Christmas - P.M.

We made it back to our house shortly before 4p.m., although based on the morning activities it felt like it was much later in the evening. Not long after we were back home we started opening gifts we had received in the mail earlier in the week from family.

Christmas - A.M.

Kelly and Michael

Cara, Kelly and Summer

Summer and the new puppy!!!
Tate and the new puppy!!!
Aiden and Tate waiting for G-Dad to get the toys out of the package

Christmas morning we got up early to head north to Blount County to spend the morning with my sister and her children. We were able to enjoy a nice breakfast that Mike had prepared in Cara's kitchen. Once everyone was finished eating, the kids were finally able to rip into those presents under the tree! Afterwards, we headed over the mountain to visit with Putman for a few. Then, we were back on the road headed back home and finally within cell service to return missed holiday phone calls from other family members.

Christmas Eve

My husband and I were both working on Christmas Eve, however fortunately for us the company's policy is to close at noon. Once we got home we decided not to make any plans for the night but to take it easy and rest up for the Christmas day activities. We did go outside on two different occasions to catch a glimpse of Santa riding by our house on the fire trucks driving through our neighborhood!

Christmas Shopping

Today I finished our Christmas shopping and tonight the gifts have been shipped to all our family members in different states!!!! Glad to be gone from the FedEx-Kinkos building.

Our Christmas Cards

We decided that for this year we are going to send Christmas cards with our picture, so last night we finally were able to try to tackle the task of taking the picture to be used for the card. These are a few of the pictures that didn't make the cut.

Update on Tree

Friday after work we had to fix our curtain rod due to the strings giving away earlier in the year, before I could get started on the tree. This took longer than expected, so I had to put off decorating the tree until Saturday. On Saturday, I went up into the attic and dug out all the Christmas totes and after going through all the totes I realized we threw away our lights last year! After making a trip to the store on Sunday I was finally able to get started on decorating the tree. Late Sunday evening I was able to sit down on the sofa with my husband and the kids (Auburn and Jasmine) to admire how lovely it turned out.

Christmas Tree

Yippee!!!! We got a Christmas tree this evening. We put it into the tree stand for tonight and will probably try to decorate it later this week, ummmm like Friday.

Christmas Shopping

Today my husband and I were both out of the office, so we finally made it out to some stores to officially start some Christmas shopping! Did manage to pick up an item for each of my nephews. Other than that we were not very successful today at getting much accomplished. Oh well . . . about twenty four days left to finish!

Movie Time

Today we hit the movies to see Four Christmases. It was really funny and had me rolling with laughter through out the movie. Now we are back home as the rain has started and we await to see if any snow flurries really do come down tonight.

Iron Bowl 2008

Well, I expected Alabama to beat Auburn this year. But, I was thinking we would at least score rather than the game ending with 36-0. It is going to be hard to listen to all these Alabama fans. Lets see if they can get 6 in a row.

Day After Thanksgiving

Today is the day for our Thanksgiving meal. Michael did most of the cooking. Portia and I helped with the cleaning. Elisabeth helped with getting everything ready to serve and Gene carved the turkey. My dad, Mike, can over to eat with us too. It was also his first time to see our house. All the food was wonderful and of course I ate too much! Later on, after the kitchen was back in order, we watched 3:10 to Yuma. It's only a little after 8pm and I think I am ready for bed already.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Today we are getting the house all ready for Gene, Portia and Elisabeth's visit with us. This will be Gene and Portia's first time to see the house. We are planning just a ham and some vegetables for tonight and will do the "big" Thanksgiving lunch for Friday.

Update on Neighborhood

When we attended the neighborhood meeting we signed up for email notifications of suspicious activity in our neighborhood from a home owner within the subdivision. We got an email Saturday that another home in the area had been broken into on Friday during the day - if I understand correctly this is now a total of three homes hit in the area of our subdivision. With the holidays nearing and the current state of the economy I am afraid we are going to get many more of these notifications.

Twice the Twilight

Well, Saturday I decided to head to the movies to get a second helping of Twilight. I really love this movie! So that makes it a yes to adding the books to my Christmas wish list along with the soundtrack that is out too.

Twilight

Late Thursday night, I headed to the movies to see Twilight. I had to see what all the hype was about. Turns out, it was actually a really good storyline and I really enjoyed the movie. I might just have to go see it again! Also I am now thinking that I'm going to have the books added to my Christmas wish list.

Neighborhood Meeting

Michael and I attended a neighborhood meeting regarding some recent crime and suspicious activity in our area. The sheriff representative provided some great information that I will remember to keep in mind. It was also nice to meet a few new people in the neighborhood and even found some who work at the same company as us!

Veteran's Day

One of the pros with both my husband and I working for the same employer is the fact that we both have the same holidays off from work. Today we went to the movies to see Madagascar: Escape to Africa. It was really cute and I ate a ton of popcorn. Then we stopped in at Hobby Lobby to pick up a few items for my latest project - a pine cone wreath. Got home and spray painted the pine cones gold. I can't wait for them to dry so that I can try to attach them to the grapevine wreath I purchased.

11.10.08

Today, I was out of the office on one of my random vacation days. Well, not too random for I did take the day before a holiday - Veteran's Day. Just did some organizing around the house in preparation for the holiday season. The most exciting part of the day was lunch with my husband at the McDs half way between the house and his work!

Disappointment

This weekend I had to send our RSVP for my cousin's wedding being held in Michigan with a decline. I am really disappointed, for Michael and I were so looking forward to attending.

Election Day

This morning my husband and I voted. Tonight I will be watching Fox News for the continuous election coverage to see who will be the next President.

Happy Halloween

Aiden eating candy.

Tate eating candy.

Cara, Aiden and Summer

Tate, Summer, Aiden and Cara

Happy Halloween! Tonight my sister brought her kids to our house after they had finished trick or treating in their area. Turns out they were our only trick or treaters! Tate calls the doorbell the candybell. Summer was dressed as a Devil Fairy, Tate as a Policeman, and Aiden as a Vampire. Cara was dressed up, but when she got to our house she was only sporting her horns. We did stand outside for a few minutes. Tate yelled out for kids to come to the house for candy. Too bad no one was outside. We chatted at our house for a few and got some cute pictures. Then we headed out to Cracker Barrel for some dinner or breakfast.

Promotion

I am very excited to write that Michael has been promoted to an Assistant Branch Manager! Wishing him much success with this new opportunity.

Family Reunion

This weekend we attended the annual family reunion in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We love this weekend because we get to catch up with family who we typically only get to see once a year. On our way there we stopped at my favorite scrapbook store in Sevierville so that I could pick out new paper and accessories for a few of my upcoming projects - YEAH!!! We finally made it to the cabin around 4pm. I believe I was into the famous Nuts and Bolts within less than 30 minutes upon arrival at the cabin! This year I managed to stay awake late for the Friday night game session, which consisted of the Apples to Apples game. However, this resulted in me sleeping in too late Saturday morning and missing out on the morning creek visit and playground activities, but I did get to eat some sausage balls for breakfast (Yummy). Saturday, we did go to the burg with others going to play golf/laser tag and also hit the candy shops while in the area. Saturday night I just could not stay up late for another late game night, I think I crashed before midnight. We had a great time and can't wait to go next year!

Car Trouble

Today was not a good day at all. Usually Wednesdays are bad for me due to traffic being stopped to let out people from the church that is along my route to work. This Wednesday it was raining, which is the first in several weeks. In addition to the church traffic, the usual 280 traffic and the pouring rain my car decided it was no going to move shortly after I had merged onto 280. So, I was sitting on 280 in the middle lane desperately trying to get my car in gear so I could move to the shoulder. After about 10 minutes, I had pumped the clutch enough to manage to get to the car to move so that I could ease onto the shoulder. Called my husband to come to my rescue.

Thirty

Today is my 30th birthday!!! I woke up feeling great and headed off to work looking fabulous in my new dress. My co-workers had decorated my cubical with 30th balloons, streamers, and lots of confetti. Went to lunch in Homewood at Salsaritas with a few of my coworkers - Debbie, Paula, Kim and Jeni. Got back to work and later in the day we had cookie cake all decorated in Auburn orange and blue. Got several birthday greetings on my cell phone and websites from family and friends. My wonderful husband not only took me to the AU football game two weekends ago as my birthday gift, but also surprised me with a lovely opal ring for this special day. And he came home with a cookie cake also in Auburn orange and blue - yummy!!!! This weekend we will be going out on the town here in Bham to celebrate some more as we kick off the beginning of my 30s. Stay tuned!!!!

Evergreen

It is Evergreen Week! This is the week where the company wants to show how much their associates are appreciated. In our area, we hold a department breakfast for everyone to attend. During this event is when the milestone service awards are presented. This year I was one of those milestone associates!!! I received my five year pin :-) It's hard to believe. Well, this year at the end of the breakfast they did a door prize for the Regions "Life" Green Cruiser. And I won it!!!!!

Game Day: AU vs UT

It was a nice sunny day here at Auburn. We got up and started getting ready. We headed out to Moes for lunch and it was crazy. The line went forever and it was only 11:00 am. After eating our lunch we walked around the campus taking in all the activites. Missed the Tiger Walk, but did get to go to the Pep Rally - got some pictures there. Walked up to the location where the guys from the bar told us they would be tailgaiting. Found them and chatted for a few. Both had survived the night! Then it was time to head towards the game. Got there in time to catch the our eagle fly, which is always exciting. Our seats were near the UT band and actually closer to several of the UT fans who of couse Michael chatted with through out the game. Michael even spotted Bruce Pearl and his son in the stadium. Their seats were about six rows below where we were sitting. We had fun at the game and Michael was not too moody given that his team lost. Of course, when the game was over I wanted to head towards Toomer's Corner! This was Michael's second time to experience this. Got some pictures here too. Then, we headed back to our room for a while and tried to figure out where we wanted to go for dinner. We decided on Olde Auburn Ale House in hopes to eat some real food. Got there and it was not too crowded so we ended up being seated fairly qucikly. Our seats were near the tv so Michael was going to be able to watch the GA/AL game. It took forever to get our food, but when it finally arrived it was good. Around nine we headed back to the room to rest and planned on heading out to the bars later on in the night. Well, we never made it. I was too tired and had fallen asleep!

WAR EAGLE!!!!!

Quixotes

Around ten o' clock we headed back to the Quixotes bar for a few more drinks. Ran back into the two men (one UT and one AU fan) who had traveled from Florida that we met earlier in the day at the bar. The music was country like, which was not as exciting. However, one of the guys we were chatting with decided to request Rocky Top. Well, not too long later here came that Rocky Top song. The singer said the person requesting the song had to come up front, so there went that guy and Michael right behind him. Both of them doing a crazy dance! Too funny. We chatted with more UT fans near us. We were there long enough here another round of Rocky Top and not too long after that we headed back to our room - at 2am. We are not old!!!!!

Auburn Night Scene

Michael and I headed to the Quixotes Bar on College Street around 5:30pm. We had a few drinks and chatted with some UT and AU fans while there. Already got to hear "Eye of the Tiger" - Yeah :-) However, the band doesn't start until 10:30 pm - oh, no we are OLD!!!!! So, we walked around the strip and then decided to grab something to eat. We ended up at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger. Headed back to our room to hang out and if we don't fall asleep watching this debate we plan to head back out to see the Auburn Night Life on this great Friday!!!!!

Note: The last time we were here was 2003 and Auburn won.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!

Auburn Football Game

Michael and I traveled to Auburn on Friday for the AU vs. UT game. Got to our room here at the University Inn, which is not too bad. We have walked some of the campus and purchased some Auburn flair for me. I got two cute AU shirts and one game day t-shirt about those hillbillies. Michael even got him a shirt too that slams Alabama. I also collected two buttons (the real flair) for game day. We are resting now, for it is hot outside. Going to hit the bars later on tonight.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday's Lunch

One of my coworkers and I were getting ready to eat lunch together. We both had food that needed to be microwaved. I was using the one close to where we would be dining and she went to the one in the breakroom. When my coworker came back, mine was still cooking. We noted how it was a long time - 11 minutes for a frozen dinner. At that time my coworker ask if it had to be cooked at a reduced time. I mentioned how the box said 50% power and I didn't know what that meant for I had never had a meal that had that in the instructions. Well, turns out I needed to use the lightening bolt button on the microwave to reduce the power in order to cook that dinner. I jumped up to pull the food out and by this time the dressing was now croutons!!!! So, I ended up at O'Henry's for soup and salad.

Update on Auburn

I happy to be able to write that my "baby" Auburn is doing much better. He has the wagging tail and the cute happy barks he does when he is excited. We will be keeping him on his vitamins to help with his joints. With this beautiful weather we are experiencing we will be taking some nice walks around the neighborhood!

My Dog

Over the weekend I noticed that Auburn was limping slightly. On Monday morning, I took him outside for the morning break and there was still a limp. On his way back up the steps, he let out a yelp and several whimpers. Upon reaching the top of the deck, he just laid down. I then decided to schedule an appointment with the vet. Of course when we arrive at the vet there is not limping going on and did not make a sound when the vet was checking both his legs. So he was placed on some meds/vitamins to help with his joints because he did have a surgery on his knee back in 2003. We get back home and there he goes limping and did not want to climb the basement stairs. I ended up carrying him up after several minutes. Later on in the day I noticed that he had not moved from the spot he was laying in for several hours. Then, he had not made an effort to eat his food or even budge to go back outside. Didn't even make a move to go after some ice cubes I dropped. When my husband got home he noticed that Auburn just didn't want to get up, but once you made him get up he would walk around. We ended up taking him outside and he walks and it's almost like he works out the stiffness. But then he did not want to go up the stairs. This breaks my heart and of course I am in tears because I realize he is six years old and we are going to start having issues. Will be monitoring his activity and if things don't change we will be back at the vets office later this week.

Gustav

My Dad, Steve, was visiting Ellene in LA. So when hurricane Gustav started heading towards LA, they ended up evacuating to my hometown. After a long trip due to all the traffic from the evacuation they finally made it here and were able to find a hotel room in the area. Over the course of their time here we were able to hang out at our house and hit some of the restaurants for dinner. Once with just my husband and I and another time with my sister and her three children. Luckily when they arrived back in LA there was no major damage to Ellene's house.

Salon

Today at the salon I requested to tone down the blonde. I had such blonde highlights for so long, that I was actually shocked when I saw how "dark" the new color turned out. To the point that the assistant who was drying my hair asked me if I was okay and I nodded with a yes of the head. She asked again and this time I said: "No". She then asked if she should get the stylist and I replied: "Yes". As the stylist dried my hair some more, I could still see a bit of blonde but it looked so dark to me. The stylist did inform me that the brown would lighten up as I washed it. So off I went in my new color! Of course, the first thing out of my husband's mouth: "Where's the blonde?"

2008 Football Season

To kick off the first games of the 2008 college football season, Michael wanted to get together with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. I met Michael and some of his co-workers from the theater for lunch. When I arrived one guy was about to start BW2's six minute hot wing challenge. He didn't make it and he did not look so hot by the end of the challenge! I ended up leaving after lunch, but Michael had plans to stay there for the Auburn and the Alabama games which were on later that night. I came back around six for the start of the AU game and of course everyone at our table was in their Alabame gear with the exception of my husband who wore his UT stuff - UT didn't even have a game that day!!!!

August 30th:
AU vs. LA - Monroe
34 - 0

Friday Night Dinner

I got off of work early this Friday, so I planned on having dinner ready for when Michael got home. Just something simple and quick, thus I decided to run to the store to get a hamburger helper kit and some meat. Had everything timed just right and dinner was on the table for when he arrived home. We each took a bite. Then, Michaels says "this tastes funny". He begins to question where I got the meat. I told him I just bought it and the kit today. Then, it dawned on me. I jumped up and looked in the fridge - the milk that I thought was a "9" for September was really "8" for August!!!! So I made the meal with spoiled milk and did not even realize it. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck, Yuck, Yuck and more Yuck. Needless to say, the garbage disposal ate the hamburger helper and we had dinner at the McDonalds down the road from our house. I am sure my husband is not going to let me forget this for a long, long, long time!!!!

Office Humor

Last December our department move into a new location on the same floor. When this happened I got assigned a new cubicle. I was not thrilled with my new work home primarly due to the shape, it appeared much smaller compared to the one I had been in for the past four years and was most definately narrower. This week it has dawned on me what my cube reminded me of - an 18 wheeler's trailer. I thought to myself - I could play "On the Road Again" from my computer. Keep in mind that when anyone passes by the cubicle, I must roll my chair backwards to the end of my cubicle in order to even make eye contact or let alone see someone. This prompted me to think of KITT from Knight Rider. My rolling chair is like KITT decending the ramp from the the 18 wheeler. All I need now is that moving red light and the scanner sound!!!!!

Vet Visit

Today both Auburn and Jasmine went to the vet for procedures. Auburn had a dental cleaning that turned out to be more serious and he had to have two back teeth removed from his left side. Jasmine had a small growth the size of an acorn that we needed to have the vet help us to determine whether or not it should be removed. Turns out the growth was more than fat and we could go either way - surgery or no surgery. We opted for the surgery. Hope to hear the results on the removed growth in a couple of days. Now both kids are home. Auburn is back to his usual but Jasmine is still groggy from the procedure. Thus, she is very very very docile!

My First Day to Blog

Yeah! I am finally set up with a blog :-)