Two Funerals, A Parade and a Wedding

I know, I know...I haven't posted in a very long time, but I have some very good excuses! March has been a really strange month. I started my new job on Monday, March 3. Charles got a phone call early on March 4 from his parents--Charles' grandmother in Nashville, Juanita, had passed away. We both let our employers know we needed a few days off and drove to Nashville early on March 5. We stayed the rest of the week, attending the family visitation and the funeral and also helped Jack and Nancy with sorting through items left in Juanita's house. It was a sad, but good few days--it was nice to see family members we hadn't seen in quite a while.

On Saturday, March 8, while the snow was accumulating quickly in Nashville, my father called me to let me know that my grandmother, Alma, had passed away. Charles and I, once again, had to notify our employers of the situation and, thankfully, everyone was very understanding. We drove back to Atlanta early that Saturday afternoon (during the drive, I was making phone calls to the funeral home to get some tentative plans made for the service) and Riley and I left for Morristown early on Sunday, March 9. On Sunday and Monday, I helped my father and Cathy make final arrangements for the service and it was a surreal experience. I've never had to do anything like that before and the whole process was exhausting. Charles flew in that Tuesday morning via a "buddy pass" from our pilot neighbor, Jason.

We came back to Atlanta on March 12 and left for Tybee Island on March 13--at this point, I've only spent two nights in my own bed in two weeks! We had already made plans months ago to visit our friends Mark, Ellen, Emma & Zoe for St. Patrick's Day and we really wanted to keep those plans. We decided after the past few days we'd had, we needed to have a little fun.

We went to the parade on Friday and had a blast:

You gotta love men in kilts!

Look, kids, it's the Piggly Wiggly!

The awesome Tybee Island float.

This pooch was walking the parade in style!

Uncle Bubba? Is that you?

We also had a chance one afternoon to go to the beach so the girls could play and fly kites. Riley loves the beach so much, she keeps asking us when we're going to move there:

Riley digging in the sand on Tybee Beach.

Zoe shows off her kite-flying skills.

The whole crew on Tybee Beach.

Mark & Ellen took us to the "Turtle Pond" on the island so we could feed the close to 100 turtles that live there. It was fun, but you had to watch out for those seagulls!

The walkway to the Turtle Pond.

We all enjoyed feeding the turtles--they saw us coming and swam straight for us!

Do I really need to write a caption for this one?

The seagulls really wanted the bread, too. They would actually catch the bread in the air!


Riley was happy to be back at school last week after missing the previous two weeks. Her teacher and friends sent her cards they made while she was out telling her how much she was missed--they were just too cute. Last Thursday, Riley's school had an Easter egg hunt and cookout for parents and students and Riley was excited to find eggs and meet the Easter Bunny.

Riley shows off her cool Spiderman Easter basket.

She found some eggs!

Riley shows off her loot.

This is as close as she got to the Easter Bunny. Would you want to sit in this guy's lap?

Last Friday we flew to St. Louis for my cousin Brian's wedding. This was Riley's first plane trip and she loved it. As the plane sped up on the runway for takeoff, she put her hands in the air and said, "Wheeeeeee!"

Riley & Charles waiting to board.

She was sooooo excited...

After we landed, we stopped for lunch and this cool little bar near Washington University and Riley got to climb around on huge turtles in a playground/park area across the street.

Riley & Gami at play.

Riley inspects a turtle.

My mom (Gami) gets eaten by a mutant turtle.

After lunch, we headed over to the chapel on the Wash U campus for the wedding rehearsal. The chapel was gorgeous and everyone had fun practicing for the real thing.

Waiting for the bride...

Riley practices her part. (Sorry for the "evil eyes," but I couldn't fix them!)

Sara & her dad walk down the isle.

Brian & Sara practicing for the big day.

The morning of the wedding, Charles, Riley and I drove down to the Arch to look through the museum and take a ride up to the top. This was our first trip ever to St. Louis and we just had to visit the city's most famous site.

Riley in front of the Arch.

Riding inside what Riley called "the little bubble" up to the top.

The view from the top.

Play ball!

After the Arch, it was back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. Riley hates dresses, but seemed pretty excited to wear her flower girl dress and perform her "job" for the day.

See, she actually has a smile on her face!

After the wedding, the reception was held at Lemp's Grand Hall. It looked like a fun party, but Riley had a busy day and "suggested" that we return to the hotel for some rest. Charles, Mom and I had one or two drinks and said our goodbyes for the evening.

This was one cool building--the inside was amazing and, according to employees, the place is haunted...

The old Lemp Brewery across the street.

We got back on Sunday afternoon and we are looking forward to spending the week at home! My rest will not last long though--I'm flying out to Las Vegas on Sunday for a trade show and conference. Charles is jealous because neither of us has ever been to Sin City. I'll have to fill you in on my trip in the next blog.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

I'm so excited--I feel like I might just throw up! I got the job I have been praying for and it's an amazing opportunity for me. I can work from home full-time and still be here to take Riley to school, pick her up and just generally still be a good mom.

Not a long post--I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who've been praying/thinking/wishing for me the last few months!

Wax On/Wax Off

Riley has been bugging us for a while to sign her up for a "real" karate class and we finally caved. She had been taking some simple classes at Taylor Farm Park for several weeks, but she was bored because the moves were very simple, there was no kicking and yelling involved and, most of all, she didn't have the "cool outfit" to wear.

Her first class was this past Saturday and she had a blast!

Posing for the perfect photo before class.

She insisted on another pose...

Warming up with the other students.

Running laps!

Learning the Knife-Hand Block.

Perfect execution!

Her little gee is so cute--it has a green dragon on the back because her class is called the "Little Dragons." She really enjoyed it and asked how many days she'd have to wait to go to the next class.

I hope she sticks with this whole karate thing--she wanted to participate in soccer last fall and didn't even make it through the first practice, but made it long enough for us to spend over $150 on registration, ball, shoes, outfit and socks!!!

Well, at least she looked cute!

No wonder she hated it--they had 30 kids on the field at one time!

It's a Zoo Around Here!

Our house is filled with, and surrounded by, animals. Of course, we have Bailey and Sophie, but we also have a pet turtle, a goldfish, two black phantom tetras and a dalmatian molly. Now we get to all the animals outside: last week, while taking out the trash, I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see, not one, not two, but seven deer run across the street, through our side-yard and on into the woods behind the house. The deer are regular visitors around our house, along with all the rabbits, birds, chipmunks...and squirrels.

I couldn't begin to estimate how many squirrels call our yard--and the surrounding area--home. Some days, I can count 12 to 15 in the back yard alone. They are always coming up on the back deck wreaking havoc on my potted plants and scratching up the deck beams. I will say that they are great entertainment for the cats, though!

Last week, while Mom was visiting, we saw a squirrel destroying my UT birdhouse in the back yard. She was chewing away at the hole in the front to make enough room for her to fit inside. We figured she was checking it out for a nest, but she gave up--I guess the inside of the small bird house just wasn't going to accommodate her.

This week, I noticed a squirrel on the roof outside my bathroom window. I watched her for a while as she carried bundles of pine needles and leaves into our gutter. Great! I guess this is the same squirrel who massacred my bird house.

Cute, but destructive!

After observing her for a bit, I began to hear noises coming from the gutter. I guess she really needed that nest quick because she's already had her babies. I just hope she didn't make a poor decision in building in the gutter--it's raining now and I hope the babies don't drown if the water gets too high. Surely she planned for this and the nest is high enough inside to keep the little ones safe.

A close view of the nest.

Mama sure has a tight fit!

Mama out and wary of the human taking pictures.

I'll keep an eye on her and see if I can't get a picture of the babies once they emerge. Bailey and Sophie have been fascinated by the whole thing and actually fight over who gets the prime viewing spot in the bathroom window!

Sophie on the "Cat Walk"

Charles and I were very interested in watching the latest election news on CNN, but I think Sophie felt a little ignored. She was really goofy last night and here's the proof...

Using an adorable pose to get noticed.

Are you going to pet me or what?

She's not afraid to speak up to get attention!

Okay, enough with the pictures already!

I don't know where Bailey was during all this--probably eating (his favorite activity) or sleeping on the sofa (his second-favorite activity). I just thought these photos were funny and wanted to share!

It's been a wild weather morning here, but at least there are no tornadoes nearby to worry about. Riley was a bit concerned about that possibility this morning after seeing some of the storm damage on CNN while getting ready for school.

Nice Surprise

So Mom and I took my window back to the shop in Dallas on Friday...and I'm so glad Mom was with me so I wouldn't chicken out!

The owner didn't seem upset at all that it took me so long and was really pleased with the final result. Not long after we arrived, two women showed up at the shop and admired my window and commented on how pretty it was. One of the women abruptly asked, "So, how much for the window?" The shopkeeper replied, "Forty-five dollars." The next thing I heard was, "Sold!" How ironic--the window I'd been dreading to finish sells not ten minutes after I return it to the store!

Now, I've got the woman who bought it, the shopkeeper and my Mom telling me I should paint more of them! I have several stashed away in the garage, so I guess I need to pull those out and get to work. The shopkeeper also wants me to paint some old chairs as I have a few of those in storage as well. I guess I'll be pretty busy in the coming months!

The Bane of My Existence is Finished!

Many months ago, I took a few of my things to a quaint little shop up in Dallas, GA for the proprietor to put out for sale. While there, she asked me if I painted windows. My reply was, "Yes, I've painted a couple before." This was true, although I think I've only painted one other one in my entire life. So, we walked a couple of doors down to another cute little shop where she showed me this really old, sixteen-pane window. She asked, "If I buy this, will you paint it for me?" Like I was going to say no!

I carted off the window (no small task) and set it up in my tiny painting area in the kitchen. I used to have a nice, big craft room, but that all disappeared when Riley arrived. :-) Anyway, it was a pain to actually paint on. I really didn't have a great place to put it and, since I don't really like using easels, I tried to get creative. I propped the window up on another small chair and leaned the top of it against my kitchen windows to begin the whole process. Not pretty, but it seemed to work.

The owner of the little shop suggested I paint different varieties of flower on each panel and I foolishly agreed. I'm not really big on painting "true to nature" and have never painted like that "on demand." I began painting leaves and stems and the beginnings of wisteria, black-eyed Susans, chicory and the like, but I did not like the results. The paint wasn't adhering the way I wanted it to and I just got turned off by the whole thing! I decided I needed to rethink the process, so I took the window down and left it propped up against the kitchen wall--and there it sat for seven long months.

Many people have noticed it sitting there--my parents, Charles' parents, friends and neighbors--and they all ask about it. "Wow, this looks like it will be neat," or, more recently, "When are you going to finish this; it looks great so far" are usually the comments heard. In the last couple of weeks, my mom has been bugging me to finish it so we can take it back to the little shop when she comes for a visit this Thursday. At this point, I'm just plain mortified to face the woman. Can you imagine? "Hi, remember me? You bought this window for me to paint back in April and it only took me eight months to finish it!" Not finishing a project is so not like me. When I was working full-time, my co-workers used to make fun of me for being compulsive about wrapping things up on time and making sure everything I did was absolutely perfect!

I know this is a long, boring story, but I was so thrilled today when I actually completed the damn thing! I actually did a little happy dance. Here are a few photos of the "bane of my existence."

The entire window--boy, this was a pain to handle!!

Up close shot of the lower-left of the window.

Upper-left side of the window.

Lower-right corner of the window.

A slightly blurry shot of the middle portion.