Hospitals, Snakes & Traveling....A Busy Week

I'll go ahead and apologize now for having such a rambling, non-cohesive post but it's the only way I can update everyone on what's going on with us this week.

If you're still interested, read on.

Hospitals:
I will be spending Tuesday & Wednesday mornings at the hospital with my step-dad who is having some procedures done. Thankfully, Daddy is home this week on vacation so the kiddos don't have to accompany me. The procedures done today went well, there is a pacemaker change to be done tomorrow. Hopefully that will go just as well.

Snakes:
While I was away today, the kids & Daddy had some excitement. Daddy was sitting in one of our chairs on the front porch and Gracie went to sit in the other one but when she moved the pillow -something was already there....you guessed it - A SNAKE. She didn't know what it was right away & thought it was one of Chase's leashes. (I'm glad she didn't get the chance to pick it up.)
Daddy managed to get it into the yard where he proceeded to kill it.
(If you're one of those bleeding green, tender hearted environmentalists who is going to get all ticked off - SAVE IT. We don't care. It's a snake. Around our children. End of story!)

Traveling:
Once again, we will be leaving to head down south and do a little house hunting. We FINALLY got the totals that we needed from the relocation company and should be able to put an offer in on a house. Yay!
I'll let you know how that all plays out when we return on Saturday.

Until then, I hope everyone is doing well & staying cool in this heat.
I look forward to catching up on all the blogs when we get back.

Yay! I'm a Winner!

I finally won something on a blog contest.....I'm so excited!

Wendy of Freeul had a "Guess the Amount of Rain Contest" and I got the closest so I get a wonderful new umbrella.

"Thank You. Thank You. Thank You."

Dreaming....

This is sooo where I want to be right now.

I'm picturing "My Happy Place" and releasing all stress.

(Ah - who am I kidding.....it's a picture!)

Confession Time

I have a confession to make.

I have an addiction. (Gasp!)

It is time to confess......that I... am... addicted to.........

SCHOOL SUPPLIES! (Double Gasp!)

Whew. That feels so much better.

I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer.

Temptation is everywhere and I need a support system.

I go to Walmart and there they are.......notebooks for 5 cents! Pencils for...I don't even know how much.

I crave them so much I don't even pay attention to the prices - I just throw them in the cart.

Filler paper, colorful divider folders (with pockets), brand new crayons....oh, the smell.

This is the toughest time of the year for addicts like me and I'm thinking of starting a program.

School Supplies Annonymous

Is there anyone out there who needs to join or am I a total freak?

Please...anybody.....I need help to be stopped.

Inspection Time

On Thursday we have a very important visitor stopping by.

Yep, it's the "Home Inspector".

I must spend the next two days cleaning, mopping, & making our house look brand new again so he won't have many things to write down on his list.

I also have to try to rearrange some things in the garage so he can get to the pull down stairs for the attic. (That might be a trick.)

Keep your fingers crossed that everything checks out ok. Our house is only three years old so if there is anything major - I might get a tad upset.

Sorry there's nothing more interesting to blog about, but around here....it's all about THE MOVE!

We might have a winner.....

We're back from our travels down south and it was a very productive trip.

We've looked at a ton of houses and I refuse to add one more to the mix. If we haven't seen it by now, more than likely we're not going to see it.

We have picked out one to put an offer on, but I'm not telling which one (yet).

I will show you all of the ones that we've toured (that I cared enough to take a picture of) so you can see our dilemma.

I think we're going to make an offer next week, so.....I'll keep you posted.

If that doesn't work, we'll go to Plan B.

Whatever is meant to be will be.

Enjoy the pics:

1.



2. 3.
4.
5. 6. 7.
8.
9.
10.
Too many decisions.......what's your guess?

On the road again.

We're headed to SC for more house hunting.

Hope everyone enjoys the remainder of their week. I look forward to reading all about it when we return on Saturday.

(By the way - I had to breakdown and request a new relocation counselor. Ours stunk.

I haven't gotten a reply to my e-mail asking for her supervisor's name - shocker!)

Must be Opposite Day

Gracie & I were have a little mommy/daughter time today while running errands. We stopped to grab a quick bite of lunch in the car, and I hear from the backseat:

"Is today Opposite Day?"

"No, honey, it's not opposite day. Why?"

I look in the review mirror and she's holding up one of these.....

Instead of one of these......

Guess I was wrong.....it must be Opposite Day!

(Thanks, McDonald's workers)

Another Relo Update

Well, a lot has happened on the relocation front. As of the last report things were pretty sluggish but this past week we have seen a pick up in the action. (I guess my harrassment is finally paying off.)

They've shown our house twice and we've had one realtor preview.

Our moving company came out to do their survey (which just means they need to see how much junk we have to move).

And......drumroll please:

After much aggrevation (by me) the two appraisers came out this morning!! (Cheers, Hooray!!)

Now, I know they have to turn their reports into the relo co. in two days - let's see how long it takes for me to get the results.

We are heading down to SC on Wednesday for more house hunting. We have a house in mind so wish us luck and prayers please, my mother is also going with us.

I'll let you know how it all works out.

Hope everyone is having a great week. :)

I'm Feeling Blah.

As many of you know, we are in the middle of a relocation to SC. Hubby has been gone since May, so that leaves mom & the kiddos here until we find a new home and can get moved.

Since it's summer time and we're not busy with school activities I have some extra time to surf around in blogland. I have found some great blogs out there about entertaining. While viewing these I have found myself becoming more & more bored with my life (as it is now). It seems like all I do is take the kids to the pool, search for houses on-line, and wait for people to show up to do their assigned task for the relo.

When what I really want to be doing this summer is more of this:

and this

(All photographs courtesy of Southern Living.)

I want to have summer cook-outs and get-togethers. I want to grill out at night with my hubby and family. I know in my head that it will be over (eventually) but for now it's dragging on forever.

Now that I've had my little pity party, let me live vicariously through you.

Tell me what kind of entertaining you've been doing lately.

Lions & Tigers & Bears, oh my!

Ok - there's not really any lions and tigers but we did have the bears.

Last night some friends had brought me a load of pinestraw and as we were unloading into the front yard our neighborhood police officer stopped by to tell us that...."Y'all might want to watch out. There's a black bear over on that fairway."

"Ummm.....a what?" we all say in unison.

He repeats, "There's a black bear roaming around on the golf course and I just wanted to make y'all aware."

"Ummm..Ok, thanks. We'll watch out for it."

So, needless to say, we hurried up with the pinestraw unloading while cautiously watching the hill in front of my house to see if the bear actually made it to the green. He must have lost his ball in the bunker or a water hazard because he didn't make it to the fourth hole.

The whole neighborhood was abuzz. We had to tell a few walkers to be on the lookout and a few looky-loos actually made their way down to the pond (in golf carts - like he can't catch them in those) where he had been reportedly spotted. The next person to enter the action was a photographer from the local newspaper zooming around the neighborhood trying to get a glimpse of the Moore County bear that has been making appearances for the last couple of weeks. (He usually likes to hang at the movie theater but I guess he wanted to play the front nine).

I kept waiting on my front porch armed with my camera hoping this elusive bear would stroll by. No such luck. The photo above is just one I downloaded. Oh well, knowing my luck he'll sneak up on me while I'm outside working in the yard.

Do y'all have any animal encounters that you'd like to share?

duchess (I've got to work on my signature thing)

I've been playing around.

You are not in the wrong place. This is still our blog - I've just been playing around.

I'm really starting to get into this blog business. I have to admit that it helps when the instructions are written out step by step.

I have to give a shout out to Leelou Blogs for the "FREE" template. It's pretty fabulous actually. There are so many to choose from......I can change my mind to my hearts content.

I'd better run - still got more changin' to do.

Hope you enjoy the change as well.

(Ok - I've still got to fix this.)

How do I explain this?

Today Gracie happened to see a picture of Jamie Lynn Spears & her new baby on the computer. (It just happened to be while I was checking out the OK homepage but whatever.)

Up until this point I had managed to keep her delicate condition a secret from my Zoey 101 watching 7 year old impressionable daughter. She looks with interest because she loves anything having to do with a baby & says....."she looks a lot like Zoey....wait, that is Zoey. What's she doing with a baby?" Then she proceeds to read the captions and suddenly she knows. I then have to go into the whole..."no, she's not married honey" routine. "yes, she is only 17". I kind of make it through that part of the conversation without too much detail and we change the subject.

Well, of course my little busy body's not going to let it drop. Later in the afternoon while on our relaxing ride to gymnastics she asks about the baby again. With a roll of my eyes I suggest that maybe she should find another TV girl to watch. "But why, Mommy?" I reply, "She has made some bad decisions, honey, and I'd rather you not look up to her so much." (Thinking I had done alright with my answer.)

"She then says but I do that all the time."

"Ummm, what honey?"

"I make bad decisions all the time and L is still my friend."

(Momma mia!!) My 7 year old is too smart for me.

"You're right, sweetie, we do stick by our friends when they make bad decisions but....she's not really Zoey and Jamie Lynn is not our friend so JUST FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO LIKE ALREADY!"

I so wish we didn't have to have conversations like this. Anyone got any advice for when the subject comes up again (and it will)?

Thinkin' about a change....

Anyone who knows me in the "real" world knows that I become bored with things very easily.

I'm forever changing our furniture around.
I'm always scared to buy large ticket items because I might not like them in a couple of years.
I always want a different car.
I always over-analyze bedding choices.
I love the look of some wallpapers/paint colors, but am afraid to commit to any on a permanent basis.
(What if I change my mind??)

All of this psychoanalysis brings me to my point........I want to redo my blog design.

Not that I don't love my current design.

It's fun.
It's whimsical.
It's summery.
It's very kid friendly.

But.....I'm kinda tired of looking at it.

I want a classic look. I chose the current design because of the children, however after using it for a while, it's really my blog and I'd like it to be more reflective of my personality.

Now, to get to my second point.

Does anyone know where I could download some really nice backgrounds and embellishments?

I know there are some talented bloggers out there, so just drop me a line & help me come up with some ideas for a new look.

Move update:

Just a quick note to keep everyone posted on where we are in the relocation process.....

sitting still!!

We have gotten a couple of things accomplished:

Our house has been on the market for a couple of weeks (no showings, one broker open house).
Apparently real estate agents don't like red bedrooms, so we spent the weekend painting Bray's room a nice "neutral" color.

I have called and fussed at gently reminded our relocation specialist of our time constraints and her lack of concern for them.

Since then we have scheduled the moving co. to come by for their survey and with the help of an e-mail to hubby's company relo rep, we are working on getting the appraisal process started. (We need this information in order to purchase a home in the new location - kind of important.)

Our realtor in SC is tanning on some exotic island and won't be back until 7/12 (July 12th people!)

As of my last check, the SC board of education has not delayed the start of their 08-09 school year because of our circumstances. It is due to begin on 8/19 (August 19th people!).

I know that all of this will work out. I have complete faith that God is in control of our situation and He knows that I don't handle waiting well and is chuckling at my endevors to control things from here. I will just try to be content with the calm before the storm and keep house hunting online until our vacationing realtor comes back and the appraisers appear at my door.

Until later.....I hope you all have a great day.

We've been gone.

Sorry I haven't had any new posts lately. We've been out of town celebrating Independence Day with my family. Hamburgers, hot dogs, swimming & fireworks (with a few birthday celebrations thrown in for fun). A good time was had by all. (I'll post pictures later - too much to do to download right now)

Hope all of you had a great holiday weekend.

Please comment & tell us all about it.

Counterfeit

There once was a little girl named Gracie,
and she really loved to shop.

For everyday she begged her mom
"Just let me get one little top?"

Until one day she heard her mom say,
"I'm sorry honey, not today. Do you think they just give this stuff away?"

She hung her head low and back home they went
And later at her drawing table, this little girl had an idea.

"I think I will draw me some money to spend at the store.
For surely mom can't object, she's always such a bore."

She brings it in and proudly states,
"Let's go shopping now, I have my own dough"

Her mom sadly rolls her eyes and says,
"On what tree does this money grow?"

She pulled it out and I finally saw what she had in her little mit,
My seven year old little girl was now a counterfeit!

Ok - it didn't really happen that way (exactly) but she did try to print her own money.

If it were just that simple!