Father's Day

Father's Day. A great day for grilling out, doing work around the house, and having all chaos break loose. The day started out fine. We woke up, let out the dogs, played with the kitten, got dressed and headed out to price tile for the kitchen backsplash.

What better place to look for tile than Floor & Decor? It is a local discount tile place in Kennesaw. DH had been in the store previously, checked out the tile, had several picked out for me to look at. We went to the 'Imagination Station" where we arranged the tiles ourselves and I took a photo so we could think about it during the week. The store police, in form of an employee, told us we could not take photos, that is why they sell samples and sell idea books. That really upset DH and I. It was our design, no one helped us, the idea books don't have our granite with the backsplash we were trying out, and why could we not take photos of the tile? What were they hiding?

Phase Two: On the way home, DH's chick magnet decided to take a holiday. We had to get the car towed. Instead of mowing the lawn before going to my parents' house we had to wait for a tow truck. Pee Wee's Towing was a good service to use, however I do not wish towing upon anyone.

Phase Three: Lunch at parents' house was interesting. They are becoming more amiable toward DH. It is like they have finally resigned themselves to the fact that he will be joining us for family functions. Dad got moonpies and RC cola from us, he said he didn't want anything but a card. He has a new hive of bees, they just took up residence in one of his old hives. DH had to see the hives. May be we will be able to have them soon, promote local pollination and have raw honey.

Phase Four: Because we were at my parents' house we went to Lowes to look at their tile. We found just what we needed, on clearance, and because of the size of the tiles and the insert we will not have to cut tiles lengthways. The only tiles we will have to cut is for the border on the verticle edge of the tile. Thank you Floor & Decor Store Police, if it wasn't for you we would have paid more money at your store.

Phase Five: DH and I pull wire from the basement to the kitchen. Now that is done, he will work on plumbing and sheetrock. Woo-hoo!!

Am I back to my normal routine yet?

Today I went to work, school, and home again. The Goldens were anxious for me to come home since I went straight from work to school. I stopped at the Dollar Tree to get glow-in-the-dark bracelets for Halloween. Luckily they were in packages of 6, $1 per package. I am hoping that 9 packages is more than enough for our neighborhood.

After I got home I did a little cleaning, started peeling apples for an apple pie (I had been planning to bake it last Saturday) and put pork chops in the oven. The pork chops were on the menu for earlier in the week but I was just too stressed to make them.

The Goldens were very nice and quiet while I peeled and sliced apples. They wanted to get in the way of the pork chops (of course, raw meat) so they could have a snack. The funny happening was when I was cooking the pasta, I boiled the milk, water, and butter. Opened the seasoning packet and poured it into my pan. Sam immediately started looking on the floor because I had poured something out, it should be on the floor. He looked for a couple of minutes before he gave up.

I left my husband's and my lunch in the microwave to cool, he will put them in the fridge when he gets home. Yum, tomorrow's lunch is pork chops and angel hair parmesan pasta. And a slice of apple pie if we remember to take it with us.

Meet the Cousins, and another brother

Today we went to church together then headed down to Phipps Plaza to go to a restaurant called Twists. It was definately a 'happening' restaurant with the younger set. We met one of my brothers, whom my date had previously met and had dinner with before, my cousin and her husband, whom he met at a race day, and my other brother whom he had only seen from a distance. We all ate lunch together (except the brother previously seen from a distance) and had dessert, when the other brother finally met us.

After lunch we toured Phipps Plaza, stopping in Tiffany's (of course), Teavana, and stopping to chat at one of the courtyard tables. Then the cousins, my date, and myself went to Lenox Square. We went through Anthropologie (of course), the Apple Store, Starbucks, Banana Republic, and back home again. It was a wonderful day.

After driving back from the mall we went to Chili's for dinner. It was late when I got home, parents treated me like a 16-year-old, but who cares? I had a wonderful day!!

Vroom Vroom

Sunday we both were as excited as kids the day before Christmas. My boyfriend had planned on a drive over Fort Mountain on his motorcycle. Brad, Chuck, Chuck Sr., Susan, and Eric went with us. Only Chuck and my boyfriend had a piggyback rider, the others rode solo. It was a great day for a ride, clear skies, slight breeze, beautiful scenery, and great company. First stop was Waleska, then on to Goshen for our first 'group stop'. Everyone was ok with the pace we were setting, so off we went again. Next stop was Dahlonega for lunch at the Dahlonega Brewery. I thought that it would be different than what it was. It was decorated in Italian frescos. Somehow that was the furthest from my mind. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't Italian Fresco. After a friendly lunch with good conversation and comments on chick flicks and the music over the speakers (they were from different chick flicks, hence the conversation), we were off again. But not before everyone stopped to look an a nicely restored red vintage car. Ok, so I don't know what it was, but it looked very nice. Then we stopped in Ellijay so the guys could try each other's bikes out. Ok, so girls assist with makeup and clothes, guys swap bikes and cars. Go figure. I do believe it is a guy thing. But they had fun - all grins when we saw them next. Susan and I went into 3 antique shops. Funny thing, we didn't purchase any antiques, only giftware items. But they were small enough to fit into the bikes. Next stop was Fort Mountain at a lookout spot. We took our group photo here. The scenery was beautiful, we got some swooshing in, a couple of low turns (the bike was leaning kinda low), and curves in the road that added fun to the ride. Next stop was Waleska. By this time I was having a difficult time getting off the bike. I just am not accustom to an 8-hour ride. Thankfully we stopped for about 30 minutes to cool down, rest, and stretch our legs. Then home again, 9 hours later. **Whew** I was tired . . . and sore . . . and thirsty . . . and tired. . .

After my boyfriend let the dogs out to exercise and put them back up, we both went to Chili's for dinner. It was somewhat funny because when our waiter brought our chips and salsa, the chips left a trail from about 2 tables away all the way to our table. A few minutes later the menus made it to the floor. Then more chips made it to the table. Luckily the fajitas stayed on the table. We both agreed that it was the table's fault and not our own. Was it possessed? Quite possibly. After our Molten Lava Cake we decided it would be best to head on home and call it a day. I dropped off my boyfriend and headed on to my house. What a day. What larks! What fun!

Cupholder? What cupholder?

Today I went by Wendy's to get lunch on the run. I had to go by the bank and make a deposit, and it was lunchtime and I was hungry. I ordered a single hamburger, fries and drink. The hamburger and fries were packaged nicely in a paper bag and the cup, well, I am not sure if it had the lid on securely or not. But it was placed securely in my cupholder - that I know for a fact!

After getting my order, I waited for my place on the main road. Pulling out of Wendy's I could see in my periphial vision the yellow cup fell to the floor. My delima - do I reach for it and possibly have the lid pop off and Coke splatter the floor and my legs, do I let it fall and hope the lid is secure and the contents drizzle out? Well I decided to take my chances and let it fall, hoping for the best. Upon impact, I am assuming, the lid does pop off and 3/4 of my drink, along with ice, are now on the floor of my CR-V. Thankfully it is a warm day and it will dry soon. But my question is this - - - why couldn't Honda make an actual cup-holder that would work?

Meet the Parents part 2

May 6 - Today, after church, my boyfriend and I had lunch with my Dad, Mom, and one of my brothers. The other one was unable to make it on time due to traffic constraints. It was fun, we went to Fudruckers for lunch, talked about Elvis, unique interior decorations of restaurants, Tennessee, had a delicious hamburger. I honestly thought the lunch went very well, we had a quiet lunch but good conversation with everyone.

After lunch my boyfriend and I went to Marietta to the local art show.

Sweet Tomatoes - Feb. 18th

My boyfriend and I met with friends after church at Sweet Tomatoes. We had a nice long lunch, talked quite a bit, and had a great time of fellowship. Between salads, whether soup is eaten before or after the salad, philosophy, breaking into the IT market, and politics, we were well on our way to solving all the problems in the world. At least in our world. It was so nice just to be able to meet with another couple and have a time of fellowship. It is amazing what you can learn about those you are with as well. Or remember what you have heard in the past and just didn't remember at that time. Also a great time of bantering too. Politics are politics, whether it is in government or on a smaller scale, like hobbies, work, or school.