She's ba-aack

Hello blog. I've missed you. I've been away for a few days (again) and honestly I don't know how my hubs travels like he does. I've been on four flights and in four different states since the first of August and I'm pooped. We got home at 11:30 PM last night and I feel like I could sleep for a week. Hubs got up at 6:15 and went to work. Yay hubs!

Anyway, I have much to say about my travels but today is Wednesday and The Random Dozen has returned from its blogholiday so I think I'll take the easy way out and play along. After that I will tackle the mountain of laundry, fill my empty refrigerator, pick up the dog from the kennel, take a nap and finally, collect my thoughts for a post later about Ronnie and Kix, fun in the city, and catching up with a friend from my England days. You can hardly stand it I know.

Feel free to join in the fun every Wednesday...you can post your answers to the random dozen questions on your own blog and then link up over at 2nd cup of Coffee for all the internets to see...here are mine-

1. When was the last time you laughed until you cried?

A week ago at a friend's surprise 50th birthday party which was celebrated with old friends from our college days. We crack ourselves up.

2. If you found $10 today what would you do with it?

Probably add it to my grocery money. My refrigerator resembles Mother Hubbard's Cupboard in the worst way right now.

3. Do you volunteer anywhere?

At the moment no. I have been enormously slightly over committed as a volunteer for the past several years and when we moved I decided to give myself a year to really get settled into a new town and see what's out there before I acted on my 'jumping in head first' tendency.

4. What is your favorite summertime veggie or fruit and how do you eat it?

corn on the cob-rubbed with a little bit of butter, wrapped in foil and roasted on the grill.

fresh tomatoes-sliced and sprinkled with a teensy bit of salt

watermelon-cut into chunks and served ice cold

I am gonna miss the fruits and veg of summer.

5. Is your social sphere (circle of friends) small, medium, or large?

One of the benefits of moving a lot is you have friends sprinkled all around the world. And we do a pretty good job of keeping in touch and seeing one another every chance we get. We love our peeps and we have a large circle of friends although I will say in our new little town our circle is still small. We have spent many a weekend in the year we've been back stateside traveling to see friends and family elsewhere so we haven't built new friendships here as quickly as we normally do.

6. When was the last time you attended a family or school reunion? How did that go?

My family spent a weekend here in July celebrating my mom's 80th birthday. I wrote about it here...we had a great time and I don't have all my sibs and the kid cousins together nearly as often as I'd like so that was wonderful. A couple of weekends ago we flew to Atlanta to surprise a college friend for his 50th birthday. Lots of other friends from college were there so it was a mini reunion of sorts. See #1.

7. When you're feeling blue what is the best way someone can cheer you up?

a small kind gesture, a hug, a sweet note/text/email, a chocolate treat

8. Have you taken a vacation this summer?

We took an early vacation since my girls had jobs to get busy with and my husband had an insane amount of work travel all summer long. We spent a week in Marco Island Florida just after daughter1's university graduation. It was heavenly. You can read about it here. Oh and also here. I know...I'm wordy.

9. What is the most unnecessary item you carry with you all the time?

I can't think of anything but I'm sure my husband would have an answer. Just yesterday he was commenting on the contents of my purse. Or the black hole as he likes to call it.

10. What is the best summer flick you have seen so far?

Toy Story 3. Okay, Inception was good and made me think and has kinda stayed in my brain but Toy Story 3? That was too sweet!

11. Describe a perfect summer day.

Sunshine + a beach + a soft breeze + my feet in the sand at the edge of the ocean + a book in my hand + my family beside me = perfection.

12. Please share a favorite photo from the summer so far.

It's so hard to choose but I guess I'm going with a photo we took on holiday in Marco...it was a happy restful week of family togetherness in a beautiful setting.

On the road again

It sure feels like we were gone for more than five days. Monday morning we packed a-gain and loaded the rental car a-gain and then headed over to SC to spend a too short day and a half with our girls. As I said, when you're 'in the neighborhood' you have to make the most of it. Plus daughter1 has been working overtime (yay!) and had the day off on Tuesday and daughter2 took the day off as well so Carpe Diem.

When we arrived on Monday we made a bee line for Target and Bed Bath and Beyond because really what would a trip to collegetown be without dropping some money there? I know the economy is bad but I gotta think Bed Bath and Beyond must have soaring sales in the month of August. We certainly do our part every.single.year. Anyway, daughter2 will be in an apt this year too which means she upgrades from the single dorm bed to a double which also means new bedding. And a few other bits and bobs to make the apartment feel like home. I'm pretty sure they always need just 'one more thing'. I saw some bedding I'd like to get for one of my bedrooms too but oh yeah, we're not shopping for me. Daughter2 conveniently has a birthday near the start of the school year so some of the 'fun stuff' will be birthday gifts from her aunts and uncles. And since she had been browsing online she knew exactly what she wanted which made it all relatively painless...we've more or less got this down to a science now.

Monday night we took the chickas and daughter1's boyfriend out for Indian food. I haven't had Indian food since we left the UK and it was so good. We love the downtown area in the city where my girls live and we walked a little before heading back to their apt to watch the season finale of The Bachelorette. I have to say the ending surprised me and I liked the way she let Chris down. It's always a little crazy sad the way they normally do it which is to profess their undying love for one guy and then say, excuse me while I go break this other guys heart. I'll be right back. Ugh.

We wanted to have some fun on Tuesday but my word it was hot. We met the girls for breakfast and then decided to go play some putt putt before it got any hotter. The girls took us to a local 'fun park' which has an indoor arcade and more importantly, air conditioning. They also have three putt putt courses, several race tracks, batting cages, and more. We pretty much had the putt putt course to ourselves and I'm not lying when I say by the time we finished we were melting. Daughter1 made it all the way to hole 15 before she knocked one out of the park. She's enthusiastic that one. Here she is being her father...'I just want to see what's back here'...

They had colored all the water on the course blue and I was pretty sure she was going to be the same before the day was over.

Its hard to concentrate with these two on the course.

Miss sweetness kept score...She was momentarily annoyed with me because I crossed out a number on her perfectly perfect score sheet. She is her mother's daughter. In my defense she gave me a 5 when I had a 4 and I think she knew I wouldn't stand for that.

Hubs and the girls raced some go-karts and then we played two highly competitive games of air hockey and a few rounds of skee ball. I rocked at skee ball in case you are interested. As we were leaving we made two kids really happy by giving them all of our reward tickets. There are many things I miss about the growing up years but standing in front of a glass case for three hours to hand over 4,000 tickets for a plastic ring-no I think I want a bracelet-no, maybe a stuffed animal-no, wait, I want the ring after all-is not one of them.

At this point it was early afternoon and we decided we couldn't do anything else outdoors so we hit the bowling alley. We were just a walking advertisement for family fun on Tuesday weren't we? When we walked into the bowling alley a day camp was wrapping up their game and wow was it ever loud. Plus they had all the super light bowling balls so daughter1 was in trouble. Fortunately they cleared out and she snagged an 8 lb. ball which still carries her halfway down the alley since she weighs less than air. Whose child is she anyway?

We had plans to meet my sister, brother in law and niece for dinner but first we had to make our required stops to fill up the cars and the refrigerator. It's a nice treat to have mom and dad in town. We said our goodbyes after dinner because we were leaving early in the morning to drive back to Atlanta for our flight home. For the record... I hate saying goodbye. The thought I have at that moment is always the same....this was so nice but it was not enough time. I love being with my girls and I wonder if I will ever feel like, please go away I need a break from you? I don't think so. More time. Less distance. It's the soundtrack of my life.

Have plane will travel

I know I said I'd get a real post up yesterday but we spent the day making our way home and the idea of blogging about the weekend was just too overwhelming. My head was so full of thoughts and still is and I'm kinda just enjoying remembering all the fun we had which I'm not sure will translate here. I think I'll break this into two parts because you know it takes me lots of words to say just a little.

Rewind to Friday morning when we got up at 5 am to go to the airport in spite of the fact that just six hours prior my husband had come home from an out of town trip (yes, we're insane when it comes to travel) to find me laying curled up in the fetal position in a pitch dark house. I seriously wanted to cry and in fact did just thinking about getting on an airplane in a few short hours. But Friday I woke up feeling mostly fine and decided since it had come on so suddenly it must have been a case of food poisoning. And when I say suddenly I might even mean that I was sitting in the chair at my hairdressers with half a head of highlights in and the other half still to go. Not my finest hour.

Moving on (you're glad I know)...we flew to Atlanta for the weekend to attend a surprise 50th birthday party for one of our college friends. And some of our other college friends were also there so it was a mini reunion of sorts. As soon as we checked into our hotel I located a place to get a pedicure (priorities people!) I had to cancel mine on Thursday and I was not going to have icky unpolished toes all weekend so hubs carted me around until we found a salon and voila...pretty feet.

Afterwards I dropped the hubs at the hotel and scooted out to a nearby Starbucks to meet my first real live blog stranger friend. What's the terminology here? Anyway, Rebekah lives in that area and we had made plans to meet. I recognized her immediately from her photos except a. she is tiny and for some reason I was expecting her to be tall and b. she is young which I guess I knew in my head but the reality was she was young and fresh and I still felt kinda wonky from Thursday (eventually I'll hush about that episode) so not so young and fresh. She has four children but I only got to meet her youngest son and her daughter who started kindergarten this week and was positively precious and even sat in my lap before we parted. Her son was a cutie pie too. He was a typically curious toddler and I think Rebekah felt a little anxious about it because she wrote about our day too but honestly I'm used to kids and just plowed right on ahead talking. It takes a lot more than a busy three year old to shut me up. Everyone go over and say hi to Rebekah and tell her you know she is adorable because she is.

Friday night the 'college friends' were meeting in a nearby tavern to surprise our friend, R. The actual surprise party was Saturday night but since we were all in town his wife thought it would be fun if we met up Friday night so he could hang out with us all weekend. They have a local place they go for dinner and trivia and to meet friends on Friday nights so we all piled in there. The owner was nice and he got in on the fun and let us all come behind the bar to hide so R didn't see us immediately. I love a surprise and he was definitely surprised. And then the fun began. And it was the kind of fun that would maybe not be fun to you but it was fun to us. Because we laughed and laughed and told stories and felt the years fade away in an instant. What is it about these college friends that when we get together makes it feel like we saw each other yesterday when in reality it is months or even years between visits? I love these friends. Still.

Saturday we spent the entire day standing in the hotel swimming pool talking. Seriously. It was perfect. Saturday night was the actual party and again, he was surprised. There was a big crowd and an awesome band and we might have danced a lot. Of course I have the requisite picture of my hubs singing with the band because somehow he always manages to charm his way behind the mic.

When the party ended we may have done something that really hearkens back to our college days...we went to Waffle House and ate a full breakfast at 1:00 am. First of all, 1:00 is way way way past my normal bedtime. Secondly, I don't eat a full breakfast like that for breakfast but oh yes I did do that smothered and covered kind of ordering on Saturday night. And may I just add that the clientele inside a Waffle House after midnight in the year 2010 looks remarkably similar to the clientele that frequented Waffle Houses back in 1980something. Just sayin'.

We said our goodbyes about noon on Sunday and left for the second leg of our trip, an overnite stop in Tennessee with my in laws. We were 'in the neighborhood' so we figured why not? Yes, a three hour drive is 'in the neighborhood' and when you live away from family you have to take advantage of these moments. My fil has a birthday next week so we had a nice dinner out and caught up a bit before heading out Monday for state #3 which I'll save for part deux. I may be taking another little mini vaca sometime in the next few days (I already told you...we're crazy when it comes to traveling) so I'll be in and out again but hey, if you want to blog you need fodder, right?

Hello Monday. Oh wait...it's Tuesday.

I'm not really writing a blog post because wow, we've had a little mini whirlwind of a trip which may or may not be over as I type this and I am going to need more brain power than I currently posses to recap our extended weekend. In the past four days we've seen college friends in one state, my in-laws in another, and my children in yet another. Oh, and I met a sweet blog friend in person too. Whew! To add more fun to all the fun I spent the entire day before we flew out laying on my bathroom floor wishing I'd never eaten whatever it was I ate that resulted in me spending the day up close and personal with my bathroom tile.

If I had to sum it all up in a single sentence it would be this.... Old friends never get old and new friends are really nice too, birthdays are meant to be celebrated, and seeing my children even for a day or two makes my heart happy. It's a run on sentence but it's a sentence nonetheless and I think I told you I haven't had enough coffee (or sleep) to write something sensible today.


I am curious about something though....when you click on your google reader after being incommunicado for 4 or 5 days and there are over 200+ posts to be read what do you do? Do you say sorry and then hit delete all? Do you scan and read a few? Or do you slog thru all 200+? I'm leaning towards option A so if I missed something fabulous you wrote please let me know. I'm sure I'll catch up on a few but most likely not all.


And I realize you are probably thinking, hey, didn't she say four paragraphs ago that she wasn't writing a post today? You should know that I don't consider this an actual post...it's just a friendly update. I'll get it together for a real post sometime Wednesday. That's tomorrow, right?

Happy Monday Tuesday!

The post in which I don't talk about stuff

So I know I mentioned a little thing about a job interview yesterday and yes I did indeed have a job interview but I don't think I'm going to say anything about it here. Not because it did not go well-it did. But because a. my head is still spinning and 2. I'm conflicted and also c. if I do take a job I will not be blogging about it for privacy reasons...work place privacy that is, not my own. Suffice it to say I tossed and turned all night and finally fell asleep only to be awakened in what felt like the middle of the night because my hubs left the alarm set from yesterday when he got up at ridunkulous o'clock. And our clock is up high on his armoire and is operated by a miniature remote control which is kept on his side of the bed so not only can I not easily reach it but I cannot read the buttons when I do.

On the bright side, I'm having my highlights done today so all will soon be almost right with the world. And then I'm going for a pedicure. There is nothing like a great haircut and color topped off with a pedicure to clear the foggy head and provide clarity about life's big decisions. At least that's what I'm hoping.

Plus, I think...I think that I might possibly meet my very first blog stranger friend tomorrow. And I'm not going to say anything else about that either. Aren't you glad you popped in here today to not read about stuff. I will most definitely be writing about it after the fact but I want to make sure it actually happens before I do.

Enjoy your weekend everyone...hey, it's Thursday, that's practically the weekend, right?

A little nepotism, a lot of random

It's Wednesday which means it's time for the weekly random dozen you have come to count on. Right?

Here we go...

1. I feel much more like an official blogger now. Daughter1 designed an original header for me which I think is really cute. I like a simple page background so we looked around to find something that would coordinate with the header. When I asked daughter1 if she thought this one was too yellow she said, 'No, yellow is kind of your color.' I asked if she meant on my blog and she said 'No, in life'. She's a keeper that one!

2. If you are interested in a blog header of your very own visit her blog Sincerely Shannon and let her know. She has done a few now for friends and will have pricing information up shortly.

3. I suppose I could call daughter1 by her given name since, if you read #2, it isn't much of a secret. Nah. I've grown accustomed to calling her Daughter1.

4. Hubs had a ridiculously early flight this morning and a button broke off his shirt sleeve just as he was getting ready to walk out the door. His ride was waiting in the drive so he stood breathing down my neck as I attempted to a. find a pair of scissors that were small enough and sharp enough to remove the remains of the old button b. thread a needle without using my reading glasses c. give up and thread a needle while wearing my glasses and d. finally sew on the button. All without coffee. That was pleasant.

5. We have finally gotten some sweet relief this week from the humidity and that pesky thing they call the heat index. It's nice to walk outside and not feel like you've just stepped into a pizza oven. Not that it's cool, it's just that temperature is relative.

6. I did not watch The Bachelorette this week. It was that strange episode they always have just before the finals where the contestants who were booted off come back on and talk about each other. Daughter2 and I were curious about the people who sit in the studio audience for this one. And listening to a group of men whine and 'tell all' is icky.

7. I finally took all my kitchen knives to be sharpened and wow! They are sharp! My husband says its only a matter of time now before we are at the ER reattaching one of my fingers or stitching up my hand. I blame it on genetics. The women in my family are not known for their prowess with a knife.

8. The bear. Monday morning my neighbor phoned to let me know a bear cub was at the end of our driveway. I missed him. This was his second visit (that we know of) in less than a week. We were away on Saturday and the same neighbors said they saw him stand on his hind legs with his front paws resting on the pillar that holds our driveway lights. He then proceeded to look around and sort of survey his domain. He seems to come out of hiding on the days we have our rubbish picked up which is why we never put ours out until the morning of and always bring the empty can immediately back inside. I'm slightly tempted to leave it and see if he shows. One question though...where oh where is mama bear? That would be good to know before I trek all the way to the curb unarmed. And by unarmed I of course mean without my camera.

9. I've got a couple of fun little short breaks planned in the next couple of weeks so I may be in and out of the blogosphere for a few days. That's all I'm sayin' about that.

10. Except to say that one of my short breaks will include seeing these guys...

What's your favorite Brooks and Dunn song?

11. I think the Garden State Parkway is one of the absolute worst roads in the universe to travel...always bumper to bumper, always cars zigging and zagging from lane to lane, always under construction, always at least one minor fender bender that backs up traffic for hours, almost always at least one major fender bender that backs up traffic for days and, best of all, you get to pay frequent tolls for the privilege of traversing this highway.

12. I have a job interview at 3 o'clock today. Or a discussion. Or something.

Thought I'd end with a cliff hanger...Happy Wednesday!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Taylor over at The Lumberjack's Wife is starting a little online challenge for anyone who is trying to drop a few pounds. You can write a post on your own blog or leave a comment on hers if you want to take her up on it...I figure what do I have to lose except these last few pesky pounds?

When I was growing up I was 'stick thin' as they used to say. Or maybe they still do but whatever, I was skinny. Really really skinny... there was not an ounce of body fat on me anywhere. My stomach was oh so very flat and perfect. Sigh. I remember being kind of excited to reach the 100 pound mark. (Whyyyyyy????) I was in the 10th grade. Big sigh. When I went off to college everyone said, "Beware the freshman fifteen"..blah blah blah. No worries... I was the girl who could eat pizza at 3 o'clock in the morning and not gain a pound. I bought clothes because I liked them. I wore a bikini. I was active but not purposefully 'working out'. I didn't need to because no matter how much or how little I ate, how often or how seldom I exercised, I never gained weight. I was the woman who gained only 17 pounds while pregnant. Both times. And I was 30 years old when my youngest arrived. I didn't have to work to lose 'baby weight'...those few leftover pounds dropped off while nursing and caring for a newborn and a toddler.

Fast forward a decade and a half...I woke up one day to discover I was in my mid forties. And it was about that point in time that my metabolism said, 'hey let's slow this party right on down'. Honestly that is exactly how it felt. Like I went to sleep one night and woke up in someone else's body. Now, keep in mind that at the time I was living in the land of the world's best cream (England). Their motto is 'dessert is good but wouldn't it be even better with a little cream or custard poured on top?' By the way, yes it would. Anyway, we used to tell newcomers to the UK that they needed to beware the "ex-pat 15" because essentially you're living in a very social environment where you are attending breakfasts and luncheons and dinners full of fabulous food several times each week. We won't even mention the wine.

However, I was walking everywhere....into town several times each week, big hilly hikes out into the countryside each week, I joined a local gym, and I was on the go a lot. Still, something had changed. And I like to call that something hormones. They wreak havoc with your metabolism and create all sorts of other fun issues too...almost every woman I know has a metabolism malfunction when they hit their mid-late forties.

I am well within the normal weight range for my height but for me its more an issue of where the weight lies. Why isn't it a little bit here and a little bit there instead of congregating in my middle? These days I eat less of the foods I enjoy and I pay attention to what I'm consuming. I think about menus and foods to prepare that are satisfying but lower in fat. I use skim milk, very little butter, make sweet treats only when we have house guests or dinner guests or 'stick thin' grown up daughters home to visit....I resist my biggest craving of all which is salt. Because in addition to a few pounds that refuse to budge my blood pressure borders on high along with its ugly obnoxious twin sister, cholesterol. Ugh.

I know some people have spent their entire lives watching what they eat and counting calories and depriving themselves of some food or other. But that has not been me. I have spent most of my life eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and to be honest that was way, way more fun. Now I work out several times a week, skip the after dinner snacks, omit the bacon and the cheese from the bacon cheeseburger, limit my pasta and bread intake, and indulge in dessert only on very special occasions. And still...those few pounds linger. What is up with that???

I figure I'll take on Taylor's challenge and try to kick things up a notch. I'm taking a couple of mini trips here and there in the next couple of weeks which always means less control over my food options but I'll do my best. Let me know if you join in too...a little moral support can go a long way.

I have a BIG birthday coming up in a little less than two months. That's my first marker. I'd like to get a glimpse of my 30 year old self on that day but will happily settle for a glimpse of my 40 year old self, before the body snatcher invasion of course. And I think Taylor is calling this Torturous Tuesdays but I am all about thinking positive so how about we call it Triumphant Tuesdays instead?