Mama Shell

As most of you know, my grandmother, "Mama Shell" passed away on Sunday, March 29th. She would have been 90-years-old on April 26th. I still don't think it has fully hit me yet, as I didn't see her one a day to day basis. But I know over the next coming months, the birthdays, holidays and other family functions will seem hollow without her. I appreciate all the support and kind words that I have received over the last few weeks and even months as she was in the hospital for quite some time before her death. It's never easy to lose a loved one, but having great friends and supportive co-workers makes it just a little bit easier.

The following is an excerpt from the program that I designed for her funeral service. I just wanted to share a little bit about her life and my family. Thanks for reading:

Sarah Frances Williams Shell was born in Butler County on April 26, 1919 where she later met the love of her life, Ralph Shell and married in May of 1938. She said the first time she saw him, he was working in a field, and he looked like a bronzed god. Of course, she was a blue-eyed beauty so they were a great pair. On their wedding day, Ralph was arrested for a traffic violation in the big city of Montgomery and his father-in-law had to bail him out of the city jail. They set up house keeping in a two-room tenant farmhouse across from Ralph’s parents. (They called it the goat house because they couldn’t keep the goats from trampling across the front porch and eating her flowers.)

During WWII, Sarah and two-year old Barbara followed Ralph to Charleston, SC where he worked in the Naval Shipyard and where their second daughter, Linda, was born. They returned to Montgomery after the war to a little house her dad had built for the family behind the “BIG” house. Then, the third child and only son, Ron (my dad), was born. He was the apple of the eye for father, grandfather and uncle.

Sarah worked at Montgomery Fair & Gayfers where she retired after almost 40 years. She was a talented and creative homemaker, wonderful cook and avid gardener. She loved to travel with camera in hand to visit family and friends. Gift giving was her trademark. She loved photography, and in her 80’s learned to “surf the web” and use email. She enjoyed many happy years at Morningview Baptist Church where she and Ralph worshiped. Her family was the joy of her life, and in return she was greatly loved by all of her children, grandchildren, extended family and many many friends.

April 26, 1919 - March 29, 2009

Grass

I cut my grass last night for the first time this year. It was already kind of dark, but there's a street light right in my front yard. I knew if I didn't do it right then that its supposed to rain for 3 days, then I'll be gone for the weekend and it'd be Monday before I could cut it. And I'm sure it would be out of control by then.

I said all that to say... I cut the grass in the dark. As I ran along the fence that separates my yard from the neighbors, I notice little pieces of white stuff flying everywhere. And then I remember, that when my new neighbor moved in, she spilled those little styrofoam packing peanuts all over her yard. I assumed she picked them up or they blew away. Wrong. They blew up against my fence amongst the leaves.

My yard looks like it has dandruff.

Baffled

As part of Scale Back Alabama, some of my co-workers and I have been dieting and exercising together. As a reward, on Fridays we eat somewhere other than in the cafeteria in our building. To be health conscience, today we walked to a restaurant I'd say about a dozen blocks or so away. We are walking through an area with some construction going on and we encountered something unexpected. A pair of underwear. A large pair. Of the tighty whitey variety. It was funny and unexpected as I watched all of my coworkers divert there walking paths to go around the pair of undies and looking down at them with a confused look on their faces.

This got me to thinking. How would this even happen? In the middle of downtown Montgomery, what scenario could end with someone’s tighty whities landing on the sidewalk? I didn’t see Tom Cruise or Dustin Hoffman driving by, so I don’t believe they were Rain Man’s underwear. Was someone carrying a spare pair in their briefcase? And why would you need to? And how would that be the ONLY article to escape? I’m baffled. Please, someone please, explain to me how this might have happened??

Pssstdddttt! Eeeeeennntttd!!

So last night was the first whole evening I have spent at home in several weeks. So I decided it was time to take down the Christmas tree and get the Christmas decorations out of my front yard (yes, I really it is well after New Years). The moose I bought for my front yard suffered a tragedy in a storm last week and was slumped over onto the ground as if it had been caught in a driveby. So, last night I was searching the yard for the pegs that had once held his feet to the ground. While I was searching, the UPS pulled to the curb in front of my house and I was excited because I was expecting a package. I walked to the end of the driveway to greet the UPS man and receive my package. He had some difficulty with the machine that scans the package so we stood there idly chit chatting for a moment, when I realized that I had left my front door open so that I could carry the moose inside. I notice a large fluffy Siamese cat creeping toward my front porch. I say aloud, “No kitty, don’t go in my house.” But the cat pays me no mind and continues toward the door. I take a few steps that way thinking surely the cat will not just walk into an unknown house. Wrong. I am running through the front yard yelling strange sounds like “Pssttddd!!! EEEEEnnnttt! Noooooooo!” trying to scare it away. The cat gets into the foyer, hears me stomping up behind it, leaps into the air, makes a u-turn then runs out the door between my legs.

Of course, the UPS man is laughing hysterically and says, “I’m assuming that is not your cat.”

“No, and I’m allergic,” I tell him. I think I made his day.

Itchy, Scratchy

So, I went to Books-a-million with Jonathan & Jennifer at lunch today. They had some crazy Christmas hats and I was thinking about getting one to wear to our Christmas lunch tomorrow. So, I tried some on and of course took some pics with my camera phone.

I decided it wasn't really worth the money and didn't get one. We got back in the car and headed back to our offices and my foreheads starts itching like crazy. I look in the mirror and my forehead is broken out in hives. Apparently I was allergic to the fabric in the hats! I'm so glad I didn't buy one. I'm ready for it to be closer to 5 so I can take some benedryl and stop itching! AHHH!

Christmas Moose

When I was about 5-years-old, I told my parents and Santa that I wanted a Christmas Moose. They had no idea what I was asking for. So, they went through sales papers and showed me every moose they could find and asked if this was it? Nothing was. So for Christmas that year, I got a bunch of mooses. They never figured out exactly what it was that I was asking for, and I was so young I don’t remember. But I was happy with all of the mooses that I did get. My favorite, which I remember having for years and years, were the Rodney and Rhonda Reindeer that were Hallmark’s Christmas special that year. Every year since then, I have gotten some sort of Christmas Moose.

So, last night I had been planning to go get a real Christmas tree. It rained, of course, and no one was available with a vehicle that could carry a live tree. So, I went to Target instead to get the lights and the stand so that I would be ready when weather permitted. There, I spotted a moose and I knew the moment I saw it that it was meant to be my Christmas Moose of 2008. He was a bit of a pain to assemble, but well worth it. I absolutely LOVE him!

Vacation Time!

I’m looking forward to Christmas, of course. But even more so, I’m looking forward to our New Year’s trip. Scott and I are going to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl. We’re going to leave few days early and go to Disney’s Magic Kingdom on New Year’s Eve. I am so excited you’d think I was 10 years old or something? But I have never been so I am thrilled. Last year, we went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and it was one of the best vacations I have ever had, so I can only imagine how much better this one will be. And I have to think that the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom will have to be incredible, right?? We haven’t decided exactly what we’ll do on Friday before we come back but I’m leaning towards Universal Studios. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to let us know!

I won! I won!

I just wanted to share some exciting news of my own. Mary Kay Andrews, author of the New York Times bestselling Savannah Breeze and Blue Christmas, had a recent contest where readers were asked to submit a story about their worst/best renovation project. I submitted a blog I had written about renovating my upstairs bathroom in January of 2007. It was announced today that I was chosen as the winner! My story will be read on a video which will be posted on her website (www.marykayandrews.com) as well as HarperColllin's (publisher) website. I will also recieve an advance copy of her new book which does not come out until June 2009.

In case you are interested, the following is the entry that I submitted.

Allow Me to Recap
Tuesday night I began to work on my upstairs bathroom. I was working by myself, so I opted not to remove the toilet yet, but to begin tiling the floor and put all the solid pieces down that wouldn't need to be cut. I also left the sink in place since it is fixed to the wall and doesn't actually touch the floor. I can't even begin to tell you what a big mistake that was. The removal of the sink and toilet in the downstairs bathroom was so easy that I had a very skewed idea of how easy removing these should be. Those do-it-yourself shows that tell you to do ALL demo first… weren't kidding.

Last night, I lured my good friend, Q, over with pizza for dinner in exchange for his help. While I had somebody to help, I figured the first thing we should do is remove the toilet since I didn't think I could carry it out of there by myself. I had no idea what I was getting us into. The tank came off the toilet with minimal water on the floor, but the bowl was a different ballgame. For whatever reason, the bolt that hold the toilet down will not come out, so I am going to have to get a metal saw or something and just cut them off. So, we moved to the sink next. Very quickly, he realized that I didn't have a pipe wrench or any sort of tool to disconnect the pipes in order to get the sink out. Before leaving to fetch the tools from my brother's house, we notice that the water supply for the toilet is dripping on the floor, so we put it in a bucket to keep the water from getting on my freshly laid tiles.

We trek across town (in a small Honda with a large daisy painted on the hood I might add) to get the tools and end up running a friend of Q's to get his truck and taking a little longer to get back then we expected. We get back with the tool and go upstairs. Q sits on the floor under the sink to disconnect the sink and suddenly his rearend is completely soaked. Apparently that little drip had overflowed the bucket and had made its way over most of the bathroom floor. There was water everywhere! We dried up what we could but I knew that getting all the adhesive wet meant that I was going to have to take up all those tiles and start all over again.

The sink came out without too much work but the mounting plate that was screwed into the wall was a different story. I get out the power screw driver and Q starts to take the plate off. On the first try, the screwdriver spins out of his hand whirling to the ground, bouncing off his foot and then breaking one of the tiles. (And, yes I laughed at him). After what seemed like an hour of drilling and wrenching the stupid plate, we finally got it off.

The next project was to knock off the tile toothbrush holder, soap dish and towel racks which are mounted into the wall. After the other frustrations, we were both ready to swing the sledgehammer a little bit. I knock them all off, managing to break yet another new floor tile. Then, trying to make the leftover broken pieces smooth, Q uses a coal chisel and the sledgehammer. His hand slips off scraping against the broken tile and suddenly, there is blood. And do I have band-aids in my house?? Of course, not! So, what do we use? That's right… duck tape!

So, after we get him all patched up, we start removing the newly laid tile from the floor. Might I remind you, that I had decided to tile over the existing tile on the floor rather than demo it up. Yet, another bad idea. The old tile was coming up with the new tile. Now, I have to demo up all that tile before I can begin laying the new tile. So, basically… last night we undid any progress that I had made. And yes, the drip is still going. I managed to rig up some larger buckets to catch the water and I only hope its large enough to hold it all until I get home for lunch today to empty it.

Luckily for me, Q has agreed to come back tonight for round two. I'm surprised since every time he comes over he seems to get hurt. This past summer, he worked in my yard and got stung by wasps. I think he even tripped on my stairs once. My house is a Q-danger zone. Maybe I should buy him something better than pizza? So, wish us luck that tonight goes a little better… or at least that there is no blood involved this time!

Bathroom Update
I am officially a moron. My dad came by on my lunch break and looked at the damage and helped me figure out how to cut the bolts off the toilet bowl to get it out. I had the toilet tubing running into long tray catching the water which drained down into a large tupperware container so that it wouldn't overflow by the time I got home from work. Dad said it looked like a rube goldberg contraption.

His question, which never once crossed my mind... or Q's either apparently... was why we didn't just to do THIS:



Can you really call this progress?
This is a picture that was taken of my icky pink bathroom before the renovation process began. The walls were pink... the floor was pink... Can you say "YUCK!"?



This is the current condition of the bathroom...



I got the beadboard on the walls last night, but they were pretty warped. So it required wedging 2x4s in there to hold them flat to the wall while the liquid nails dried. My bathroom looks like a jungle gym!! But the tiles are looking great and I am really happy with the color I chose.

I'm getting really excited. I think I have at least reached the halfway point on this project. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that I will be able to get a lot done this weekend since it is a 3-day weekend. I'm so glad it is Friday and I can work on it late tonight and not have to get up early in the morning.

oh my...

What a mess... This was earlier tonight and I got almost all the tile off. We duct taped some plastic sheeting up in there so I can take a shower. Sigh... I am so ready for this to be finished.



30 Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Concrete is heavy, even if broken into small pieces.

2. Just because you have a masonry bit for your drill that says "for concrete" does not mean it will drill through it easily or even at all.

3. When using tools in a two story house, what you need will always be downstairs when you are upstairs and vice versa.

4. Flying busted concrete is unpredictable and painful, especially when it is unexpected. I highly recommend eye protection.

5. There is a maximum number of times one can swing a sledgehammer in one day.

6. Montgomery City Waste Management cans have a maximum weight. Wheels and the can will bend if this weight is exceeded, possibly turning over and spilling heavy concrete in your front yard.

7. Concrete is not flexible and this is not negotiable.

8. Large chunks of concrete in your front yard serve as not only lawn decoration, but a new perch for pigeons and other birds.

9. It will rain as soon as you put wood in the back of a pick-up to bring it home.

10. Sheets of concrete backer board will fit in a convertible if you just put the top down. (Note: they will also scratch the paint if you slide them across the car as you put them in/out)

11. You should always be friendly to your neighbors. You never know when you might need them to help you carry something heavy from your car into the house (See 10)

12. When cutting pieces of wood, you should mark which piece you intend to use and make sure you have the right one before you pound nails into it and carry it upstairs to put in place.

13. People who say, "measure twice, cut once" know what they are talking about.

14. When you call someone and ask them to bring you a tool, you will most likely find another way to accomplish your mission before that person arrives with said tool.

15. What you planned to accomplish today almost never translates into what you did accomplish today.

16. Don't laugh at someone when they hammer their own finger. Remember karma. If you laugh, it will happen to you moments later.

17. Sometimes spare parts can be found in a wall. Don't panic if you unexpectedly remove a piece of pipe, as it may not have been connected to anything in the first place.

18. If you are sitting in a tub pounding on the wall and you feel something wet on your head, don't accuse the person behind you of spitting on you. Consider first that they showerhead may be dripping.

19. When using a sledgehammer on one side of a wall, don't be oblivious the fact that you are affecting the next room. You should check the status of the other side of the wall at random intervals. The wall may crack and chunks of plaster may fall out in the next room.

20. If you are a good climber, you do not necessarily need a ladder to get into an attic.

21. Make sure an ice pack, tourniquet, large bandages, and a crow bar are at least close by as they may be necessary at some point in the process.

22. Color is subjective to its environment. Just because golden brown looked good in the downstairs bathroom, doesn't mean it won't look like poop smeared on the wall in the upstairs bathroom.

23. Demolition dust can travel much farther than you think it can.

24. A loyal dog will follow you up and down the stairs as many times as you go, even if you tell her you will be back in one minute.

25. You can't convince a barking dog that the knocking she just heard was your hammer, and not someone at the door.

26. A dad who's back hurts too bad to push out the garbage can at home can still use a sledgehammer on his daughter's bathroom wall.

27. Do not say "I told you so" to someone with a sledgehammer in their hand.

28. Do not say "Measure twice, cut once" to someone still holding a power tool.

29. Allowing someone to break for dinner, usually translates into letting them quit for the night.

30. The most necessary tool to survive a renovation project is a good sense of humor.

Keys, keys, keys...

So, I guess I jinxed myself by blogging yesterday about my blunders. I was planning to do some shopping after work yesterday, so around 4pm I went to my car and got my jeans and tennis shoes out of the trunk to change in to. I came back in the building, changed clothes in the bathroom and then went back to my desk for the last hour of the day. Then, I shut down and got ready to head out. When I started digging around in my purse, my keys were not there. So I dig through the bag of clothes and checked all the pockets, still no keys. Then, it dawned on me. I must have laid them down in the trunk while I was digging around for my jeans and tennis shoes. I have no extra set of keys.

A co-worker offered to take me home. I decided I may as well and just wait until in the morning to call either the dealership or a locksmith figuring they’d probably charge me an after hours fee if I called this late. We get to my house and I realize that I don’t have a key to my house either! So, we move along to plan B. She takes me to Wal-mart where I do some shopping while I wait for my mother to get in town with keys to my house. I decide to stay there and make due until the morning. I almost panicked when I discovered I was out of TP in the upstairs bathroom, but luckily there was a spare roll in the downstairs bathroom since I had no way to go get more. How embarrassing would it be to have to call someone to bring you TP?

So, this morning I realize that my overnight bag was also in the trunk from where I had spent the night at Scott’s the previous night. That bag included things such as my good hairbrush, hair straightener and my only stick of deodorant! I did the best I could with my hair and mom picked me up. I called the dealership when they opened and was told that they could in fact cut me a new door key if I could provide proof of ownership and identification. So, I gather those things and we head to the dealership (making a pitstop at the drugstore for some deoderant). On the way there, I get a call from a co-worker.

Co-worker: Amy…
Me: Yes?
Co-worker: Do your keys have a little flash light on them?
Me: Yes!
Co-worker: I have them at my desk.
Me: Where were they?
Co-worker: They were found in the ladies room.

Talk about embarrassing! I’m just thankful that I had not paid for a new key or paid a locksmith to find there were no keys in my car! And I was even more thankful that I had a keychain on my ring that led them to our offices. The restroom that we use is public for the whole building and they would not have had any idea where to bring it without that keychain. Whew!

Couple of Blunders

SUNDAY

Sunday afternoon I had my purse sprawled out on Scott's bed and digging through the contents. Scott: What are you looking for?
Me: (frustrated) My keys!
Scott: What's that in your hand?
Me: (more frustrated) My keys!

MONDAY

Monday morning when I was leaving Scott's house for work, I stopped by the gas station in Valley. While the gas was pumping I ran inside to grab a muffin for breakfast. The cashier messed up while ringing up the guy in front of me, so I had to stand in line longer than normal. The sun was streaking in the window and right into my face where I was in line. I stood there with my hand shielding my eyes thinking, "I sure wish I had my sunglasses." I finally checked out, got to the car and reach for my sunglasses. They weren't there. Becuase they were on my head. I'm sure I looked like an idiot in the store my my hands over my face when I had sunglasses on top of my head all along.

TUESDAY

Tuesday night, as I mentioned before, Scott & I went to dinner with some friends at Olive Garden. We ordered some drinks and an appetizer. When the appetizer came out, I looked down at my lap and realized that my napkin wasn't there. I peeked under the table and couldn't see it. So Scott, being the gentleman that he is, offered to get it for me. He leaned over and almost had his head in my lap reaching all over the floor. Kelly, looks at me confused and says, "What is he looking for?" When I told her, she pointed across the table at my silverware which was... yes, still wrapped in my napkin! At that moment, Scott says "Well, where the hell did it go!?" I burst out laughing. I don't know why, but I was certain that I had already unwrapped my napkin and placed it in my lap. I can't explain it. Poor Scott. I don't know how he deals with me.

But I'm sure glad he does!

Sneaky, sneaky

So, last night Scott & I ate at Olive Garden with some friends. I guess what I had for dinner did a number on my stomach because I was really gassy afterward. Luckily, it was of the silent but deadly variety, but it smelled like garbage! So, a while after we got home, we were standing in the kitchen. I walked away from him to let one loose in the bedroom. Unfortunately for him, he walked in right after I did it.

Scott: (wrinkling his nose) Something smells bad in here!
Me: (stifling the giggles) What does it smell like?
Scott: I dunno... Like bad food or something?

He walked back outside before I burst out laughing. The person who said women are evil creatures... may not have been completely wrong.

Popeye, You're My Hero!

Boy, has it been a long time since I blogged. I've been swamped with things at work... which is when and where I usually do most of my blogging.

Halloween has come and gone. It was another great one. I made my and Scott's costumes this year. We were Popeye and Olive Oyl. For those of you who don't already know, Scott is almost half a foot shorter than myself, and he's bald so I thought this costume choice was hilarious for us. And I don't think I did such a terrible job.

Scott to the Rescue!

Usually on Sundays, Scott and I lay around and watch NFL and don't do much. This was not the case yesterday. We were at my house this weekend and Scott helped me get a lot of work done in my back yard since he'll be leaving for Korea on Saturday. There was an enormous pile of leaves in the yard and we decided to burn them in my brick fire pit.

So we were out in the back yard burning and supervising the fire. I'd like to mention at this point that Scott was wearing some of my clothes because he didn't think to bring anything that he wanted to work in the yard in. I won't go into detail because he might kill me if I did, but I'll say he was wearing some jeans that I can no longer fit into with the legs rolled up about 4 times. So after a big cloud of smoke starting billowing around the neighborhood, we heard sirens. I just knew someone had called the fire department thinking it was my house on fire and not leaves. Not to mention, it may or may not be legal to burn leaves within the city limit. Scott was more worried that some firemen were going to show up and find him wearing women's jeans. Even Scott said he looked like a homosexual, his words, not mine.

So we had been out there about an hour or so. We had the back door open and we saw a bird fly into the house through the open door. I went running in and saw that the bird had made it through the laundry room, the kitchen and was now in the dining room. My dining room has very large windows with no blinds. The bird was flying into them repeatedly. It then became Scott's job to capture the bird, not harming him, and put him back outside. Why? Because I was going to be the one holding the camera.

I got him a towel and he caught the bird. It took two or three tries because Scott was afraid he'd hurt the bird if he squeezed too hard, so it got free from him a couple times. But eventually he got him out and he flew away unharmed.

Later, Scott called his dad to talk about football, but also told him about the bird. Scott told him, "It's always an adventure with Amy." And his dad laughed, but added that I kept him young. I'm going to have to agree with that one! So, I want the thank Scott for all his help! He was willing to work even if it meant he had to wear womens' jeans and catch birds!

You Got Hit in the Face With What??

For the last two evenings, the weather has actually been really nice in Montgomery. I decided to take advantage of that and get some work done in my back yard. The first day, I chopped down a massive amount of bushes and trees and drug them out to the road. I was really amazed at how much I got done in less than two hours. I wish I had taken a before and after photo, but I didn't think about it until after. But the brush pile I created is taller than my trashcan by the road if that gives you sort of an idea of how much I accomplished.

So last night, my mission was to rake all of the leaves off of my back patio and into the grass. My theory was that the next time my yard man comes, he could run over them with the mower because it has a bagger, therefore, picking up all the leaves saving me the hassle of bagging them. And let me mention that these are huge ass magnolia leaves that are a big pain in the butt and attract roaches. So I attempt, at first, to use my leaf blower but quickly realize its not moving the leaves. One, because the leaves have been there so long they are all stuck together and two, because there are so many small branches and limbs mixed in from recent storms.

So picture this, I'm holding the leaf blower and it doesn't seem to be doing much. So I decide to move some branches out of the way. I lean over to pick one up, not bothering to turn off the blower. So the blower points straight down below me, shooting dirt, leaves and even a worm into the air. You guessed it, the worm hit me right in the cheek. At this point, I am so not a happy camper. I throw down the blower and finish raking all of the leaves into the yard by hand.

I got inside and I'm pouring sweat. So I head straight to the kitchen to wash my hands and face. As I'm standing there I hear scratching noises. So not only did I get hit in the face by a worm, but I think that my furry little friends might be back. So, I call Scott. Like this is really going to accomplish anything since he is an hour away, but I needed to vent!

Scott: Hey baby. What are you up to?
Me: I raked the yard and there's roaches and worms everywhere and I was using the blower and worm hit me in the face and now I think there's a mouse in the kitchen and I don't know what to do and why do you have to live so far away I need help!
Scott: I'm sure it's just a little mouse. And you got hit in the face with a what?
Me: A worm. And I don't care if its a little mouse. He's in there pooping on stuff and prob trying to eat my food and I'm scared to open the cabinet because he might jump out on me and I'd poop in my pants if he did.
Scott: Well, umm... I'm not feeling so good myself so I'm going to go lay down. Why don't you do the same. I'll call you later.

So, I did search through the cabinet and drawers and don't find any evidence of a mouse. But I know I heard something? Anyway. That was my day.

So, I Did It Again

Those of you who read often will remember a few months ago, when I had my embarrassing incident at lunch. My co-workers still make fun of me every time we see the scruffy guy with the ponytail in the cafeteria.

Well folks, I did it again. This time at least I didn't sit with the ponytail guy. I just didn't notice that one of my co-workers was already seated at a table and so I sat at the empty one next to him. So when the third co-worker came to join us, he laughed and said "Well, Amy... do you just not want to sit with us today?"

Sigh. Honestly, I think I sat my lunchbox down then went back to get a fork and the first co-worker sat down while I was up. But logistics don't matter to them. I'll always be the one the one who screws up. It's ok, though. I'm used to it.

For Once, Karma Wasn't a Bitch

I can’t believe I forgot to post about this last week. Last Wednesday night, I had planned to cook dinner at my brother’s house. When I got off work, I headed to the Wal-Mart in Millbrook to pick up the groceries I needed to make dinner. My brother and his wife, Jennifer were going to stop somewhere and get his haircut, and theoretically, we should have arrived at their house about the same time. But about the time I am leaving Wal-Mart, Jennifer sends me a text message saying that they still haven’t started cutting Jonathan’s hair yet so I could come to Prattville and pick her up if I didn’t want to wait. I figured I’d better go ahead and do that since I just bought chicken and didn’t want it to get warm in the car. So I loaded the groceries into the car and headed to get her.

When I got there, she asked if I minded running in Target with her real quick to make a return. No problem. So we drove over to Target which is in the same shopping center. As we started to get out, I reached for my purse and it wasn’t there. I thought maybe I put it in the trunk with the groceries. Checked. Not there either. Then panic set in. I must have left it in the shopping cart in the parking lot at Wal-mart!

So, we jumped back in the car and I flew back to Wal-Mart. It had been at least 10 minutes and I was praying it was still there. I drove up to the cart corral and there was the cart, no purse. So I jogged up to the guy who was collecting carts in the lot and he took me to customer service. Someone had just turned in a purse. I gave him my name and described the purse. He came out carrying it and I was so thrilled!

Ordinarily, I don’t carry any cash. But the weekend before I had gotten out about $100 after the whole ticket fiasco when we were considering purchasing another pair of tickets. I assumed the cash would be gone but was just hoping that my debit and credit cards would be in place. I was shocked. The cash and everything was still there. I was amazed. Actually, I was lucky that I left it at the Millbrook Wal-mart and not the one in Montgomery or I probably wouldn’t have even gotten the purse back!

So here’s where it gets weird. As we are getting back into my car, we look up and there are a bunch of carts pushed into the parking space in front of my car (Yes, Jen those people are assholes). In one of the carts, there is a purse. We realize that is probably belongs to the person who is backing out so we start yelling and waving at her. Her reply when she realizes she left her purse, “Oh my God, my husband would have killed me!”

But what are the chances that immediately after rescuing my purse, we would save someone from losing hers? Karma works in mysterious ways!

What's that on your face?

First off, let me start by saying congratulations to my brother on his new job. It’ll be a promotion and a raise. I’m pretty proud of him!

Second, we had a get together for dinner last night to celebrate his new job. I cooked tacos and baked a cake at their house. I was in the kitchen cutting pieces of cake fresh out of the oven. It was a chocolate upside-down cake with fudgy icing. As I was cutting and putting pieces onto plates, I got some of the icing on my thumb. Obviously, since it was right out of the oven my finger felt like it was on fire. My instant reflex was to put my thumb in my mouth and lick the icing off. As I slung my thumb upward toward my mouth, some of the icing slung off and landed on my nose. So not only did I manage to burn my thumb and my tongue, I also burned my nose. My brother was the only one who witnessed this but since he laughed so hard others came into the kitchen and saw me before I could get the chocolate off my nose. How embarrassing! And I think this is yet another thing that only I could manage to do.

Anyway, congratulations Jonathan!

An Amyism Strikes Again

I am still shocked about the outcome of today. No, I'm not talking about the scores of any of the games. I'm talking about me.

For those of you who don't know, I bought tickets back in May to the first Georgia game. I bought them that early because I wanted to give them to Scott for his birthday in May. I finally got the tickets in the mail last week. I felt kinda ripped because the tickets were not as good as I was told they were going to be, but nevertheless was still totally excited to be going. Especially, since the first game was not going to be televised since we just played Georgia Southern. We got just a little lost on the way here and it took us 4 hours when it should have only taken about 2.5, but part of that was traffic.

Well, we got up early this morning, got ready and headed toward downtown Athens. It was a bit of a hassle to find a parking spot but we managed. It was a bit of a walk to the stadium, a lot of it was uphill. So of course, Scott was just fine and I thought I would have a stroke at any moment since it was hot as hell and I'm totally out of shape. As we finally reach the gates to the stadium, I reach to my back pocket to pull out our tickets. Not there. They were there a few block back. Not there now. The tickets were slightly longer than my back pocket and stuck out just a little bit. I'm not certain whether they just wiggled their way out of my pocket as we trecked up hills, or if someone slipped them out of my pocket. it wouldn't have been hard and I'd never have noticed. I was stunned. We had little cash on us. Just enough to buy food. We were asking prices for pairs of tickets and people were asking outrageous amounts. Once it was only 15 minutes before kickoff, there were few people around the gates selling tickets. We were sweating like pigs, more me than Scott. So we headed outward, either looking for a cheap pair of tickets or an ATM machine. After kickoff, people still had not dropped the price of the tickets so we decided to head to the restaurant where we'd parked Scott's Jeep and hope they were carrying the game even though it was only on pay-per-view. No dice. They were playing the radio broadcast inside and at least they had A/C. We sat inside through most of the first half then decided to go back to the room and try our luck with the radio there. At least we'd be able to listen to it loud and not be fighting to hear over all the people talking.

At this point, I have to say how much I love Scott. Most people would naturally blame me and yell or be pissed off at me for losing/getting the tickets stolen. Not Scott. Never. His response, "nothing you can do now. Let's just make the best of it." God, do I love him. I'm so lucky! I'm still mad at myself and pretty bummed about not being able to see the game live, but it means more than anything in the world to me that I have someone who is so supportive.

So, right now we're in our hotel room in Athens. We're about to get dressed and ready to go out somewhere in Athens. We're looking for somewhere nice to eat that has large TV's on which we can watch the Alabama vs. Clemson game. If anybody reads this shortly who has a recommendation, give me a call or shoot me a text on my cell phone.

How Lucky too Have Opposable Thumbs

I am minus a thumb today. Well, not really. Minus the use of one anyway. It's there, it's just so swollen and sore that I can't really bend it or put any pressure on it. It's very pretty too. A lovely shade of purple!

Yes, I shut my own thumb in the trunk of my car. Not my whole thumb, just the tip. How does one do that, I know you are asking? I don't really know. I just wasn't watching when I shut it. I was too busy looking in the back window searching for the flip-flops I couldn't find.

So I just wanted to share my misery. I'm sure this will be really funny once I don't feel like a cartoon character where he just hit his thumb with the hammer and it goes, "whump, whump, whump" and blows up like a red balloon. It just feels that way, when really it looks like this:

I'm amazed at how hard it is to do very simple things while trying not to use your thumb... like hook your bra, button your pants. And I didn't realize just how week my left hand is. It's gonna be a fun few days. Sigh.

More Photos from Kayaking

I just wanted to share some more photos. These are the ones that were taken with the disposable cameras on our rover adventure.

Jonathan and Jennifer. I took these two before the first flip when we lost our camera:
First flip. Me floating away, Scott getting back in the kayak:

Safely back in the kayak:

Us catching up after the rescue mission (notice I have no paddle):

All back together again after the rescue mission:

I love our faces! I think I had just yelled at him not to flip us over:


The aftermath, happy to be OUT OF THE WATER: