Move it Along Folks

So crazy to think that at this time next week I'll be both homeless and unemployed! We've had a super busy week with parties, dinners and get-togethers saying good-by to friends. Cosmo came home last weekend and we had a huge blowout at the house. It was so good to see everyone -- neighborhood friends, lax friends, Hoover friends, volleyball friends, work friends, even friends from Cincinnati! All I wanted to do was clean-out the bar and get rid of our liquor. Somehow, I'm +6 bottles of wine which is amazing considering we threw away 4 huge trashbags of nothing but beer, wine, rum and tequila bottles. Say what you want about the Cos family but man! We can throw a party! Lots of toasts, lots of shots.

I had all the chicks in the nest last week which may not happen for a long time. T drove in Saturday morning and of course her daddy had to make her favorite macaroni for dinner and I had to make her favorite chilli cheese dip for the party. She had to be back in Oxford early Sunday morning so it was a quick, emotional trip for her. It hit her hard that she will never come home to this house ever again. We had a long talk Saturday night (morning???) and I told her it's just a house. It's just four walls. Memories are made any where and every where. It's what's you keep in your heart.

KJ had a ton of kids over Saturday night, too. Naturally it ended in a cake fight. Sunday she spent the day w/ her sweet friend Mo shopping and doing fun girly stuff (I think strawberry shortcake was dessert of the day). Monday KJ got her eyebrows waxed and we did some last minute stuff (shoe shopping), Tuesday we had a relaxing evening getting pedicures (hey! a girl's gotta look good for her first day of school!). Wednesday we met Jo and GW for dinner at the Mexican place and Thursday we had dinner w/ The W Women. Tonight KJ has a b-day party to go to, she'll probably have some friends sleep over and tomorrow she heads to BWI so she can start 8th grade on Monday! Whoop! Whoop!

When we lived in Madrid there was a group of gypsies that lived near our apartment complex.  I am too young to remember this of course but my mom and dad said they roamed across Europe.  I may have been secretly switched at birth and swear I have some gypsy blood in me.  I like to keep moving, I don't like to be stagnant or complacent.  I like to try new things.  I like to read about new places, different people.  I like a little chaos in my life.  It's fun to mix things up a bit. 

I am so absolutely awful at good-byes and totally dreaded my last day at the hotel.  I work(ed) with an amazing group of people and we always had fun no matter what.  Lots of laughs and a lot of silliness.  The girls and I had a nice quiet lunch, no fuss and I tried to sneak out as best as I could.  One of the ladies I work with said, "You and you're family always go on the best adventures!" and I kept that with me all day today.  This next chapter in our lives is definitely going to be an adventure and I'm really looking forward to it! 

"It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure." == Ernie Harwell

Paychecks

Life in the South story #3
Location:  Cosmo's first couple of days in his new office

Payday rolls around and Cosmo is supposed to distribute paychecks.  Unfortunately he doesn't recognize a single name on the checks.  He asks his admin to contact home office since it appears they have mixed up their checks with another branch's.  Admin asks to see the stack of checks, flips thru them and says, "No.  This is right."  Cosmo said, "I don't recognize any of these people.  Who's Robert So and So?  Who's David?  Who is ...."  She said, "Well, that's Jimmie.  His real name is Robert James but everyone calls him Jimmie.  David's first name is Michael but no one calls him that, either.  Oh and that's JR.  He's a Junior so we just call him JR, etc."  Cosmo comes home and says, "Sheesh!  Everyone down here has two names!  I don't even know half my employee's names!

George !!!

Can they be any cuter???

Read Any Good Books Lately?

It's been such a busy, crazy summer. My Goodreads reading goal has definately gone by the wayside and I'm horribly behind. I have read a couple of good books this summer but nothing outstanding.

I started reading the Capital Girls series. When I purchased it on BN.com I had no idea it was a series and I had no idea it was more YA than Chick Lit. But, I'll read just about anything so it really doesn't matter! http://capitalgirlsbooks.com/

I'm also a HUGE Phillpa Gregory fan and started watching The White Queen series on the Starz network. The mini-series is beautifully filmed and visually stunning. Earlier in the summer I had read The Lady of the Rivers and went on her website to see what else was related to the Cousins Wars. I saw the advert for The White Queen and set the DVR. Jeremy Irons' son, Max, plays King Edward IV and he's quite easy on the eyes. http://www.philippagregory.com/#./books

https://www.google.com/#fp=317996672591dcaf&q=the+white+queen+starz

On my wish list: The Girl you Left Behind, Where'd you Go Bernadette?  A Hundred Summers and Husband's Secret. Any suggestions to add to the list?

Milos Anyone??

Adjusting to life in the South story #2:
Thanksgiving 1999; T-bone's Kindergarten class.
Room mom sends home a letter about the upcoming classroom Thanksgiving feasts and asks for parent volunteers to bring in various items.  I call her, leave a message and say I will be happy to bring in whatever she needs.  She, in turn, leaves me a message asking me to please bring in some Milo's.  I've lived here just a few months and have NO clue what Milo's is.  Fruit?  Vegetable?  Animal?  Mineral?  I leave the room mom another message explaining that I'm not really sure what Milo's is but if she tells me where to find some, I'll bring it to the class party.  She leaves one last, final message asking me to please bring in paper plates. 

Here we go!

Since the countdown has officially began, I thought over the next couple of days I'd share with you some of my experiences of living in the South for the past 14 1/2 years. 

Let's begin with our actual move in day way back in May 1999, Memorial Day Weekend to be exact.  I am 6 months pregnant with KJ and quite large (don't judge!  she was a huge 10 lbs. baby!!!).  Our new house sits on top of a ridge and our driveway is kind of steep.  The moving van was parked at the end of the driveway and the crew was running our household goods up the hill with dollies and boxes strapped to their backs.  I'm at the bottom of the driveway, directing (or, as Cosmo lovingly would say, "bossing.").  T is inside, running around the empty house, twirling from room to room, listening to her voice echoing off the walls.  We haven't even been official Hoover residents for more than an hour when all of a sudden we hear a large explosion and can see a huge fireball and plume of smoke coming up from the back of our house!  Thinking our house is on fire, Cosmo and the guys drop everything, run into the house, screaming for T.  Turns out our neighbor was burning trash/rubbish, added gas to the pile and BOOM!!!!  Welcome to Alabama!!!

Thor Day

This week has positively draaaaagged on!  And, I even had a short week because I took Monday off to do some personal stuff!  Maybe I need a Thirsty Thursday or something to pick me up a bit! 

Some interesting tid-bits about Thursday:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thursday

I actually have a friend who's younger brother's name is Thor.  He's the only Thor I've ever met. 

Even though I can't wait for Friday to get here, it's all good!  The hubster made it home safe and sound this morning (yesterday's UPS plane crash at the BHM airport had everyone a little freaked out) and we had breakfast together at the hotel.  T will be home and we're having a get together Saturday night to see everybody before we leave.  I love having all my chicks in the nest!  KJ is finishing up her Bumpus Middle School volleyball career this week, she's all registered at her new school and the pool heater at our new house is being turned on for her arrival.  The moving van has been scheduled and honestly, there's not much to do right now.  I'm sure between now and moving day I'll have a million and one things to think about but for now, we're all good.

MD

Totally forgot to blog about my quick trip to MD last month!  I flew in to BWI Thursday evening and Coach and I had a great dinner at Uncle Julio's at the Washingtonian.  Friday I did a few things while Coach was at work and that night we had a wonderful time walking around Mount Airy and had an alfresco dinner at the Laurienzo Brick Oven Café.  I had the lobster and shrimp ravioli and it was to die for!  I totally lucked out and had the most amazing weather while I was in MD and it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy my husband's company! 

Saturday evening we had dinner at a sports bar so we could watch the lacrosse game and then we went to see Despicable Me 2.  Sunday morning we drove into Georgetown for brunch at Martin's Tavern.  We sat in the Madeline Albright booth and had mimosas.  http://www.martins-tavern.com/index.cfm 

We walked over to Georgetown Cupcakes but didn't go in.  It hadn't opened yet for the day and the line was about 50 deep already.  Next trip I'd like to go to http://www.macaronbee.com/

After brunch we headed to DC and went to the Marine Corps War Memorial just outside Arlington.  From there we headed over to Jefferson Memorial.  We found a great parking spot and walked around the Tidal Basin.  After a quick little nap we headed to the airport and I had a great flight home!  Quick weekend but just what I needed!

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."   ~  John Ruskin

I love the rain.  I really do.  It's a good thing too because it has rained A LOT this summer.  I read somewhere that Birmingham has only had a handful of days that reached the 90's this summer.  And I'm OK with that! 

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."  ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sophomore Year Has Begun

So Sophomore year is upon us.  Very, very different from Freshman year. Freshman year was so crazy and was just one big shopping spree -- XL linens, towels, micro and fridge, storage solutions, cute little dresses for Rush, etc. Sophomore year was very calm. T is using the comforter set she bought last year, same egg crate mattress pad, same mattress protector cover, she did buy a new set of sheets and a new set of towels. Other than that, she really didn't buy much. She kept everything in one spot in the garage and even loading up her car was easy-breezy. Being an RA several items are already provided for her so she didn't need to pack her fridge or microwave but she did need to take a TV with her. She's got that great big room all to herself so she wasn't worried about taking too much stuff. They had the carpet already laid down for her, the fridge, the microwave and they gave her a couch, too. The Boy helped her move in, hooked up her cable for her and did most of the heavy lifting.  They went out to dinner Saturday night to T's favorite restaurant and Sunday they went to BBB.  Sadly, T said none of the hot male servers from last year were working.  Sunday afternoon they had an RA gathering in the Grove and had a wonderful meal catered from Taylor Grocery. 

KJ started volleyball today and will have daily practice from now until the season is over.  She's worked pretty hard in the off season.  We did not buy a single thing during tax-free weekend.  It just isn't worth it to me.  I heard the crowds were insane and I hate crowds. 

Risk

I think one of the reasons Coach and I work so well as a team is because we balance each other out.  We have an interesting dynamic.  He likes to think things through and doesn't make rash decisions.  I react a little more spontaneously and impetuously.  I make up my mind pretty quickly and once I've made up my mind, that's pretty much it.  I rarely change my mind.  About anything. 

I consider myself to be fairly adventurous.  I get bored very easily so I'm usually up for a challenge and like to try new things.  Especially when we're on vacation.  We've had fun zip-lining, I've swam with dolphins, KJ and I like to go horseback riding, Cosmo and I like to snorkel.  I'm not a fan of heights but I would like to give bungee jumping a try (and would also like to sky dive).  I'd like to take a family white-water rafting trip.  We've had fun jet skiing, snow skiing (I've never water skied), I've given snowboarding a try.  I like to shoot guns. 

However, as spontaneous as I can be, I like to research and be prepared for the experience.  I think part of the fun is planning for the adventure.

Adventurous: 
ad·ven·tur·ous /adˈvenCHərəs/
Adjective 1.Willing to take risks or to try out new methods, ideas, or experiences.
2.Involving new ideas or methods.
Synonyms venturesome - adventuresome - risky - hazardous

 

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
― Helen Keller, The Open Door    

 

“Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, with Annotations - 1841-1844    

 

“If you dare nothing,
then when the day is over,
nothing is all you will have gained.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book