Surprise

I got a call from my dad, Mike, to say that he picked up some wine for Mikey's mom to sample. She has been talking about learning how to make some wine. He brought her some Alabama muscadine wine and a blackberry wine to try. To our surprise he also had gotten my husband and I a really nice humidifier for our basement. Looking forward to see if this help with our mold issue in the basement.

New Moon, Again

Sunday we arranged to meet my sister, her friend and my niece at the movies to see New Moon. My husband and mother-in-law also came along to see the movie. This was my second time to see the movie. I still believe that Twilight was better, but I enjoyed the movie. Looking forward to seeing the next one this summer!!!!!

2012 - The Movie

Saturday night, Longchai and I headed to the movies to see 2012. It was pretty good. It reminded me of the Day After Tomorrow movie.

Iron Bowl

This year they moved to Iron Bowl to Friday. Of course, I was at work! Thankfully, Jack had a radio at his desk and gave me updates. My husband also called when Auburn scored so quickly. Got home in time to watch the last half of the game. Auburn didn't win, but we put up a good fight and Alabama definitely had to work for the win!

Thanksgiving

This year we had Longchai come in from St. Louis, MO for the week of Thanksgiving. I believe this is our first Thanksgiving with her as a married couple. My husband took off Tuesday and Wednesday to do most of the food preparations, as we were hosting lunch at our house for my family. He did a wonderful job making nuts & bolts, meranges, truffles, breakfast casserole days before the turkey day! On Wednesday night we had a slight mishap. Michael likes to do a brind for the turkey. Usually we put the turkey in a bucket in the fridge, but this year he switched to a bag. I was outside with the dog's potty break, but when I came inside I found an upset husband (lots of cuss words), tons of water (maybe four gallons) and a missing mother-in-law from the kitchen (later to be found in her room). Apparently, when they went to put the bird in the fridge the bag popped open and that was the start of a HUGE mess!!!! I'm not sure how may towels, paper towels and swiffer wipes I used to clean the kitchen floor and the basement, but never again will we use a bag!!!

Thanksgiving Day was a lovey day. The weather was great. Most of the prep work was done. The house was clean. Table was decorated with my new "pumpkin" colored linens. The turkey was done on time. Mike was the first to arrive. He along with Summer's help made pumpkin pie, pecan pie and his awesome dressing. Then, Chris arrived. Jasmine was out on the deck and was so excited to see Chris pull into the drive. And finally Cara, Summer, Tate and Aiden arrived. We ate around 1pm.

After eating, the kids were outside play with sidewalk chalk, balls, and running through the yard. Thanks to my sister for capturing such great pictures of the kids. Not to long after we finished eating, Steve and Ellen arrived. Due to change of plans they were passing through from South Carolina on their way to Louisiana. This is probably my first Thanksgiving with Steve as an adult. Glad they were able to stop by due to the circumstances.

Later on in the evening, Summer and Tate got on our computers. Summer was checking her social networking sites. Tate was typing and playing some games. Tate did tell us to be quite due to him trying to concentrate on the game! Aiden was getting the dog toys out of the basket. Michael and Chris were playing games in the living room. At some point in time, I remembered that I had those rubber band bracelets. I gave them to Summer, who was so nice enough to share them with her little brothers. They were a hit with the kids. Tate asked me to get some more. I will have to see what I can find to give them for Christmas. I think we wrapped up the festivities around 7pm, which was good cause my husband and I had to work the next day.

New Picture

Ordered a new picture for the kitchen.

Book Signing

Well, the instructions were to arrive before 4pm or you will forfeit your spot. We even asked Books-a-Million to make sure that was correct. I worked a half a day and then headed to the mall. I had lunch with my husband in the food court, before he had to head to the airport to pick up his mom. After he left the waiting began. The event was from 4:30-7:30 pm. I did go outside to see if I would see Sara Palin enter the building but I never did and I didn't anticipate seeing her tour bus either due to her being in NC earlier in the day for a book signing. While, I waited I chatted with several different people. My husband and his mom, who is visiting from St. Louis, came to the mall to see me for a little while. Unfortunately, I did not get my Going Rouge book signed by Sarah Palin. They stopped at armband number 1300 and mine was 1338. I was sooooo close!!!! I didn't cry, unlike others, but it was overwhelming to stand there all those hours and to not get her signature. They did pass out a pre-signed signature that one could put in the book. All said in done, I was back home by 8:30 pm ready to eat some dinner and go to bed - my feet were hurting by this time!

Armband for Book Signing

This morning I headed to the mall to get a numbered armband for the Sarah Palin book signing which is taking place on Monday afternoon. I got one, but according to the store her team is only guaranteeing the first 600 people. I'm not in the first 600 group, so I'm in the group of 400 who might get their book signed based on time and schedule. I will be keeping my fingers crossed that I make the cut tomorrow!!!! This is my first attempt at a book signing event.

Friday

I took the day off from work. Slept in a little. Got up and starting getting ready for my day of shopping. Right before I got ready to leave, I took the dogs out to potty. As I was outside with Auburn, I had a man approach me from our drive way who initiated the conversation with a "Well, well, well are you the lady of the house?". He was a little creepy and I didn't like the way he approached me. Turns out he and his crew were doing work at our neighbors house and he wanted to see if he could grind up two of our tree stumps. I wrapped up the conversation with him and returned back to letting Auburn potty. To my surprise, I see a man with this equipment come from the back of our neighbors yard, along their fence and into our yard via my flower beds!!!! He drove this machine up through our yard to get back to the front yard of our neighbor where he was hired to do work. As he passed through our yard this old man gave me a wave as I stared in disbelief as to what I was seeing. If wasn't like he accidentally came into our yard. He clearly was in the wrong yard, but I guess it was the easier route to get where he needed.

I did make to the mall by midday. It was decorated for Christmas and the holiday music was being played in the stores. I got a few ideas for Christmas as I walked around. Picked up a few items that I needed for myself.

When my husband got home, we headed out to the Macaroni Grill for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to see one of our missing bartenders, due to health reasons, was finally back to work. The usual crowd was there too. We did meet two new people that we had not spoken to before and had some interesting conversations. He was in the navy at the time of WWII and was a local tv personality in the Bham area for a number of years. While we were dining we got to hear the fireworks being put off for the Lights Up event to kick off the holiday season at the shopping center.

New Moon

Thanks to my husband, I got to see New Moon on Wednesday night in an auditorium with only one other person! It was awesome and very true to the book. However, to me it didn't have the same vibe as the first movie, yet maybe that is the difference you get with a new director. Can't wait to go back and see it again this weekend!!!

I just can't wait . . .

until I can see NEW MOON!!!!

Tulips

Sunday, I finally got around to planting those tulips I bought. With the help of my husband we planted about 20 bulbs in one of our flowerbeds in the backyard. Hopefully, they have all been planted properly. Can't wait until this February/March to see how they will turn out.

Thanksgiving Preparation

Saturday we spent part of the day organizing the house and getting the guest bedroom ready for our Thanksgiving guests. Already moved the kitchen table into the formal dining room and added the extensions. Tested out my new holiday tablecloth and napkins which are a pumpkin spice color. Still need to determine what I want to do for a centerpiece - candles, flowers or both. Overall we got a good start on our big "to do list". Next Saturday and Sunday I will focus on some heady duty cleaning before the arrival of Longchai on Monday afternoon.

The Boss

Congratulations to my husband for being promoted to Branch Manager!!! Best wishes for you in your new role.

Do I look pregnant???

Here lately I have noticed I that I have gained some weight and have been joking to my husband that maybe I'm pregnant - which I'm not. This week I went to the food court to get an egg sandwich for breakfast. As I was checking out the lady asked me, "If I was one of her pregnant ladies?" I told her that I was not. And to myself I was thinking, "I'd like to return my egg sandwich!". Turns out she was wondering if I was one of the ladies she had been talking to that was pregnant and should of had the baby already thus she was wanting to see a picture of the new baby. Apparently the length of my hair reminded her of this person.

Sunday Afternoon Visit

We road up to my dad house to visit with him for a while. My sister, her kids and Chris were also there. It was pretty nice day. Got some pictures of the fall around his house. This visit the kittens were more friendly and out playing. Dad still doing well and on his way recovering from his surgery.

Mama Deer and Babies

I almost forgot, that Saturday morning I was looking out the front window to see if the roofers had arrived yet. As I did so, I saw the mama deer and her two babies walking along our driveway and eventually crossed the street. I knew these were around, cause at night when I take the dogs out I could see three sets of eyes staring at me.

New Roof

New Roof

Old Roof

The work for replacing our roof began today at 7:30 am this morning! The dogs barked for the first hour and now its just an occasional bark. Jasmine can see their shadows as they climb up the ladders, so she is set on watching them even with the blinds closed! Auburn has gone back to his normal resting spot on the old sofa. Its almost ten and the new shingles are being carried up now. I am so excited and I can't wait to see the final product. Keeping my fingers crossed that we picked the right color for the new shingle.

Book Tour

I found out that Sara Palin's book tour will bring her here to Birmingham, AL. I am definitely interested in getting her new book signed! I hope with the time frame of the event that I can make it happen.

Hospital Visits

My dad, Mike, had his hip replaced this week. Been traveling to the hospital to visit him after work. So far he seems to be doing really well with his recovery.

Just . . .

needs this week to be OVER!!!!

Halloween

Well, I had no real plans for Halloween. Originally was going to go to the UT vs USC game, but changed my mind during the week. My husband did go and invited Lars to go in my place. Turns out they had rain at the game, really glad I didn't go, but I missed a awesome half time show from the UT band and the first time the players wore black jerseys since 1922. I stayed at home and read on the sofa with the kidos curled up with me. Next year we need to dress up!!!

Grey Bar

Upon leaving La Paz, we headed out to the Grey Bar. One of my co-workers had family who were going to be playing at the bar that night. Great music and nice atmosphere, so we will have to make sure to go again sometime soon! Now that the hubby has finished school we have so much more time for fun activities - we have a social life again!!!