Did you know the popcorn bag has a warning in Chinese?

At least the Publix brand popcorn does. I was eating a bag of popcorn for dinner last night... for the fourth night in a row... and I noticed that there was a warning about the fact that the bag contained potentially hot contents in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. I can't say that I've ever noticed that before.

I know I promised to blog more this week... but I have barely had time to turn around. This is the first week in at least six weeks that I have been in the town where I live for the whole week. I will be gone again for the next two weeks, so I have been trying to be very productive this week. Every day after work I have headed over to my grandparents old house (where my brother currently lives) to do things around the house. He moves out in a few weeks so we eventually need to sell the house. I have been cleaning, straightening, replacing curtains... just generally trying to make things look better and move things along. Hopefully I will have some before and after pictures for you eventually.

I have worked until 10 or 11 every night with no break for dinner... so by the time I have gotten home I have been too tired to cook or stop to buy anything. Therefore I have eaten a bag of popcorn and a coke for dinner. What a healthy alternative!

Hopefully my eating habits will improve next week while I am in St. Louis. I hope everyone is having a good week and one that is slightly less busy than mine.

Weekend Reflections

I have not been very bloggy lately but I am going to try and do better this week. It has been a summer full of travel and this week was no different. I fortunately was able to spend the week in my hometown with my parents… so that made the travel not nearly as bad.

Sunday morning I was in the town where I live but on Sunday afternoon, Brun and I headed to my hometown. On Monday I had meetings for work in my hometown and then Tuesday through Thursday I was working in Selma for my fifth week. Only one more week to go… but that final week has been delayed for a couple of weeks. On Friday, I had meetings in my hometown. Friday afternoon was not what I originally planned and resulted in the first tow truck ride for Brun, mom and I.

The three of us eventually made it back to the town where I live. Saturday morning it was off to the Hallmark store for ornament premiere weekend… yes that’s right… Christmas ornaments. This is when Hallmark releases most of their ornaments and offers lots of incentives for you to come in and buy your ornaments early. My mom has always collected ornaments and now that I have my own house I collect them as well. We both bought an embarrassing number of ornaments. I love Christmas, so I don’t mind getting in the mood early.

After we finished up there we did a little more shopping and headed to my brother’s house (which is actually my grandparent’s old house). We picked bunches of blueberries and did a little work around the house. Eventually we are going to sell it so I am going to do some more work around there this week. Saturday night my parents headed back to my hometown with Brun in tow. I fly out to St. Louis next weekend for work… so I went ahead and sent him back with them. I am really going to miss him this week.

So this week I am thankful for a lot of things. I am thankful for good fortune related to the tow truck incident. I am thankful for the fact that I am nearly finished with my busy summer travel schedule. I am thankful for my parents… who not only take care of me but do such a great job taking care of my puppy.

I hope everyone else had a great week! For more Weekend Reflections, visit Judi at Mommy of Two.

Brun's First Tow Truck Ride

I haven't blogged much in the past couple of weeks... simply because there hasn't been much going on. Things have been busy... but just the typical work and travel routine I have been living this summer. Apparently I should never complain about the same old, same old because tonight I definitely have something to blog about.

This is my old car getting pulled onto the rollback this evening.

This is Brun who was scared to death of the rollback.

Let me back up for a minute and tell you how I got to this point. I have been working from my hometown and in Selma all week this week... and tonight, my mom, Brun and I were planning to head back to the town where I live. My dad headed up here yesterday and we were supposed to meet him this evening. I went to pick my mom up from work about 5:15 and a few minutes before I got to her office the car started making a terrible noise. Mom and two other folks from her work (Brooke and her boyfriend Charlie) were standing outside and apparently they could hear me coming.

The four of us (minus Brun... who was sitting in the back seat chillin out on my pillow) started investigating the problem. We checked lots of fluids and levels and eventually determined that it seemed to be very, very low on oil... so low it was reading empty on the gauge. Charlie was sweet enough to crawl under the car and potentially ruin his shirt in an attempt to see if anything looked unusual or loose. Dad had just changed the oil Thursday so we thought he might have forgotten to tighten things properly. It wasn't loose... and after several phone conversations with my extremely patient brother we decided that we needed to go get oil to add to the car.

Charlie and Brooke (who are 18 or 19 years old and certainly had better places to be on a Friday evening) were sweet enough to take me to the parts place while Mom and Brun waited outside for us.

When we got back we added several quarts of oil to the car but when we cranked it we realized oil was pouring out. After some more conversations with my brother, we decided to give up and call a tow truck. When I called the tow truck company that my mom's boss recommended, I asked if the dog could go with us. The dispatcher didn't know and said she would have to check. The answer to this question was a deal breaker... but she came back a couple of moments later and said "yes... but he will have to ride in the car." While that wasn't ideal I decided we could roll the windows down enough to get a breeze and he would be okay.

We finally got Brooke and Charlie to go on with their plans for the evening and we waited for the tow truck. It came very quickly and when Phillip our tow truck driver arrived Brun became a nervous wreck. Every noise the truck made scared him to death! He cowered behind me, pulled on his leash trying to get as far away as he could and even tried to jump in the garbage can. :-) As Phillip observed this behavior he told me that Brun could ride in the cab of the truck with us. I was so relieved to hear that.

Phillip got the car loaded up and the four of us (Phillip, Mom, Brun and I) all crowded into the cab for the ride back to my parents house. This ride was certainly a first for Brun and it was actually the first tow truck ride for mom and I as well.

So... all's well that end's well I suppose. We did finally make it back to the town where I live. We had to swap cars and were greatly delayed for our original ETA... but no real problem there.

While it is a bit early for Weekend Reflections... today I am thankful for a lot of things. I am thankful that Brooke and Charlie were so sweet and helpful. I am thankful it wasn't raining or dark when this happened. I am thankful that we discovered the problem in a parking lot as opposed to on the side of the road with no cell phone coverage. I am thankful that I have another car to drive to work next week and I am thankful that the nice tow truck driver allowed Brun to ride in the cab of the tow truck.

Wordless Wednesday: Have a happy and restful 4th of July!

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more WW participants!

When I grow up...

Leslie tagged me for this meme earlier today. The question is: If you had the opportunity to do a 1-year internship in a company or field completely unrelated to your current career or specialty, what would be your top 5 choices?

1. A PR Representative for a NASCAR team - for several years I have always thought that this would be one of the coolest job in the world

2. A singer on Broadway

3. A photographer for a travel magazine - I have always said that if I had all of the money in the world and could do whatever I wanted I would sing or take pictures...

4. An intern for Southern Living magazine focusing in decorating... not because I have these skills but because I need them

5. Intern for Anderson Cooper 360. I'm not sure I would want to go to some of the dangerous places that Anderson goes but working on the show would be awesome!

And as Leslie said, we really need to open a doggie day care one day so we can quit our other jobs and play with doggies all day!

I am not going to tag anyone else for this one but let me know if you play along so that I can read your job choices.

Weekend Reflections

Well it’s been another good… and of course busy week. Last Sunday was Father’s Day. I was blessed with a wonderful father who puts up with my whining, and who along with my mom always gets to see my worst side. We have had a lot of great memories over the years and I am very lucky to have a father who loves me so much… despite all of my faults. My parents were in the town where I live on Sunday and so we went to church and then out to lunch. Mom left to go back home Sunday afternoon and Dad stayed until Monday.

On Monday, it was a typical work day and then my dad and I headed back to my hometown. On Tuesday, I was back in Selma for Week #3 of my work in Selma. On Tuesday evening we also went out for my mom’s birthday. Her birthday wasn't until Thursday but since I was in town we celebrated on Tuesday night. We went to a great local seafood place and ate some awesome shrimp.

I mentioned that I have a wonderful dad… well I also have a wonderful mom. I know we may all but heads from time to time, but I love them both so much and I am very lucky to have them as a continuing part of my life. For my mom’s birthday, my brother and I went together and got her a Scooba. Like the Roomba, it is a floor cleaning robot… but this one mops for you. She was very excited about her gift.

Thursday I finished Week #3 in Selma (halfway… yea!!) and headed back to the town where I live. I left Brun at my parent’s house and even though I miss him a lot, I know he is having a great time hanging out in the country with their dogs.

Thursday night I tried to catch up a little around the house and then Friday it was back to work. I made an eye appointment for Friday afternoon because (a) I am out of contacts and (b) by making an appointment on Friday afternoon I forced myself to leave work early. The eye appointment went fine and then I came home, took a nap and hung out at home Friday night.

Saturday I didn't set the alarm and since Brun wasn't home I got to sleep as late as I wanted. I still got up by 9 or so but it was nice to be able to sleep in. Saturday was filled with laundry and cleaning and errand running.

This week I am very thankful for my wonderful parents who love me, put up with me and are two of my best friends. I am also thankful that I am halfway done with my trips to Selma. Finally, I am thankful that Brun can hang out with his grandparents and “cousin dogs” while I am busy traveling for work.

I hope you all had wonderful weeks! For more Weekend Reflections, be sure to visit Judi.

Photo Hunters: Shiny

This is a picture I took two summers ago at the Oshkosh EAA AirVenture event in Wisconsin. I have no idea who's plane this is... I just thought it was a cool shot.

For one week each summer, this airport that most of you have probably never heard of in Central Wisconsin becomes the world's busiest airport. There are hundreds of thousands of people there and thousands and thousands of small airplanes that people fly in to the event.

My dad and I went in 2005 and 2006. Unfortunately, my work schedule will not allow me to go this year but there's always next year.

For more photo hunters participants, click here.

Brun and the Roomba

So I mentioned last week that I wasn't sure how Brun would react to the Roomba. I ran it over the weekend and it all seemed to go fairly well. I didn't get any pictures but he watched it very closely as it moved across the room. He didn't hide on the other side of the house but he wasn't quite sure what to think about it. Hopefully he will get more comfortable with it as I continue to use it.

I am on the road again until Thursday but I am sure that I will get a chance to try it out again when I get home.

Weekend Reflections

Well it's been another busy week on the road.

Last Sunday was a good day. Our small group at church had a bible class after church Sunday night at one of the member's homes. It was a good class... very thought provoking.

Monday was a typical Monday in the office trying to get ready to be on the road for most of the week. Monday night I headed for my hometown in preparation for my three days in Selma (Tuesday through Thursday). Brun had stayed with my parents last weekend so I was very happy to see him when I got to their house.

Tuesday was Day 1 in Selma... nothing too exciting there. Wednesday morning I had a meeting back in my hometown so I was a bit delayed getting to Selma. That was okay with me that meant that I didn't have to stand outside all Wednesday morning. Thursday finished up Week 2 in Selma (1/3 complete) and I headed back to the town where I live with Brun in tow.

On Friday I was back in the office trying to catch up from being gone. Friday afternoon my parents came into town for the weekend. Even though I had seen them for most of the week I am always happy to see them. Friday night we went out to Logan's with Leslie, ToolMan and CRB. Friday night I had to give Brun a bath. He has a lot of fun at my parents house but he comes back FILTHY! I should have washed him on Thursday but I was too tired to worry about it.

Saturday was my "catch up" day. I took Brun to the vet to have his nails cut. That sounds rather girly but he spends enough time inside that I take him to the vet to have them trimmed fairly regularly. After that I started running errands including purchasing a Father's Day card and present and looking for a new purse. Leslie met me at one of the malls and that is when we found our FitFlops.

I spent most of the afternoon running errands and then came home for a late afternoon nap. I must have been pretty tired because when my parents called at 8:15 to see what I wanted to eat for dinner they woke me up and I wasn't sure if it was morning or night. :-) They brought home some dinner and we watched some TV. Saturday and Sunday was the 24 Hours of LeMans Sports Car race so I stayed up way too late last night watching that.

So I guess my week was pretty boring. I am thankful for the fact that I have completed two weeks in Selma (only four more to go). I am thankful that I am able to squeeze in a much needed nap from time to time. I am thankful for my parents who let me stay with them when I am on the road for work, who take care of my dog while I am traveling and who still take care of me.

I hope everyone had a great week! Be sure to visit Judi for more Weekend Reflections.

FitFlops!!!

So today Leslie and I were out shopping at our local mall. We wandered in Bath and Body Works looking for this bag that we thought they might have on sale. As we walked towards the back of the store I might have screamed (or at least gasped) when I saw these!

In my Photo Hunters from last week I mentioned these shoes but at the time I didn't think that any store in my area carried them. I was totally shocked when they actually had them and they actually had them in my size!!

Of course Leslie and I had to buy them. They were only $40... $5 less than most places online. It is more than I usually spend on flip flops but if it's foot wear and a work out all in one you can't beat that. :-) Check out their website if you want to read more about them.

I plan on wearing them this week while I am teaching class so hopefully I will have nice, skinny legs in one week or less. :-)

Photo Hunters: Hair

Brun's hair has made quite the evolution over his one and a half years of life. Here is his hair on the day I brought him home:

Here is his hair at one year:
Here is his hair today (and no his eyes don't really look like that):

His hair today doesn't look all that different from his hair at one year old but it does have more light colored, softer hair in it. For more Photo Hunters participants, visit TN Chick.

Time Travel Tuesday: Vacation Memories

Over at Annie's site we are traveling back to our favorite vacation memories. A lot of others seem to be traveling back to several vacations so I thought I would do the same. Unfortunately I am traveling again this week and so I do not have access to any pictures from any of these vacations. So imagine with me if you can...

*When we were younger my family used to go camping at the beach over Columbus Day weekend. We didn't camp ON the beach but we would camp at the state park near the beach. I still love camping and so I remember that being a lot of fun. The weather in October was cool and I much prefer going to the beach that time of year. We didn't really "rough it" too much... I remember one time taking a lamp, TV and Nintendo. :-)

*When I was growing up my dad had a trip in Washington DC every January. My mom, brother and I went with him twice on these trips and to this day Washington DC is still one of my favorite cities to visit. There is so much to see with all of the museums and historical locations.

*My first plane trip was to New York City the summer of 1996 after my Junior year in high school. I went with a bunch of people from school to see plays and tour all the typical New York sites. We even went to appear on the Today Show. That year we got to see Beauty and the Beast and Moon Over Buffalo (with Carol Burnett). I went back to NYC the next year on the same trip. That year my whole family went and we saw my all time favorite musical Jekyll & Hyde. I know we saw two other shows but at the moment I can't remember what they were.

*Probably my most memorable and favorite vacation was our family trip to Australia in the Spring of 2005. We spent a week in Brisbane where my brother's girlfriend was studying abroad for the semester. During that week we toured a rain forest, visited the Steve Irwin zoo and snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. During the second week of our trip we flew to Sydney. It is an amazing city with so much to see and do.

*Another favorite vacation is the yearly trip that my dad and I take to Road Atlanta for the American LeMans sports car race in September or October. We camp out for a week and have a great time. I usually come back more relaxed and rested after that trip than anything else I do all year. We started this in 2001 and we try to get over there every fall.

Well thanks for indulging in my trip down memory lane to some of my favorite vacation spots. There are so many more great trips that I could talk about but for now I will spare you. :-)

For more vacation memories, be sure to visit Annie's site.

Roomba's First Run

This is my new "friend" the Roomba Discovery. If you remember my Weekend Reflection post from a couple of weeks ago, I bought him on in the most recent Woot Off. Given how much I have been gone from home, I finally got the chance to run him last Saturday. I thought I should be home the first time it ran just to see how it worked. It was actually faster and quieter than I thought it would be.

It ran into no major problems and it returned to it's base to charge itself when it was full or when the battery was low... whichever came first. It doesn't have a terribly large bin for the stuff it picks up but I was still thoroughly impressed! So impressed that I did not feel compelled to run my Dyson to pick up any remaining dirt when it finished its run. I am not a big fan of cleaning but vacuuming is one task that I don't hate.

However, I don't have time to vacuum as often as I would like and I think that the Roomba is going to be the perfect solution! All I have to do is hit one button and it will run while I am out and about. It even gets under things like the Love Seat that I can't easily get under with the Dyson.

I left it running Sunday morning while I was at church and it got caught on a bad spot on the carpet. That wasn't the Roomba's fault and it just waited for me to come home and attend to it. I tried again Sunday night while I was at church and it ran with no trouble. It was safely resting on it's base waiting for it's next adventure.

I love gadgets so this one is right up my alley. It helps keep the house cleaner and it requires little work on my part. It's really cute too. :-) It plays a little song when it starts and it has a little rotating brush that helps it to know when it has run into a wall or a piece of furniture. Now I just have to come up with a name for it... any ideas?

I'm also not sure how Brun is going to react to it. He is terrified of the Dyson and goes to the opposite side of the house and hides. This one can "chase" him around the house so my guess is that he will hate it. I may have to limit its run to times when Brun is outside. I'll report on that next time I run it when he is around.

Weekend Reflections

Well it has been another busy week (I feel like I say that every week). Last Sunday my parents were in town and so it was good to have them here. We went to church and I napped all afternoon. I try not to nap all afternoon on Sunday's but some days it just works out that way. Then after my nap it was back to church. We had singing last Sunday night. I love to sing and so I enjoyed that.

On Monday it was a fairly typical day at work filled with lots of meetings (as most Monday's usually are) and preparing for the rest of the week. On Monday night it was off to my hometown with Brun in tow.

On Tuesday my summer of travel for work really got kicked off. I have been dreading it but the sooner it starts the sooner it will be over... right? On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week I had to work in Selma, Alabama. During those three days I am helping to train and deploy law enforcement officers on a computer program. It's a cool computer program but working with them for three days straight and spending time outside for half a day on Wednesday and half a day on Thursday in the near 100 degree heat is completely exhausting work. This was week one... I have five more weeks of it. So from now until mid July (except for the week of the fourth of July) I will be spending more time in Selma than in my office.

The good part of my time in Selma is that I do get to spend time with my parents in my hometown. I have opted to stay with them since they live close enough to Selma that I would rather drive back and forth every day as opposed to stay in a hotel. If you remember, I HATE hotels.

On Tuesday night I went to Amberly's with my mom and dad to "help" with the sewing project. I don't really know how to sew so I was much more useful playing with Amberly's girls than trying to help with the sewing. And I honestly probably enjoyed hanging out with them as opposed to trying to be useful on the sewing front. :-)

Thursday night I came back to the town where I live and accomplished absolutely nothing. I was so exhausted that I just sat/layed on my couch and watched TV. On Friday I went back to the office and tried to catch up from being out of the office for three days. I had to stay until 7 pm trying to get stuff done.

However, Friday night and Saturday were just for me. I cooked dinner Friday night and tried to catch up a little bit around the house. Saturday I worked on a number of different projects (including cleaning my messy house), watched a lot of racing, wore my pajamas all day and honestly never left the house. It was wonderful. :-)

So this week I am thankful that one week of my travel to Selma (16.67%) is over. I am thankful that my house is relatively clean and will hopefully stay that way while I am out of town this week. I am thankful that I had Friday night and Saturday to "catch up" on sleep and on projects for me.

I hope everyone had a great week. For more Weekend Reflections participants, visit Judi at Mommy of Two.

Photo Hunters: Shoes

I hate shoes... possibly because I wear a size 10.5 and have a lot of trouble finding shoes. But given that I still have to wear shoes (most days) these are my favorite shoes. If I could wear flip flops every day, all year long I would be just fine with that.

I just read about these shoes this morning... I think I might have to order me some. :-)

For more photo hunters, go here.

Wordless Wednesday: Silly Glasses

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom or the Wordless Wednesday hub.

Weekend Reflections

Well it's been another busy week. Sunday was a good day filled with church and lots of race watching. I was very happy with the outcome of the IRL and NASCAR race so it was a nice day.

Monday was a holiday for most of this country but for some reason the institution where I work does not recognize it has a holiday. I find that very tacky and really quite disrespectful. A number of people from my office did take off but those of us who were in the office were probably not as productive as we should be... we were all a bit miffed at the fact that we were working on Memorial Day.

Tuesday was another work day but I don't remember anything all that spectacular or memorable. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at midnight the fun began... it was time for another Woot Off!!! Some of you might remember me talking about the Woot monkeys I got at the last Woot Off. The Woot off started at midnight and when they start you have no idea how long it is going to last... they last at least 24 hours and can go for 72 hours. Well this one turned into a 72 hour marathon and I spent way way WAY too much time constantly watching Woot. I did buy a few very exciting things but given the amount of time that I wasted watching Woot I really did not buy that much.

I did buy a roomba for floor vacumming. It was a great deal and it actually arrived yesterday. I haven't used it yet but I hope to use it later tonight. I also got an emergency car kit with things like jumper cables, flashlight, air compressor, etc. It was $13 and places like Kohl's have them for about $60... so I thought that was a good deal. I also kind of accidentally ordered a portable heater for my car. I didn't know it was for your car and I had to jump on the offer before they ran out... but I'm not quite sure what I will do with that. It was only like $8. I also bought a DVD player that you can mount under your counter or use as a portable DVD player. I probably really didn't need that but it was a great deal and I wanted it... so I bought it. When the Woot Off FINALLY ended on Friday night they didn't have Woot monkeys... this time they had a Woot T-shirt. So I of course had to get one of those.

The Woot Off was fun but the novelty wore off sometime in Day 2 and I was glad to see it end. I stayed up way too late every night watching for what the new item was going to be. I was happy with the stuff that I was able to buy for a good price but there were several other things I would have liked to have gotten that they didn't have... oh well.

Saturday was a busy, busy day. I got up early to run some errands and to finish monogramming some towels for a Wedding Shower present. Around 10:30 (after I finished the present and got it wrapped) I made it to the Wedding Shower. The towels were a big hit so that was nice. After the shower I went to work for a little while to finish some stuff up that I didn't finish during the week due to my excessive Woot watching :-). Then I met my parents for lunch and headed over to the house where my brother lives to help do things around the house.

We are still working on trying to get it ready to sell but we hopefully helped with the curb appeal yesterday. I pulled vines and weeds that were the size of small trees for several hours. Some of the vines were evil with extremely painful thorns. I was not dressed appropriately (I was wearing shorts and a tank top) so I look like I got in a fight with a pack of cats... my legs and arms are all scratched up. But, the two areas we worked on looked SO much better after we finished with them... so it was worth it. We pulled enough out that we made a pile on the street that was as big as my SUV!!!

So this week I am thankful for the Woot off and the cool new things I was able to purchase... I am thankful that the Woot off is over... I am thankful that we were able to make some progress at my brother's house yesterday and I am thankful that I did not have to travel this week.

I hope everyone else had a great week! For more Weekend Reflections, visit Judi at Mommy of Two.

Happy Race Day

I mentioned in my Weekend Reflections that I planned to park myself in front of the TV and watch racing all day. Well I pretty much did just that. Given that church and a brief nap were also a part of the day, I am just finishing up with some of my race watching.

Now I am the first to admit that it doesn't take much to make me happy but tonight I am very happy. I have actually met both the Indy 500 winner and the Coke 600 winner!

I know most of you couldn't care less :-) but Dario Franchitti won the rain delayed Indy 500 this afternoon. (And for those that don't care about racing... he is also married to actress Ashley Judd.) I actually got a chance to meet him at the Osh Kosh air show last summer and again at the Sebring race this past Spring. Here is a picture with him from Osh Kosh last year (we were under a yellow Klein tools tent so that's why we both look rather yellow).



And then Casey Mears won the Coca-Cola 600 tonight. I met him at an autograph session at Talladega a few years ago. I was by myself so I don't have a picture with him but here is a picture of him.



When I watched the end of the Coke 600, I was bouncing around the house clapping and acting goofy which only caused Brun to run around and act silly so now we are both out of breath.

Okay well I was just happy so I wanted to share... now it's off to bed.

Weekend Reflections

It has been another crazy busy week filled with lots of travel. Last weekend I went to my hometown and attended a baby shower on Sunday afternoon. The baby shower was so nice and the couple got lots of cute things for their baby. While I enjoyed the shower I missed getting my Sunday afternoon nap. :-)

After church Sunday night it was back to the town where I live. I was so tired I came home and went almost directly to bed. Monday was a normal day of work and then it was back to my hometown. On Tuesday I had to work in my hometown and then drive back to the town where I live. On Wednesday it was work back in the town where I live and then right back to my hometown again. Thursday morning was a meeting for work in my hometown and then it was back to the town where I live.

So given that each trip is about 2.5 hours each way... I was in the car 12.5 hours. YUCK!!

Thursday night after I got back to the town where I live Brun had a bath. He had been at my parent’s house all week and even though he had a great time he was filthy!! He loves spending time with my parents and his “cousin dogs” but he comes back quite nasty.

On Friday I had a normal day of work in the town where I live. My dad rode with me back to the town where I live on Thursday afternoon and then my mom came into town Friday night. Friday night we ate at my house and did some stuff around the house.

On Saturday Leslie and I hung out and she and Classic Rock Baby came over and we worked on some sewing projects. I am so amazed at how great Brun is with the baby. He can be an absolute looney toon when we are playing but he is so sweet to the baby… he lets him pet him and squeal at him and he just plays along. Saturday night, my parents and I went to dinner with Leslie, ToolMan and CRB.

The week was filled with lots and lots of travel but it all went well. So I would say my week was pretty tiring and the weekend was definitely the high point. This week I am thankful that I had safe travels in all of my driving. I am also thankful for my family and friends who I spent time with during the week. And I am thankful that I do not have to do any travel next week.

Finally, I am thankful for the fact that this coming Sunday is race day. Being a big racing fan I can start my day with the F1 race, watch the Indy 500 after church Sunday afternoon and then finally finish up the day with the Coca-Cola 600 after church Sunday night. I will be very tired of watching cars drive around in circles (or on road courses in the case of the F1 race) by the end of the day Sunday but I love it. :-)

For more Weekend Reflections, visit Judi.

Photo Hunters: Colorful

This picture was taken out at the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago. The picture doesn't fully capture the amazing colors I saw that day... it was absolutely breathtaking.

The Meme About Me

So Leslie tagged me for The Meme About Me.

What were you doing 10 years ago? May 1997: I graduated high school on May 19, 1997 and a couple of days later I headed to Disney World with some friends from church. As soon as I got back from that trip I went to Wrightsville Beach, NC with my family.

What were you doing 1 year ago? May 2006: I was on a cruise to Alaska with my parents and about 20 other people that we knew from church. One year ago tonight I was texting Leslie from Alaska to find out who won American Idol.

Five snacks you enjoy: nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pretty much all of them), Double Stuff Oreos, M&Ms, popcorn, cokes (I know this is a drink but I tend to make it a snack)

Five songs that you know all the lyrics: "If I Had $1,000,000" - Barenaked Ladies, "Old Blue Chair" - Kenny Chesney, "Someone Like You" - Jekyll & Hyde, "California Girls" (and pretty much every other Beach Boys song), "We Are in Love" - Harry Connick Jr.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire: buy my dream house (or at least a bigger house), start a doggie day care where Leslie and I could work so we could ditch our current jobs, figure out something to buy for my parents... maybe an RV so they could travel, take my family and friends on a big trip, donate the rest to organizations doing good things for animals

Five bad habits: Not answering personal e-mails, not listening for comprehension when other people are talking to me, checking my e-mail too much on my pda, staying up watching tv when I am already tired, not using my elliptical trainer as much as I should

Five things you like doing: spending time with Brun being lazy around the house, watching Nascar, embroidering with my new embroidery machine, whatever other craft project is my latest craze, napping on Sunday afternoon

Five things you would never wear again: I have learned to never say never but I will say probably my prom dress (although I wore it not that long ago), my cap and gown, pantyhose (I think I have managed to not wear these for over a year... so maybe I can keep it up), blue eye shadow, high waisted pants

Five favorite toys: my embroidery machine, my Tivo (even the fake DVR TiVo wanna be), my flat screen HDTV, my cameras, my phones

This was harder than I thought!

I'm not going to tag anyone else but let me know if you play along so I can read the answers.

Time Travel Tuesday: My First Blog Post

Well I did not participate in Time Travel Tuesday last week... I might have to revisit age 18 another day but for this week I am going to get my act together and participate. This week we are supposed to revisit our first blog post. Well for me that really wasn't that long ago... only March 22 of this year. But in case you missed it the first time or just want to read it again, here it is:

Welcome to my blog

Who needs a blog? Apparently I do. Seems like everyone I know has a blog so I figured I should have one too. I don't have any kids to blog about and my life is not all that interesting, but I do have a miniature labradoodle named Brun. He's a great dog who used to be brown... hence his name (which means brown in French). He is now more of a silver color but he won't answer to Stirling... so we still call him Brun.

Brun came from St. Louis and weighs about 45 pounds. Some would argue that 45 pounds is not miniature but he's just right for me. He is a little over a year old and he's a lot of fun. For those of you who don't know what a labradoodle is, it's a mix between a Labrador retriever and a poodle.

So sit back and enjoy this blog. There will be lots of tidbits and anecdotes about Brun and about my life in general. I can't say that it will be interesting or riveting but if you have read this far hopefully it will keep your interest for at least a little while.

So why did I start a blog? Well I had been reading Amberly and Lauren's blogs on a daily basis and I was talking to Leslie on the phone one day and we just decided we needed blogs. Some days I'm not sure that my life is interesting enough to blog about but I have enjoyed it so far... even in weeks like this past week when I have been pretty blog lazy. So given my enjoyment level so far, I hope I keep it up for a long time.

For other time travelers, visit Annie's site.

I'm still here

I have become a lazy blogger over the past couple of weeks. In fact this weekend when I saw Amberly, she said with a smile "You have been slacking on your blog." I know she's right but I'm not sure why I've been such a slacker. Things haven't been that much busier than normal... I guess there just hasn't been that much interesting going on.

I will try to do better this week. Tonight I am back in my hometown for work tomorrow and then I will be back again Wednesday night for work on Thursday... so it's going to be a week on the road. That doesn't typically make for interesting blogging but I'll try to do better. :-)

Just wanted to let you all know that I was still alive. Now it's off to watch the end of "The Bachelor." Why do I watch these completely mindless reality TV shows?? :-) Talk to you soon!

Weekend Reflections

Well I am once again very late with my Weekend Reflections but I think it is a beneficial thing to reflect on the week that was and so I am going to go ahead and take a shot at it.

The first of last week was fairly routine with work on Monday and work half a day on Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon I was headed to Atlanta for work. More often than not I dread trips for work that force me to stay in a hotel... but I was actually looking forward to this one. I love Atlanta and while I don't think I would ever want to live there, I do enjoy visiting and it had been a long time since I have been over there.

Because of the way my schedule worked out I traveled alone and met up with some people from work when I got to Atlanta. Call me crazy but I actually prefer to travel alone. I can listen to what I want on the radio, talk on the phone to whoever I want and stop (or not stop) whenever I want... and best of all I don't have to worry about awkward silences between me and whoever else is in the car. :-)

So I arrived safely in Atlanta Tuesday evening and met up with several folks for a wonderful steak dinner at a local restaurant called Houston's. Wednesday was filled with relatively boring meetings but overall they weren't too terrible. By the time Wednesday night rolled around everyone else from my group had headed back home and so I was left in the city by myself. My hotel was in the downtown Buckhead area and so I walked next door to the mall and shopped around a little bit before time for church. I had not been to church in Atlanta in about two and a half years but it was good to see some old friends while I was there. One of them got married and had a baby since the last time I saw him... which was a huge surprise but an exciting one.

After church I made my way to the Cheesecake Factory (one of my absolute favorites) where I enjoyed my sandwich but was disappointed to find out that they were out of the dessert that I love so much. I don't eat cheesecake at all but they have a brownie and ice cream dessert that is wonderful! Since they were out of that I passed and went back to my hotel. Oh well... I didn't need the extra calories anyways.

On Thursday I did not have to be at the meeting until after lunch so I slept in and piddled around the hotel room until lunch time. After my meeting was over I headed back for home. On Thursday night I met my parents and aunt and uncle in Birmingham for a Collector's Club meeting. This is a monthly meeting for Hallmark ornament collectors. I am the youngest member of the club but it's fun to go and they have cool door prizes. On Thursday night my mom, aunt and uncle presented the meeting on their collections... not of Hallmark ornaments but other things. My mom and my uncle both collect old watches so they had a beautiful collection on display for everyone to see. My uncle also collects old wood planes... which are used to shape wood... and so he brought a bunch of those.

After the Collector's Club meeting I finally got back home to my wondeful dog Brun. He was very happy to see me and I was very happy to see him. My roommate is so sweet to take care of him but I still miss him and worry about him while I am gone. My parents also came back to my house for an extended weekend to do some things around the house where my brother lives.

Friday was possibly the least productive day I have ever had at work. :-) I had been out of town for two and a half days so it felt like everyone wanted to visit and catch me up on what I had missed. A lot of it was work discussion but not a lot of real work got done... oh well. Friday night I worked on some sewing projects and ate dinner at home with my parents.

On Saturday morning I didn't accomplish much. Saturday afternoon I went to my brother's house for a very brief time to help my parents do some things around the house and then it was time to head to the wedding.

So it was another busy week but a good one. This week I am thankful for exciting big cities like Atlanta (that I can visit but don't have to live in), old friends who I can catch up with from time to time and for happy couples like Bryan and Haley who find each other.

For more Weekend Reflections, visit Judi at Mommy of Two.

Wedding Bells

No they most definitely were not my own wedding bells... but tonight it was time for a wedding. I have to start by saying that I really don't like weddings. I certainly support the institution of marriage, but the idea of big, fancy weddings is just not my thing. I mean no offense to those of you had that had a big, fancy wedding but they just aren't for me. I tell my friends quite often that if they will just elope I will buy them a nicer present because I don't have to worry about going to the wedding. No one has taken me up on it yet. :-)

But as the calendar turns to May it was time for the first wedding of the summer. I do have to say that this is the first wedding in a long time that I wasn't completely dreading attending. The wedding was for one of my brother's best friends. My brother, Wren, and Bryan, the groom, have been best friends since they were little boys... probably 20 years or more.

Bryan's father is a pilot and so they moved around fairly often, but his career path brought them to my hometown several times when we were growing up... and most of our younger years were spent living in the same town and going to the same church. Our families were (and still are) good friends but Wren and Bryan have done a better job keeping in touch than the rest of us have.

There is no way to describe the relationship that Wren and Bryan have other than total love for each other. I have so many great memories growing up that involve Bryan as he and Wren spent many, many days together. I remember the days when Wren and Bryan were about six years old and Bryan didn't talk (at least not around my family) and Wren had to talk for him... I remember spending time at the various houses that they lived in in my hometown... I remember helping them pack and unpack as they moved around... and I remember when Wren and Bryan roomed together their first semester in college.

Bryan and his family have held... and always will hold a special place in my heart. And so tonight I wasn't dreading the wedding. Bryan found a very special girl named Haley and I am sure that they are going to be happy together.

Earlier today I found this picture (Bryan is on the left and Wren is on the right):


And later tonight I took this picture (Wren is on the left and Bryan is on the right):

In some ways it is as if no time has passed between the two pictures... but alas, 20 years have flown by. And while Wren and Bryan will still love each other as only best friends can... Bryan has found Haley and has chosen to love her and devote his life to her. I wish them only the best as they begin their life together.

Photo Hunters: Five

Here is a picture of five of Brun's favorite toys. This was not an easy picture to take by the way... when I started moving the toys around Brun wanted to play with all of them.


Number 1 is Pink Dog. Pink Dog was his first toy and it is probably his favorite. Leslie brought him over to the house on the night that I brought Brun home. Pink Dog is currently in the dog toy hospital as Brun has ripped his head open... but he has been repaired once and he will be repaired again.

Number 2 is Eggplant. Eggplant has been repaired numerous times and is now missing his arms and his "stem." I love eggplant because instead of the normal high pitched squeak that most dog toys make, eggplant makes a grunting noise.

Number 3 is Purple Elephant. This is a fluffy favorite that came from Wal-Mart I believe.

Number 4 is Froggie. Froggie is technically a beanie baby toy for dogs and he is a favorite around our house.

Number 5 is Green Bear. Green Bear was another gift from Leslie in Brun's Easter Basket last year. You can tell from his dingy color that he is well loved.


Brun has bunches and bunches of toys... more than any dog could ever need but these are his five favorites.

For more Photo Hunters, click here.

Time Travel Tuesday: 16

I am once again late in this post but I want to play anyways. :-) I was 16 in 1995. It was the second half of my sophomore year and the first half of my junior year of high school. I am out of town at the moment so I can't go flip through pictures or my yearbooks from 1995 to refresh my memory... so I may be a little short on details of that year.

Unlike most of you, I didn't want to drive when I turned 16 and I actually didn't get my driver's license until after I turned 17. This was not because my parents didn't want me to drive... but because I didn't want to drive. I had known of a couple of people killed in car crashes... and that scared me... but more than that, I really didn't mind having people drive me around. My parents lived about 30 minutes away from school (and everything else) so if I didn't have to drive myself to school I could get in a quick nap on the way. :-) Lazy I know but it worked out for me. I now drive all the time for my job and for my own personal travel so I don't regret the fact that I postponed it a year.

In 10th grade I was in the high school spring musical for the third year in a row. This year it was West Side Story. The guy who played Tony could not sing and it was not the best production ever done. We had a senior that showed up to play practice drunk... bad move on his part... he got kicked out of school just before graduation. I also had a solo in the play... which was exciting and terrifying all at the same time. We performed the play outside on the lawn of the school and the stage was only slightly higher than the ground. Well on the first night of the show a little kid took off across the stage in the middle of my solo. Everyone in the audience started laughing... fortunately I knew what was happening so I knew they weren't laughing at me but I had trouble not laughing myself. From what I remember I was pretty successful at that.

In 10th grade I took my first AP class... AP European History taught my Mr. Rudd. Not my favorite class in the world but I got college credit for it so I can't complain. I also had Biology with Miss McConnell who will always be one of my favorite teachers of all time. I did enjoy the dissecting part of this class however.

I think that 10th grade was my last year in Chorus... I know I was on the Science Olympiad team (one of my favorite activities) and several other things that escape me at the moment.

During the second half of 1995 I was in 11th grade. I was on the Newspaper staff and took classes like American history and Chemistry. I can sing but I cannot act... but they still gave me a part in the high school fall play that year.

I can't think of anything else too memorable about 1995 but here were some of the top movies:

Toy Story - As was (and still is) our family tradition we saw this on Thanksgiving night in the theatre. I still love this movie.
Batman Forever
GoldenEye
Jumanji - I hated this movie.
Crimson Tide

For more Time Travel Tuesday participants, visit Annie's site.

Woot Monkey Video

Some of you have asked "What is a Woot Monkey??" Well I don't have a good way to take a video and I don't really know how to post one so I borrowed this one from YouTube. Mine has a black cape but other than that it looks and works just like this one. You basically pull it's rubber band arms to stretch it out and then let it go.

Yes the scream is really that annoying so I'm sure that none of you want your children to have one. :-) They really have no point... they are just a collector's item from the Woot website that show up at the end of a Woot Off. They sold 10,000 of them in two minutes last week so they are pretty hard to get. Yes I realize some of you are still saying "Why would you want one?" But I wanted one so I now have three. :-)

Weekend Reflections

Well it has been another good and busy week. I was in town most of the week so I would say this week was a little less busy than usual.

Last Sunday was spent at church and then at a picnic with our small group from church. This is a program started within our congregation to help us get together in smaller groups in order to get to know each other better and encourage each other to participate in activities. After the picnic I came home and watched the Talladega NASCAR race. As a big NASCAR fan I was a little sad not to be a few hours away at the race but I was also quite happy to be watching it from my couch and not fighting the traffic, crowds and heat.

Monday and Tuesday were your typical work days with normal evening activities. On Wednesday I got a haircut. It really needed it so I was happy to get that taken care of. My hair grows pretty slow so I usually go three or four months between haircuts. Haircuts are stressful to me so I am glad that I don't have to have them any more often than I do.

Thursday was my last day of work for the week... yea!! Thursday right after work I headed to my hometown for a class I was taking on Friday. When I got to my hometown Thursday evening I was able to attend a singing that my parent's congregation was having in one of the member's home. I like the church in the town where I live but I LOVE the congregation where my parents attend. I could go on for hours about why I like my parent's congregation but for now I will just say that I was very happy to be able to gather with some of the folks from their congregation and sing praises to God. Unfortunately, Amberly and her family weren't able to be there because of the "crud" she had late this week.

On Friday I was able to take a class on using my new sewing machine. I will write more on my new machine next week so for now you will have to be in suspense. :-) The class was very informative and I learned a lot. After class my dad, Brun and I headed back to the town where I live. My mom joined us in my town after she got off of work and we were all able to go out to dinner. After that I spent some time using my new sewing machine.

Then this morning the doorbell rang at 7:58 AM. Because my parents were in town, I was sleeping on the couch. You can't really see the couch from the front door so I opted to continue to lay on the couch and ignore the doorbell. I was not awake at 7:58 AM on Saturday morning but my mom was so she went to the door. Apparently the extra early FedEx man brought my Woot monkeys!!!!! When my mom said "The Woot monkeys are here" I popped right up off the couch and tore into the box. I am easily entertained so I was thrilled to get them. :-)

After I opened the Woot monkeys and slingshotted them around the house a few times I laid back down and went back to sleep. Apparently I was pretty tired because I slept until 10 or so regardless of the fact that everyone else in my house got up at 8 or before. After I finally got up I did a little bit around the house and then spent all of the afternoon at the house where my brother lives. This is my grandparent's house and we are trying to do some things to get it ready to sell and so there was lots to be done this afternoon.

After I left there I came back to my house and cooked dinner for my parents and I and continued on some sewing projects. I had several things (mostly graduation presents) I had to finish to send back with my parents so I finally got all of that wrapped up. Leslie, ToolMan and CRB dropped by for a little while to check out the new machine.

So I am thankful for a lot of things this week... I am thankful that I was able to be home most of the week, I am thankful for my parents, I am thankful for good church congregations that I was able to spend some time with this week, I am thankful for my new sewing machine, I am thankful to have my dog back at home with me... and even though I am tired from painting and scraping windows I am thankful for the physical ability to do things like that.

I hope everyone else had a great week! Go visit Judi at Mommy of Two for more Weekend Reflections.

Photo Hunters: Childhood

I apologize for the quality of this photo... I didn't have a scanner handy so this is a picture of a picture.

I have lots of wonderful childhood memories full of family and friends but this is one of my favorite pictures from my childhood. I was about four and my brother was about two. We were helping to wash my dad's Honda and for whatever reason my little brother decided a band-aid was plenty of "clothing" for your typical car wash. :-)

For other Photo Hunters participants, click here.

7 Things About Me

Amberly tagged me for this meme where you write seven facts or habits about yourself. My goal is to list seven things that Amberly and Leslie don't already know about me. My guess is that Leslie knows most (if not all) of these and Amberly knows the majority of them... but oh well... here goes:

1. When I eat, I eat in order. I eat all of one thing on my plate and then move to the next item. I try to save the best for last... whether that is the entree or a side item. I do this with almost every meal that I eat.
   
2. I have no sense of smell. No one knows why... they did CAT scans of my head but never figured anything out. This doesn't really bother me most of the time and Amberly's husband thinks it is awesome trait to have... no guy's dirty laundry or bathroom habits or any baby's poopie diapers will ever bother me.
   
3. The first concert I ever went to was Matchbox 20 at Oak Mountain in Birmingham. I think I was in the 10th or 11th grade. I had gone to lots of outdoor concert/festivals before that time, but this was the first time I went to a "real" concert. I went with a bunch of kids from church when you could still sit on the lawn.
   
4. When I was in the first grade I went to my school's Halloween Carnival. I had a yellow fairy princess dress that my mom made... complete with tall, pointy hat and a wand with an aluminum foil covered star on the end. I don't remember if I was embarrassed or didn't like the costume or what but I did NOT want to participate in the costume contest. My parents forced me to enter and I won first prize. Looking back on it now, the costume was awesome!
   
5. I only drink two types of drinks... water and Coke (and a Pepsi if there is no other option). I do NOT drink the diet versions... only the real thing. My favorite water is Aquafina and there are some types of bottled water that I won't drink. As for coke... I prefer fountain cokes poured over "good" ice. And by "good" ice I mean the ice pellets like they have at Sonic.
   
6. To this day, if I am flipping through the TV with nothing in particular to watch I will stop on any episode of Full House and watch it. I have seen every episode MULTIPLE times (I can even quote some of them) but this does not stop me.
   
7. I still take Flinstones vitamins. I have tried taking adult vitamins but they make my stomach hurt and I don't like them. Because of this I end up not taking them... so I stick with the children's vitamins... at least I usually remember to take that.

Most of the people that I would tag for this have already been tagged... but feel free to play along if you would like. Let me know if you play so I can learn more about you too.

Friday Favorites: Shampoo and Conditioner

You know that when you get a hair cut they usually try to sell you hair products while you are there. Given that I had a haircut this week I would say that I have had shampoo and conditioner on the brain.

I have tried a lot of expensive shampoos and conditioners but none of them have worked for me. For me, Pantene Pro-V Sheer Volume shampoo and conditioner are the perfect fit.

With curly, relatively thin hair these products seem to work great! They keep my hair from getting tangled or too frizzy or too flat. It's not the most expensive brand and it's not the cheapest but it is definitely my favorite.

For more Friday Favorites, go visit Amberly at Moments Amid Messes.

Time for a Haircut

I HATE to get my hair cut. Because I have naturally curly hair it can be difficult to find someone who will cut my hair the way that I want. Most hair stylists just want to play with my hair and fix it the way that they want.

A few years ago I finally found someone that I liked... she cut my hair the way that I asked and she highlighted it the way that I liked. And then the salon closed and she was nowhere to be found. I looked around and I didn't find anyone that I was happy with for about a year... and then eureka! A local magazine/coupon book came in the mail last fall and on one page there was an ad for a local salon. As a part of the ad was a picture of the stylists and there she was... I had relocated my former stylist! Next time I needed a haircut I made an appointment with her.

So this week it was time for my dreaded hair cut. I think that this girl does a great job but my hair grows very slowly and so I am always afraid that it will get cut too short or be the wrong color. On top of that, it is expensive and so I tend to put it off as long as possible.

So here was my hair yesterday before my haircut. It's a terrible picture but I took it myself so that didn't help:

And here it was today after my haircut. This picture isn't much better but my brother took it while I was talking on the phone:

She barely trimmed it (in my attempt to grow my hair out) and highlighted it. It's probably a little blonder than it should be but the color will tone down a little over the next few days.

So I have survived another haircut and can hopefully go another three or four months before I have to have another one.

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Brun in last year's Spring Flowers

For more Wordless Wednesday contributors, go here.

Time Travel Tuesday: 12

Annie is hosting a fun new meme called Time Travel Tuesday. I didn't get a chance to participate earlier in the day because I was having trouble remembering age 12. Once I was able to get home and flip through some old pictures it has all come flooding back. :-)

My birthday falls early in January so that makes it easy for me to associate my age with a particular year... it was 1991 for me. I was in 6th grade and 7th grade that year... which at my school meant the transition from elementary school to middle school. But let me start at the beginning of the year...

For my birthday that year I had a big party at Luigi's Pizzeria (I think it's a furniture store now) that was probably the predecessor to places like CiCi's. I didn't have big birthday parties every year but I think that my parents had a big one that year because they knew that the next year I would be at a new campus with different friends. Anyways... I remember this birthday because I wore a Hawaii Sweatshirt and a black dress hat... gotta love my fashion sense! I don't have a scanner handy or I would possibly share this embarrassment with the world. For the party, my dad went through the home movies of activities and parties that my elementary school class had participated in and put them all on a video that we played on a big screen tv during the birthday party. I would love to go back and find that video some day... I know it's still around.

For sixth grade I had Mrs. Harrison who wasn't my favorite teacher but she was a good teacher. The two sixth grade classes were in trailers that year which I actually liked for whatever reason. My acting career (yeah right!) got off the ground that year as I played the Nurse in our class production of Romeo and Juliet. For whatever reason I also vividly remember having to write my first essay on a test in 6th grade Social Studies. I was a good student but I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown when they told us we would have to write an essay on a test. :-) I was also the editor of our elementary school newspaper that year. That year was also the year that they built the high school I would eventually go to.

In our elementary school awards ceremony that year I remember getting called up for lots of awards. I felt so important because we were the oldest class at the school and I counted and I got as many (or more) awards than anyone else. I remembered looking up to sixth graders when I was in the lower grades so it felt so awesome to have all of them looking up at me. They probably just thought I was a geek... and they were probably right but I didn't care. :-) I loved elementary school... unfortunately that school was blown away in a tornado when I was a Jr. in high school. Fortunately it happened at night and no one was on campus.

1991 was also my first year of Summer Church camp. I had been to girl scout camp before but that was the first summer when I actually enjoyed camp. I was terribly terribly homesick (this was before the days of 6th graders having cell phones) but I really loved it. This was also the year that I fell through a window at camp. It's a long story but I was trying to make my bed (which was a mattress on the floor) and I fell rear end first through a plate glass window. I wasn't hurt at all but I was terribly embarrassed.

When school started back in the fall it was off to 7th grade in a new campus with a bunch of kids I didn't like. Our school had two elementary schools and when you got to 7th grade they were combined for the first time. The two groups didn't mesh all that well and there were lots of kids I didn't particularly care for. Middle School was probably my least favorite school years but I survived and I'm hopefully a better person for it. I think that 7th grade was the last year that I took piano lessons... I had Mrs. Hattaway for Life Science, Mrs. Newton for English, Mrs. Gilliland for Geography, a principal I couldn't stand and some other teachers that I don't remember... not the most stellar group of teachers I ever had. I don't have my year books here with me or I would share some of my activities for that year... but for now I will spare you.

Overall I would say 12 was a good year. The first half was better than the second but not too many complaints from me. Thanks Annie for allowing me this walk down memory lane!