What Did You Do Today?

[Lindsey]

I would love to meet everyone too, but I don't think I can really fit it in when our wedding is coming up next year. But I hope you all have fun!

[Janet]

Diana...you're so sweet and I love you, but please. If someone could set a date, keeping in mind that some of us just don't have a whole lot of extra money...it takes me a bit to save up, but I can do it. I want to meet you all so bad. I just can't sit by waiting on my Mother to pass on, so if I can do that date....I will certainly try my best to be there. The only thing that would keep me from getting there would be work, if Mom was taking a turn for the worse..etc. You know...health reasons for me or for Ricky.

I would definitely want as many as possible to be able to come.

[Tiramisu]

Janet, when do you go back to school after Christmas? Gayle, I think you're out until mid January. As for me, I need a date to work towards. A place would be nice, too.

I worked a nice quiet day. Delaney and I went to see the Monte Carlo movie. We were going to eat out but were so full on popcorn that we just stopped for her a dessert and me a margarita, after the bookstore for her to get a new book for her church camp road trip. Odds are she'll be finished before she goes home tomorrow afternoon.

[DianaB]

Today was so busy here.....it felt like Grand Central Station!!!

Dae Lynn went and picked up Damon (he's on work release to Glen to help with the farming) and he fixed omelets for breakfast for all of us. Glen's brother, Mark, came by and a friend from church brought back a saw that he had borrowed. Then Jaci came over to help me get my flower beds in shape (which turned out great). Since Jaci was here Kera and Daya came over to help and I had Karlie and Dean outside with us while Dae Lynn worked on laundry!!! Jaci and the girls all stayed for lunch and through the afternoon so we stayed pretty busy though the day as well!!! It seems like it's 9:00 p.m. before everything finally gets settled down......it's crazy!!! About the time I finally get the kitchen cleaned up then someone thinks it's time to eat again!!! Whew!!!!!

[gja1000]

I'm out over Christmas till about Jan. 20th. I'm thinking we should go some place like St. Louis. It's only about a 5-6 hour drive for Janet. Those of us in Texas could fly up for about $350 (fares today) or take the train up for about $200. I've ridden the train to St. Louis and you arrive about 7:30AM. The return trip leaves St. Louis at about 8:00PM, so it would be fine for a weekend or longer trip. The trip for Judy would be much longer, but then she lives soooo far northeast.

[gja1000]

OK, back to the real world. Brooke and Emma left yesterday evening about 7:30. It was so much fun having them here, but whew! what a whirlwind they are, especially Emma. She's so much fun though. She 4 1/2, she'll be five in November, so she won't go to kindergarten this year. Brooke has stayed home since she was born and being a school teacher, they have "school" everyday. Emma loves it and is learning so much. She's pretty smart!

We went out to eat Thursday evening and had a fun dinner at a local restaurant. The food was really good too! Mom was with us so it was nice to all be together.

Friday we got up and went out to eat at their favorite breakfast spot. Then we ran some errands, did a little shopping and came home for the afternoon. Brooke wanted to take a nap since she had to drive home to Houston later in the day. I got mom and brought her over to see Emma.

We fixed dinner here - a really easy meal. Soft chicken tacos. Brooke put a chicken breast and two thighs in the crock pot with a package of taco seasoning, covered them with water and we cooked it all day. The meat just fell apart and she shredded it. Then we just served it with tortillas, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, salsa, chips, sour cream, avacados, Mexican rice, and jalapeno cornbread we got at the deli. Everyone got to fix their own. It was a really easy dinner and everyone liked it.

After we cleaned up dinner, it was about time for Brooke and Emma to leave. Gary and I took mom home and then we looked for computer desks at Office Max and Office Depot. We found one that we really liked at Office Depot. We looked on Craigslist and the thrift stores a few days ago, but didn't find anything exactly like we wanted.

There is a computer desk and workspace in the corner of my kitchen. I considered taking it out before we moved in, but we had so many other things to do I just didn't want to bother with it. I like having the computer in the kitchen, but it makes it look cluttered. We are getting ready to replace our counter tops, so I decided to go ahead and have the corner office taken out. It's too big to move to the bedroom where office is located, so we will just sell it. So, that is why we are looking for a computer desk with some storage. There is lots of storage in this kitchen corner office, but I don't have too much in it - however, I do need a desk in the bedroom office with some storage and I think we may have found it.

We've got to decide on the tile for the backsplash and I think we have decided on the tile but now we need to compare some prices and get a bid on installation. That will probably take up most of today.

[judy]

Everybody has been busy, especially with family!

I went over to Jessie's at about 7:30 yesterday morning. Brandon had out patient surgery on his ear. He has an extra hole, which keeps getting infected. The doctor closed it up, and hopefully got the whole issue solved. He just had his tonsils out! He is getting to be quite a trooper!

Kassidy got sick fro9m the heat on Thursday, so I went there to take care of her until they came back from the surgery. She is not a little girl anymore!!! She is 9, and beginning to become a betwixt and between-er. We watched TV, played a board game, and just relaxed. She had not eaten the day before, so she ate all day!!!

Brandon got a new video game, so they went right upstairs to play with it! He is so sweet, I can hardly stand it! Mackenzie was still at camp, but I went home. I saw her in the morning before she left.

Jessie talked to me about wanting to get off of her pain medication. It is very strong, and she feels very sleepy when she is driving. It is also addictive, so she always has to be on top of her prescriptions, etc. I am only worried about what she could take as a replacement. The pain meds now are addictive in a different way. People crave more and more of things like oxycontin and vicodin, and get in way over their heads. Her medication doesn't have that side effect, but it is addictive physically.

I fell asleep, then went into the pool when I came home, and that was my day. My friend Deb called at 10:30 last night to see if I wanted to go back to the pool. I said no- my day was over. Truthfully, I am afraid of bears that late. We have seen bear poop at the pool, so I know they go there at night. Do you think they are swimming and frolicking in the pool?

It's another hot one, so back to the pool for me today. I bought some plants for deck, so I am going to plant them if it is cool later. I got some gardenias, and other deck box flowers, and two gorgeous coleus plants. I can bring the coleus in for the winter, so I love those!

[Tiramisu]

Let's work towards an early january meet up?! We're such busy bees.

Delaney and I slept in this morning, went to Denny's for brunch, half price books and then it was time for her to go home. She's so much like me that we don't talk much. We just buddy around and have fun. We understand each others weirdness.

Now I'm washing clothes and doing some organizing.

[DianaB]

Glen and I had an outside afternoon wedding!!!!! One of Jaci's best friends that I'm also close to got married. She's such a sweet girl but who in their right mind would have an outside wedding in the middle of the afternoon in July????? It was 103*!!! At least the wedding was short!!! We sat on haybales right in the sun!!! Then we went to a senior citizen's center for a supper and reception. They were also having a dance but we left right after supper because it was so hot even in the building. I hated missing the rest of it but I just couldn't take the heat......plus I kept looking at the cake and homemade mints and I was trying to tell myself that MAYBE I could just have a couple of bites......then it was three bites.......or maybe four!!!! Anyway....we left before I had to think about it much longer!!!! LOL

[Lindsey]

Yesterday Scott and I did some house cleaning and I went shopping for some food for the barbeque. We had 5 people show up, out of the 20 or more that were invited. Scott's best man showed up and brought 2 others. We had some drinks outside, ate on the deck, and then came inside to play some games. One of them had brought a game called Smart Ass, and it was pretty good... mostly because I kept winning.

They all left at 10:30! So on a weeknight, they'll stay until 1 am, but on a weekend, they leave early! I don't get it!

At least we got to sleep a little earlier. We're going into the city again today because Scott needs some work boots and we also need a wedding gift for a wedding next weekend. We may also be picking up 20 black vases I found used on a classifieds site. I thought they'd be perfect for centerpieces!

When we get home this afternoon, we have a woman coming out to meet Layla. She answered our ad online looking for someone to care for her. At first she thought she could drive out here daily (she's from the city) but then suggested maybe we could just take her in with us and leave her at her house. We'll see how it goes! She has 3 chihuahuas and 3 daughters, but I asked if Layla could be in a seperate room, and she said she'd probably keep her with her older male who is also very timid. Anyways, we'll meet her today and see how things go. We haven't had a chance to call her references yet. She was going to charge $15/day to come out here, but I think it will be cheaper leaving Layla at her house. We were trying to avoid driving with Layla, but in reality it might be for the best. I can't tell you how many days in the winter the weather turns around completely from the time we leave the house in the morning to the time we come home at night. Sometimes it's just not safe to drive, but we'd have to try it if we had Layla at home. If she's in the city already it would be easier to stay for the night if we need to!

[gja1000]

I've tried to write this twice and got interrupted both times. Then I hit the wrong button and lost all I'd written.

I had a really good time with brooke and Emma. We went out to eat, shopping, spent time gabbing and getting caught up and just lots of general fun stuff.

Yesterday Gary and I ran around and looked for office furniture, backsplash tile and a cook stove. I think we found everything we want and we bought a stove. It was hard to buy the stove because we need a slide in model and most stoves in the stores are free standing. There are lots of slide in models for sale online but I refuse to buy a stove I haven't seen. Only sears had slide in models in their store, so I bought one that was on sale. I really like it. I hope I like using it. It has both a conventional And convection oven. I don't really need the convection part, but I have a convection oven in my trailer and it really does cook well and faster. It will be nice in the summer heat to be able to cook something in the oven twice as fast. Basically I just don't cook in the oven now.

This morning we got up early and went to breakfast at cracker barrel. I had the lo fat yogurt parfait and it was good, but now I'm already hungry when we got home I washed down the trailer (outside) and when it cools off this evening, I'm going to put the cover on it. I've needed to do this for 2 months, but kept putting it off.
I'm going to get a pedicure later and Gary said he was going to get one too, we will see if he actually goes

[gja1000]

He not only went with me but he got a pedicure . He liked it but nearly jumped out of the chair when they used the sanding scrub thingy on the bottom of his feet. He is VERY ticklish! But he really enjoyed it. The shop owners are from Vietnam and Gary was there in 1968-9, so he visited with them about places in Vietnam. Well, as much as he could, given that he could barely understand them. But he had a good time.

[DianaB]

That's surprising that Gary got a pedicure!!!! There is NO way that Glen would ever get one!!!!

Sounds like your kitchen remodel is coming along.....I can't wait to see pictures when it's done!!!

Lindsey.....I hope you find just the right person to take care of Layla. I would just hate it if she ended up where someone didn't take good care of her. She's been through so very much and is so special. Good luck with this lady.

We went to church this morning and then went out to eat with our pastor and his wife. They are about our age and are fun to be around. We went to Alco and the grocery store for awhile before we came home........mostly because I just needed to get out for awhile!!!! Dae Lynn's been picking up groceries so I really haven't needed to go to town at all. We have church on Sunday evenings too but tonight we have a church meeting about buying some property near the church for expansion some day and we need to vote on it. Finances haven't been very good for the church lately so I'm not sure how I'm voting. Anyway.....after church we're having a get-together and are bringing snacky food. We're cutting up a watermelon.....yummmmm........but it's not on my diet.

[Lindsey]

This lady seems great! She had her youngest daughter with her, she's 4 years old, and she was respectful of Layla which was good to see. We tried expressing but she didn't get it very well, but she's ready to try again. She thinks Layla would get along great in her house. We're going to try going over there to see her place and see if Layla is okay with her dogs and everything. I really hope it works out because she is so nice and so in love with Layla already! She said she's been showing everyone her picture that I had with the ad!

She lives near my new workplace so we would still have to bring Layla in every day, and I would drop Scott off, then drop Layla off, then go to work.

I also just sent an email to my manager at my office to say I wanted to let her know before Monday morning, and it has been a very difficult decision but I decided to take a design position at another company. I said I just wanted to move my career in a different direction and that it has been very hard for me because I like the company and the people and it will be tough to say good-bye. I attached a PDF of my resignation, and told her I will take a signed copy to her office on Monday morning.

Now I'm drinking Bailey's on ice. I haven't heard back from her but I really want to know when she reads it. I am feeling sick about it The receptionist said people do this over email a lot, so I shouldn't feel bad about it. But honestly if I were to do it in person I would cry, so at least I am easing into it. I will talk to her about it in person tomorrow.

[gja1000]

Lindsay, I'm sorry, I didn't see your birthday party update, so I asked about it below. I'm glad that you all had a good time. Sometimes small celebrations are the best!