Let's play catch up!

In the last week, I have:

     done 9 loads of laundry

     worked late at the office

     taken Friday off

     made caramel brownies and didn't eat a bite

     sang at a funeral 

     bought a few "happys" in Florence

     visited with Grandaddy three days in a row

     picked flowers from Grams' garden

     sang at church

     went to lunch with sweet Choir friends

...plus quite a bit more!  It's been a busy week and I'm grateful for only three days of work this week. 

Flowers from a coworker's hydrangea bush. 

Flowers from Grams' garden. 

This week, I want to:

     get to work by 8 o'clock--traffic is not a good excuse 

     go home from work by 6 o'clock

     go to the Y since my workout partner is on vacation

     leave early enough on Wednesday to beat the traffic

     have my old screen from the back deck picked up by garbage collectors

     catch up on my magazines

     spend time with dear friends in Florence

     cook good food for my family

     celebrate Daddy's birthday

It's going to be a good week! I'm ready to get started!

     

Five on Friday

I'm participating in the Five on Friday linkup for the first time.  I can't think of anything fun to write about, so I'll give this prompt a try.

-One-

It's finally the weekend and it couldn't have come soon enough.  I've had a sinus headache for the last few days and that, coupled with puffy, runny eyes has taken it out of me.  I took some allergy medicine last night and was asleep before 9 o'clock!  I think I need a little R&R this weekend before I can gear up for the last full week of work before the Fourth of July!

-Two-

I seriously need to do laundry.  Between traveling and working tons lately, I haven't caught up on my laundry lately.  Somehow, just washing what I need for the next day isn't cutting it.  I imagine I'll have at least four loads (since I'm really OCD and do a white load, a black load, a pink load and sometimes throw a blue one in the mix for good measure!)

-Three-

Emma isn't here and I'm seriously lonely.  She stayed in Florence last weekend to get a haircut (Yes, I take my dog out of town for a haircut.) and she's not coming back until the middle of next week.  Sad face.

-Four-

My good friend, Melissa, and I are going walking around my neighborhood tonight.  It's such a good opportunity to burn a few calories and get some good laughs in.  We critique houses on our walk and talk about everything we can't talk about at work.  It's always a good time and I'm always willing to do another lap if we still have topics to discuss!

-Five-

I'm going to a committee meeting on Monday and it's less than 10 minutes from my house!  I'm super excited about not fighting traffic getting on the interstate and also about being home way before 5 o'clock.  It doesn't take much to excite me! Hehe!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Grandaddy!!

Today is Grandaddy's 94th birthday.  I can't fathom all the changes he has seen in his life and everything that he has experienced from growing up in Haleyville, to going to Africa and Europe in World War II, to going being the first in his family to receive a college education and then to raising a family with my sweet Grams.

I can't adequately say how much I look up to him and how much he has influenced my life.  I can only hope I can find someone who is half as hard-working and patient as him to spend my life with.  There is no other man like my Grandaddy and I am so lucky that he is mine!

I went through all my pictures of him that I have on my computer in Nashville.  I'll caption the pictures to try to explain the story behind each one.

Quite possibly the most handsome man in the entire United States Army.

Early on in their marriage.  So sweet!

Grandaddy graduating from Peabody College in Nashville.

Such a handsome young man.

Typical Grams and Grandaddy.  In the woods near where Grams grew up.

A Grandaddy and his baby.  A love like no other.

Best friends for over 70 years.  Together they spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

A drawing of Grandaddy from the front of his retirement card.  He turned 80 the month after his retirement.  He taught math for 25 years before being the Director of Maintenance for the school system for another 25.

My precious boy.  I think this was around his 90th birthday.

Grandaddy's induction in to the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame

Grandaddy and me at his induction into the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame.  He was the star quarterback at Haleyville High School.

Grandaddy visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington.

Still in love after 64 years together.

Grandaddy and his girls.  We used to fight over who got to sit next to him.  I always won.

At his old shop at Burrell-Slater on his 90th birthday.  His former coworkers had a party for him.

Opening Christmas gifts at the piano.

It's been fun looking through all of these pictures.  I'll have to scan some of my favorites next time I'm home.  I think the picture of me covered in candy cane sticky (thanks to Grandaddy) is sweet and I love a picture of the two of us making a mess of the kitchen eating watermelon together.  I can't look at a watermelon without thinking of Grandaddy.

As bad as things seem at times, his face still lights up when he sees me.  I teasingly ask him who I am and he always says "My baby!"  

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always.  As long as I'm living your baby I'll be.

Weekend Update

I had a whirlwind weekend in Florence. I had a late start leaving Nashville and didn't get home until 9 o'clock. I spent a little time with Mother and Daddy before bed, but the week caught up with me and I crashed by eleven. 

Saturday, I was up early. I wanted to spend some time with Daddy before he went out of town for the weekend. I was sad to not spend Father's Day with him, but I'm so glad we got to spend a little time together Saturday morning. 

After I said goodbye to Daddy, I rushed to get to my hair appointment on time.  It makes me feel so good to have my hair done!

The majority of the remainder of the day was spent with Grandaddy. It was important to spend as much time as possible with him since Sunday was Father's Day and Monday is his 94th birthday. He doesn't talk much anymore, but we still hold hands as we always have. We made an unexpected trip to the ER Saturday night, but it was a good excuse to hold his hand for most of our time we had to wait. Any chance to hold his hand is one to jump upon. 

Church on Sunday was absolutely wonderful. We were welcoming our new minister today as well as reuniting with friends that have been away for a while. There were lots of hugs and smiles going around!  I almost cried as we practiced the anthem and smiled like an idiot as we sang in the sanctuary.  I couldn't have been any happier to sing with such dear friends. 

Now, I'm back in Nashville only 48 hours after I left. I love any chance I get to go home to see friends and family. All in all, this was a great weekend with the people that I love. 

Where did the weekend go?

This weekend was my first two day weekend in awhile. I haven't worked a five day week since two weeks before Memorial Day week. Geez...that makes me sound quite spoiled, doesn't it?  I think I'm just making up for three and a half months without a day off! :)

This weekend was pretty uneventful. To quote a friend, I was "laid up sorry" for most of the weekend!  I did attempt to dig up the roots of half of an overgrown shrub by my front walk. I wasn't very successful.  I organized part of my garage, but stopped when the boxes were too heavy to life overhead. I did scrub my awful porcelain since that I hope to replace VERY soon. That has to count for something, right?

I wrote earlier about all the fun I had playing hooky from work on Monday. Well, work made me pay for enjoying a Monday entirely too much. I had to work for several hours today to get a few things done and try to get ahead on next week. I'm attending the memorial service for a coworker's husband that was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday and will be out a good part of the day, so I need to get ahead wherever possible.

Staying focused during the work day is my goal for the week. It's far too easy to get distracted chatting about weekends and office gossip or letting other people's actions frustrate me. This week, I'm going to buckle down, put in my headphones and stay in my little "corner by the elevator". You'd think being by the elevator would be a bad thing, but strangely enough, the door doesn't open on my side. 

My half of a Melatonin is kicking in and it's about to storm. It's definitely time to sleep before Emma wakes up terrified by thunder.  Until next time...

Food Find: Alexia Artisan French Rolls

I recently discovered these French bread rolls and I LOVE them.  I love French bread, but I can never eat an entire loaf before it goes bad.  Well, I take that back...I shouldn't eat an entire loaf by myself before it goes bad!

 

I have been know to say I would choose good bread if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my days...

 

Anyway, I heated up one of these little rolls to go along with my Ricatoni's-esque cheese ravioli.  The outside was perfectly crispy while the inside was still soft after only 12 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

 

I think these rolls will make it into my fridge again!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

My tiny little pound and a half puppy turns five years old today!  I can't believe it!  She's still tiny, but is now up to about three and a half pounds of fluff. 

 

 I've had lots of adventures in the last five years...finishing undergrad, Graduate school, moving to Nashville, buying a house and Emma has been there for all of it.  Life would not be the same without my little sidekick. 

 

She's had me hook, line and sinker since she ran straight to me and licked me on the nose!

 

 

 

This was Emma's first photoshoot by her Uncle Mark.

It was just a few weeks after I got her when I came to Birmingham to interview for an internship.

She was between three and four months old.

 

 

 

Emma was about two in this picture.

It's my favorite picture I have ever taken of her.

About two seconds later, she decided she couldn't resist the bird she was stalking.

 

 

Sweet baby likes to think she's brave, but prefers being brave inside.

She hides behind me when the little boy next door wants to play with her.

She doesn't like playing rough.



 



She's notoriously difficult to photograph.

Uncle Mark gets suckered into taking pictures of her everytime we see him.

 

 

 



 

She keeps me company and makes me laugh when I'd rather cry.

She hates my iPad and anything else that takes attention away from her.

 

 

She's the perfect fit for our family.

She's definitely in charge.

She even has Daddy wrapped around her little paw.

AND, thanks to her Mimi, we all know she prefers her ice cream from Chick-fil-A!



 

Monday, Monday

Today was the best Monday in quite some time! I'm definitely getting used to four day work weeks now that this is my third short work week in three weeks!! 

I went to Florence this weekend and it was so nice to have a relaxed weekend and to not have to rush back to Brentwood after church and visiting Grandaddy on Sunday. We had a nice family meal Saturday evening and I certainly enjoyed my Sunday nap. 

Today, I was up early (Emma woke up before dawn), but I didn't really mind since I had plans to shop at one of my favorite stores. My friend, Becky, and I drove to Memphis to shop at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet. I love Williams-Sonoma and I love outlet prices!  We looked around ooh-ing and ahh-ing at everything in sight for over two hours before selecting our purchases.  I bought several things, but I'm most excited about my new piece of Le Creuset. I've been eying this piece for a while and even convinced Becky that she would regret not buying one as well!  I guess I'm a bad influence!! :)

After laughing over our shopping cart full of purchases that we barely got off the sidewalk (Why there was no ramp I'll never know), we went next door to Pottery Barn. There were many pretty things, but nothing that I had to bring home. I didn't find a bargain rug for my dining room, so I may just have to pay the Pottery Barn delivery fee!

My friend, Molly, lives in Memphis and recommended several nearby restaurants. We decided on Swanky's Taco Shop which happened to be super close and super good. I'd definitely go there again. I'm so used to eating quickly and making it back to work in under an hour, so it was refreshing to have time to enjoy our food and talk. Not like we hadn't been doing that nonstop since we left Tuscumbia!!

We made one more quick stop to check out the sale items at Soma. We both love their pajamas and the 50% off sale made our purchases that much sweeter!

Before I knew it, it was time to head back to Alabama. Thankfully, we just hopped on Highway 72 and chatted the miles away. I really should have a sore throat from all the talking!!

It's so much fun to spend time with someone you share so many interests with and makes for such a fun day! Now, I can't wait to cook with my fun new finds!