Spring?!?

It it Spring? This winter has been so different than my first year in Nashville. No snow (that stuck) and mostly comfortable weather. Maybe global warming (if it's really happening) is a good thing!

This is what the weather app on my phone showed when I checked it on my dinner break. Crazy!

More decorating the house...

I just realized that my post from yesterday didn't publish, so I just got it up. Oh, well...

So, more pictures of things around the house. All of these are iPhone pictures, so forgive the quality. Maybe one day I can get around to taking pictures of the house with my DSLR. After busy season...all I keep telling myself.

Now, I have pictures of the new pillows on the sofa I'd love to replace, artwork for my bathroom and a new tv stand. I still have more pictures (that aren't recent purchases) to hang, but that's really a project for the Daddy Do List.

I still need a mirror for above my buffet and then the major downstairs decorating will be done!

Dining Room Table

I finally got around to doing something with my dining room table. While shopping this afternoon, I noticed these placemats and dishes. I initially didn't buy them, but went back later and bought them. I don't have something pretty for a centerpiece yet, but I'm working on it.

If you knew my Grandmother, you would have known how much she lived dishes. I told Mom that I really was my Grandmother's Granddaughter and she knew that meant I bought dishes.

One step closer to a fully decorated house!

Up next--new pillows for the sofa, artwork for the master bath and a tv table for my bedroom.

Tulips

Sorry for the cell phone picture, but since I'm not there, I was lucky to get to see them at all.

I got this picture earlier from Mom or Dad. I'm not sure which one sent it, but it came from Dad's phone. These tulips surprise me every year. I know they are at least nine years old and I try to prepare myself that they won't come up again every year. They are planted at Grams and Grandaddy's house out in Petersville (lovingly referred to as the Property since I was little), but their story starts before being planted there.

I first saw these tulips at Aunt Nancy's new house. I'm not sure if she actually saw them since she didn't live there the previous Spring, but they brightened my mood every time I saw them when there was so much more making me upset every time I had to go back to that house. Grams and I decided to drive over to Muscle Shoals one day to dig them up and move them to the Property. The house happened to be under contract then, but we didn't consider that the people buying the house would care--especially since the tulips had long since bloomed and died back. As we dug them up, apparently the new people drove by and saw us and were upset. They tried to back out of the contract because the tulips and a small oak leaf hydrangea were no longer there. Ridiculous if you ask me. The house still sold, but Grams and I always had a good laugh when we would think about or see those tulips. Now, anytime I see tulips, I think of her and smile.

Makeup Review: Benefit BADGal Lash Mascara

I received a "deluxe" sample of this mascara from Sephora with a recent makeup order. Yes, I know Nashville has both a normal Sephora and a Sephora in JC Penney's, but I don't have time to go there right now. And shipping was free!

At first, I thought I liked this mascara. The brush is pretty nice and seems to get in between each lash pretty well. That's where the positives end, unfortunatly. My lashes are naturally very long and straight. I curl them every day, but this mascara didn't seem to have enough umph to hold the curl all day. Also, it didn't really look as impressive on me as the reviews implied it would. I needed several coats to get the effect I get with my just one coat of my usual mascara. My biggest complaint is that it doesn't stay put. I don't rub my eyes during the day, but I have smudges under my eyes anyway. I don't need more dark circles than I already have, so I think I'm going to stick to my old standby, Maybelline from the drug store.

Under the Bus

I feel like I'm being thrown under the bus on a daily basis. My work calendar is ridiculous and hasn't been realistic for the last three weeks. I have projects that don't have budgeted time to be completed and projects with budgeted time that are not ready to be worked on. I know several of the managers (and I hope the partners) are on my side and realize that this is completely out of my control and I'm doing the best possible job I can, but I'm so afraid that this is going to come across as a negative when it comes time to discuss promotions. I know one thing they look for is getting your work done in the week that it's scheduled, but there is only so much I can do to control that. There's a weekly managment group meeting where they discuss the status of current projects and schedule upcoming projects and since I'm not a part of that group, I have to hear about the outcome second hand. It appears that some people are either 1. completely unrealistic or 2. trying to save themselves at the cost of others and I get stuck with the unfortunate consequences. I know being ultra-Type A isn't always a good thing, but considering that my office is full of Type A personalities, you'd think that things could be scheduled a little better so everyone could have a realistic plan. Apparently that's asking too much and I'm going to have to learn how to survive without a plan. That's a tough concept for the girl that's had a running 5-year plan since middle school!

I asked Mama yesterday if I could come home tomorrow night after work and she didn't say no and even offered to come up here, but I'm just going to have to learn to deal with my own stress and not run home to Mama to make things better. Mama and Daddy have more important things to do than worry about me having a mental breakdown, so I just need to put on my big girl panties and deal with it. At least I do have a good friend from the MAc at Auburn that's having just as much of a hard time (if not worse) as me. Since we are both CPAs, it's easier to commiserate since we both understand the lingo. I'm so ready for the next 39 days to be over so I can enjoy a few days off work relaxing in a TBA location with her!

Sleep

I've done some pretty crazy things lately that I'm attributing to lack of sleep and utter exhaustion. I know sitting at a desk for 14ish hours a day might not sound so bad to some people, but it's killing me! My brain is so exhausted from trying to wrap my head around all the work I need to do. Thankfully, I think I'm in a good spot for our March 15 deadline next week, so maybe I'll get some sleep this weekend.

So back to The Weird Adventures of Katie Sleeping. The first thing I guess isn't "weird" per-se, but is very unusual for me. Several times in the past few weeks, I have gone upstairs and thought that I would lay down for a minute or two and read before changing clothes and doing the rest of my nighttime routine. Apparently, sitting down is enough to do me in because I've slept all night in my work clothes with all the lights on upstairs and sometimes with my iPad still in my lap. My family can attest to my need for darkness when sleeping, so this really is strange for me. This morning, I didn't wake up until 4:45, but all the lights were still on like they had been when I went upstairs at 11 the night before.

Two nights ago is when the strange stuff really started...apparently, I can sleepwalk. I made the lemon bars I wrote about last time before bed and then I distinctly remember going to sleep. Then I woke up yesterday and it was apparent that I had been out of my bed and had been in my guest bathroom (that I never use). It looked like I had tried to take a shower in there before giving up. The scary thing is that I have no memory of anything after going to sleep. It's a wonder that I didn't try to go downstairs. If I had, I would most certainly be writing this from a hospital bed with a broken neck. I'm not that good with stairs in the first place...I'm the person that fell down the stairs of the Florence Post Office at age 9 with a dress on. As I tumbled all the way down, I remember cars stopping because they thought that surely I was seriously injured. Luckily, I was only scratched up that time, but I don't think I would have been so lucky had I fallen while sleepwalking. Mom thinks I need to put a rubber band around the French doors leading into my bedroom. Maybe I should...after all, Mom knows best. Goodness knows, I've learned that lesson the hard way time and time again.

Wonder what kind of crazyness I'll get into tonight?