking of Spring…

My orchids in the foyer are going nuts. 4 out of the 5 on the chest are blooming at the same time. I love orchids – they will bloom for at least 4 months. These poor guys tried to bloom last May when we were having our kitchen remodeled. Once all the workers were gone, all the petals dropped off each plant. I am amazed that all these are blooming at once. I guess it is because I am not only a super working outside the home Mom but also a super I can grow orchids without really having a clue Mom. Boohah.

Who Dun It?

So far, it seems no one knocked this over and “accidently” forgot to clean it up. I guess I will also be the super I will clean it up even though I don’t know who messed it up Mom today. Sigh.

Have a great Sunday. I have to go to the Mall this afternoon. Ugh.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Mother’s Little Helper” by The Stones (don’t worry, I won’t become a drug addict. I just like this song. My mother’s little helpers are the teens who should clean up that dirt!!!)

Facebook Killed The Blog Writer

2011-03-09T15:14:00.000-05:00

Remember that song in the 80's, "Video Killed The Radio Star?" You know, the one that is playing in the background right now? That is what I feel is happening to me and a lot of my bloggie friends right now. The quick and easy Facebook status update is taking over the thoughtful and inspiring (!) blog posts. Or, of course, I could just be overdramatizing the fact that I have been busy as hell with no time to think about blogging. I dunno.

I miss writing, but I find myself constantly choosing the fast solution over using my mind to create something more interesting. Hmmm. When my teenage daughter tells me she misses my blog posts, that is when I realize that my postings are more meaningful that I thought.

In the beginning of this blog, I basked in the glory of receving numerous comments on my rantings and musings. I would spend a great deal of time (too much, sometimes) searching for new blogs to read and comment on. I still read my favorites - I just haven't had much time to let you know I am reading you. Sigh.

Sure, I like getting comments from my newfound blog friends. But the tickle to my ego comes when my own kids like what I do. So here we go, folks. I promised Mackenzie that I would reconnect with my blog.

Soooooo....without further ado, back to my old, self-promoting Teri.

Did you know I have a new grandson?? How could you miss it. I love love love this little man. Alexander is now 5 weeks old. Here are a few pix of him a couple of weeks ago. He is just the sweetest lump of sugar.

I can't get enough of this angel baby. Just can't.

Did you know I turned 50!!!! Yes, last month was the BIG 5-0! My work friends decorated my pod for me. I wonder if everyone at work could tell it was my birthday?

I was really excited, actually. I love birthdays. I mean, as I have said for years, it sure beats the heck out of the alternative, am I right? I was gonna have a big party, but a lot of family things happened around that same time. Then it got to be a little too late, so I thought I would just wait till the next time I turn 50. hahahahaha

Oh, and one more pretty exciting thing. My plum van, a/k/a the Barney Mobile, has been replaced by this beauty.

Yes, I finally agreed to get a new vehicle. Ugh. I hate spending money on a new car, but I was more hating constantly spending money on that old one. Barney was outwearing it's welcome. A lot.

I love my new ride. I am still learning the ropes, though. This morning I accidently hit the button that guides me through setting up my cell phone for the hands-free thing. The lady's voice was really nice, but I couldn't figure out how to turn her off for now. I found it in time to resume my satellite radio listening for the ride into work on this "lovely" dark and rainy day. Nice.

Okay, I am back. Back. Back. More pictures, more words, more musings, more me me me! I told you I would write something, Mackenzie.

Today's Daily Blog Song - "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles

He's Here!

2011-02-21T08:25:00.000-05:00

It happened a bit earlier than planned, but Baby Alexander made his appearance at 10:37 p.m. on February 3. Yay!!!! I can't tell you how ecstatic we all are. Doug and I waited at the hospital for several hours until we could hold this sweet little man. It was close to 1:00 a.m. the next morning before Alexander was ready to meet us. And that was fine with us.

Doug was anxious to get a couple of minutes with our grandson so he could share a few special words with him. Lasting memories.

And then I got my turn. I'll never forget it.

We shared time with our granddaughter over the next few days.

She is such an intelligent 10 year old. The more we talked about deep subjects, the more I forgot that she is still just a kid. I was reminded of her youth as she explained how she just traced the veins in her hand with a blue market. I get it, Sweetie. I taught her to sew just a tiny bit. She is making a wrist bandage with some leftover fabric. That kid is so cool.

As if Alexander's arrival wasn't enough of a joy, I was given yet another surprise for my 50th birthday last week. Doug purchased a ticket for Nicholas to fly in for the weekend at the end of next month! Yay!!!!!! I can't even properly express my happiness. A new grandson and a visit scheduled with my reunited son. Thank you for my life. Big time.

Today's Daily Blog Song - "Loves Me Like A Rock" by Paul Simon

Oh Baby Baby

2011-02-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I told you all that I am getting a grandson very soon. Baby Alexander is due March 4. We found out yesterday that Aspen (our oldest) is now on bedrest while Baby Alexander chills for his arrival that should happen within the next two weeks instead of in March. Wheeee! I may get to hold that little man by the time I turn 50 this month. Yes, I said it, 50!!!!! Aging is a good thing.

Please allow me to introduce you to Baby Alexander. This was his first portrait in December.

This is just so exciting. I can hardly wait to share (tons and tons of) pictures with you.

Today's Daily Blog Song - "Baby Mine" by Allison Krauss

A New Day

2011-01-28T08:27:00.000-05:00

It's been a few weeks since I last posted anything here. Seems I've said that a few times over this last year. Most times I've just been busy or I had nothing to say. I'm still busy, seriously. But this time I have something to say. A big something.

I wanted to share three weeks ago, but I just wasn't ready. It's a good thing, don't worry. Here goes: If you've played along over the last couple of years, you have probably read about my older son, Nicholas. When Nicholas was 13 1/2, he went away to live with his dad in West Virginia. It was not a happy situation at all. I have had numerous sleepless nights and teary days during all the time Nicholas has been away. He was never open to any contact at all. That kills a mother, you know? All that pain is what initially pushed me to go back to school and get my degree...in philosophy. Yep, I was looking for the meaning of life, I kid you not. It ended up being one of the most worthwhile experiences of my life. So, in the middle of tremendous pain, good things find ways to rest upon us. I survived.

Three weeks ago tomorrow, my son texted me. Yes, he did. I was shaking and crying as I tried to respond (I had to reach for my glasses - I can't see those little letters!) We texted back and forth for quite awhile that evening. Then we texted some more later that evening. Then the next day. And the next. I even spoke with him on the phone one night. It was a bit jarring to hear my son's voice and not immediately recognize it because it has changed so much. I got over that - I was ecstatic to hear him.

We have kept in touch every single day since then. We are going to his gradution this summer. That has been my dream since he was a little guy. I get to see my boy move to the next phase. Thank you, Sweetie.

I will share more often. Promise. I am in heaven. All my kids are a part of my life again. Yay for me!

Just so so happy. :-)

Today's Daily Blog Song - "Three Little Birds" - Bob Marley (Don't worry about a thing, 'cuz every little things' gonna be alright) It is indeed alright.

Happy New Year To Ya

2011-01-06T08:32:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well. This girl has taken a well-deserved break from blogging. The longer I didn’t write, the more I realized I wanted to write. But hey, the eggnog and ham and fudge and standing rib roast were all calling me. Unfortunately, the scale had the last laugh. Ugh.

We had such a busy Thanksgiving and Christmas season in our household. In fact, it was so busy that it was Christmas Eve before I realized that the kids hadn’t created this year’s masterpiece gingerbread house. Oh, they were just ecstatic when I reminded them. “I did it last year.” “You do a better job, you do it.” “Do we have to?” Ah, the sounds of the season. Whatev.

Yes, they had to do it. And they did a marvy job. Look at them being all crafty and stuff.

Team work. “You hold it.” “No, you hold it.”

They look like little angels.

This is more their natural states.

Hey, at least I got that gingerbread house built. Mom rules.

Are you still recovering from your holiday? How much coffee does it take each day to remind yourself that it really isn’t a day off from work anymore? So tired.

I Love My Family

2010-11-22T08:34:00.000-05:00

I promised to share a few shots from our recent family portrait session. I’ve done this yearly portrait thing since the kids were little. Yes, I’m one of those people who sends a photo card every year. I totally love receiving photo cards, so I also hope people love getting them from me. I’m sending them either way. Of course.

We went to a nearby nature resort this year. This place is incredible – Roswell Mill in Roswell, Georgia. I love it so much that I’ve taken a couple of families there this year.

As is always the case with me, I took several hundred shots for our own session. Yep, I can’t help myself. Here is a taste of our day in nature:

Alia – 23 years old

Mackenzie – 17 years old

Matt – 14 years old

Shaila – 10 years old (my sweet Baby Girl granddaughter)

Aspen and Aeryn – Do you notice our little sweet Baby Boy grandson-to-be??? Due in March 2011.

And even a portrait of Doug and me. Whee!!

I’ll share more in the next couple of weeks. I want to save the huge family shot till closer to Christmas. Just ordered my cards yesterday so I can beat the rush and get those things in the mail pronto.

Do you take a yearly family photo for Christmas cards? Do you take hundreds of shots like I do? What is the funniest moment from one of those sessions? I’ll share my own tales later.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “We Are Family” – Sister Sledge (I have used this song SO many times!)

The Countdown Begins

2010-11-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

I can already feel all the hustle and bustle of the upcoming Christmas season. Heck, it started at Hobby Lobby back in July. For years, I have refused to acknowledge the Christmas season until the day after Thanksgiving. I mean, really, can’t we just creep up on this season a little more slowly?

I remember ages ago when I had my own full-time photography business. The holiday season would begin in early Fall for me. Everyone wanted to schedule the absolute perfect moment for their family portraits. I totally get it. I am one of those people. There were always those people, however, who somehow forgot that Christmas was speeding up on us until the first week of December. “Hello, Ms. Photo Lady, can you possibly squeeze in my family of 47 this Sunday? Every single person is only available at 1:30 that day. Oh, and can I get 350 customized Christmas cards within two hours following our session? Thanks, love ya.”

So you might be able to see why I like to hold off on Christmas until it is truly Christmas time. We had our own family portrait session back in October. The weather was perfect, everyone was available, we had an EXCELLENT family time together. I’ll share a few pix from that day later this week…as we creep up on that season.

Anywho, while it is still officially the Fall/Pre-Thanksgiving season in our household, I want to share a few pix from the last month-ish. Trust me, when the Christmas season officially begins in our household, you will see. A lot. I mean it.

Back in October, before Halloween, (I know, it’s been a few weeks), I took the kids to a pumpkin patch for our traditional, we’re-not-here-to-buy-a-pumpkin visit. I was totally there for pictures. Duh. I’ve been doing this since the kids were little kiddies.

Matt always, always picks up some kind of funky looking pumpkin/squash thing.

Mackenzie always, always wants to pet the bunnies. This year, that guy was watching us too closely, so the teenagers weren’t able to sneak over the gate for a free bunny petting session. Notice sign.

Mackenzie saw a baby girl next to her doing this while her parents took pictures. Surely this works for a teen.

Matt must have seen some GC cover guy doing this…that baby girl next to us was not doing this.

Or this.

Or this. Text, text, text, text.

I am amazed that my kids still let me do this. I wonder if they will still meet me at the pumpkin patch after they are 30. Yes.

Then Halloween occurred. I created my traditional pumpkin with the face of a dead guy. This year, I bought a pumpkin Dremel. Yes, I am high tech now.

First, you gotta cut out the yucky stuff. My daughter actually grabbed the camera on her own and got pix of moi. I know, I’m training her well.

Next, you tape the pattern on the pumpkin. Can you guess who the dead guy is yet?

Then, you use your brand new pumpkin Dremel tool. Don’t forget the iPod and Starbuck’s apron.

Finally, you display above-created pumpkin for the candy-begging masses. Sit back and receive praise.

I’m going out with my teeny tiny spy camera this weekend to nab a few everyday shots to shock and awe you with. Prepare yourself.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Forever Autumn” by Moody Blues

It Came To Me In A Dream

2010-11-12T08:55:00.000-05:00

I have always had bizarre and interesting dreams. I remember a lot of the detail when I wake up, usually. I understand that dreams are a compilation of what has gone on throughout my day and week, usually. Sometimes I am thrown for a loop by the ingredients of my dreams. That happened the other morning.

It is not uncommon for me to have that “last of the morning” dream, the one that is just so freakin’ weird that it stays with me all day long. I guess that’s how a creative, intelligent, brilliant, Mensa-quality, modest (hehe) mind works. Sigh.

Anyway, I had to share this one with you. First, let me preface this with…I have NEVER had a dream with these guys in it. I have NEVER had a reason to have a dream with these guys in it. I can’t remember having a reason to even really talk about these guys. That being said, Hall and Oates were in my dream the other morning. Yes, I said it. Hall & Oates.

Except they looked more like this:

It definitely was not like this, or I would have to consider it a “last of the morning NIGHTMARE.” Anywho.

Okay, so I was in my very large house which happened to double as an old country store. Hall or Oates, I dunno, which is the one with the black hair? That guy was tending to the cash register up in the front room of my very large house/old country store. Oates, or the blonde one, who?, was the main guy trying to convince me to get in a large thing that looked suspiciously like a body bag. I know, I know.

Blonde Hall and Oates Guy was helping me get ready for some kind of medical procedure that I was having soon. It involved me getting into a body bag looking thing and not breathing for a couple of minutes. I think a body bag would keep me from breathing for a couple of forevers, but hey. So, evidently I needed to not breathe for a couple of minutes for this medical procedure to be a success.

Toward the end of Blonde Hall and Oates Guy almost getting me to practice for my medical procedure, I decided that I just couldn’t go through with it. I mean, what if he was trying to trick me? And then I woke up.

You’re welcome for this twisted insight into the mind of a genius.

Let me tell you why I had to share this dream with you. While I was driving home last night, I was thinking about this dream. I was laughing out loud when, you’ll never believe this, a Hall and Oates song came on Sirius XM. And, you’ll never believe this, the song was “You Make My Dreams Come True.” I am SO not kidding!

So, naturally, I took that as a sign from the Sirius XM gods that I must share this awesomeness with you. Once again, you’re welcome.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates (seriously, you had to guess?)

Has It Really Been A MONTH?!?!?

2010-11-10T08:32:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends,

I can't believe it has been over a month since we last got together. A lot has happened since then. A lot.

First, and probably the biggest…I got a new job! I started 4 ½ weeks ago. I am a legal assistant in a really successful insurance defense law firm in Atlanta. These people are pretty cool. The benefits are excellent. The view of Atlanta from this 21st floor suite is spectacular. I am working full-time now. Aside from still having to force myself to go to bed at a decent hour, I really love the full-time thing. Oh, and nobody every says "I think you are bright, but..." I know, I work with humans now.

Here is a picture of the parking deck on the day I went for my second interview. Seriously, I take pictures of everything.

The kids both went to Homecoming last month. Not together, that would just be creepy. Matt enjoyed hanging with his friends at the dance. Of course, he first had to be subjected to my pre-dance photo session. Of course.

Texting was a major part of this photo session. Of course.

Mackenzie managed to survive without her phone.

She and her boyfriend looked so cute.

I am so busy with my new job that I have let the blogging thing slip by the way side. It looks like I will have to blog here and there when I can steal a few quick moments. I’m about to start work, so this is a WAY condensed version.

Tomorrow, I will share a few pix from our fall celebrations so far. I know, I know, you can’t wait.

Take care, cyber buds!

Flashback Friday – Spirit Week

2010-10-08T11:44:00.000-04:00

Well, it’s that time again. Let’s zoom back to this very week. Mackenzie is a senior in high school this year. I’m not ready. But hey, this isn’t a post about that. Trust me, you will read plenty of those whiney posts as the year progresses.

Let’s move on. As a lead up to the Homecoming football game tonight and dance tomorrow night, the school celebrates Spirit Week by having a different dress up theme for each day. Mackenzie has never participated in this before. Funny how being a senior changes the game a little.

Monday – My little girl is a Super Hero. The Green Lantern, to be exact. (I hate to admit that I just don’t know who this is. Ooops.)

Tuesday – Country Club day. Mackenzie asked me what country club people looked like. (That’s a little telling, wouldn’t you say?) I told her that they are people who sit by the pool or play tennis, and they do lunch a lot, all the while being very rich and not getting their hands dirty. I think she nailed it. What do you think? Meet my daughter, Buffy.

Her boyfriend also played along. Allow me to introduce you to Biff.

Wednesday – Occupation Day. My dear daughter chose to be a park ranger. See the squirrel on her shoulder? I’m sure this is common practice for actual park rangers.

Thursday – Military Day. Camo shirt, Marines jacket and tightly pulled back hair. No, she didn’t take any grenades with her. The school frowns upon that sort of thing.

Friday – Spirit Day. All decked out in school blue. Now, let’s win that game tonight!

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Spirit In The Sky” by Norman Greenbaum (Get it??? So clever, I amuse myself.)

Flashback Friday – Little Drummer Boy

2010-09-24T10:58:00.000-04:00

Today we flash back to last week. Yeah, not that far, but hey.

Matt is now a freshman in high school. Ack. He is also playing in the marching band. It brought a lump to my throat when I saw my little boy all dressed up in his band uniform. Oh, that little boy is now 5’11” tall. Double-ack.

Let’s not forget about my trusted sidekick, Mackenzie. She helps me elevate the per football game photo count to well over 300 images. We can’t help ourselves.

Our neighborhood is across the street from the high school. After last week’s football game, I asked Matt to give me a call when he was ready for me to pick him up. I began to worry when I hadn’t heard from him long after the game ended. So I called him.

Me: “Are you ready yet?”

Matt: “Yes.”

Me: “I’ll come get you now.”

Matt: “Oh, I’m almost home.”

Me: “What??”

Matt: “Yeah, I just decided to walk home.” (In the pitch black, all alone, in a neighborhood where teenage drivers like to zoom by in their parents’ cars.)

When Matt finally arrived home, I was struck by his amazing fashion sense. I am proud to say that my 14-year old son has totally relaxed his former freak-outed-ness regarding how others may view his choice of attire. That is SO 13-year old.

I laughed my butt off. And so did he. Aw, he’s growing up.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Bang On The Drum All Day” by Todd Rundgren

A Little Off The Top

2010-09-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

While I am home, I have been trying to keep myself busy with a Honey Do List for myself. I get tired of sifting through all the employment ads only to discover that, once again, there are no new listings for a superior talent such as myself. If I could find a job based solely on my modesty, I am sure I would have to fight off the offers. hehe But I digress.

So, back to that Honey Do List for myself. I decided to tackle the bushes in the front of the house. I picked a day when the temps were LOWER than 97. That’s not been an easy task for the last few months in Atlanta. Despite the LOWER than 97 temp, I was still sweating like a pig (with nice earrings, at least). My clothes were drenched. No one took a picture of me working like a prison laborer, but I took pictures of my victims.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

The best part about this whole job is this:

This stuff is NEVER coming back. I witnessed the trash guys shove this stuff into the back of the truck just moments ago. I just needed to be sure.

As I said earlier, there are no pictures of me hacking away at the pictures. However, I do have a picture of this.

You’re welcome.

Been doing any pre-Fall yard work lately? Are your temps anywhere near Fall weather? Do you enjoy trash days as much as I do?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “The First CUT Is The Deepest” by Sheryl Crow

Flashback Friday – Fashion Tips

2010-09-10T10:34:00.000-04:00

Because I care, and because I know you look to me for fashion advice, I wanted to share a few tips that my sisters and I learned while we were growing up in the 1960s. One wouldn’t always think to look to the past for such valuable advice. Isn’t it written that history repeats itself? Oh my, help us if it does.

Let’s jump back to sometime in the mid-1960s. This was a photo my Grandma Carter took of us when were visiting her in Jacksonville, Florida. She didn’t include the date, but she did at least write our names with this photo. I’ll take it.

I’m sure we had a lot of guidance with our drop dead fashion sense. But aren’t we rockin’ it?

Tips From The Trio:

From Sheri (far left): Never be afraid to mix pearls and shiny shirts with Keds. Especially if your hair has been perfectly shaped with Dippety Do.

From CeCe (far right): Mary Janes always look best when your socks match your aqua shirt which is just a few shades lighter than your shorts…which always call for Mary Jane shoes. CeCe shows her surprise at the thought of you not knowing this.

From Moi (center): Even though your mother will confess years later that she always felt sorry for you when you were standing near Sheri because everyone thought she was so cute and you looked so plain (insert therapy here), be bold with your decision to wear bright red socks that highlight the dingy blue Keds. It’s all good.

And for goodness sakes, never EVER be concerned that your pants go up to your knees when you sit down. Everyone likes to show a little leg. Am I right?

Project Runway, here we come.

Do you have any fashion tips to add? Are you a fashionista? Are you stilling wearing the old school Keds?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Fashion” by David Bowie

Flashback Friday – Mommy Hairdo

2010-09-03T14:12:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a LONG time since I did a Flashback Friday. I was sitting here trying to figure out what I wanted to blog about when it hit me. Hey, everyone will surely be excited to see one of my older photos. Sure you will.

Yes, you will.

It was Spring 2000. Nicholas and Mackenzie each had their own snazzy point ‘n shoot cameras. They loved to walk around the house and snap away. Let me tell you, it would have been a lot cheaper if they had had digital cameras at that time. There were no affordable digital cameras for kids then. So it was always a treat to find out what the kids have captured photographically every time we opened that photo reprint envelope.

I ran across this roll of film sometime in 2006. I had no idea what was on it. Another treat. When I got the pix back, I was quite surprised to find this picture of me. I do not remember who did this to my hair. The junior stylist was obviously pleased with his/her creation because they snapped this beautiful image of moi. Oh my. I think I have every one of Mackenzie’s little butterfly clips in my hair. Gotta love kid photographers and hair dressers.

Autographs later, please. Would you like an 8x10 glossy?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Hair” by The Cowsills

What Had Happened Was…

2010-08-30T18:04:00.000-04:00

I posted last week about my long, busy, hot, fun-filled summer so far. What I didn’t post about was the off-the-charts stress I have been experiencing at my job. You remember the job that I started last September? The legal assistant job? I was accepted into law school but decided to put that off for lack of $90,000. I know, chicken, huh? Anywho, I was really bored at home, so I decided to find a job doing something. It took about two months, but I finally found a job. It was part-time, only twenty hours per week. Paid decent, gave me time to still accomplish home stuff, hit the grocery store, take the kids to the dentist, do all the laundry. Not a bad gig.

Well…about three weeks into said gig, I started realizing that my boss was a Type-A+++++ who had a nasty habit of constantly yelling, ranting, complaining, nitpicking, and calling her clients (in front of me, not the clients – whew) “f’ing idiots,” “f’ing stupid,” and losers. Nice, huh? Me being the pretty laid back one, I thought I could handle it. Until she started directing that crap toward me. Regularly. I knew I should have left when I was told to get out the ruler to see if the bottom page numbers were exactly 1 inch, not 1.1 inches. Uh huh. There were days when I was so nervous that my hands started shaking, which made it pretty difficult to type, which led to more of above-mentioned ranting and raging. And then there was the month after month I endured hearing the rage over the “f’ing idiot” printer who made a mistake on her letterhead. Yeah.

Soooooo…mid-way through an especially nasty rant about ME, I calmly said that I was through, done, not doing this any more, bye-bye. I mentioned that my self-esteem had been eroded to zero over the last year, then I proceeded to pick up my radio, little fan, reading glasses and purse. I ever so serenely walked to the elevator and left the building. Yep, that’s that.

I had promised myself to stay at this job for an entire year. I made it to within a couple of weeks of that goal. Doug suggested several times that I should just quit, but I kept thinking that I could surely stick it out. Guess not.

We are extremely fortunate that we are not in a position where I must work. I just really want to work. I enjoyed doing work that was important, at least to the clients. The stress of the law firm never got to me. That I can deal with. Now that’s it been a couple of days, I am on the road to regaining, little by little, my confidence and feelings of self-worth. It’s amazing how someone so insignificant can be allowed to squash the life out of someone simply with words. Hateful and hurtful words, for sure.

BUT…I am good, folks. Very good. I have been submitting resumes for over a month now. This time I will pay closer attention to that little voice in my head that is speaking LOUDLY during the initial interview telling me, “Um, she doesn’t seem to let anyone get in a word edgewise. Oh, and she has some extremely unkind things to say about my predecessor. That might end up being me.” Yeah, I so totally thought all this. No joking.

But let me tell you this. The morning after my Interesting Exit, my wonderful and loving hubby told me to go get a pedicure. I did, and it felt like heaven. I was still stinging from the hurtful words, so I was continually fighting tears. But my feet felt good!

Enough about that stuff. Unless, of course, you know of a good law firm looking for a GOOD legal assistant who loves working with clients and who can handle the sometimes extreme stress dealt out in said law firm. I’m your woman.

I want to leave you on a few positive notes. We went to a Braves game yesterday. Really, you say? Hehe That was our 11th game this season. We can’t help it, people. We still have at least two more games to go. Go Braves.

We grilled out. Doug is the Grill Master.

We sampled some junk food. See Doug’s homemade salsa?

We usually buy our tickets ahead so we can use our AAA discount – buy one, get one free. Didn’t do that for this game. We had to sit in the outfield near the foul line pole.

That’s not so bad. It’s that we had to pay a lot more for our tickets than usual. That’s yucky. And my gang kept falling asleep!!! Asleep, I tell ya. So you know, of course, I HAD to take these pictures. I had no choice, really. Back me up here.

Everyone eventually woke up. When they are awake, they need treats. It was so hot that I even needed a cold treat.

Matt had deep fried Oreos. I am not lying.

He got a little on his face.

And on his leg. Cuz everybody eats this stuff with their leg, am I right?

Mackenzie cooled off with some ice cream. No messes for this girl.

I got an ice cream.

Doug made sure it wasn’t poison. Thank goodness for Doug.

I displayed my shared family resemblance with Matt by spilling ice cream down my leg and into my shoe…three times. I guess I wasn’t sure I got it right the first two times?

Remember where I said we were sitting? Right next to the foul line pole? Well, these cost-more-than-usual seats came in handy at the end of the Braves-were-down-for-the-entire game when Brian McCann hit the ball onto the green wall BEHIND the yellow line on top of the wall. We saw it up close and personal. All these people, including the entire team who had already cleared the bench, saw it, too.

But the umps didn’t see it. Get this. We witnessed the first ever Instant Replay situation where the deciding run was determined by this new-to-this-season tool. Yeah, Instant Replay. Go figure.

BRAVES WIN!!!! WHEEEE!!!!!

Okay, so you see, even after my yucky week at work, we ended on a happy note. It’s all good. I’m serious.

Have you ever made an Interesting Exit from a job? Are you a baseball fan? Wouldn’t you love to use Instant Replay in real life sometimes?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” by Gap Band

Long Hot Summer

2010-08-21T11:11:00.000-04:00

Well, it appears that I have let several weeks pass by without posting to my blog. Oooops. I’ve just been living summer. So much has happened, and so little has happened. Typical life.

This crazy, busy, action-packed summer all started in mid-May when we finished remodeling our kitchen. I never showed you the results.

Here’s the Before:

Here’s the During. What a mess.

Here’s the After. Way different, huh?

Then, only days later, we had family in town for Alia’s college graduation.

Next, vacation for 12 days. Yeah, I know, I posted these pix for weeks. And weeks.

A few shorts weeks later, we packed up the Mommy Wagon and headed to Castleberry, Alabama. We are a wild bunch, for sure. My sister, nephew, the kids, Doug & I paid a quick visit to my grandmother and her sister. These girls are 90 and 93.

We asked what they might like to do while we were there. They wanted to go have dinner at “just about the best place around.” Grandma and Aunt Edna Mae wanted to go to the casino in Atmore to eat at the seafood buffet and gamble. My uncle sent The Girls a little cash to have some fun. Do you have any idea how long a grandma can sit at a penny slot machine? Neither did I.

My great aunt is holding a pay out ticket of .26. I know. We put it into a CD on our way out.

The next day we picked blueberries at a relative’s huge blueberry farm. Just before we set out to go picking, Grandma said, “Watch for snakes.” What the heck?!?!?! I am terrified of snakes, by the way.

No worries. No snakes. But we did meet these little doggies.

And we sweated like little piggies while we picked tons and tons and tons of blueberries.

As if all this wasn’t enough to make you gasp at the awesomeness of my summer, I went to Alabama AGAIN the following month. This time for a scrapbook retreat at a bed and breakfast in Arab, Alabama. Yes, I had never heard of it either.

It was very relaxing, and the food was really good.

We laughed so hard at times that I had to make everyone stop talking so I could run to the bathroom because I was about to pee my pants from laughing. Yes, that is the sign of a truly good time.

Believe it or not, Mackenzie had a birthday in the middle of all this. How is my baby already 17 years old???? I’m not ready.

Mackenzie asked me, yes her Mother, to go to a Green Day concert with her. I know, I’m still in awe. My teenaged daughter wanted MOI to attend a concert with her…in public. I know. We had a blast even though it was about 100˚ - no joke.

We stood during most of the show.

To top off our super exciting, pretty damn hot and boiling summer of outrageous fun, our downstairs A/C decided to give up the ghost early in July. We finally got it replaced last week. We are so cool. No really, it’s cool in here now.

It was an expensive delivery. I feel the need to send out birth announcements.

So. Here we are. About to start school again. I’m not ready. I am never ready emotionally. Kids, bear with your mom this week. It’s gonna be a toughy.

I’m back tomorrow. I am so ready to post more regularly. Boy do I have things to talk about. Well, maybe not, but I’ll certainly fake it. See ya!

Can you recap your summer in a few sentences? Do it here. I dare you.

Today’s Daily Blog Summer – “Hot Fun In The Summertime” by Sly and the Family Stone

That’s Some Cold Water

2010-07-28T21:26:00.000-04:00

Back to my regular blogging. All those vacation pix – I just couldn’t resist sharing a lot of them. But hey, we’re doing other stuff this summer, so here we go.

A couple of weeks ago, Matt left for the last half of summer with his dad. I always miss him when he is gone. I don’t like to wish my time away, but I certainly am happy when I get to see my boy again. Soon enough.

I wanted to do something fun with Mackenzie. It has been treacherously hot, so I decided we would go tubing. No better way to cool off. We discovered a $10 tubing place about 10 minutes from our house.

Even if we ended up hating it, what’s 10 bucks? Mackenzie invited her boyfriend.

I invited myself. (Doug was working).

On our way to this $10 tubing place only 10 minutes from our house, I stopped at three, count ‘em, three drugstores looking for a single-use waterproof camera. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Not a single camera to be found. Huh? I finally purchased a plastic food container which I used to store my teeny, tiny digital spy camera. I couldn’t go without pix (does this surprise you?), but I was a little leery about using my costs-more-than-$15 digital camera. Oh well. I gave it a shot. Shot, get it, photo, shot? Okay, whatever.

Are you like us with the scorchingly hot summer thing going on? Last year, the rain wouldn’t stop. This year, the rain can’t seem to find us. Well……..as soon as our bus driver dropped us off, and as soon as we put sunscreen all over ourselves, and as soon as we dipped our toes into the 65˚ water (I am NOT joking here), the bottom fell out. We’re talking really hard rain. We got out of the water for a minute, but then realized how comical this was. We plopped ourselves into the tubes and shoved off in the icy water. Since I could NOT find a single waterproof, I did NOT get a picture of this downpour. The teeny tiny spy camera was NOT coming out of its safe harbor.

Okay, anyway. Once we got on our merry way, the rain stopped and the fog set in. It was so funky looking. It was weird to hear the people behind us but not see them.

Even though the water was COLD, our two hour tour was quite amusing. The teens particularly enjoyed it.

So did The Mom.

I seriously want to do this again. So relaxing.

And then we were done.

Have you ever been tubing down such a lazy river? Was the water so cold that your feet turned purple like mine? Do you have a waterproof digital camera?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “She’s A Beauty” by The Tubes (get it, Tubes?)

Vacay Revisit – Au Revoir

2010-07-25T17:25:00.000-04:00

Well, bloggie fans. The time has come for me to COMPLETE my vacation blog posts. I know, I know, you want more. But hey, it’s healthy to move on. So move on we shall.

I am going to cram the last few days of our vacay – which ended in June! – into this one, photo-filled post. Hold on tight, here we go.

After San Francisco, we made our way to Santa Monica. I have always love California. The more locations we visited on this year’s vacation, the more in love I fell. I WANNA live in California. There’s just that teeny tiny little issue of higher housing costs. Hmm. Maybe I could talk the family into living in a two-bedroom tent? I mean, fresh air, beautiful scenery, a zipper for a front door. What’s not to love?

So, Santa Monica. Love it there. We walked down the pier and found a restaurant with ½ price meals on Wednesdays. Wheee. Oh, they also have a lovely variety of colorful drinks.

It was a little nippier here than we are used to in our current scorching Atlanta.

Doug never needs a jacket.

Self-portrait action…of course.

The kids couldn’t resist this flippy floppy ride.

They survived.

Next day was our whirlwind Hollywood trip. We were passing through on our way to San Diego. I’ve always wanted to see Hollywood. I remember watching I Love Lucy when Lucy and Ricky went to Hollywood. I needed to be like Lucy.

We made it!

I spent a few minutes looking at and taking pictures of a lot of the older hand and foot prints, all the while making my way to the End All Be All – Johnny Depp’s square. Before I could get there, though, this big guy starts telling everyone that we have to immediately clear off the walk way because they are getting ready for a premiere. At 6:00 p.m. that night. Several hours away. Um, no. I started dashing around until I found the Johnny Depp square. Mr. Big Guy kept telling me to leave, I could come back tomorrow. Hello? I’m only here for a total of 1 hour. I’m not leaving.

Success!

We all found something to remember.

Our speedy trip through Hollywood was over. Next, San Diego.

We ate, walked around, then went back to our room to chill for our next day on the beach.

Did you know that the water at Pacific Beach is CHILLY? We had high hopes to give it shot, but we just couldn’t go in. Feet – yes; body – no.

Doug joined us a few minutes later. I took a walk with the kids while Doug “watched” our towels. He fell asleep on this very overcast day. Sunburns do not care about very overcast days. But the kids and I enjoyed our little shopping and snack-eating walk.

As Doug and I enjoyed the view from our room, San Diego kept calling our names, again and again and again. I would move here in a heartbeat. No kidding.

Whew. Okay, it’s our last day in California. We toured the Midway which was across from our hotel. Fun stuff.

Oh, something interested about California. All the ladies’ restrooms (except for the ones in the national parks – eeww) have toilet seat covers. For this dirty toilet phobia girl, toilet seat covers are HEAVEN! Get this – even this ship had toilet seat covers in the really, really, tight restrooms. Awesome. No pictures. I know, a surprise.

Mackenzie finds a door that is almost her size.

Co-Pilot Matt.

I’m just looking for a little quiet Me Time.

Doug has a photo of his uncle from the 70’s (I believe) that looks like this.

And we were ready to drive to LA.

And THEN…we went to a BRAVES GAME!!!! We are all about Braves games.

The Dodger stadium was pretty cool, but nothing beats Turner Field, Baby.

The more runs the Braves got, the more Dodger fans disappeared. Made for an easier ride back to the hotel.

We got back to our room late, we ate junk food, we watched a little TV, then we got a good night’s sleep for our next day’s afternoon flight.

One last junk food meal, and we were on our way home.

Thanks for reading along these last few weeks. Lots of current stuff coming up this week. Still around, Baybeeeeez!

Even More San Fran Fun

2010-07-18T17:41:00.000-04:00

I’m trying to finish up my vacay posts because, believe it or not, I have actually been doing other stuff this summer. Oh, and to clarify, we got back from vacation in June. It’s just that I shot so many photos, it’s taking me a day or two (or 20) to post everything. Okay, so here we go…again.

We got up semi-early to hit a museum. There was an exhibit from the Musée D’Orsay in Paris. Doug and I had visited the Orsay a few years, so we were very excited to share this with the kids.

I could not convince the kids to play along with me here, so, once again, I did it myself. Lovely, isn’t it?

Matt surprised us by being so interested in all the art here. He spent a lot of time reading just about every single description. Love it.

No photos allowed inside. Bummer. But I got some more outside after we left.

We stopped for our really special meal of the day at the Crab House. The food here was WAY incredible.

Always here to help my man.

After lunch, it was time to wait for our ferry to Alcatraz. And, of course, I could not resist. Flowers, flowers, everywhere.

Then on to Alcatraz. From this view, you might think you want to spend a little R&R on this island. Alcatraz wasn’t really known for it’s comfy quarters.

We’re glad we’re not in prison.

More pretty scenery.

We spent a couple of hours at Alcatraz. Back on the ferry. We checked out the (not good) photos that were taken of us before we boarded the ferry earlier. Then it was time for a little snack. Isn’t it always time for a little snack in San Francisco?

Whew. That was a long day. But there is STILL more. Can you stand it?!?

I Left My Heart . . .

2010-07-15T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here I am, still reminiscing about our excellent summer vacay. Can’t help it, people. Today’s entry is about our visit to one of my very favorite cities in the entire world. World? Well, I haven’t been to Mars yet, so I’m not sure what they offer. Anywho.

After leaving my friends Mary & Gary, we loaded up the very comfy rental car and drove a short distance to San Francisco. Love.This.Place. I think I said that already. Okay, okay. But anyway, we decided to spend a little time in Muir Woods first. Since it was Memorial Day, it appeared that LOTS of people wanted to spend a little time in Muir Woods.

We were greeted by this Ranger Lady “holding” a banana slug on her arm. Creepy. But kinda cool.

Here is Matt, ready to explore. Actually, I just thought this was a good picture of him.

The kids caught a bear.

We saw some really tall trees. I mean, TALL.

And some pretty ground cover.

We just could not resist these typical tourist shots.

A parting shot of the kids before more San Fran adventures.

Hey, look! It’s the Golden Gate Bridge! And it looks like we have an extra family member to the right. Um, Steve, is that you?

Just a little foggy on the bridge.

We’re Here!!! And, of course, the first thing we do is head for the food. It is quite easy to eat your way around the city. Yum!!!!

Matt, being the teen that he is, needed an “after” meal pretty much right away. That’s my boy.

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, then you’ve seen these sea lions hanging out at Pier 39. They are everywhere.

The kids were extremely intrigued by this juggler guy.

Then it was back to our home away from home for the next couple of days.

Hold onto your hats, there’s still more to come. Tomorrow, people.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “If You’re Going To San Francisco” by Scott Mackenzie

Hello My Friend

2010-07-09T22:19:00.000-04:00

Doug was able to plan our trip so that we could spend an entire day with my BFF from early high school. She moved from Georgia in the 10th grade. We were both totally devastated with that move. But…

We made it to Santa Rosa, CA, so all was good. When we met Mary and her hubby Gary at their home on this day, it was if we never parted ways. Same sense of humor, same common interests, same good fun. Mary picked out some great wineries nearby. The kids were game. They were especially game when they discovered free pulled pork sandwiches at the first winery.

These kids have never met a sandwich they didn’t like.

After a few samples, it looked like we adults never met a wine we didn’t like. Whee!

Gary and Matt attempted to play bocce ball. Neither one was sure what the actual rules were. Didn’t seem to matter.

Can you believe it? I found some flowers for my favorite macro photography. Yay!

On to the next winery. The guys discussed world issues.

Mary & I discussed our next glasses of wine. Fill ‘er up, please.

The kids discovered a bunch of wine trees. Oh, wait. They’re not called that??? Hehe

I need the companion to this shot. Mary?

Yet another winery. Excuse me, this place served champagne. De.Lish.

The kids were so very patient with the adults. Mommy loves you.

One last look.

As if our day wasn’t wonderful enough, Mary’s mom and stepdad hosted a spectacular dinner for us all that evening.

When I last visited Mary 9 years ago, Mary’s mom was unfortunately away for the few hours that Doug & I were in town. In 1986, Mary’s mom was out of town, so we missed her then. I didn’t realize it had been, get this, over 30 YEARS since I last saw her. I just can’t believe it. But here we were, again, like all that time had never passed by.

Kathryn and Alan were the PERFECT hosts.

After dinner, Matt decided to entertain us with his rendition of “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” No autographs, please. No, really.

So, so, so great to spend the evening with good friends.

Mary and I spent many hours contemplating our future rock stars careers while sitting on this very bed.

Mary and I had to practice my favorite type of portraiture – way up close hand held close-ups. Lovely.

And then the evening was over. Sigh.

But…

Mary and Gary were able to meet us for breakfast the next morning before we made our way to SanFran. Yay!

This is a weird angle.

One last shot of Mary and Me.

I can never fully describe just how thrilled I was to be able to spend this time with my old friends. Memories forever. Thanks, Guys.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “A Little Help From My Friends” by Joe Cocker

Yo, See Me…T

2010-07-08T10:26:00.000-04:00

I know you can hardly believe it, but I STILL have more vacay pix. I think I need to speed this thing up a bit. I mean, I can milk it for several more weeks, but that would mean that I am being lazy and just not making myself think of anything new to write about. Hmm. Let me think on this a little bit.

Okay, I’ll speed it up.

Sooooo, on this particular family adventure day, Doug was excited that we were able to take a certain mountain driving pass that would get us to Yosemite. I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of that certain mountain driving pass, but it was a beautiful route. Hmm, I wonder if my hubby would come out of his Blog Lurkdom and give us the answer to this mysterious pass????

Anywho. We left the comfort of our cozy little motel room early that morning after a hearty breakfast of bagels and fruit.

And then we hit the road. This road had only opened the previous evening. It was a little iffy as to whether or not we would be able to go through here at all.

Slight temperature change.

We stopped every so often to take in the fresh air and exceptional scenery.

It was a might chilly.

I could NOT resist a little on-the-go family portrait action.

Matt found a gigantic snowball.

Mackenzie found a gigantic pine cone.

We saw a bear. We also saw a guy moving closer and closer to “get that perfect shot” with his iPhone. Um, yeah.

We took a long walk through Yosemite. Good stuff.

My daughter is a tree hugger. Go Mackenzie, go Mackenzie.

More pretty stuff. Are you loving my highly sophisticated travel commentary? I give my all to my readers. Hahahahahahahhaa

Okay.

Cell phone photographer.

Way. Way. Way. Cool. It’s sometimes hard to believe that we are really experiencing these places. LOVE IT.

No matter how awesome a driving trip is, there is always the need for “the facilities.” Whew, we found it.

Wow, they weren’t kidding. These facilities are indeed at the end of the parking lot. But I am confused by the description of “bathroom.” Where’s the Jacuzzi? Never mind.

After many, many hours in the car, we made it to our destination of Livermore, CA. And just in the nick of time, too. This little restaurant was closing in 30 minutes. Ah, sustenance.

And then we hit the hay.

I did it. I covered an entire day in one post – one really long post. But such a witty post.

More tomorrow. Promise.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye.

And The Fun Never Stops

2010-06-28T10:58:00.000-04:00

We’re back to vacation pix. I hear the cheers from the masses.

Still in Death Valley. Can a girl get some water?

I tried to get the kids to pose for this shot, but nooooo. It’s not cool for teenagers. So I thought, “What the heck. I’ll do it!” Can I tell you that it is a little harder to get up off the hard desert surface when you have “slight” back issues? Whatev.

The desert does indeed have signs of life.

More cool scenery.

Joshua Tree. Way way cool.

Stop and look.

And then the temperature changed. A lot.

Do you notice a little white stuff on the top of that mountain? No, that is not desert sand.

More car window blobbage on this shot. Yeah, I really must fix that.

After a gorgeous drive ranging from way hot to dang chilly, we arrived at our cozy digs for the evening.

The kids totally approved when they realized that there was free WiFi. Priorities.

Unfortunately, I discovered that our brand new, soft side cooler was NOT waterproof after all. Guess whose suitcase needed to be unpacked and hung to dry????

We found a little diner a few yards from our cozy digs. “Hey, Babe. May I pour you a smidge of water in these teeny, tiny glasses?”

I got a salad. In a big ole’ taco shell. I promise, I did not eat said big ole’ taco shell.

“Mom? Can we pleeeeeez share an ice cream sundae???” How could I resist?

Back at our cozy digs, I noticed a pretty paper towel with a rose printed on it. You know how we like to save things for special? I had to immediately take a picture of Mackenzie with this saving for special paper towel. That’s how I roll.

“May I pour?”

And then it was time to go to sleep. So we did.

A lot of snowy pix coming up next. Fun stuff.

I Can See For Miles And Miles

2010-06-21T19:05:00.000-04:00

Let’s celebrate the first official day of summer with more vacation pix. Wheeee! First let me sip another gigantic glass of ice cold water while I attempt to cool off from the 90˚-feels-like-it’s-over-100˚ weather here in Atlanta. Okay, I’ll survive. Let get started.

So, we’re on our third day of the family vacation (a few weeks ago, of course). We had yet another Vegas breakfast buffet, then we packed our rental car and headed for Death Valley. I snapped these lovely and ever so creative photos from my car window. Can you tell? Prize-winning.

Okay, this first one is from our hotel room window.

Interesting how this quicky wedding chapel is conveniently located right next to a law firm? Hmmm.

This gigantic cowboy gave us the official Buh Bye on our way out of town.

And then we started our journey through the desert. I felt a little like Lawrence of Arabia.

Okay, that’s a little dramatic, yes?

Now, don’t forget that I still shooting through the car window a lot. Please take time to enjoy the dirty window blobs in these photos. Only the best for my readers.

Dang! No time to stop and see Heidi Fleiss. Dang.

Proof that we were indeed in Death Valley.

Thank goodness there are potties in the desert.

We took a little leg-stretching break. This place was gorgeous!

Doug & I were still sick here. But we couldn’t miss the chance for yet another photo. Okay, it was my idea.

It doesn’t seem that much grows here in the desert.

Now THIS is what I call the desert.

Mackenzie played the part of Backup Photographer for our entire trip. Pretty creative, my dear.

She will be signing autographs later.

Matt won this kazoo in Vegas. He kept trying to play it in the car. None of us were really thrilled with a kazoo concert in that closed up car. Now Matt had the perfect opportunity to serenade us. No other living creature for miles.

Okay. I’ll stop here. So many more pix. I don’t want to bore you to death with more Death Valley photos…just yet.

Have you been on a vacay yet? Is it as hot where you live as it is in Atlanta right now? I’m melting, I’m melting.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Desert Rose” by Sting

What Happens In Vegas

2010-06-13T22:43:00.000-04:00

I said I would post more vacay pix today. It’s still today. Yikes. I’ve had internet issues all the dang day. Oh well. Here we goooooo.

So Doug & I were still feeling puny, but that didn’t stop us from having fun with the kids.

One of the first things I saw when we arrived in Vegas was this sign. You know I work in a law office, right? I don’t think my boss would go for this. What do you think?

On second thought, I don’t think I would go for it, either. That would mean Half Price Salary for Teri. Eeek.

There’s my family hanging out as the lions are ushered into the MGM viewing area.

“Hey, you lion! Don’t eat my daughter. We like her!!!”

The Luxor is such a cool place. The last time we were here four years ago, it was something like 105˚. It was only in the 80s this time. VERY comfortable.

You gotta know something about me. I love a pretty bathroom. In fact, I love them as much as I hate a yucky bathroom. But this one was way pretty. Look how the lovely Mackenzie models the sink.

We saw a movie star at the pool. Hahahahahahahahahaha

And we end our day with Mackenzie holding a lion. She is one strong young lady. See?

Barring anymore internet issues, another post tomorrow. Yes, believe it!

Vegas Baby

2010-06-12T11:22:00.000-04:00

Vacations are great. I mean, GREAT! We look forward to the next vacation even before we have returned from the current one. Doug travels so much throughout the year that we are able to use a lot of points to have excellent and affordable vacations to really cool places. This year’s travels started out in Vegas Baby.

First, we got on the big silver bird and headed West. It’s been nine years since the kids have been on an airplane. I think they forgot just how long and boring a flight can be.

But at least we had these little TV screens in the back of the seats to entertain us.

We walked around Vegas for a few hours. We were on no time schedule. Thank goodness.

We were so wiped out from flying and driving our first day that we all passed out way early that first night. Oh, and to top it all off, Doug and I caught Matt’s cold just in time for our vacation. Sweet. Oh, and don’t let me forgot to tell you that it was our 8th anniversary that day. Yeah, yeah, we have two anniversaries a year. I keep promising to tell you that story. I will.

Anywho, don’t we look like two really wild partiers? We lived it up that evening by sharing a bottle of Robitussin CF. Woot.

The kids each tossed a cup full of coins into the arcade. Zombie shooting going on here.

I had to get into the fun with a little Skeeball action. Oh, yeah, I rock.

Doug tries to hit the big one on this gigantic slot machine. “Mommy needs a new pair of earrings.” Hehe

Nothing like a Vegas buffet. Am I right???

Yes, that’s gravy on my plate. Vacation, you know. When in Vegas, know’um sayin’?

More from Family Vacay 2010 tomorrow. Yes, I said tomorrow. Yes, I know I’ve been away awhile. Yes, I mean I’ll see you tomorrow. Wheeee! It’s good to be back.

Later Taters!

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Viva Las Vegas” by The King

May Days - Catching Up

2010-05-27T23:09:00.000-04:00

So after we hunted Easter eggs late, we decided to usher in the month of May. We were finally ready to keep up with the life speeding by us. Ah, I'm still coming off of my bloggie break. Bear with me.

Anywho. My most favorite day of the year is in May - Mother's Day!!! I do not want purchased gifts, I do not want a big fuss, but I do want to spend time with the kids. Because our kitchen was still broken (no floors or hooked up appliances or sink yet), Matt took the lead and threw together a very sweet breakfast for me to enjoy in bed.

Yogurt, bagels with TWO different types of cream cheese (fancy, yawl) and grapes. Let me tell you this...I loved every bit of it. And I loved these breakfast servers, too.

On Mother's Day, I get to do what I want. This is me "getting" to clean the bathroom grout with a toothbrush. I also "got" to scrape out the old caulk. Actually, I really did choose to do this. I just like this stuff to get done. Hey, I jammed out to my iPod while scraping caulk. Awesome.

Because of the broken kitchen thing, we ate out later that day. This went down so smoothly after the two hours I spent scrubbing the tiles. Aaaahhhhhh.

May is also the season of The Prom. Yes, my baby girl went to her first prom this year. Doesn't she look so pretty in this cool dress?

We were going to take pictures in our backyard. I had worked extra hard to get things popping just in time for prom day. Wouldn't you know it - it started lightly raining about 15 minutes before we were to starting taking pix. Argh. Again with the broken kitchen thing, no floors and stuff made it necessary to move our photo session to Mackenzie's boyfriend's house at the very last second. But Alia was able to join us for our tradition photo-with-the-prom-goer photos.

And as if May wasn't action-packed enough already, we were excited to celebrate the graduation of our 2nd oldest daughter, Alia. She graduated Magna Cum Laude. WooHoo! Another tradition - I get to do the graduation photo shoot. I would not trade this privilege for the world.

Alia blinged up her cap so we could find her in the crowd.

And it was a HUGE crowd.

This is one happy grad. Love you, girlie.

More in a couple of days. Believe it or not, we are enjoying a really cool family vacay right now. I'll be uploading so sweet shots as soon as I get the next good hotel internet connection. Cool stuff, promise.

Oh, and I promise I'll get back to reading all your blogs. I miss me some blogs. I mean, miss.

Hey Yawl!

2010-05-23T19:53:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe I have been gone so long. The last many weeks have been so action-packed. I HAD to take a break. Ah, it felt so good. But in the middle of my much-needed blog break, I kept finding myself wanting to check in, upload some photos, and shoot the breeze. Except that I just didn’t have the energy to do it.

In the last month or so, we enjoyed a spectacular showing from our transplanted irises. Gorgeous purple beauties.

NO PHOTO FOR 2010.

I finally planted flowers near the mailbox. I have been meaning to do this for years.

NO PHOTO FOR 2010.

The dogwoods were scattered across our backyard in an array of happy blossoms.

NO PHOTO FOR 2010.

Are you sensing a theme here? But never fear, I DO have SOME photos. In the middle of our kitchen remodel (after pix this week), I managed to snap a few shots here and there.

To start out the way too busy month, the kids and I decided it was time to finally hunt the Easter eggs…two weeks after the fact. Hey, the candy was still good.

I think the Easter Bunny was a little tired this evening. “Hey kids, can you find the eggs?

Matt got his braces off. Finally.

We didn’t have a kitchen sink for a couple of weeks. Or floors. Or a way to cook food.

It’s hard to cozy up to watch a movie with the entire contents of the kitchen cabinets blocking the view.

We managed to squeeze in a few Braves games. I mean, seriously, you can’t deprive us of our Braves games.

Here is my toast to you, all my bloggie friends who have encouraged me to enjoy my break. I appreciate all the sweet comments.

Aaaaaah, that was goooood!

How are YOU doing???

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Hello It’s Me” by Todd Rundgren

Back This Weekend

2010-05-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

Hey Bloggie Friends,

I'll be back this weekend. Wheeeee! So busy, so tired, so ready for a break. See you in a couple of days.

As per usual...PICTURES GALORE!

Just Checkin' In

2010-05-06T08:08:00.000-04:00

Hey Gang,

I'm still blog breaking, but I wanted to touch base and say...I'M STILL HERE!!!

So much going on, so many pictures to share, so very little time to do it. I'll be back soon.

Let me know what you all are up to. Love you guys!

Off For A Break

2010-04-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

Hello, Bloggie Friends. There are more than 2, am I correct? Maybe? Anywho.

I think I will take a little break from blogging for a bit. Work keeps me busy, this kitchen project is covering us up, the kids are finishing up the year at school, and I have books to read. I hope to be back, one day.

Let me know if you are out there. Buhbye.

Moving Up In The World

2010-04-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

I have been holding out on you. I wanted to make it a surprise, but I just can’t keep it to myself any longer. Doug & I are…

Are…

Remodeling our kitchen. Big stuff, huh? After our unfortunate toilet water flood incident in February, we decided to move our fall kitchen remodeling project up to now. Now, now, now. Oh, don’t worry that Alia is graduating college on May 15, and don’t worry that there will be extra people in our home for several days leading up to that big event. What you really need to worry about is the time between having our old hardwood floors ripped up and when the new floors are installed. That time frame currently looks to be about 14 days. The new cabinets will be installed during that gap. Then the granite countertop. Still not a problem.

The problem involves that famous downstairs toilet in the ½ bath. No, it’s working fine. It just won’t be working during those above-referenced 14 days. I won’t mention that our master bathroom remodel isn’t quite finished yet. That would the master bathroom with a missing toilet. We, a family with a current count of 4 derrieres, will all be sharing the ONE toilet in the upstairs bathroom. ONE toilet, 4 derrieres. I may find myself visiting the various public restrooms down the street. Often. Hmmm, the library restrooms are always clean. And there’s plenty of reading material.

Just sayin’.

Let me introduce you to my old kitchen.

You may not have noticed, but we have blue countertops. Blue. It goes with everything, yes?

This kitchen has served us well. It has many irritating features, but we have used the life out it, regardless. Pay close attention to these bad boys.

No more shifting stovetop grates.

Ever since our unfortunate toilet water food incident in February, the fridge has decided to swiftly give up the ghost. Every freakin’ day, this thing has leaked a very large puddle of water onto the already ruined hardwood floors. Silver lining – at least it waited until after our insurance company paid for our entire floor of damaged hardwoods. See, always a good side. Okay, whatever.

That shiny stuff is water.

The wood beside the fridge buckled so much that there is just no more space for buckling. Nice.

In preparation for our new Mac Daddy Kitchen, we purchased a new stove and fridge. Yay!!! No more splashing fridge puddles. Thursday was the delivery date for our beautiful new appliances. I am in total heaven. First, though, we had to unload the fridge.

How old is that barbeque sauce? And I didn’t realize mozzarella cheese was blue.

Then the old stove had to be removed. Nas.Tee.

And then, the new Beauties were ever so gently placed into their new homes. Come to Mama.

We have already broken in our new stove. Doug heated a can of chicken noodle soup; I made a quesadilla. We are totally living the good life now, Babeeeeez. Heck, I think I’ll go nuts and boil some hotdogs later.

Any remodeling in your future or present? Are you surviving? How big is the job?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Theme from The Jeffersons”

Random Musings

2010-04-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

Dang. It's been a minute or two since I last blogged. Something about sunshine and a good book, I think. Oh, and that pesky little thing called A Job. A Job that I actually really enjoy. Buy hey. I'm here right now, ready to grace you with some totally awesome words of wisdom. Sheer inspiration.

Anywho.

I have been observing and thinking these last couple of weeks. I know, I know, pace myself. I don't want to blow a fuse or something.

1. Going to the Braves season opener is THE perfect way to start the Spring. Oh, and beating the heck out of the Cubs (16-5!!!) just makes Spring seem all the more sweet.

2. Costco is way NOT busy on a Tuesday evening after work. It's not at all like, say, a Saturday when every other human in the State of Georgia needs to fill up on 36-count toilet tissue, 3 lb. cheese balls, and 14 pk. underwear.

3. I stopped taking my back pain meds about a month ago. I have been sleeping through the night again for about a month now. Hmmm. Sleep wins over back pain.

4. It is so wonderful to have a hubby who loves to cook. Especially when we have a houseful of people who love to eat.

5. I still love my front load washer and dryer. Of course, I get some weird kick out of doing the laundry, anyway, so Bonus!

6. Stuff is springing up all over our lawn. Unfortunately, part of that stuff that has sprung is a mass of weedy things...all over the front lawn. We need to mow those weedy things soon so we won't end up being Those Neighbors.

7. Matt is at his dad's for Spring Break. I miss him. Mackenzie is still here, though. Good for Mom.

8. We finally saw "2012" on cable this past weekend. It was pretty interesting. Pretty fake, but pretty interesting.

9. Have you ever noticed that bacon goes with absolutely everything? Mashed potatoes? Yes. Cream of wheat? Oh sure. Cheesecake? I can totally imagine very crispy, freshly chopped bacon sprinkled lightly over New York Style Cheesecake. Totally.

10. It is very nice to have more paycheck at the end of the month than the other way around. Just an observation.

Give me your randomness. I want something off the wall.

Today's Daily Blog Song - "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga (Don't even tell me that you don't like this song.)

Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?

2010-03-24T16:18:00.000-04:00

In mid-March, Doug and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. WooHoo! Well, that was our legal anniversary. We have another anniversary at the end of May. I’ll explain another day. Maybe at the end of May. Trust me, it’s a good thing. Let’s just say that we loved each so much that we got married twice.

Anywho. Earlier this year, after I revealed on my other blog that I store my china (from my previous life) under the stairs, I decided that it was time to start using this stuff again. I mean, really. I’ve had this china for over 27 years. Yes, I got it for my 1st birthday.

I also decided that we would use the silver that Doug brought into our Love Union. His grandfather gave the whole set to his Mom and Dad when they married in the ‘60s. So there you go. Real fancy like.

Doug, my wonderful hubby and excellent cook, prepared a spectacular meal for us. He broke out his new Julia Child cookbook as well as his trusted Silver Spoon Italian cookbook.

Oh, yes, we are spoiled, and we love every morsel of it. On this night, we dined on filet mignon, asparagus, to-die-for sautéed mushrooms and baked potatoes.

Matt wanted to get into the real fancy like mode, so he used a wine glass for his ginger ale…as well as a bendy straw. Bendy straws rock.

Our budding photographer, Mackenzie, shots these lovely photos of my man and me. I guess she wanted to make sure she got just the right pose. Yeah.

As if our evening of food was not already complete, I (yes, I) made a delectable chocolate soufflé. Yeah, I can cook. I prefer to bake. If I could only figure out a way to make it okay to serve the family homemade cakes and pies every night, I would do it. Asparagus cookies? Cauliflower cheesecake? Nah.

Once again, we had a great day. Great food. Great family. And most of all, Great Hubby. I love you, Doug!!!!

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Shining Star” by The Manhattans

Birthday Boy

2010-03-21T23:17:00.002-04:00

Believe it or not, my baby boy turned 14 last Thursday. I cannot believe it. No way.

He came home from school with lots of goodies from his friends.

We had a gourmet meal for dinner…at Stevie B’s. I went all out. "Yes, dear, you certainly may have extra pizza. And don't forget to get yourself an ice cream. Mommy is sparing no expense here."

Those people in the background are not with our party. Did I really have to tell you that?

I baked a yummy lemon cake for this Birthday Boy. Matt perfected this cake with his incredible decorating skills.

I think he wished for no school. Sorry, dude.

I love being a Mom, and I love that my baby had such a great birthday. We need to slow this thing down a little, though.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night

Pins and Needles

2010-03-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

Some of you may recall me mentioning my wretched back problems from time to time. My back has given me fits since high school. No matter what I’ve tried, it never really gets better. Sometimes I even think it is (gasp) getting worse. I have had several MRIs. I’m not a big fan of MRIs – too closed in for this girl. I am convinced that the machine is going to suddenly stop working the way it has always worked and crash down all around me. I think that is the main description of claustrophobia. Oh, you also have to throw in the rapid heartbeat and hyperventilating. Okay, I’m way off track here.

I can’t even remember how many times I’ve been to physical therapy. Physical therapy = a waste of time and money and an increase in the pain in my back. Lovely. I really enjoy going to the Y. I do indeed feel wonderful after a good workout. Unfortunately, I often have to stay away for a little while because my stinkin' back pain. I’ve heard it all. “Oh, you’ll strengthen your core and then your back will be all better.” “You just need to give it enough time, then your back will be all better.” “You have a low tolerance for pain.” Well, no matter how much I love going to the Y, the Y is sometimes a contributor to my back pain. It seems the supposed-to-be-good-for-me exercise inflames my already yucky back. That won’t keep me away for good, but it keeps me away more than I care for it to.

During one of my way too numerous back appointments over the last few years, I was told that my back problem is degenerative. Wonderful. It did not take this rocket scientist long to figure out that degenerative = never going away. Oh, just, nice, nice, nice. Are you sensing a little irritation here? I swear, I am not Debbie Downer. In fact, I am so SICK of ever having to even acknowledge this stupid back problem. But acknowledge I must. I hurt, people. Every.damn.day.

I totally believe that it could be so much worse. I don’t ever want to see that so much worse thing. That’s why I recently decided to try yet another pain management technique. I’m sick of the anti-inflammatory pills and the pain meds that no longer work. I am not interested in upping the dosage only to realize that the freakin’ pain is still there. Only then I’ll be taking more meds that will be secretly messing with my liver, like my cholesterol meds aren’t already doing that. Damn.

Okay, so on with the story. Riveting, isn’t it? A few weeks ago, I finally called an acupuncturist. My back doctor actually referred me to her. I waited quite awhile before even giving it a shot. (Kind of a pun, get it - shot, get it?) I mean, we’re talking tons of needles here, people. Okay, okay, I can do this. So I did. I remember being intrigued with acupuncture since the 4^th grade. Always creeped me out, but I couldn’t get over my curiosity. So I did it. I went under the needle(s).

Acupuncture is a pretty weird experience. Honestly, it doesn’t really feel like much…for the most part. There were only a couple of spots where I definitely felt something. That’s when the doctor would say, “Opening the channels.” Yikes. Can we get HGTV here? Anywho. After my very first visit, I immediately felt some relief. I went into this thing with an open mind. It would work or not. What in the world did I have to lose? That good bit of relief I felt from the first session lasted most of the week. I had another appointment. That relief lasted most of the next week.

During my second visit, I told the doctor that I wouldn’t be needing needles in my face this time. “Oh, sinus all better?” Uh, yeah, it is. Seriously, a truck could have run over my face and I would have said the same thing. I was just a wee bit (lot bit) freaked out with the needles in my face. And for some reason, this time I was letting my mind play games with me. It does that sometimes; that’s when I have to talk myself off the freaking out ledge. I managed.

I was getting so light-headed imagining the needles going into my legs and arms that I let myself panic a little. Geez. I had to keep telling myself that I just did this last week, and I lived through it. Come on, Teri, breath slowly. Oh hey, what about those breathing techniques I learned when I was pregnant? Yeah, I would use that. Oh, wait, it didn’t work then either. Okay, so I kept silently reciting my mantra over and over and over until I calmed down. “Get over yourself, get over yourself, GET OVER YOURSELF!!!!” And I did, except that I kept noticing that my shoulders were tightening up and my butt was clenching up A LOT (excuse my graphic description – hehe). And that’s when I started silently laughing at myself. You big, goofball. Whew. I survived another session.

I am going again this week. I need to figure out just how long I’m going to do this. Not too long, I’m sure of that. I’ve been in pain with this stupid back for almost 30 years. I don’t expect miracles, but I do hope for some sort of lasting relief. We’ll see.

I know you may be disappointed that I do not have any pictures. Aw, come on, you know you want to see me all needled up. Get this, during my first session, I was SO tempted to ask the doctor to take my picture with my teeny tiny spy camera that I keep in my purse. I thought better of it. I didn’t want to weird her out. Yet.

So that’s the deal with Teri’s back. Why am I talking in third person? Creepy. I plan on living into my 90s, at least. I DON’T plan on walking half bent over with a cane or, worse, wheeling around in a wheelchair. Nope. Not happening. So I’m gonna keep trying whatever I can find here, short of a constant Demerol drip. We want to save that for Friday nights, am I right? TMI??

Okay, whatever.

Have you ever tried acupuncture? What did you think? Do you have any other suggestions for back pain relief? Does it involve Johnny Depp, by chance? Just puttin’ that out there.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Back In The Saddle” by Aerosmith (this song is appropriate for oh so many reasons)

Aw, Yeah Baby!!!!

2010-03-09T22:02:00.000-05:00

(**Long post…but, oh, so worth the looky loo**)

Doug & I stepped into a different dimension this past Sunday. We went to a NASCAR race. Yep, Doug won a pair of tickets from his company. Neither one of us had ever been to a race. I’ve lived here since 1975; you’d a thunk I woulda done been to a race by now. Naw.

We discovered just how important The Race is in these here parts. Purty important. Can you believe this place seats over 124,000 race fans? Trust me, you would believe it after The Race is over as you sit in your car for over an hour, listening to NPR (Doug’s choice), waiting for the chance to move ahead two feet. But I digress.

We arrived in time to see the Fly By. I did not know about this Fly By. I seemed to be the only one. Woohoo! I heard that a lot. “Gentlemen, start your engines!” That part I was familiar with.

Hey, this isn’t so loud after all. Oh, wait a minute – they haven’t really started. Oh. Geez, yeah. This is LOUD. Earplugs, please. Okay, better.

In only the third lap, the crowd was blessed with the first wreck. Shouts of jubilation erupted as the sweeper truckers v e r y s l o w l y cleaned up the debris. The pace car did its thing and kept every race car in its place for several laps. Okay, I can do this. So far so good.

I wasn’t quite sure what I should be looking for, but I was certainly ready for anything. And then it became quite apparent what my mission was. I must People Watch.

Queen and King of The Race.

Fans here, like most every sport I have witnessed, display their driver’s numbers in abundance.

Since The Race is so freakin’ loud, it’s not easy to carry on any type of conversation. Most people just sit and stare ahead, a lot. Of course, they enjoy the contents of their No Larger Than 14” Coolers, abundantly. I myself was pleased when Doug discovered that Mike’s Harder Cranberry Lemonade is indeed available in cans. Whew.

And then I had to go to the bathroom. You take your life into your own hands when you venture out into your row of fellow Race Fans. Nothing to hold on to if/when you fall except the other people – not cool. But I made it. The ladies room wasn’t very crowded. Go figure. While I was out, I got some lunch for Doug and me.

Polish sausage with onions and peppers for the hubby – I know what he likes. A corn dog for me – I know what I like but can never, ever eat. And while I was going for it, I made that a FOOT LONG corn dog. Of course.

More racing.

And more racing.

I was pretty fascinated with the speed that these guys used during the pit stops. Something less than a minute, for sure.

Then some more racing,

And some more.

At about 2 hours into The Race, I was getting just a tad bored. I learned later that this was not a very good race because . . .

Wait for it.

There weren’t enough crashes. Yes, people can hardly contain themselves when there are crashes. And, oh my gosh, if there is a flying car crash, well, you have just sent many Race Fans straight to Racing Heaven.

But…before all that, I noticed a few Fashion Trends. It seems the Mullet is alive and well. Business in the front, party in the back. Keep that baby in a ball cap so you can see The Race, my friends.

And I guess I have been sheltered, but I am now realizing that The Fro is a making a comeback with Race Fans. Aw, yeah baby!

For some reason, I kept thinking “Aw, Yeah Baby!” during the entire 3 hours and 15 minutes that The Race was going on. No reason. Yeah.

I noticed men do indeed wear pink.

A little later in The Race, I noticed that some men wear Wife Beaters.

And, goodgawdamighty, a little later I noticed that other men decide it’s time to show some skin. Please, help me.

Not everyone pays 100% attention to The Race. Wow, I can’t see why. Oh wait, that’s right, not enough crashes. Anywho, you gotta respect a kid for getting in a little reading.

And a guy doing a little texting.

But then, my friends, just when I thought I was going to have to ask these people if I could take a nap in their camper (you can camp in the middle of the track, by the way)…

Doug tells me that there are only (ONLY) about 30 or 40 more laps in this 334 laps around the 1.54 mile track. Thank Gawd. Aw, yeah baby. There I go again.

And then, as if The Race Gawds heard us, there was a multi-car pile up. Yeeeeeeehaaaaawwwwwww! The crowd went nuts. They weren’t shouting, “Oh, bless his heart, is he okaaaaaaay?” It was more like “Aw, yeah baby!!!”

The Race was now a Good Race.

Unfortunately, with any little anything, the Pace Car must come out and guide all the drivers around the track for several laps. This happened SOOOO often throughout The Race. Made the finale a little anticlimactic when the winner raced through the checkered flag after only two “real” laps. Oh well.

To give us just a little something extra, Number 2 took a lap around the track backwards. I hate to admit it, but I was kinda hoping there would be a little crash action. Wouldn’t that have been funny? I dunno.

Race over, Doug & I made our way to the shuttle bus where loads of other Race Fans were waiting to entertain us just a bit more. A few more rebel yells, a couple more “Good Gawds,” about a dozen belches later, and we were at our parking lot.

Goodgawdamighty, we had a pretty good time. Aw, yeah baby!

Have you ever been to The Races? Do you have a favorite driver? Are the crashes REALLY the main event?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd (I was waiting for this song to break out at any moment)

A Year Wiser

2010-03-03T22:19:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, I had a . . . BIRTHDAY!! Get this – I turned 49. Woohoo.

I have no qualms with sharing my age. Never have, doubt that I ever will. I remember years ago watching a co-worker mope around for weeks after she turned 30. 30? Are you serious? My philosophy has always been this: It beats the hell out of the alternative. Am I right?

Since I was a little kid, I have always looked forward to my birthday. It is my day, my very own day, and I take it seriously. You see all the posts I write sharing the big deal we make about birthdays around here. It’s important stuff. I love helping make memories for everyone, especially on their birthdays. Love it.

This year, Doug had to be out of town on business. This is the first birthday he has been away since we have been together. I missed him. However, I still had my kiddies at home that day. Yippee!

I worked that day. It was an extremely busy day, as is every day at work. I worked a little extra that day, as I do most days. Cool. All day long, I kept trying to think of something special I could cook for dinner. I wanted something fun. I never came up with anything. Sooooo…I stopped at Kroger, bought a fresh made pizza from the deli and picked up a teeny tiny chocolate fudge cheesecake. Delish.

We ate my special birthday dinner in front of the TV (kinda typical when Doug is out of town – Hey, Babe!). The kids were so sweet. They sang “Happy Birthday” to me. That stuff means the world to me. Loved it.

Dang, what’s with the messy sweatshirt? Sheesh.

On Friday of that week, my boss surprised me at work with a YUMMY white chocolate mango mousse cake. It was incredible! I even had trick candles. Love that stuff. Oh, and of course, I had my teeny tiny spy camera handy for snaps.

When I got home, the kids were all too happy to scarf up the remainder of my special birthday treat.

And if that wasn’t enough, Doug and I went out for a special birthday dinner that Friday evening. We tried out a steak restaurant that is only a mile from home. We’ve been meaning to go there for years. Boy, did we make the right decision. The steaks literally melted in our mouths.

And I got a free dessert. Banana bread pudding with banana ice cream. Sweet!

The Birthday Marathon was so much fun. Wait’ll next year.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Mother’s Little Helper” by The Rolling Stones (This is how SOME people feel about birthdays. I laugh in their face, hahahaha. But I LOVE this song!!!)

A Musing

2010-02-28T21:52:00.000-05:00

We had a VERY exciting weekend. Doug & I took the kids to a Muse concert. We all LOVE LOVE LOVE Muse! Have you heard of this band? Exceptional music, I’m telling you. The four of us have been fans for several years. Aw, man, it was FUN!!

Enjoy these spectacular cell phone pix. Spectacular. Awarding-winning. Yep.

We ate dinner at the venue. The kids chose cheese pizza. A teen favorite.

Me, I picked a portobella mushroom cheese steak sandwich. Looks a little weird here, huh? But it was yummy, I promise.

Not a very wonderful shot of Doug and me…cell phone, remember?

The opening band was Silversun Pickup. Not bad. It was evident that they just haven’t hS as much stage time as some other bands. Decent, though.

Please, hold your applause for my super zoom shots. Hahahahahahaha

Reminds me of the Kodak Instamatic shots I used to take at those first concerts when I was in high school. The ones with the flashcubes. And really far away perspective. Yeh, I’m doing this as a case study for the old schoolers.

Anywho. Muse finally hits the stage. Woohoo!!!! These guys are true artists, no joking. The lead singer’s voice is unbelievable. You gotta check ‘em out.

I can’t adequately describe how excellent this show was. I wish I could go see Muse again and again and again. Come back, Muse!!!

Have you heard of Muse? What’s your favorite band right now? What is the last concert you have been to?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse (who else??? This is my FAVORITE Muse song.)

Remember Me???

2010-02-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!! Been a little absent lately. Dahayhayhang. (Southern for “Dang!”)

Well, I’ve been a bit busy lately. No duh? I usually try to keep up with the blogging thing, but life has just been getting in the way lately, you know?

First off, we celebrated Valentine’s Day. Yes, it’s an official family holiday in our abode. I made cards for everyone. I know, don’t faint. Something must have come over me. I never make cards. But it was fun, I promise. I also gave the kids a little extra treat; Doug got a Julia Child cookbook…which means we ALL got a present!

Doug gave me a gorgeous orchid. I LOVE orchids. The kids made me cards, too. Sweet!

I made breakfast for everyone. Again, no fainting.

And as if that wasn’t enough – you know, me making cards AND breakfast – I also made this yummy flourless chocolate cake.

So you can see, girlfriend’s gotta have a break after all that creativity. So we went out for a Valentine’s dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Of course we did.

And I took pictures. Of course I did.

My seafood burrito with mango tomatillo sauce made lovely breakfast leftovers.

Even Doug couldn’t finish all his food.

We ended our dinner by seeing what a dollar buys in a vending machine at the Mexican Restaurant. Wow.

Oh, and don’t forget about Mackenzie. Her boyfriend made dinner for them (pot stickers) and showered her with all these goodies.

So that was the first day of my two week absence from blogging. But wait! There’s more. More, which I will share with you tomorrow. Gotta keep ‘em coming back, you know? Seriously, you don’t want to miss it.

And don’t forget to check out my Project 365 – Teri Style blog for the updates that I will be posting. Just a picture a day of my everyday life…minus the last two weeks. I’ve been taking pix, though!!

Anywho. Let me know you’re still here. I’m still here. Let’s all still be here. What’s up, my web friends?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “SOS” by Rhianna (I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this song)

I Got Your Blizzard Right Here

2010-02-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

We finally got some real snow here in Atlanta. Yippee!!! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know all you people who have been slammed with snow lately are laughing at us. Snow like this is a very rare occurrence in our fair city, so we enjoy it as quickly as we can. This stuff will be gone in the blink of the eye.

The kids were already out of school for a winter break yesterday. Doug worked about a ½ day; I worked till 3:00 because we had to finish up some documents for court next week. No biggie. While I was waiting for the word to go ahead and get home, I got this shot of the parking lot from my 3rd floor area.

It wasn’t really very cold, just cold enough for the snow to stick. Cool sights on the way home.

Doug asked me the dreaded question before I left work. “Could you stop at the store for some juice?” Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!! You see, here in the South, if there is even a threat of snow, every one and his cousin are at Kroger buying up all the milk, juice, eggs, cheese and bread. Because those are the only foods that will keep you from starving during the 24-48 hour winter storm. Evidently. Anywho, I said okay like the good wife. Yeah, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, Babe. And the stores are open today for all those special presents that you want to buy me.

Okay, anyway. When I got home, I threw on my comfy clothes and headed straight outside with my camera. Of course.

The snow was steady for hours. It was soooo beautiful!

Snow Matt.

Snow-kenzie.

I thought this tree looked like a cotton ball tree. I asked Matt to take a picture of me. So he did. Again and again and again.

Then it was time to drag Doug outside for a few pix. For a guy who grew up in Utah, you would think he would humor me a little more with these photos. Babe, it’s FUN!!!

It took only minutes for Matt and me to create this masterpiece in snow.

I put a third ball on top for a head, but it all crashed to the ground except for this little Mohawk looking piece. We liked.

Voila!

That scarf was a gift to me from a friend…in the 7th grade! Why do I still have that thing? And better yet, why is it still holding up so well?

Matt sacrificed his gloves for this awesome snow guy.

Happy Snow Storm 2010!!!

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Let It Snow” by Dean Martin

Bring An Ark

2010-02-08T21:51:00.001-05:00

Not a-damn-gain! Do you remember this from last month?

That was caused by our frigid weather. I get it. Okay. My man fixed it. Great.

Woke up this morning just a little bit later than usual. As is quite common for me these days, I had yet another night of less than three hours of sleep. My sleep ended at 2:00 a.m. Hence the getting up a little bit later than usual thing.

Doug had only dashed out of the house maybe 12 minutes earlier. As I left our bedroom, I heard a loud spraying noise. I wondered which kid had left the water on in the upstairs bathroom. Except that the water wasn’t on. Then I headed downstairs and wondered who had left the water on in that bathroom. That’s when I saw this.

Oh.my.holy.hell.

I saw a huge puddle of water making it’s way out from under the bathroom door. Then my eyes traveled through the hall to the breakfast area.

Don’t let that shine fool you. It's not our sparkling wood floors. It’s gallons and gallons and gallons of water.

I bolted into that room to find water all over the kitchen floor.

And pooling over into the dining room.

All the while, strange, loud, and agonizing sounds were leaving my mouth. Matt suddenly woke up (now I know how to get him right of bed). My 13-year old son quickly made his way into the bathroom, asking how we turn off the water.

The first thing that came to my mind was this:

Remember Doug having to reach down deep last month to turn off the water? Then my senses came back to me, and I said, “There’s a knob at the bottom of the toilet!”

Matt: “It won’t turn off!”

Me: “Left loosey, turn it the other way!!!” (I swear I said that. Always on a roll.)

I was able to call Doug immediately and get him back home. Doug used more expressive language when he entered our now waterfront property.

Towels were not our best approach here. When you put a towel down only to see a puddle quickly form on top of said towel, you realize that you have a bit of an “issue.” Yes, an issue.

Oh, here’s the culprit. This one, tiny, little fresh water hose broke off from the tank. Nice.

My man came to the rescue with the wet dry vac. I found the homeowner’s policy. Remember that $1000 deductible from last month? Seems it’s only $500. Of course, we won’t know if our BFF from the insurance company will help us out yet because he won’t be here till THURSDAY AFTERNOON. Yes. In the meantime, I keep finding swollen areas in our wood floor planks. Wonderful.

We survived. Our house smells musty. And don't you know it - I mopped that damn floor on Saturday.

Have you ever had a house flood? Did the insurance company take care of it…without a boatload of hassle? Can you believe this %&$*^???

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Cripple Creek" by The Band

Flashback Friday – Float Like A Butterfly

2010-02-04T18:16:00.001-05:00

Playing along with Candid Carrie today. Check out other bloggies’ photos after you relax here for a moment.

Let’s look way back to October 1979. I was a freshman in college. I loved going to school. I had finally made it out of high school. You remember the feeling. I had a primo job at McDonald’s. Sweet.

I wanted to join in on the college scene. It was a commuter college, so it was no small task to get to and from school everyday. I think it was like 20-30 minutes away on a good day. Anyway, it was Halloween. The school was hosting a costume dance. Oh yeah, baby. I was so there.

What to be, what to be? Got it. I decided to dress as a really tall butterfly.

I wish you could see my special butterfly feet. They were red fuzzy bedroom slippers. Primo, I’m telling you.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz

I Pick You

2010-01-31T22:11:00.002-05:00

We recently celebrated Mackenzie’s adoption day. It was 16 years ago that all the paperwork was complete, all the t’s were crossed, all the i’s were dotted. It was only just over 5 short months earlier that Mackenzie was a surprise guest at her big brother Nicholas’ adoption day. She was only 6 days old then.

On Mackenzie’s big day, we became the official proud parents of this sweet little peanut.

Fast forward to this month. Mackenzie made sure I didn’t forget her adoption day. We started a new “tradition” last year – Mackenzie got an éclair. I know, we go all out, huh? On this particular day, I was rushing around with my usual chores when Mackenzie asked when we were going to get her éclair. Okay, let’s do it now. I loaded both kids into the van, we ran into Kroger, they each picked a treat, we paid, and then we jumped back into the van.

The kids couldn’t wait till we got home to enjoy their adoption party treats. That’s teenagers for you.

Do you have an extra special day that your family celebrates during the year other than birthdays or anniversaries? Do you choose éclairs as your special treat? Hehe

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder

Science Is Painful

2010-01-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

We survived yet another class project - this time it was for the Science Fair. When I say we, I mean ME! Matt sort of worked on this project with his partner for several weeks – off and on. Same ole’, same ole’. I stayed up one too many late nights trying to make sure Matt got everything completed. I did NOT do this project, oh no no no. But I had to make sure it was getting done.

Matt and his partner decided to test which type of toothpick would make a stronger bridge. Flat or round. Which one? Matt’s partner chose round. You know, the round toothpicks that are found everywhere. Matt chose flat. You know, the flat toothpicks that found NOWHERE. Uh huh.

Whatever. After searching in 5 different stores, we found the mother load at Publix. We bought 4 boxes of 750 toothpicks. You know, just in case. And then we had to purchase Super Glue. Again, and again, and again. And then again. The glue alone cost us more than $20. Geez.

Okay, so the last night of work, Matt was somehow the lucky partner who got to stay up and finish the required 3-fold poster board. Aaaaaahhhh. This is when I decided that Matt was old enough to stay up and get this done all by himself. Mom needed sleep, folks. Whatever.

He did it. Bags under eyes and all.

Then, later that week, right after Matt returned home from school, we were informed that the Science Fair was in 1 ½ hours. Yikes! Okay, whatever. We went to this thing. And we waited and waited because Matt thought the projects would be judged that night. Nah. Whatever.

As a reward for us all (me, especially), we headed to Steak n’ Shake for dinner. Yep, health food all the way, baby. And, in typical Teri fashion, it was necessary to grab a few snaps. I was going for a more natural look here.

Hahahahahahhahaha

Okay, whatever.

How have you survived the class project thing? Do you stay up late with your kid? Are they ever really late in getting these things completed? Do YOU ever do these projects FOR your kid???

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo

Flashback Friday – Fix The Pix

2010-01-21T21:40:00.002-05:00

Playing along with Candid Carrie today. Check out other bloggies’ photos after you relax here for a moment.

I am a photo fiend. There is no hiding it. I want pictures of everything. It helps me remember my past, I swear it does. I often semi-jokingly say that I make all of these scrapbooks so that I will have something pretty to look at when I am old and can’t remember a thing. I write stories with my photos so that whoever is stuck taking care of me will have something to read while I pour over the albums, again and again and again. Kinda like when our kids were little. “Read it again, Mommy. And again. And again.”

A couple of years ago, I got my hands on a box of older photos from my mom. My folks didn’t talk a whole lot of pictures when we were younger. However, they did take at least enough to give us a hint of what our lives were like back then. I am VERY grateful for this. My mom used to have a large, navy blue, plastic zip pouch like thing that she used to store our stack of photos. Yeah, that was pretty much it. There were other photos scattered about the house in frames and a couple of photo albums, but the bulk of the “good stuff” was in the large, navy blue, plastic zip pouch like thing.

My parents moved many times after I left home. That pouch followed them to every new residence. Except for the last one. This large, navy blue, plastic zip pouch like thing got lost in the shuffle. All those photos were gone for good. I can hardly even think about it. Yuck.

Anyway, when I was lucky enough to get a hold of this box of older photos a few years ago, I was very happy to scan everything in that box. My goal is to restore the photos that have been damaged over the years. The majority of the photos can be restored by me. There are a few, though, that I just don’t want to mess with. I could do it; it just would take a really long time.

Soooooo…I found a place that is ridiculously affordable in the restoration department. You will NOT believe how ridiculously affordable.

Here is a picture of my Grandma Carter from the 40’s or 50’s (not sure). This was a very tiny square wallet kind of photo. See that crease?

I uploaded this scanned image to ScanCafe.com. Within no time, I was given an estimate of what this WOULD have cost to restore it. I lucked into a quick, FREE promo that day. But still. This WOULD have only cost me $5.95.

Yes, you read that right. $5.95!

Okay, so I decided to test them out again. I sent this picture of my brother.

By the time my brother was born, my folks REALLY didn’t have a lot of extra cash for portraits. This is the portrait that hung on my folks’ wall for years along side the rest of our baby pictures. My brother’s picture was torn in half…by my brother. He had just awakened from a nap and decided it was portrait ripping time. I dunno.

Anyway, here is the restored image. ScanCafe.com completed this restoration in under one week. And, yes, you guessed it. $5.95. Excellent deal.

I sent this shot right before Christmas.

You would think that ScanCafe.com would be way too busy to even get to this until after the holidays. Nope. Under one week again.

It was fun to see that the tinsel garland on our fireplace was actually BLUE. What a lovely shade of chartreuse on those draperies. And aren’t we all so cute sporting our new Christmas robes and pjs? I am the tall one. You knew that. This photo had a little more damage, so it was $9.95. Yes. Way cheap.

Give this place a try. I’m not getting anything for this endorsement (but I would take something, for sure!). I just want to pass along info when I find such a great value. Wheee!

Have you had any photos restored lately – by someone other than you? What kind of prices are you seeing? Do you even have any older photos from your family?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Changes” by David Bowie

I Dig Doug

2010-01-21T10:16:00.004-05:00

With all the hustle and bustle of January keeping me so busy, I neglected to give my man a big Birthday Shout-Out. Happy Birthday, Doug!!!

Doug returned home late on the evening of his actual birthday – business trip. You know how I am about birthdays. These are huge deals. Doug is more laid back about it. I wanted to get him a teeny tiny little cake. He reminded me that we don’t really need that sugar around here. Drats. Okay, at least I can get a picture of him on his birthday. But wait. Doug wanted to change into comfy clothes first. Okay, now I can get a picture. But wait. Doug had not yet eaten dinner, so he was going to take a few minutes to do that. And then it was tomorrow. Yikes!

I didn’t even get a chance to give him his present. Aaaaahhhhh!

Okay, I would give it to him at breakfast on Saturday. But wait. The water pipe in the garage wall needed to burst to create a little excitement first. Geez.

And then Doug needed to shut off the water. Nice.

Okay, NOW!

He likes it! Hey, Mikey!

Happy Birthday, Babe. Love you forever.

Do you always make sure you get a picture of the birthday person on the actual day? How long have you waited to celebrate a birthday? Did you ever just completely FORGET???

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Happy Birthday” by Weird Al Yankovic

Queen For A Day

2010-01-17T13:35:00.013-05:00

You know how much I love photography. 20+ years as a professional photographer probably gives that away. I also love scrapbooking. Once a month, I meet my sister and two friends at a local scrapbook store and we crop and crop and crop till we’ve had our fill for the month. Most often we just talk and laugh and talk and laugh and eat snacks, but sometimes we actually get some pages completed.

A couple of weeks ago, we all met for our monthly crop. However, this crop was an all day thing. Woo hoo. 12 hours of solid scrapbooking bliss. As per our usual course of events, we messed around for a good while before we jumped right in for a day of creative genius. Yeah.

Something extra special about this all day crop thing – there was a theme. Ooooh, cool. The theme was Glitz and Glamour. Hmm, what to do, what to do. My sister immediately came to the rescue. Seems she has collected (for some reason) a treasure trove of blingy stuff. She had tiaras to share. Who has more than one tiara? Better yet, who has even one tiara?

Sheri.

Look how pretty Kim is. Work it, girl.

Jeanine chose a lovely sparkly headband. Matches her eyes.

Sheri opted for the shiny crystal hair clip. It matched her shiny gemstone ring, you know, the one she ordered that she thought was a whole lot smaller than it was in real life. Oh, and all this coordinated with her big, shiny, blingy cross. Again with the looked-a-whole-lot-smaller-in-the-catalog-than-it-is-in-real-life thing. Marvy.

I felt so special in my Queen Crown. And my huge and long strand of pearls.

For some odd reason, my sister ALSO had a couple pairs of false eyelashes. I’ve always wanted to try these out. So we did. The glue is pretty tricky. I don’t think I applied it correctly. All day long, I kept seeing a blob of the stuff in the corner of my eye. I finally pulled these things off after a few of hours. Yuck. But the glue was still stuck to my real eyelashes. Yuck. I am positive that I will never wear these things again.

Ah, the price we Queens pay for beauty.

Have you ever worn false eyelashes? What about a tiara? Have you ever been an ACTUAL Queen?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Killer Queen” by Queen

A Winter Surprise

2010-01-11T17:50:00.005-05:00

As many of you are probably aware, our country has been held hostage by a major freeze lately. Here in the South, we can usually expect a couple of weeks of real winter temperatures. Other than that, we don’t often have much need for extremely heavy sweaters or bulky winter coats. I have tried to buy the kids coats for the last several years only to have them insist that they will NOT wear them. I love the South. No joke.

So, when our couple of weeks of real winter weather decided to descend upon us last week, we were a little excited. It’s like, okay, let’s do this thing, let’s have a little snow, a little fun, a lot of pictures, then bring back the mid-50s. Deal?

Last Thursday our Snow Storm 2010 began at around 2:12 p.m. Of course, I was ready with the camera.

Look carefully. I swear there are snowflakes out there.

Even a little snow on the cabbage that we never picked.

The kids (not so) patiently awaited the news later that evening that they would NOT have school on Friday. I went to bed before the kids – I was exhausted. I did not even need to check the news the next morning to see if school had been cancelled. Not a soul was stirring in this house, a sure sign that the kids had received mass Facebook messages from all their close and personal 5,000 friends.

Okay, I’m off to work. One last look at our abode before I head out to earn a little green. So peaceful.

Dang, it was cold.

We survived our blizzard. Just barely. Until the next morning. I was upstairs in my very beautiful grayish-plum colored laundry room about to load up my still-new-to-me beautiful front loader washing machine when I heard Doug yell, “%&$*^#, DON’T TURN ON THE WASHING MACHINE!!!”

Look what our very short but extremely cold winter blast surprised us with.

This would be our garage. Uh huh. I thought I would quickly take pictures just in case we needed them for insurance purposes. Then Doug uttered the magic words – “$1000 Deductible.”

Damn.

Sooooo, Doug went down to the end of the yard and reached way down into this hole to (not easily) turn off the water.

I hate to admit that all I could think about was how I suddenly had to go to the bathroom. Yeah. All about me. I know. Sorry.

Here is my Polly Anna view of the situation. A pretty rainbow.

Anyway, I drove up to the hardware store quickly (in my comfy lounging pants, I might add – yeah, taking one for the team). Doug cut the pipe at the break, soldered a cap on the end and turned the water back on.

My hero.

I’m not kidding.

So, has winter left you with a few surprises? Still digging out from under the blizzard? How much snow so far?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead (Because I TOTALLY LOVE this song!!!)

Boom Boom Pow

2010-01-06T20:36:00.008-05:00

New Year’s Eve was a blast. Pun intended. We never go out on New Year’s Eve. We always stay up until after midnight. We have plenty of fun just hanging around the house.

As is usually the case in our home, our evening centered around yummy snacks. Several years ago, we decided that cheese fondue should be a New Year’s Eve staple. Yep, we did it again.

To offset the heart-clogging cheese, we had healthy dipping food – artichoke hearts, pineapple, apples, pears…and, um, bread.

Then there was the crème brulee.

Matt’s friend Jack (yes, from the Adventures of Matt and Jack fame) hung out with us for several hours. He watched Christmas Vacation with us. It looks like Jack is toasting Clark Griswold.

Matt and Jack tried really hard to find the Pickle ornament. Most people look for this ornament at the beginning of the holiday season. Oh heck no. We are rebels.

Speaking of rebels, Doug was FINALLY able to break out his huge stash of fireworks. I mean, HUGE. The kids did a few sparklers.

I did a few sparklers.

It appears that I am trying out for a new job as an air traffic controller.

I took a few shots of the house all lit up for the holidays. My lazy self finally got out the tripod. Hand holding the camera for night shots = not cool.

Doug was FINALLY able to light this really HUGE roll of firecrackers. 1000 firecrackers to be exact. He is totally excited about this.

The kids stayed safely on the sidelines.

Smokey, big time.

And then the big moment arrived. Happy New Year! Cheers to you!!!!

What did you do on New Year’s Eve? Were you able to stay awake for midnight? Any special snacks (it’s all about the food here, people.)

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Boom Boom Pow” by Black Eyed Peas