Thanksgiving 2009

Today is a day set aside to give thanks. I appreciate this holiday because it is a great reminder and catalyst for us to pause amidst our busyness and say thanks.  My life the past few months has been hurried, chaotic and full of routine chores of wife, mommy, employee, friend, etc. Hectic is an understatement. But, today as I pause and catch my breath, I am thankful for several things:

1. God’s grace-I feel so undeserving of it and stand in awe that he continues to allow me to experience it.

2. Family- My kids and husband remind me constantly of unconditional love. I am glad for the times we get to share and spend together. My beautiful daughter Lauren is so smart and so full of life. She is always trying to learn something new and is so loving. Lucas has shown me just how quickly my heart can turn to putty as he looks up at me with his big brown eyes and long eyelashes.

3. Friends-The world would be a lonely place without my friends. I appreciate the times they call and check on me when time has lapsed. I appreciate them being happy with me when I am happy and caring for me when I am sad. I appreciate being able to be who I am and they still want to be friend after seeing “who” that is.

4. My job-In this time of recession, I am thankful for being employed and I love the company I work for. It has been one of the greatest experiences of my career and I am indeed grateful for the opportunity.

There are other things that I am thankful for but I am out of time, space and breath for now. I am glad for this pause in my life and I hope to maintain this level of thankfulness even when the busyness returns…

New Delicacy

I have found me a new delicacy-sweet potato fries with bleu cheese dip!!! I was introduced to sweet potato fries about a year ago at the Ross Bridge Renaissance Resort. They serve them in their restaurant and they are good!

While home this weekend, I spent some time at Bridge Street with some friends and we ordered some there at The Prive/Scene restaurant. I was skeptical about the bleu cheese dip, but when I tried it, I was so glad I did. It was so yummy and I had to catch myself before I got un-mannerable and started licking the bowl.

It is my new found delicacy!

Weekend Snippet

Here is a quick snippet from my weekend:

I was at Costco pumping gas and talking to a friend on my cell phone. I was probably engaged in this for maybe 5 minutes. As I finish, I proceed to get in my car and as I am driving off, there is an older lady parked in front of me flagging me down to stop my car. I am already frustrated because I had Lucas screaming in the background and I was trying to talk on the phone.

But…. I thought maybe she needed some help so I put on a smile and rolled my window down. She has a scowl on her face and tells me that I can blow up the place by pumping gas and talking on my cell phone.  I smile and say thank you… only because my momma taught me to respect my elders. She continues running her trap and telling me I should know and do better because I have a baby in the back seat and what I am doing is dangerous.  At this point, I contemplate if I should run over her foot but I figure that the odds of that causing her to shut her mouth was nil because she was committed to keep talking and giving the last piece of her mind. Instead,  I  contemplate further and decide to make my momma proud…I just politely again give her a smile and say thank you.

I have never heard that cell phones and gas stations cause an explosion, so she could be completely accurate. But, did she have to tell me with such attitude and disgust as if I knew that information and I had a personal vendetta to blow up Costco and my baby in the process??

Give  me a break…there is a way to share information and that was not it. I was so mad when I left and I still am.  I hope by now letting the world know about it…I just might not run over the next old lady who flags me down at the gas station!!

Proactiv Disappointment

I recently bought the Proactiv Skin Care Cleanse System and was thoroughly excited. I had seen countless commercials with Vanessa Williams proudly parading her flawless skin and always thought to myself if this product really worked. The before and after pictures were always amazing. I just assumed this product was great and carried a great price, so I did not give it much thought after that.

I was in the mall one day and they had a display and to my surprise, the beginner set was only $29.99. I excitedly bought it and was hoping for great results. I used it for 2 weeks and my skin turned worse than before I used it. All of a sudden, I had bumps breaking out on my face in a major way. I even stopped using it for a few days and then resumed the regimen. Even the 2nd time, I had the same poor results.

I was sorely disappointed. At the very least, I guessed it just may not turn my skin into a problem-free zone. But I did not think it would make my skin worse. Disappointing…don’t try this at home.

Organized and Lovin’ It

I consider myself a semi-organized person. I am not to the extreme of being anal retentive and neither am I a complete ball of disorganization. I live somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. Well, I discovered a new product when I started with Alabama Power-Levenger Notebooks. They are nothing short of wonderful.

Levenger has a wide array of organizational office products. They are known for their leather bound notebooks. The cool thing about their notebooks is that the paper can slide in and out and can be placed wherever you want in the notebook. It is hole punched to fit the Levenger, but is not torn when you take it to place it somewhere else in your notebook.  I take it with me to every meeting and it has all of my important work information. I also have it tabbed for easy referencing.

Once you get one of these notebooks, you will not use a tablet, clipboard or legal pad again. It is well worth the money and you will be organized and loving it!

Wonderful Surprise

Today was a long draining day and was one of those days where I was busy, but did not feel accomplished. As soon as I would get off the phone, it would ring again and that happened all day trying to respond to requests from everyone. I rushed off work and rushed down the highway to pick up the kids. I then rush in the house and rush to find something for dinner. Rush, rush, rush….

Marcus worked late and got home about 7:00 pm and I was glad to see him-he seemed to be a good answer for me to slow down or at least get results with all my rushing. About 20 minutes passed and I handed him the kids while I went upstairs to run bath water.  I did that and stopped by my bedroom to take my shoes off and waiting for me was a wonderful surprise:

A dozen beautiful roses

Chattanooga Mini Vacation

We ended up taking vacation later this year than we normally do. As a result, I was getting cabin fever and could not wait to go on vacation. So, we ended up taking two mini weekend trips to Atlanta and one to Chattanooga. It was a quick weekend trip to satisfy my need to go somewhere and relax. Here is the Chattanooga story…

In Chattanooga, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium and spent the day. We watched the IMAX movie, looked at various exhibits and finished off with lunch at Mellow Mushroom. The kids enjoyed it and here are some pictures of our adventure there:

Fall Flowers

I love flowers and pictures of flowers.  Here are some fall photos of my rock garden and the blooms I have currently. The best part is that I paid $.99 cents for these flowers from the Lowe’s clearance rack. They were small and pitiful when I bought them, but look at them now!

Atlanta Mini Vacation

We ended up taking vacation later this year than we normally do as talked about before. As a result, I was getting cabin fever and could not wait to go on vacation. So, we ended up taking two mini weekend trips to Atlanta and one to Chattanooga. It was a quick weekend trip to satisfy my need to go somewhere and relax.

On our trip to Atlanta, we took the kids to the Imagine It Children’s Musuem and Centennial Park. It was our first time at the Children’s Musuem and it was a great interactive spot that was relatively inexpensive and provides 2-3 hours of fun for the kids.

Lucas or Picasso?

Lauren and Lucas sitting on John Deere tractor

Lucas and Mommy

Lauren playing in the moon sand area

Gatlinburg Fun

Gatlinburg Mountains

On our recent family vacation that I have shared with you in an earlier post, I talked about our wonderful cabin we stayed in that I affectionately called our home away from home. It was a great, quiet retreat.

Now, I will take you on some of the fun things we did while in Gatlinburg. We took a trip to Cades Cove and drove around and got the chance to see two tiny cubs cross the street after their mother! We went to Ober Gatlinburg and rode the skylift to the top of  a mountain that had an amusement park full of activities. Also, we went to the petting zoo where the kids got close to the animals and then went on a pony ride. It was a much needed and much enjoyed trip!

Gatlinburg Mountains

Lauren holding a baby goat

Lucas has seen enough animals!

Lucas likes the pony!

Ober Gatlinburg Fun

Kids on the back deck

Mommy and Lucas