R&R at the Sunset House

Finally...it was vacation time!! It took forever to get here and went by too quickly! We had a wonderful time just relaxing by ourselves! It proved to be a great time to go...despite the threat of all the hurricanes! Hurricane Ike spared us and went instead to Houston. I feel bad for Houston but happy it didn't ruin our Florida vacation! The beaches were quiet and not very populated, which is just the way we like it. The house we rented was just off the beach. We had access just outside our door and beautiful views of the beach and gorgeous sunsets. The weather was perfect, only one 5 minute shower on Wednesday. It was still a bit hot but with Ike out in the Gulf, it brought welcome breezes and gusty winds. Wednesday morning/afternoon we had to retreat to the base of the dune as the surf washed away the beach. By Thursday there was no beach. That was ok because we had our own private pool by which we relaxed. Saturday came too fast!

We ate too much and I got too much sun in a very uncomfortable spot. Let's just say JT dubbed my new nickname 'cheeks'. Ahh....back to the grind tomorrow...yuck!

Great views from our lower balcony.


It's called the Sunset House for a reason!
The quiet, peaceful beach before the surf surge.

The house we stayed in is second from the front. The private pool was very nice!

We ate sooo much! We cooked two nights, picking up fresh seafood from a local market. I made baked oysters, baked red snapper, shrimp fettuccine and boiled shrimp! We ate out several times. Our favorites were Bud and Alley's and The Old Florida Fish House.

Baked oysters...Jt's favorite!

The beach Wednesday evening during the start of the surf surge.

Thursday the surf came up to the steps.

Getting Older...

Totally sucks. I went out for GNO - Girls Night Out - this past Saturday. Me and the girls had fun but there was some hell to pay for it the next day (read still too hungover to even boot up my pc yesterday). The sad part is that while sure, I had some drinks, it wasn't excessive amounts. I mean I'm a gal that can used to hold down a fair amount of alcohol. It was a mild hangover, mainly an annoying headache all day long, but the fact is I ain't gettn' any younger. Even sadder was that there were some young boys, and I do mean boys because they looked 12, at this bar and they happen to disclose the college they went to. It happened to be the same college I went to. Of course the question came up and they asked -"So, what year did you graduate?" 1999. Gasp! I think it took a good several minutes for them to process how old I must be if I graduated in the 90s. One of them actually said "You look hot for 30". Ouch! Couldn't they have just said, "You're hot". Why did he have to add the 30 part?! Little shit. As my friends said they were too stupid to even realize and totally meant it as a compliment. Yeah, that's right...a compliment. That's my story and I'm stickn' to it!

It REALLY is just a Blog

So I recently spent some time in the blogosphere, which is something I've not done in a long time. Sure, I've read a few blogs here and there, certainly none of which I felt compelled to read every day. Many of these I read are related to my profession of eLearning and instructional design/training and a few others are hobby like arts/crafts or personal blogs, which are apparently labeled "mommy blogs" in the blogosphere. Who knew? Not me. I'm not a mom. I'm a newbie to this blog thing anyway. Yes, I joined the party a little late. I guess when you turn 30 and all of your friends and their friends and their friends are having kids, those are the blogs you come across. You then follow links on their blog and so on....out to the blogosphere. I've come to a few conclusions about you serial bloggers out there:

1. You are trying WAY to hard. I mean come on! It's just a blog! You think your clever, witty posts are going to land you some high paying gig writing for some lame online column or something? You say you realize that, but secretly you are hoping your blog thing turns into something, aren't you?! OK Jennifer whoever you are that I read about somewhere (from TN no less) is apparently making some money doing this...but YOU are not. C'mon...keep it real!

2. Trying to seduce your "readers" with intriguing blog titles or posts to increase your traffic. Please! You talk about your "commitments" to blogging. I mean, is someone paying you to write? Don't think so....a tiny percentage of you, MAYBE. I'm a real person with a real job that requires real commitments. I don't have time to take pictures of every single thing I encounter each day or blog about every ridiculous thought that pops in my head. That would be weird, strange and no doubt boring.

3. You mention and praise other bloggers in hopes they will mention you on their blog. Who cares?! Geesh! I didn't like high school the first time around! Popcorn and Soda anyone?

4. Cussing and your transparent style of writing like use of this strikethrough shit style does not make you a better writer. OK, maybe it does pepper it with some f'n interest.

5. You have cute names to describe your kids, husband or family members. I guess I should be a little worried about using real names...I do watch a lot of news magazine shows - Dateline, 20/20 and their stories do freak me out. Yet, I still watch them anytime they come on. Whatever...maybe I'll come up with my own silly names.

6. Many of you see the fourth hour of the Today show...'nuff said.

Yes, I started this blog just to say - hey people I know (all 10 of you), here's what's up in our life. Not to secure "readers" or lure people to get revenue from annoying advertisements or some lame attempt to score a gig.

I do spend the majority of my time writing at work. You wouldn't know it by reading my blog, but I prefer to use this space to just write like the way I talk (Memphis, TN yo) and not worry about being grammatically correct. So if you think I don't write well, F you. I try to refrain use of F bombs for my family "readers" out there. So, I'll just say f'n or F or WTF. Ahh screw it. It's my blog! I can write what I want!

OMG...maybe deep down I want to be like you. I watch Jon & Kate Plus 8 and LOVE it! WTF?! Most of you are fairly sarcastic, so I can appreciate that. My undergrad was in psychology so I'm doing a little reflection here... Nah...It can't be that obvious, can it?! I'm sure if/when I get pregnant and start a family I will blog ad nauseam about my pregnancy and my mini-me's, but hopefully it won't be the typical "mommy blog"...I'm sure it will.

Chelsea Lately is on (love her!)...gotta run.

Baby Shower Central - Baby Girl

Here we go again! This time around it was for a baby girl(due on my birthday September 18!). We also got the chance to visit with Liz who was in town to help host the shower for Ranae. It turned out very lovely and Ranae got TONS of stuff.

Thanks to my friends Jennifer and Jill for contributing their craftiness for both showers. You can check out their work in the slideshows below. Jennifer does a variety of crafty projects including monogramming and did fabric covered buckets for me. I had flower arrangements made out of them and gave to the mommies so they can use the bucket in their nursery later. You can check out her etsy shop of handmade items at halffullmartini.etsy.com. Jill is amazing baker and cake decorator and did the cakes for both parties. Everyone loved the strawberry cake and colorful cupcakes. Now, I've just got to get baby presents for two other girlfriends who just had their babies. Then it's adios to baby stuff...for a while anyway!

Baby Shower Central - Baby Boy

The baby shower bonanza is well underway! Everyone I know is pregnant or just had a kid. This past weekend I co-hosted a shower for my friend Toni at my house. It was fun getting everything together, but boy I was tired when it was over! One down and one more to go this weekend! It would have been too easy for this shower to be for a boy too. Yep, this one is for a girl so all new decor! Congrats Sean and Toni on your beautiful baby boy!

A visit from Zanesville

So...it was that time of year again. JT's parents came for their annual summertime visit. I guess the summertime tradition started last 4th of July. And so it came around again for their 2 week marathon visit. Yes...2 weeks! That too began last year after JT's mom retired. Don't know exactly why they pick this month as it is very, very hot in Memphis. Prior to last year it seems like they had been visiting over Thanksgiving.

At any rate, we had a good visit. My parents even came one Sunday to eat lunch and spend time with the Schneiders. We went to the 4th of July redbirds game and saw their fireworks show followed by the Germantown 4th of July festivities the next day. We shopped, ate, shopped and ate some more. JT and his dad built a ramp off the deck so poor little Jake can get off the deck by himself (he's back to his old self by the way!). I was VERY impressed with the ramp. Thank goodness John was here and actually made it look professional rather than white trash gehtto mess we would have likely had if JT would have done it himself (love you honey, but you know it's true!).

They came, they saw, they went! We had our own Independence day Sunday, July 13th!
John and Mako you know we love you :) We hope you enjoyed your visit!

Jake Drama...yes, more.

So the last several weeks have been quite hectic for a variety of reasons. The number one reason is our Boykin Spaniel, Jake. He's our nutty, crazy, dog but I have come to love this little dog now more than ever. A few weeks ago Jake had some mysterious accident. It was a Sunday night after his nightly outing. Jake came back inside the house and appeared dazed and confused (more than usual). His eyes were dilated and he began walking funny. We soon realized he was going down hill and off to the animal hospital we went. This was our second visit to this hospital so we knew the drill. At the hospital he could no longer walk. They did x-rays and blood work and could not find a problem. The doctor figured he had sustained an injury to his neck or possibly a slipped disc. We had to leave Jake overnight and I just feared for the worst. The next morning we picked Jake up and took him to our regular vet. It was so sad, he had been given some pain meds and had to be carried in to the vet on a small stretcher. Of course tears are streaming down my face once again. I thought we would be saying our goodbyes shortly.

Jake remained at the vet all week. Long story short it was a waiting game and we didn't know if Jake was ever going to walk again. The vet concluded he likely did fall and just hit his neck just right causing swelling around his nerves. The crazy dog leaps off the deck all the time and rather than taking steps one at a time, he leaps up all 3 in one jump. I'm sure it was a fall.

We picked him up the following Friday and didn't know what to expect. We brought him home and soon found out. Jake couldn't walk or hold himself up. Amazingly, within a matter of days Jake was walking around on his own and seems to be about 90% recovered, which may be as good as he gets. He can't walk too good on the hardwood floors and often falls down, but maybe he'll learn to slow down! He is still wearing his vest so we can lift him up/down the deck steps, but otherwise he's back to his old self! JT and his dad have a project this weekend to build a ramp. Jake is going to have to learn to use the handicap ramp! He'll likely never be steady enough to take those steps. Ahh...I have a better appreciation for what it must be like having kids! I have to think this is the last major problem Jake can have...it just HAS to be! He's a nut, but he's my little nut!