Christmas week in pictures.

After attempting to leave Hometown for several days, we finally escaped yesterday. We had to drive to Dallas (4 hours) and catch a flight from there. It was worth it. Someone was very happy to see us.

One of my bffs got her kids a baby bulldog for Christmas and we got to meet her on Christmas night. Theirs died a couple of years ago and the kids wanted another one sooo bad. So, meet Duchess.

Bob was smitten.

Every other year my entire extended family does a massive Christmas Eve function at my g'rents house. This year, Bob was tasked with carving the turkeys. As you can see, Pa trusted Bob with the electric knife, but stood at the ready just in case Bob couldn't handle it. Of course, he did just fine.

Since we were all together on Christmas Eve, we celebrated what would have been my 

Great Grandpa's 100th birthday.

Once all the peeps left, we exchanged gifts as our little family unit. Bob and I are starting a matching Christmas pj's tradition. This year I bought them. Next year he will.

Our stocking haul. We both got tons of crap. We're excellent crap givers. 

Bob got golf sleeves, peanut butter go cups and jelly, hand warmers, a nose hair trimmer, a red solo cup coozie, shaving cream, chapstick, mini tooth brusher things, a "Hot Stuff" spatula, a Pez dispenser (to add to his collection), candy, a "Rules for Husbands" mini book, 

and a mini inflatable unicorn horn.

I got Golf for Dummies, candy, a leg lamp, and the movie "Ted."

But this isn't crap. The leg lamp night light in my stocking... it rocks.

Now that we're back home, we decided we've had enough travel to last us a few days. Its so nice to be all snuggly and warm at home with our favorite kitty!

End o' the world.

As I read Bob's facebook post tonight, I remembered the world is supposed to end tomorrow. I had forgotten. Bob didn't forget though, but he's not having as good a night as he hoped.

"Couldn't find hookers and blow in Maine, so back to the hotel and see if I wake up after the world ends tonight."

He wanted to go out with a bang. Poor guy. Hope ya'll have more better access to hookers and blow tonight. Enjoy, peeps.

So long, fare well, old friends. Forever. Or until my next blog post. Either way.

Merry Christmas to ME!

Since Bob and I will be traveling for Christmas, we exchanged gifts last night. We'll be together Christmas Eve and Christmas morning (in between his work trips), but we won't be here. Shipping all our gifts was just too much. We're still doing stockings on Christmas morning, but we did our big gifts Tuesday before Bob left for work again.

So. Bob did good this Christmas. Very good. I guess because I've been so good this year? As I mentioned before, I already got a Kate Spade (the New Bond Street Hadley), which is way more massive than I thought when I ordered it, and a set of World Markets dishes. Bob also got me a pretty sweet new vacuum, which I've already used and it rocks.

My big surprise gift was a diamond necklace. I mean, I put one on my list, but I never thought he'd actually buy one, especially considering all the other stuff he got me. I'm obsessed with my grandmothers every day necklace and I've been looking for one similar for years. Turns out, they don't make them like that anymore. So Bob, being so unbelievably awesome, had a duplicate one made for me! It's a baby version of my grandmothers and exactly what I wanted. I absolutely adore this new jewelry! He did so good. I'm entirely too spoiled.

Cousin's Christmas

This past weekend, we went to Bob's family's "Cousin's Christmas" in Louisiana. Since their grandmother passed away a few years ago, the first cousins get together and continue this family function she started. This is the first time Bob has been since 2008 because of deployments. We had a great time with everyone. 

Our Christmas tree at home. It's a HUGE improvement from Bob's 4.5ft tree. 

Please excuse our crooked star.

Sweet snuggles with SJ. She's just so damn cute. Her little personality is really coming out. 

She's a sassy, cute, sweet little thing!

This is the gift Carly and family gave us this year. She had a friend go by the house where Bob and I had neighboring apartments in college and take a picture. I absolutely love it! It's already on our bookshelf now, but I'm thinking it needs to go somewhere else more prominent. 

It's such a super cool, thoughtful, sentimental gift!

Bob did NOT pack for the Louisiana weather changes. Yes, he lived there for years, but failed to properly plan for the 40 degree temperature changes. We drove over to Hometown to visit with my G'rents for a few minutes and my Gpa INSISTED that Bob take some of his clothes back to Monroe with us. Here's Bob in Pa's pleated pants and pearl snap button down. Stylin'.

For Cousin's Christmas, we were responsible for a dessert. Since we flew in, I didn't exactly have a chance or opportunity to make a ton of stuff. So I quickly made some peanut butter rice crispies and we bought a massive gigantor cookie cake. So yeah. Here's Santa.

Upcoming Fight.

My Charlotte bff, Jess, recently married one of Bob's friends. Jess, Chris, and Bob have all been friends for a few years now. Jess is one of those people you just instantly love. The first time I met her I knew we'd be good friends. And we are. Her husband, Chris, is also a pilot and is gone a lot too. He and Bob have similar schedules, which means Jess and I are usually "single" at the same time.

And what do we do when we're "single" together? We go to the bar and watch football games. No lie. It's so sad, but we both love football. Usually we end up shopping or baking afterward, so it all works out. This past Sunday after the game, we spend 3+ hours in Target. At least 30 minutes of that was spent on the baking aisle and another 30 picking out wrapping paper. I don't know why. We just ended up parking on an aisle and talking about random stuff. Which apparently we did all over the store since we were in there for so long. By the time we left, security was tailing us. I assume they thought we had sticky fingers. We did not. Hmpf.

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago we ended up at the mall, where we each purchased the most amazing blankets ever. She had already received one as a wedding gift, but they were on a pretty massive sale, so she bought another (as a "gift" that she'll never actually get around to giving to anyone, but Chris doesn't need to know that).

I'm telling you... This is the blanket to end all blankets. We bought them during a $25 flash sale in store, but the full price is worth every penny. I have snuggled up to it every single day since the day I brought it home. And even better, Jack hasn't found it yet. He still molests his old regular blanket. I'm dreading the day when he realizes what I've got. It's going to be an all out fight to the death to see who will win. It's that good. Pinky promise.

Christmas Surprise?

So every year, I pay attention. I listen all throughout the year. I keep notes in my phone. I pin to a gifts board. When Christmas comes, I give people things they have mentioned all year long. I LOVE doing this, because nine times out of ten, the people forgot they said they wanted it. Or forgot they said it to me. Either way, it's a good surprise.

However, this backfired with Bob's gifts. So very often, he says, "You can get me that." And I did. Get him that. Lots of thats. So now he's getting lots of small gifts and a couple of big ones. I've relegated a lot of them (the smaller boxed ones) to stocking stuffers. This means, though, that his stocking will NOT be held up by a measly little stocking holder. It's going to be damn heavy and damn full. And the things he isn't getting for Christmas, he's getting next month for his birthday.

I gave him my present list a few weeks ago. Just about every week, he's asked me to resend it to him because he "lost" it. So each time I've sent it, I added to it, mainly just to see if he was paying attention. He was. And so far, I've already gotten most of it (because I bought the damn stuff). I (using Bob's credit card) purchased my new Kate Spade (earlier this year during a sample sale) and bought (washed and put away) my new set of dishes last weekend (when World Market had a secret 50% off dining flash sale... woo hoo for being a "World Market Explorer"). There's a rather large vacuum cleaner shaped box beside our tree (chill, feminists... I asked for a new one). Overall, I'm reeeally excited about these gifts. No, they aren't surprises, but they're totes amazeballs!

I hope he's as excited about his gifts as I am about mine! I have a feeling he will be.

Baby free zone.

There's been a lot of baby talk in and around our house lately.

I have a serious aversion to poop. Any kind of poop really. People. Animal. Doesn't matter. The other night I had a dream that I gave birth to a monster sized baby, like a 25lb baby. She was huge. And her poop looked and smelled like chocolate oatmeal (if that's even a thing). So in my dream, I was so proud of myself for being able to handle her poop. I remember thinking, "This isn't so bad! I can do this!" And then I woke up.

I had this dream after reading CNN.com and seeing the top 100 baby names list for 2012. I always like to look. I like to see the name trends. My middle name, for example, is still in the top 40. It was my Great Aunt's name too. So it's been popular for going on 70 years solid. I like that. Names that mean something and last for a long time.

Anyway, it seems like every day Bob and I are faced with more baby conversations from very different people. Everyone is ready for our baby, except for us. That's a problem, right?

For the record, it will be a while before we have a baby Guy. A loooooong while if we have anything to do with it.

Bleed Tech Blue.

So I went to Louisiana Tech and they've an amazing football season, with the #1 offense in the nation. Unless you've been under a rock tonight, you've heard that Tech turned down a bowl game, which would basically have been a home game. If they'd accepted the game, they would have played ULM, our neighbor just down the interstate. It would have brought back the I20 rivalry, which went on for years and years. Independence Stadium in Shreveport would have been packed to the gills.

Instead of accepting this game and giving the incredible seniors an awesome end to their near perfect season, Tech declined the Independence Bowl in hopes of being offered a "better" bowl option (which they did NOT get). Another rumor is that they didn't want to play ULM out of fear of being embarrassed by being classed with them. There are talks of it being too expensive for Tech to participate. Whatevs.

On top of all this, we're going to lose our coach after this season. Tech has always been a stepping stone school. We get mediocre coaches, they turn the team and themselves into super stars, and then they leave. Tech's coach is currently being courted by some pretty impressive universities and football programs. I will put money (or rice crispies) on him leaving before the 2013 season, especially after all this bullshit.

I've been a Tech fan my whole entire life. I grew up in Joe Aillet Stadium, the Thomas Assembly Center, and Love Field. I'll always be a Tech fan, no matter what the kids on the fields and the courts do or how well they play. However, if that asshat of an Athletic Director doesn't pull his head out of his ass, there will be hell to pay. Not hell from me, but hell from thousands of Tech alums and students.

We're a small, proud school. Our alums can be fiercely loyal. We take care of our own, especially a group of football players who played their hearts out all season, only to be shit on by the administration.

NBA legend Karl Malone ripped his alma mater on Twitter.
"I am Bulldog to the core, I am heart broken and embarrassed that our university would do this to Tech Nation. To our football and staff, this is exactly what is wrong with our university. Now it's time to get former athletes to run our program. I'm (6-foot-9) and not hard to find," Malone wrote.

Contract thief.

So when I can't sleep, I look at the mug shots online from Meck County. I like to see what the people's names are, what they're arrested for, and to see if their picture matches their reason for arrest. I like it when they're arrested for drugs paraphernalia and looked stoned in their pics. Or when they're pulled over for drunk driving and then are all disheveled in the picture.

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I scrolled through a couple of days worth of mug shots. And who do I see? OUR STUPID EFFING KITCHEN CONTRACTOR. Arrested for larceny (misdemeanor, $200 and up). So gawd only knows what he stole. Something worth more than $200.

Having had my house burglarized in Little Rock, I'm ridiculously paranoid about it happening again. I'm super careful about opening the blinds, carrying in shopping bags, and receiving shipping packages that are left at the front door. Now, I feel like he could have been casing the joint. Probably not, but my mind has been racing since I saw his ugly mug.

All our contractors (Head Fred sticky fingers and his workers) know Bob works a lot. They know I'm here alone. A lot. They know what we have, how large our ridic television is, what we have stored in our garage, and every item we have in our house. They also know we have guns strategically placed throughout the house (think Mr and Mrs Smith). That I'm unafraid to use, which my Mother pointed out is why they prob didn't mess with me. The entire reason we hired this guy was, because I felt comfortable with him. I felt okay being alone with him in the house. Well, I'll be damned if he isn't an effing criminal.

Ridiculousness.

Girl Meets World.

Do ya'll remember Boy Meets World? If you're a girl between the ages of 28-35, yes you do. Don't even try to deny it.

So I'm sure you've seen that there's a new spin off show coming out. Cory and Topanga's daughter will come of age in Girl Meets World. I will, without a doubt, watch this show.

I hope the producers, directors, actors, sound dudes, costume designers, and Kraft service guys know that if they eff this up, an entire generation of pissed off chicks will be after them. And I will be leading the charge. With a flaming pitchfork.

Formal Sunday and proper pickle placement.

Our friend, Tall Jay, not to be confused with Small Jay, has hosted "formal Sunday" for the last couple of years. We get all dressed up and watch football. This year, he's taken "formal" to another level. Last year, formal meant no jeans, suits for boys, cute dresses or slacks for girl. This year, "formal" for the girls means sequins and pearls. Omg. The formal part of formal Sunday was cancelled today. Mainly because it was cold as balls. So. For future weeks, I can pull out my turquoise dress from my friend Amy's Bat Mitzvah in 1993. It's amazing. Somewhere on my old blog, there's a picture, but I'm too lazy to go find it right now. Picture this... knee length with layers of tulle under the skirt, sequined sweetheart neckline, puffy off the shoulder sleeves. Fashion plate, baby. 

Anyway. Jay grilled burgers tonight. Everyone in the free world knows I cannot eat a hamburger without pickles. Not happening. So before I went over to Jay's, I asked... do you have pickles. Yes. Okay.

What did he have? Dill. Pickle. SPEARS. How the balls am I supposed to enjoy a hamburger (which is merely a vessel for pickles) with SPEARS? Omg. Yes, he got yelled at.

Not only do I need approximately 10-12 pickles per hamburger, they have to be placed in just the right position to ensure at least one pickle per bite of burger. If they fall out, they're replaced. They have to be the right temperature and the right thickness. I'm sort of pickle snob. Clearly.

Small appliance? I think not.

So something happened a few days ago and it's still very much on my mind. Maybe some of you have experienced this...

Thursday we went down to Bob's Aunt and Uncle's house in South Carolina for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a last minute decision since we weren't able to get back to Louisiana for the holiday.

We arrived at their house and they were already cooking. We all hung out in the kitchen, talking, nibbling, cooking. Aunt has a double oven and both were working overtime. I saw casseroles and cookies and pies coming and going from both. All of a sudden it dawned on me... Where's the turkey? There had been a turkey discussion, so I knew there was one involved somewhere. I know there are lots of ways to cook a turkey, so I started asking. Is the turkey being smoked? No. Being fried? No. Being roasted on a spit in the back yard? No. That's when Uncle lead me into the dining room/foyer.

Set up on a large card table, was the largest, most massive microwave I've ever seen. Turns out, it's a 1984 model. So that still begs the question... where's the turkey? IN THE MICROWAVE. They fully cooked a whole turkey IN THE MICROWAVE. Even more fascinating, they wrapped portions of it in aluminum foil. FOIL!! IN THE MICROWAVE. And it didn't blow up. And the turkey fully cooked. IN THE MICROWAVE. I'm obvs still flabbergasted by this.

The turkey was cooked appropriately and tasted very good. I have to say, I still prefer mine fried, but now I have a back up for when the fryer and oven are busy. IN THE MICROWAVE.

Have you ever had a microwaved turkey? I can now say... I have.

Post Thanksgiving Thankfulness.

So now that Thanksgiving is over and done with, and since I missed the majority of November, here's what I've been especially appreciating this month:

1. Recipes passed down from all of my grandmothers and great grandmothers. They are so very helpful and comforting when I'm having a bad day. For example, the last week I've kept my kitchen stocked with chicken and dumplins and peanut butter rice crispies, two of my Mamaw's specialties. It's obvs been a long week.

2. Garden and Gun magazine. I like to be reminded that it's okay to be Southern and to be proud of it. I usually get picked on for my accent and the things I eat. Reading all those articles written by fine Southern peeps makes me feel a heap better, ya'll.

3. World Market. We have quite a bit of stuff in our house from there. I'd say it's my favorite store.

4. Cheese dip. Really from anywhere. And any kind.

5. My snuggly, senile, asshole of a cat, Jack. Captain Snuggles when I need him to be. Feisty when he wants to be. Independent when necessary. It's been a rough 13 years, but we've made it through together.

6. Good hair days. My hair has always been flat, straight, thin, and fine. On those rare days when the humidity is JUST RIGHT, it's not frizzy but has body. Those are great days.

7. My grandparents. They've done more for me than they ever should have. They've bailed me out, cheered me on, and loved me my whole life. As an adult, I appreciate them more than ever. They worked hard and built a business from the ground up, and now they're appreciating the life they made. They inspire me to be more financially responsible, so one day I can do for my grandkids what they've done for me.

8. My Brother Little. He's a moody little shit, but my life would be so incredibly different without him. Even though his bedroom replaced my play room, I still couldn't pick a better brother little. Because of our mutual hatred of talking on the telephone, we rarely have lengthy conversations unless I'm in Hometown. But when we do get together, boy, get ready. Those 5-6 hour talks are amazing.

9. My parents. As different as they are, they've both had a profound affect on my life and still do to this day. It seems like we're all still growing up and ever changing, but our relationships stay constant. There isn't a single second of the day that I can't pick up the phone and tell them anything in the world.

10. Bob. He's my best friend, my cheerleader, my therapist, my first thought in the morning, and my last thought at bedtime. Being together now makes all the previous years seem wasted, although we both know we learned a lot from our past mistakes and relationships. We've been married for (almost) 7 months, and even now, a whole lifetime doesn't seem long enough to be with him. I'm so excited to see what the rest of our life together holds. If the last 10 years (and few months) are any indication, it'll be full of sarcasm, love, and enough snuggling to make even the most hopeless romantic puke for days. And cheese dip. And Jack.

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, peeps! I hope you've all had an awesome day full of love, family, and good food!

Weekend Recap... Wednesday Edition.

And it's full of randoms...

First, my friend Ashley sent me this picture from her wedding this past February. If you're unfamiliar with me, I'm the pasty white one who looks naked. So awesome. Gotta love an unobservant photographer.

 

We had our Kitchen Completion Celebration last Friday evening. Our Thanksgiving-style dinner produced a fried turkey, a tester chicken, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, chicken and dressing, and so many pumpkin pies that we sent one home with most of our guests. The food was amazing and having a real live kitchen back is incredible. 

 

Bob's Mom arrived here on Monday. Luckily Bob was off work all this week, so together, they made us a headboard! I'm in love with it. I still have some work to do on our room, like paint, coordinating pillows, and curtains, but I'll get there eventually. This headboard is a MA-JOR improvement. You can't see, but the mattress is our 6th (and hopefully final)... a Tempur Pedic Cloud Supreme Breeze. It's ah-mazing. I've never slept better. It's like a big, cold, cozy hug from your grandma.

So now that we're caught up, I'll probably be absent for a while. Stay warm out there, friends. It's mighty cold outside!

SJ Thursday.

Last year's lady bug is this year's ice cream cone! How cute is this little thing?! An ice cream cone with a cupcake candy bucket! According to her Mom, SJ was a natural at trick or treating. She obvs takes after her Aunt Candi!

Me oh my oh!

So. This is a light hearted/regularly bitchy post, but please know I've been a bundle of nerves on behalf of the entire northeast. I've checked in with all the people I know and everyone is fine. I know others are not. That others have homes to rebuild and lives to restructure. I understand your road ahead. I've been there, with 13 feet of floodwaters in my house, in a city mangled by mother nature, with no idea of how to start the process. Stay strong. Move forward. Rebuild. 

We've had a cold front in North Carolina. As you've probably seen, as Sandy moved North, a cold front came in her wake. Our temperature hovered around 50 degrees today, which to me, means I need to eat spicy food. Soooo. Cajun dinner for one planned by 10am. But then I didn't want loads of leftovers and invited some friends over to help consume.

I made jambalaya and crawfish pies. And yes, I've been singing this song all gd day long. I didn't make the file gumbo, but the rest was good enough without it. So I went to Walmart to get my crawfish tails for the pies. I grabbed an onion while I was there. But guess what? No onion when I got home. This is ONE of the reasons I hate Walmart. I think they do shit like this on purpose. They put ONE EFFING ONION in a bag by itself, on the bag turn style, you think you grab everything, but leave the onion behind. It's a conspiracy I tell you.

So I left Walmart and ran by the Teeter to get pie shells. Walmart doesn't sell the minis. Got home, couldn't find the onion, went back to Teeter. In the freezing ass cold rain. Not happy. So I get home with all my ingrediences, and open the crawfish tails. CUE JACK GOING NUTS. He's a cat. Of course he loves all seafood, particularly crawfish. A result of living in Louisiana for too long, I guess. So as Jack is sprinting through our house, across the bar, and attempts to dive into the sink, I'm cooking. Mass chaos.

Dinner was great. Friends were awesome. Evening is complete.

Weekend Recap.

Soooo, Now that this kitchen is done-ish, I'm refocusing on the rest of the house. And I hope you like a linky-loo. There are lots in this post.

1. Since last summer, Bob and I have had 5 mattresses. Yes, FIVE. Last week, we picked our (hopefully) sixth and final... a Tempur-pedic with cold technology. It's super awesome. One of our hesitations in buying one was that our friends said they were hot. We don't do hot, especially to sleep. So, Tempur-pedic finally came out with a "supreme breeze" bed, which is cold to the touch. Apparently everyone else is excited about these beds, because ours is on backorder until next Friday. Bleh. I'm already looking forward to a good nights sleep. It's been a while.

2. I hit up World Market and picked out new towels for our guest bath. This looks just perfect with our Marimekko shower curtain (which is discontinued, so no linky). I also got this incredible lotion/soap combo that smells heavenly. I usually can't do smelly stuff, but holy balls. This stuff rocks.

3. I've been looking for coordinating pillows for our sofa with absolutely no luck whatsoever. World Market had a curtain on sale that pulled everything together perfectly, but I already had curtains. Sooooo. One curtain = 3 pillows. The loverly Mrs. E whipped out her sewing machine and helped me with mah pillars. Please ignore our saggy sofa. That's our next big purchase. Bob just doesn't know it yet. Oops.

4. Today, I matured our guest room. And by matured, I mean I bought a bed frame so that room is no longer just a mattress on the floor and a television sitting on an upside down laundry basket. Pretty sweet, huh? Oh yeah. We were full on bachelor pad prior to today. I would show you the actual picture of the bed, but I need to replace the light bulbs in the room. It looks yellow. Gross. I was able to use my Pottery Barn duvet cover and the prints I bought a few years ago to spice it up a bit. It looks awesome. I'm headed back to Ikea later this week to buy an unfinished night stand/chest. I'm thinking of using a gray/green color paint. We have a house guest coming next week, so I'm full speed ahead to get this room/bathroom ready for her!

And that about sums up my working/decorating weekend.

Why Lifetime can kiss my aaaaask.

So. One of my all time favorite movies is Steel Magnolias. And when I say my favorite, I mean I can quote every line, word for word.

When Lifetime remade the movie with an all black cast, I was down with it. The actresses they cast in those iconic roles seemed pretty legit. However, they effed up with the words. It's not word for word, but close enough to show they tried and failed miserably.

Lifetime is proud of their remake and show it an absurd amount of times during the week. Every freaking time I see if playing on the channel guide, I get super excited. But then I realize it's the remake. If they'd said the same exact words as the original, I wouldn't have a problem with it. However, when you rename Ouiser's dog Thurman, I'm done.

Sorry, Lifetime...

And about the title, have ya'll see this video? I love this child.

Wtf, over?

I spoke entirely too effing soon.

When dudes installed our dishwasher, they installed it crooked and when they drilled it into the wall, they split the wall. Then when they tried to close it, they broke the top of the door. Did they tell me this? No. I discovered it last night. AFTER I had loaded the dishwasher to capacity.

So last night, I HAND WASHED every single glass, goblet, dish, pan, tupperware, casserole, and eating utensil in our house. HAND EFFING WASHED.

The dishwasher part has supposedly been ordered. Our reinstall will be scheduled upon arrival of the new door.

Omg. Ridic.

MY NEW KITCHEN!!

So. You know how to get over something crappy like having to give back a puppy dog? Have something exciting happen. My something exciting is the completion of my (our) kitchen!!

From beginning of the very first day to today, it's been a long ass 12 weeks (and 3 days). We started with lots and lots of mold. And now we have a gorgeous new kitchen. We're still lacking a backsplash, but I'm totally okay with it right now. Next week may be a different story, but as of now, I'll take the kitchen as it is!

 Mold schmold. A small glimpse of what our entire kitchen looked like.

 

 Before... gray Corian counter tops and the beginning of our ET phone home plastic experience that expanded to the entire back of the house.

 

And now, beautiful Cambria Winderemere Quartz counters and Pale Butter walls. I love.

I has a sad.

So the past few days have been pretty horrible. Our sweet puppy dog will be going back to her foster mom on Thursday.

After some pretty serious conversations and a realistic look at the future, Bob and I decided that we are not the perfect family for Reesie. I'm completely in love with her, but her behavioral problems and hatred of cats will require intense training to make her a household dog. We are not equipped to handle that sort of training. She needs someone with more dog experience.

If you are interested in adopting Reesie, you can find her adoption listing here. She's a 10 month old Rottweiler/Pit Bull mix. She is potty trained, loves her toys, and plays well with grown up people and other dogs. Kids are questionable, and cats are an absolute definite no. She is not crate trained and has severe separation anxiety that drugs and collars do not help. She needs a very experienced dog owner who has the time and training knowledge to help her adjust to a new home. She is healthy on the inside, is current on her shots, is spayed, and microchipped.

If you can give Reesie a good home, please consider adopting her.

Cow Love.

I think I mentioned that she loves her cow...

 

Today, she also scared the ever living shit out of me. I took Bob to the airport, put Jack in his room and stuck Reesie in the back yard so I could shower in peace. We have lever handles on most of our doors, including the back door. So I was showering, in peace, when I thought I heard her collar. Getting closer. And closer. (Jaws music should have been playing in the background.) And then... she barreled into the bathroom. Full speed ahead. When 10 minutes earlier, she was firmly planted in the backyard. Bitch can open doors. Shiiiiiit!

And then, poor thing. Had such a bad day. She killed her crate while I was at work. Like slid out the bottom plastic tray and bent the METAL crate. Someone is having some separation anxiety apparently. Hopefully this, along with mutual hatred she and Jack feel for each other, will dissipate. Which her obedience class teacher says will happen. If it doesn't, Edie (the trainer) will be adopting someone. Either Jack or Reesie. Or me.

We still love her.

SJ Thursday: Puppy Dog Edition.

Introducing our newest family member... Reesie! Or Theresa Louise when she's in trouble. We picked her up last night and we've already learned a few things...

She and Jack hate each other.
We're in love with her.
She's in love with her cow.
She likes cat food. (Yes, I know it's bad. We thought she was eating her food, but no. Jack's food is now unreachable for Reesie.)
She walks well on a leash. Ish.
She LOVES other puppy dogs. Especially if they're on a leash too...

Reesie is around 10 months old and she's a Rottweiler/Mystery mix. We rescued her from SSRR, which does amazing work for Rottweiler puppy dogs. If you're interested in your very own Theresa Louise, please check out their website. 

Her Louisiana Tech blue and red tennis ball. Gotta represent!

Her cow.

Her bestest friend, Aspen. They haven't met yet, but Aspen's Mom and I plan to make this relationship work. Aspen wears the cone of shame to protect her fixin' stitches. She won't meet Reesie until she's all healed up. Reese likes to play. Hard.

And since this is SJ Thursday, here's the obligatory SJ pic. In the kennel. With her Nelly.

Weekend Recap.

Sooo. This has been one interesting weekend. I came to Hometown last Thursday, which was a day before the arctic blast hit the area. Did I pack for that? Nope. I brought shorts. Lots of shorts. Yeah.

Friday night I had a choice between my high school homecoming game OR the MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice in concert. I chose the concert. And it was HORRIBLE! Omg. Hammer found Jesus and sang mostly gospel songs before he FINALLY played Hammertime and 2 Legit. Good ol' Rob sang Ice Ice Baby, about 7 other songs I've never heard, and then plugged his DIY show no fewer than 15 times. I ran into a friend of mine from college and my Mom's bff from when I was a baby. So it wasn't a total bust. I did get to see some good peeps. Just not good peeps singing. In other news, my high school won their game, bringing their record to 5-1.

Saturday night I had a choice between my college's football game or going to a friends engagement party (along with my other friends Kat and Jamie). I chose the party. And it was INCREDIBLE. I went to school with the bride from 2nd grade to 12th. We weren't too close in school, but became great friends during college and after.

Now this wasn't a typical engagement party. She's Indian and Hindu and she found her a nice Indian/Hindu boy to marry. They had a half naked, very large and in charge Hindu priest there to bless the marriage and lead the ceremony. They all signed contracts and the groom to be (Ajay) scored a pretty sweet Rolex watch from the bride's parents (an Indian tradition). It was a pretty chaotic, incredible ceremony. I was very impressed with all the tradition and ceremony involved. A lot of it, Asha admitted, even her parents weren't familiar with. It's not every day you attend an event like that. I can't wait for her wedding, which I'm told will last approximately three days and I should expect everyone to stay intoxicated for the whole of those three days.

Even though we didn't go to the game, we heard all about it. La Tech won, making them 5-0 and ranked #23 in the nation, which is amazing for my little alma mater. So proud of them!

The rest of my time in Hometown has been spent eating (Johnny's Pizza and Sundown) and trying to keep warm. I'll head home tomorrow after squeezing in a haircut (I still come here for haircuts). I mean, the only place that has hair stylists is Hometown. Right?

Well balls.

Just in case you're wondering... No. I still don't have a kitchen.

We should have had counter tops in this week. However, our contractor decided to go ballistic on the insurance agent after she sent him a check for an incorrect amount. He yelled at her, she freaked out, and he cancelled the order for our counters, because he didn't think he was going to get his money.

So. After several phone calls within a matter of 30 minutes max, at least two involving Bob calming the insurance lady down, everything was resolved. This resolution came AFTER THE EFFING CONTRACTOR CANCELLED THE COUNTER TOP ORDER. Conveniently, OUR counter tops were SOLD within minutes of our order being cancelled.

Yeah. So now, they have been reordered. Guess how long it will take? Probably til NEXT Christmas at the rate things are going. This has been a 10 week project so far. And balls only knows how much longer it will actually take.

Gah.

Brain Fart.

My poor husband... Bob works so hard for us. He works his ass off and this past trip, he apparently worked his brain off too.

I typically drop him off and pick him up from the airport for his trips. When I do pick him up, he'll keep me updated on his arrival so he can just walk out the airport door and get directly in my car with no waiting. We usually time it pretty well.

Last night, he text me that he landed and he was walking through the terminal, to pick him up from Door 2. Well, I was in bed, not planning on picking him up, because he drove himself to the airport last week. But he forgot that. Poor guy.

At least this isn't as bad as the time he completely lost his car. Usually, when he drives himself he'll park at an airport hotel and take their shuttle to the airport. He tips well, so the drivers don't mind giving him a lift. He left from Houston on a trip a few years ago and was gone for about 6 weeks. He returned, took the shuttle to the hotel, but his car was gone. He called the police, reported it stolen, and went about his business.

A few days later, the cops called back. They found his car. At the Sheraton. When he thought it was parked at the Holiday Inn.

Poor, poor Bob.

Weekend Recap.

So. I still feel like ass. I'm starting to feel like I'm never going to get over this sinus crap. Even though I'm still a walking petri dish, I rallied and went out of town yesterday. But let's back up a smidge...

Friday, my Ikea cherry was popped. And yes, I was overwhelmed. And yes, I didn't walk out of there empty handed. I bought wrapping paper. And picked out 5 different beds I want in our guest room. And found 17 pieces of furniture for the same tiny ass guest room.

Having worked at a fairly upscale furniture store in college, Ikea was a new and foreign world for me. I never knew furniture could be so cheap. But it did seem that the quality matched the price. However, for a guest room that will average one person sleeping in it per year, I think we're safe with cheap and cheaper.

Tangent time- Bob refuses to have anything smaller than a king size bed in this closet sized guest room. I have the most fabulous antique iron bed frame that I'm dying to set up in the room. Issue is... it's a double. And Bob says we should have a "grown up bed" in that room for our "adult" guests (read... potentially one parent at time OR drunk friends who stay over after parties). So the way this will play out... I will let him win and keep a king size bed in there, but I will buy super cute furniture and make it a bright girly room. He's not going to like this compromise. Oh well. That's how marriage works. Right?

Friday I also found some pretty fabulous wine, made from North Carolina blackberries. I'm all for shopping local and I was very pleased when it turned out pretty freaking fantastic.

Yesterday, some friends and I took a road trip up to Virginia to watch the Louisiana Tech/UVa football game. We (LaTech) won. Woo hoo! 4-0 baby. It was fun, but ridiculously stressful. Those Wahoo's sure made us work for it. After the game, we found a Raising Canes in Charlottesville. If you've never eaten there before, find a Southern college town and get after it. And make sure you order an extra Canes sauce. The extra $.79 is worth it. And yes, it's just chicken fingers, but still. It's effing amazing.

Aaaaand that about sums up the weekend. Tonight, I'm dvr'ing 5 different shows, but trying to decide which to watch when and if I'll even watch them real time or continue with my Netflix'd Felicity, season 2, which is one of my all-time favorite shows, with Everwood coming in at a close second.

SJ Thursday.

This sweet little thing went to San Antonio last weekend. Think she loves Cookie Monster much?

Manic Monday.

So. Ready for a schizo post? Here goes.

-I spent a majority of yesterday playing the new Tetris app I downloaded on my itelephone. The last thing I watched on television last night (this morning) before going to sleep (taking a nap) was All American Handyman. So guess what my short dream was about? Yep. The stars of All American Handyman were INSIDE the Tetris game on my itelephone, placing the blocks where I wanted them. By using mini cranes. Yeah...

-I'm allergic to toothpaste. I've never quite figured out what ingredient it is specifically, but regular ol' toothpaste makes me break out like a 14 year old boy. Seriously. Huge, massive ass things on my face and around my mouth. So. I avoid puberty (again), by using Toms of Maine. I typically order it online from the Toms store and buy 3-4 tubes at a time. Which comes to a whopping $20-$30 dollars per order. Sometimes I hate the fact that I spend that much on freaking toothpaste, but then I remember the potholes on my face if I choose to be cheap. Gah. I'm typically so low maintenance.

-Tomorrow our countertop people are coming to measure! Squee! So we're looking at two-ish weeks and then WE GET OUR KITCHEN BACK! I mean, after what will be (by that point) 12 weeks without one, you can imagine my excitement.

-I lose earring backs as often as most people change underwear. I wear the same studs every day of life, with exceptions like my wedding and the wedding we went to last weekend. Other than those days, I wear the same exact ones. And I play with the backs. I twist them. I pull them off and on. I lose them... So I go to Target and buy the little card of cheapo earrings and use the backs. Because of this, I have an abundance of random tacky little earrings in my nightstand.

Weekend Recap.

I have done very little this weekend. Definitely not enough for a recap.

Yesterday, I continued to be sickly and basically did nothing. I ventured out last night to go over to a friends house to watch some football. And drink a bottle of wine. And guess who paid for that this morning? Yeah. Me. Not cool. In fact, I may be sicker now that I was yesterday. Way much fun.

Today wasn't much better. I ate as much grease as I could get my hands on in an effort to feel better. It didn't work. Then I got bored.

So I've been eyeing the bottom/underneath of our front door. It's nasty looking and needed to be painted. So. I painted it and touched up other areas that are painted white in our house. And then I vacuumed. And then cleaned out the dvr. And then took out the garbage. See, I can be productive when I need to be.

And late this afternoon, I downloaded some new itelephone games, including Tetris. Sweet lord. It's like junior high all over again. I'm officially readdicted to Tetris. Crap. There goes all my free time...

Sick and sappy.

So I'm still sick. And when I'm sick, I always think about my Mamaw. I'm not sure why, but she always comes to mind when I'm sickly. In all my snottiness, I got out a box of some of her old pictures. But I found something more instead...

So back in college, Bob and I were really good friends. Best friends. And being best friends, we made each other our back up marriage plan (mainly because my original back up plan came out of the closet our sophomore year of college, and I'm happy to report he's been practically married to Dennis for the last few years). So if neither Bob or I were married by ages 26 and 28, we'd marry each other.

Well, as things happen, Bob and I did NOT marry each other at 26 and 28. It ended up being 31 and 33 instead. While looking at Mamaw pics, I found this card. It's my college graduation card from Bob. He'd also put one of his business cards in there, good for one free meal at one of two of our favorite places, as long as I went with him.

I love this boy! And for some reason, he loves me. Even with all my snot and sappiness.

 

SJ Thursday- Birthday Edition

 Happy 30th Birthday to SJ's mom, Carly! 

We love and miss you!

Fetal position shaped pillow for one.

The total number of shits that Jack gives that I'm sick... Zero.

When he wants a pillow, he gets a pillow, damn it.

Who doesn't love puppies?

All the travel, alcohol, and time zone changing have caught up with me. Instead of an actual post, go look at some cute puppies (scroll to bottom for livestream).

Weekend Recap.

So we went to Lake Tahoe this weekend. We had amazing luck the whole time. We made flights that were overbooked, we took the last rental car available in all of Reno (an SUV for under $100 the whole weekend), and we scored an upgraded room at our hotel. With luck like this, we should have spent our time more wisely and hung out at the casinos in Reno instead of going to Tahoe.

We stayed at the Village at Squaw Valley, which was the Olympic Village for the 1960 Winter Games, on the northwest side of the lake. We just hung out Friday and walked around the village, checking out the shops and restaurants.

Saturday morning we woke up early (unintentionally) and went back to Reno for the Air Races. I loved the drive back and forth between Reno and Lake Tahoe. It was so gorgeous. Coming from Louisiana where our highest point is 535 feet (shout out to Mt. Driskill... woo hoo!), I was in awe. I think I took more pictures on the road than anywhere else (I won't bore you with the pictures... you're welcome).

After the races, we went down to take an obligatory picture in front of the lake and then headed back to our resort. Connected to the Village, is an aerial tram that takes you up to the High Camp at 8200 feet. It was super cool. An 8 minute gondola ride gets you to a pool with a cafe, an ice/roller skating rink, a paintball and disk golf course, and amazing views from the top of the mountain and some pretty tasty fish tacos.

To finish our day, we went to the wedding of Chris and Jess at the Plumpjack Valley Inn. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony with perfect weather. The bride and wedding were absolutely gorgeous.

If you'd like to take a nap, you can see our pictures here and put yourself right to sleep. I know there's nothing more boring than someone else's vacation pictures. But, there are some peeps (Ashley) who want to see these in preparation for their future trips. The pics are captioned for my grandmother, so please excuse the detailed descriptions on some of them.

Flops = love.

A few years ago, I bought some Havaianas. And I adore them. I wear them almost daily. It's either these shimmery brown ones, or my black J. Crew flops (which broke this past summer and it was too late in the year to reorder new ones... so sad). I have other sandals and wedges, but you know. Flops are my besties.

During the year, I either wear flops or riding boots daily. Rarely an in between. I don't give a shit what society (or my grandparents) feel is appropriate for the season. I wear flops year round. Every year. In any weather. I mean, I have other shoes. Cute camel peep toes I got from BR this year? I wear them for special occasions (like the wedding we're going to this weekend). Black heels? Funerals. Sperry's? To accompany Bob to the golf course. Toms? For work. Born and Patagonia slides? I own them. I don't wear them. Oh. By the way, my feet HATE socks.

So you can see from the following pictures, a) my reluctance to purchase new flops once mine are worn in and b) how my foot "wears" flops. Side by side. Brand new never worn beside 4 year olds worn (almost) every day. And also you get to see a kitty ass. He said he needed to be in the pic.

God only knows what my knee, foot, and back docs would say if they saw this pic. I'd be in an operating room stat. Having something fixed.

Can you see the wall?

So. Bob has deployed a lot in the last two years. And when I say a lot, I mean he's practically been deployed for the entire last two years. Off and on. A couple or six months at a time. While he's there, he usually stimulates our economy here, one Amazon and/or Apple purchase at a time.

This past deployment, he reigned in his spending while he was in 'istan (citing our upcoming wedding as the reason). However, when he got home, his intentions were a little less charitable... toward our wedding anyway. A couple of months ago, I explained we hung our wedding "guest book" in the (now yellow) powder room downstairs. The reason: our ridiculously large television.

Turns out, this monster sized television served as his post-deployment prize (his previous purchases include a Corvette and crotch rocket, so a television didn't seem too bad). Prior to this tv, he had a modestly sized 50ish something inch above the mantle. But omg. He could see a lot of wall on either side of it. Solution... a bigger television that covers more of the wall. Yep.

This past Sunday, we were fighting over whether to watch the Saints game or the Braves game. We both wanted to be downstairs to watch our games, so we finally discovered the Picture in Picture feature. Turns out, programming doesn't allow for a television as large as ours. PIP is supposed to be in the bottom-ish corner. Ours was more in the middle.

So what did Bob do? He took a page out of my book and took to facebook to bitch about it. Me and the boy couldn't be more perfect for each other if we tried. However, a few weeks ago when he mentioned that he could still see a little bit of wall on either side of the television, I almost punched him. Okay. Not almost. I did.

The attention level of boys = 0.

So. For the 20 or so hours Bob was home this weekend, he liked my home improvements. Once he noticed them. Good thing, for his sake.

Poor guy. He drove in from Atlanta last night, walked in the house, and went straight to the powder room (too many Diet Dr. Peppers on the road). He came out and DIDN'T SAY A WORD about the paint. He went right back outside to gather all his crap to bring in from his car and then plopped down to watch the LSU game.

After a few minutes, I kinda started quizzing him on new things around the house. Curtains? Looked great. However, he did NOT notice the painted bathroom. Goober. He knew something in there was different, but he thought I'd reframed/rematted the "guest book." When my line of questioning finally prompted him to return to the room, he noticed the paint. Then I showed him my "office" and he was pleased. Mainly because I hung the shelves without him, which meant he didn't have to mess with them.

So this morning, we had quite possibly the worst breakfast in Charlotte and then drove to Greensboro. He was supposed to fly to Chicago to start work, only then to be a passenger on a flight back to GSO so he could pick up the plane and start his actual work day by flying passengers back to Chicago. Instead of all that nonsense, I just drove him to GSO so he could bypass Chicago (the first time), therefore spending more quality time with me (eating a crappy breakfast and riding in the car together for 2 hours).

Yeah. This schedule of his is no fun. However, he works until Wednesday and then he's off for a few days, during which we will go watch some friends of ours get hitched. Woo hoo!

Operation Complete.

Things I've done since Wednesday to complete Operation Surprise Bob:

Hung curtains. The picture came out dark and crappy, so you don't get to see. I know. I've ordered two more panels to add some thickness. They just seem too skimpy. This is what they look like in real life.

Painted. The pain in the ass downstairs powder room is now Homestead Resort Tea Room. Ridic.

Installed the shelves from hell. OMG. Those things are bitches. Pure and simple. But me and the super sweet Elizabeth (with some help from baby Ben) got them up. And they're somewhat level. Not too strong, but level none the less. They'll hold the things I had planned for them. Maybe.

Spackled. I had 6 holes in the wall from when I attempted to hang the shelves without assistance. So I spackled and painted over the patches. Now this is where I do good work, peeps... I picked out a totally random color at Lowes hoping it was close to my builder beige. It's an exact freaking match.

Now. If Bob isn't pleased AND impressed, I may kill him. Well, I would. But I'm too damn sore from doing all this manual labor.

Operation: Surprise Bob.

Since Bob doesn't read this blog, I can tell you what I did yesterday. I painted our downstairs powder room. As a surprise for Bob. (Our kitchen/dining room will also be a surprise. The contractors finished painting it after he left on Wednesday. Yay!)

Do any of you know how freaking hard it is to paint a small room? Omg. Silly me. I thought it would be easier. Smaller walls. Smaller amount of work. WRONG. It's incredibly difficult to paint behind a pedestal sink. And dumb ass me thought I needed to paint BEHIND the toilet tank as well, you know, since people look back there and everything. And paint it I did. Let's just hope no one ever has to see the back of the toilet tank. Because it's yellow. The same yellow as the walls. Homestead Resort Tea Room, in fact. I just rolled the roller right up the back. This project took approximately 4 hours. I also had grand plans to paint our master bathroom. But after the bitch the downstairs one has been, uh, screw that. I'll either live with builder beige in that room or hire what my contractors call "amigos" to do the work for me.

In addition to painting, I hung our living room curtains on Wednesday. Great little things from Pottery Barn. I hung them. Alone. With no assistance. I had to use the following: a ladder, a drill, a stud finder, a laser leveler, a measuring tape, and a pencil. And the pencil was the only thing I was comfortable handling. Yet, I got those gd curtains and rods on the gd walls. It took approximately 3 hours.

Today, I *attempted* to hang metal shelves in our closet under the stairs, which also doubles as my "office." Yeah. Do you know how effing hard it is to hang those metal shelves? Alone. With studs everywhere, which is really handy when the stud finder doesn't find them. I've recruited help to come over tomorrow to see if WE can hang them. And not put more holes in the wall. Before Bob gets home tomorrow night. I spent approximately 1 hour today, and who knows how long it will take tomorrow. Stand by for pictures. Of either TONS of holes in the walls... or shelves.

SJ Thursday.

 

How sweet is this little thing?!

Confusion. Pure and simple.

This was posted today, Monday, September 3. Read this and see how many errors you can find. Spelling, date, whatever. It's fun. Like those Highlights magazines from childhood where you have to find the things that don't belong or aren't like the other. Have fun!


First Lady, Pelosi the highlights of day 1 at TWC Arena

by NewsChannel 36 Staff

Posted on September 3, 2012 at 10:08 PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The North Carolina delegation is only feet away from the action starting Tuesday night.

The First Lady Michelle Obama made a surprise visit on the stage late Tuesday afternoon, scoping out the podium and her teleprompter ahead of her big speech.

Her crowd today, though, was mainly members of the press.

Delegate Romaine Thomas was one of the few who got to see her today in the arena.

“Impressed,” Thomas said.  “I think she's absolutely smart and charming and dedicated.”

Moments earlier, the First Lady was up in the suites high above the convention floor doing interviews with entertainment shows, including Ross Matthews of E! News.

“I just inteviewed the first lady, and now I'm worried about my breath,” Matthews joked.

Matthews was made famous by his longtime stint as Ross The Intern on the ‘Tonight Show’ and now reports for E! News.

“I talked to her about her husband, the campaign, about why they keep doing it,” he added.

Early Tuesday night, leading Democrat in the house Nancy Pelosi also tested out the stage and the podium with a few others.

Part was what it takes to get ready for the first night of convention...and to get ready for the first lady.

“I've seen her many times and everytime, and I'm always impressed,” added volunteer Deborah Kilpatrick Bird about the First Lady.

Michelle Obama was loose while on stage Tuesday, joking with those in attendence, "The key is to not fall of the stage."

In case of emergency: eat Peanut M&M's.

So I went to the gym this morning without eating beforehand. Not smart, I know. Somehow I was so motivated to get there, that I forgot to eat anything before I left. That's rare. In fact, this may have been the first time I've ever forgotten to eat. Period.

So anyway. I left the gym and grabbed Subway. As I was leaving with my sandwich, I walked out their door, unlocked my car, and climbed in. The passenger side. I drove up there alone and left alone. Yep.

I'm blaming it on the lack of carbs in my system. And now, that's been remedied. And to make sure, I had some peanut M&M's too. Just in case. You can never be too careful.

Passive aggressive... protesting.

So. The DNC is in Charlotte this week. I am not happy about it. And lucky for us, White House staffers are staying down in our section of town. Know what that means? Pure and utter chaos. Road closures. Increased traffic. Ridiculousness.

The protesting also started today. These peeps walked all over Uptown Charlotte, with it hot as balls outside, to protest Bank of America. On a Sunday. The one day banks are closed. Why? I don't get it. I totally support their right to protest, their right to free speech, and their right to whatever else they have the right to do. But seriously. Protesting a bank on a Sunday? That's just a smidge passive aggressive in my book. Why not do it on a day... when they're OPEN? Isn't the entire purpose of protesting to get them to understand your point of view? How can they do that when they're not working? On a holiday weekend at that?

So. To everyone else not using their Sunday to protest, happy weekend!

Drywall and football.

This, my dear friends, is called PROGRESS!

It's taken 5 full weeks, but we have removed screws from water pipes, removed mold (everywhere), removed and refloated drywall, lowered the bar and cut off the end so it's countertop level, and come Wednesday, we'll have new paint on the walls. And Bob and I scored a pretty sweet canvas yesterday at World Market. It'll look amazing on those new Pale Butter walls, with our red/multi striped chair cushions (which I purchased, because Bob purchased the most uncomfortable dining room chairs known to man).

We're just waiting for the cabinets and countertops to come in and we'll have a kitchen. Omg. Last week, they moved the stove and fridge back into the room. It's weird now. Having to walk all the way into the kitchen to get to the fridge. And having access to the laundry room. I'm going to miss hauling multiple loads of laundry next door. Not.

On another note, tonight we had our fantasy football draft, which I did basically unassisted. The Fighting Snuffleupagii, the reigning 2011-12 champs with a record of 16-1, are back again. And we mean business. No worries, friends. Just as I've kept you in the kitchen loop, I'll bombard you with updates about my awesomeness in fantasy football. Unless I'm losing. Then you won't hear a peep.

Weekend Recap.

Sooo. Guess what? WE GOT A CLEAR AIR TEST! Squee! Robert and guys will be here tomorrow to finish demo and the start floating drywall later this week. I'm ridiculously excited about drywall.

Last week, I headed to Hometown for my "nephew" Kade's 4th birthday. He, in all of his 4 year old glory, had an LSU-themed fish fry for his party. There was a tiger bounce house and a super cute cake and approximately 47,000 children. I was happy I planned ahead and brought a large Rum Berry Sour with extra shots with me. (Doesn't everyone in Hometown drive thru Rabbs before attending children's birthday parties?)

To fully participate in the party, I drove ALL over Hometown searching for a LSU shirt to wear. I finally settled on a purple plaid button down, because this Tech fan just couldn't quite stomach wearing something emblazoned with LSU. Last year's party was a smidge more exciting, but that was for other reasons.

My plan was to stay in Hometown until this Wednesday, you know, the one we're having tomorrow. But since I fly stand-by, Pa and I were concerned that between Isaac and the DNC, I wouldn't make it back to Charlotte this week. So. I woke up at 3:30 yesterday morning and made it back to Charlotte around noon. It was not fun. But, I'm home and ready to see Bob when he gets done with work!

No bitching zone.

I'm not going to bitch about our kitchen. Promise. I would catch you up on our lives, but that would involve bitching about our kitchen. So instead of talking about what we've been doing, here's what we're going to do...

Bob (I) bought me a Christmas present yesterday. That boy is a fool if he thinks I'm really going to wait until Christmas to actually use it. I learned my lesson last year. Bob bought me a panini maker "for Christmas" in October. He stashed it in the closet at his house and then freaking deployed for 2 months, then went straight to training. So I didn't get my panini maker until APRIL when I moved here. So. The lovely, beautiful, amazing Kate Spade purse that I ordered yesterday (which will be perfect to use for fall) WILL be used well before Christmas ever even thinks of arriving.

We have some pretty fun stuff to do in the months to come. (I'm focusing on future fun stuff instead of dwelling on my lack of kitchen. Not bitching, just explaining.) Some friends of ours are getting married in Lake Tahoe in a few of weeks. I'm so ridiculously excited to watch those kids get married. I big pink puffy heart them both. She's adorable and he's amazing.

In October, we having the National Guard dining out. It's basically prom for grown ups. I fully intend on having a rocking dress, courtesy of Rent the Runway. Screw buying another dress I'll never wear again. I'm renting this shit from now on.

Besides trips and functions, I'm really excited about our house. (I'm still not bitching.) There are so many things I've wanted to do since I moved in, and I just haven't had time. Our kitchen is going to be phenomenal. We're putting down hardwood floors. I'm painting upstairs and getting our guest rooms in some sort of cozy, welcoming order. And at some point, our backyard will be the envy of the neighborhood.

Oh. And I'm getting a dog. As soon as our house isn't moldy anymore (just stating a fact, not bitching).

Ridiculousness.

In my television flipping laziness, I've noticed a show on MTV called Ridiculousness. I have no idea what this show is about. I've only seen it on the guide. But it could be about my kitchen.

Our air test came back moldy. Sooo. They're coming back to clean AGAIN tomorrow and then retest the air again on Wednesday, which means we'll have an answer on Friday at the earliest. Saturday will be 4 full weeks of no kitchen. Holy balls.

And guess what? It'll take at least three weeks to get cabinets built and installed. Once that's done, the countertop guy will come measure. Then it'll be another two weeks after that to get countertops, then three-ish days to install. At some point along the way, they have to repaint the dining room and kitchen, including the ceilings. 

Bob and I have talked about a celebration dinner when all this is complete. We want to do a Thanksgiving-style meal, complete with a fried turkey. At this rate, it'll happen on effing Thanksgiving. Omg.

Waffle (ing) in the kitchen.

Sooo. I'm still alive. My kitchen is still dead. So obvs not much has changed 'round these parts.

Yesterday, Bob and I made our 5th (ish) trip to go look at countertops and backsplashes. After two hours in store #3, we made a decision. Then we got home after dinner last night and he wasn't so certain anymore.

We got engaged after two months of long distance dating. He made the decision to get down on one knee at our college apartment and give me his grandmothers ring after 9 years of friendship and 60 days of long distance dating. Give or take a few. Yet, he's waffling hourly about our damn backsplash and countertops. Omg.


We had our second air test this morning. Assuming this test comes back clean on Monday, we'll get to start actually rebuilding. Assuming we can agree on what's going back in there.

God help us next month we have to decide on hardwood floors.