I was tagged....

I am playing blog tag. My college roommate at http://gravityofmotion.blogspot.com/ tagged me to reveal 8 things about myself...

8 things I look forward to...
1. Meeting my 3rd son in person (and seeing him sleep through the night for the first time).
2. And on the same note, having my body back which includes drinking a whole Dr Pepper after delivering and feeling so light on my feet that I want to go for a job!
3. Taking my family to another Brave's game.
4. Hearing about my husband and dad's trip to Africa in July.
5. Taking my husband and kids snow skiing for the first time (winter 2014 baby).
6. Experiencing all those extra hugs and kisses I am going to be receiving from my kids after I quit work in August.
7. Hearing George's new song.
8. God's continued blessings on my family.

8 things I did yesterday...
1. I got to my house about 1AM after celebrating the big 80th Birthday for Jimmy in Knoxville.
2. Slept a little.
3. The boys and I went to Dekalb Farmer's Market, bought groceries and checked out the live fish, crab, and lobsters.
4. Spent 45 minutes at the lab to get blood work for Ryan's food allergies only to find out that the lab could not understand the doctor's orders...urggg.
5. Took a nap...ahhh.
6. Tried 3 new recipes, cauliflower "mashed potatoes" (not as good as the real thing), ginger and scallion orange roughy, and broiled veggies. Low sugar and low carb, and absolutely terrible.
7. Supervised the building of the longest Thomas the Train track that Ryan has ever seen.
8. Watched the Bachelorette.


8 Things I wish I could do...
1. Snow ski trip every year.
2. Africa trip every year.
3. Beach trip every year.
4. Alaska trip every year.
...boy am I dreaming
5. Also, cure my son of his peanut allergy
6. Eat donuts everyday.
7. Play the french horn.
8. Speak Afrikaans so that I don't miss a beat with my niece and nephew.

8 Shows I watch...

Not nearly 8 but I do watch The Office, Bachelor/Bachelorette, Lie to Me, Day's of Our Lives occasionally and that's all I can think of right now.

Although I've been tagged I really don't know any bloggers. If you are reading, consider yourself tagged and leave it in a comment.

Irreplacable

I was reminded this week of Beyonce's song "Irreplacable" when they hired a guy into my old job. If you have forgotten, I resigned at Delta about a year ago but they have never backfilled my position until this week. I have been contracting with them every since to fill the gap. I had the pleasure of reviewing resumes, interviewing and recommending my replacement. Working myself right out of a job. I knew this thing was only temporary but it has been a little weird. I must say that we seem to have gotten a good guy and he is starting on July 1.

What does this mean for me professionally? Well, my contract ends Aug. 31. Yipee! I think. The person who coined the phrase "mixed emotions" must have just given up a really cool job to stay at home with family. I have never in my life been so happy and so sad all at the same time. I feel the tears well up inside and nothing comes but a big smile on my face. Darryl has a way of always putting things in the right perspective. He hit the nail on the head when he said "nothing's permanent."

I would appreciate any words of advise as I am about to embark in uncharted territory.

ATTENTION: Friends and Family

We went to the allergiest today with Ryan and it is official...he is STILL allergic to peanuts. This is just a reminder to everyone. Most of you are aware and go to great lengths to help us keep him safe and we really appreciate it. He is awesome to always ask if he doesn't know. He is quite the little tropper that one.

Book review: Pillars of the Earth, Ken Folliet

I managed to finish this book a few weeks ago. From the moment I started it, I could not put it down. I really like the old English-type literature. The neatest thing about this book is that it first became popular by word of mouth rather than by being on someone's book club list or best-seller list. The interest in it started over in Europe and popularity finally spread to the US. Of course once it became popular here the book was completely exploited in grand US fashion. However, it was not a best-seller here until several years after it was written.

I had heard rave reviews of this book and was curious to read a book about the physical building of churches. I was super-more curious when I read the prologue and found out that the author of the book is an atheist. Can this be right? Guy spends years studying the grand cathedrals of England and researches the people that actually built them. I am talking about people putting down the stones, not the church leaders organizing the religion. I am talking the physical building to the church. Okay, so I was curious. Turns out he wove a fascinating story, HOWEVER, several of his characters shared his views on the non-existence of God and I just can't get past that. I suppose I can understand someone being so passionate about architecture that you would want to make your mark by building a grand cathedral. But without purpose besides architectural significance, I just don't get it. They could have built a castle, a wall, or something else. The attempts of the priests sponsoring the cathedral building projects were to build something that would inspire people toward God (or so I like to think). To think that the hands building that church had no affections for God seems crazy. I could be totally wrong though, they lived in different times, in different cultures. But I like to think the hearts of these people had to be hearts of God-fearing men. Curious to me that Folliet, self-proclaimed atheist, is so drawn to churches. Imagine his level of fasination and influence if he truly believed in their purpose. Maybe one day?

Awesome book and I will read the follow-up.

Vacation Reflections

A few of my favorite things about beach vacations….

….the nostalgia of it all. Growing up we went to the beach almost every year. Feeling the heat, the ocean breeze, and hearing the surf brings you back to all of those marvelous beach vacations growing up. It's amazing to me that we somehow cannot enjoy being so responsibility-free when we are young. Know what I mean? It is amazing to look back and realize how care-free you actually were when you were young. It's only when you are responsible for something/someone more than yourself that you realize this. I wouldn't go back for anything. I am just living in different but good times now.

…just seeing that BIG ocean reminds me of how small I really am in the whole scheme of things. Man, this is huge world I live in. Why I ever worry and let circumstances take over my life is beyond me. Seems that people who live near the beach must be the most worry-free people in the world.

…vacation allows you an opportunity to make life changes. On vacation you have time for things you don't seem to when you are at home. Exercise, smoothie making, reading, showering at night, watching TV in bed with the kids, etc. I always attempt to take one of these vacation-enjoyed habits and take them home with me. Seems to make the vacation last for me a little bit longer. All-in-all it is these little things we do on vacation that enhance our lives. Why do we not do them when we are at home? Yesterday I read for about an hour rather than watching the idiot box. Today I made a smoothie and brought it to work with me. The vacation lives on…..

See our cool beach pics below.

Go Braves

Ryan loves baseball. He doesn't know the game but he knows all the players and all the cheers. His favorite player is Kelly Johnson. We had been watching the Braves on TV and I finally took him to a day game one Thursday last month. It was a surprise and I also got him a jersey at Walmart to wear to the game. He was thrilled. He cheered the whole time and got mad at me when I made him come with me to get some lunch to bring back to our seats. We were in line at the concessions and he was saying "let's gooooooo mommy, we are missing the game." Towards the end of the game we went down and watched the opposing pitchers warming up in their bullpen. Wow, what a cool time we had. I hope I can take him to another game or 2 before it gets too hot and I am too big to go. I also hope I can get some one-on-one time with Chase too.

Mini...van

I've always dreamed of having a mini-COOPER. Can't say I've ever dreamed about having a mini-van, but here we go. It really drives like a dream and it is very handy. This all in preparation for the new youngster. Darryl and Ryan have already disgraced it with an Aubie sticker on the back. We traded in Crimson, my old Honda. It was quite sad watching old Crimson being driven away. She had 240K miles on her but she was an amazing car. I will miss her. Love the mini though. Definitely the nicest car we have ever owned! Darryl is still trying to get over the shock. He pulled out all the stops in trying to convince me NOT to go there (the minivan route that is).

Let's go cruzin. There is room for us all.