That's me!

My drive to and from work is some of the best "me" time I have. I use it to listen to music or a good audio book (currently, "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac) or sometimes I even enjoy the silence. And yes, I talk on my cell phone. The woman in your rear view mirror at the stoplight...the one gesturing wildly and laughing into her Motorola Razr? That's me. I seriously would not even need my cell phone if talking on it while driving were suddenly illegal in Georgia. I could give up the $50 a month bill at that point. To and from work - nobody is with me in the car! I can swear with impunity, I can talk about things I might not talk with you about on my home phone (where little ears might be listening), and I can just be ME.

All things considered, I'm a good cell phone citizen (if you overlook the whole talking while driving thing.) I don't continue my discussions in the elevator, I rarely talk while shopping and if I do, it's in a quiet voice so the whole world won't know you're having a PMS breakdown and if I'm actually with you, maybe having lunch for example, I might look to make sure it's not Kyle's school calling to say he needs stitches (again!) but I won't actually answer it - because I prefer being with you to being on the phone!

But hey, at least I draw the line at actually applying MAKE-UP while driving!!!

And so it begins...

We have a half bath in our downstairs that has been in a state of disrepair pretty much since we moved in. The toilet was old and huge and the vanity was this behemoth that took up a whole wall and half of it didn't even open because of the giant toilet. A few months ago we took out the toilet and then things came to a standstill. I couldn't take that next big step of dismantling the vanity. I would peruse the internet do-it-yourself sites and get ideas, but stopped short of starting the project full scale. I don't know what came over me today, but I was fed up! I walked in there and just started...now it's a shell of its former self! David was the brute strength and together we got it done! Now there's drywall to patch, prime and paint...and new flooring to install. Not to mention a new pedestal sink, toilet, mirror and light fixture...but we are on our way! I'll keep you posted!

Ouch!

I hurt somebody's feelings. I'm not sure exactly what I said or did, but I hurt her feelings and now I'm getting the snub. I offered my apology, said I hoped we could move past it, but I'm thinking it's not very likely. So, what now? I cried a little, even kind of "mourned" a little about it, because she's someone who's a part of my every day and it's going to change the dynamics of my life...BUT, the worst part was when I had to face the fact that I say the wrong thing... a lot. My former roommate used to introduce me by saying, "This is Lori, she's kind of abrasive." Ummm...he was right. I'm kind of an anomaly - I wear my heart on my sleeve, cry over commercials, and love fiercely, but I'm also a "Chandler" - I make bad jokes and say some not-so-nice things when I'm in a group because I get nervous. So, please know that if I hurt YOUR feelings by saying something that I thought was said in a joking manner, but it stuck with you because it was a crappy thing for me to say, I'm really sorry. I'm going to work on it, I promise!

This happens to you, too...right?

You're digging through the clearance racks...slide, click, slide, click...convinced that all the good stuff has been taken, but looking just the same because you have that coupon for an "additional 15% off" that is burning a whole in your pocketbook! So you look and look and look through all the slightly faded, massively wrinkled clearance racks and then, you see it. A dress. It's cute, it's your size - well obviously it was put here by mistake - but no, it has a clearance tag! $8.40!!! Plus the coupon - cha ching! So you scuttle off to the dressing room with your eyes darting back and forth convinced at any moment someone will snatch it from your hands. Success - you make it to the dressing room, slip out of your clothes, slip into the dress and viola! You spin this way and that, you move left and right...but still...UGH! No wonder this thing was still on the rack - it only looks good ON the rack. There are no shoes cute enough to redeem the bad flow of this dress. Now you can't get it off quick enough. You stick it on the rack with all the other misguided clothes, sigh and move on.

Or is that just me?!?!?!?

David's Birthday

Today is David's birthday so last night we had some friend's over for BBQ, cake and presents. The top present was a video iPod, which I dropped (!) as I was bringing it downstairs. Thank goodness I had wrapped the iPod box, placed it in another box, wrapped that box and finally put it in a bigger box before wrapping that. I think the extra cushioning saved me from buying ANOTHER video iPod!

Kyle is going out with his babysitter Rosa today for a movie and dinner. I think David and I are going to use the time for a movie and dinner, too. I'm sometimes amazed at couples that don't have a babysitter - maybe it's because we don't have any family around to fill in so we've always had to find a good sitter. When we were in Topeka my neighbor Tami would watch Kyle for us when he was a baby and our friend Peggie took care of him sometimes, too. Then we started hiring this cute neighbor girl, Racquel. Of course one of the first things we did when we moved to Augusta was start asking around for a great sitter and Rosa has now been with us for three years!!! I'm grateful for her because I know the monthly dates that David and I have help our relationship a lot.

It's Here!

Our new iMac arrived today! We have had our previous computer since 2002, which in the life of a computer...well, let's just say it should be in a nursing home! I still haven't explored all it's features, I've been too busy organizing all our photos and deciding that iMovie may be my ticket to stardom!

Speaking of organizing photos, I realized during all of this that I still haven't scanned in the photos from when Kyle was a newborn. Apparently we bought our first digital camera at some point into his first year because he seems "older" in all the digital photos. Strangely enough, Kyle and I were looking at some of his early baby photos just last night...the ones where he barely weighs five pounds and people would hold him so gingerly...like he might break. To look at him now you would NEVER know he weighed so little at birth. Two of my favorite photos are of him being held by Reid and Hannah the day we came home from the hospital and the other is a picture of Angela ("Auntie La") feeding him when she came to visit right after he was born. Time just flies by at such a crazy pace - before long I'll be crying over him graduating high school!

He did it!

Kyle has been eyeing the diving board at our pool club all summer long...but most of the time the deep end is crowded with teenagers when we're there and it's just not the place for a novice diver to be. Well today I decided it was just quiet enough at the pool (despite 100+ temperatures!) His face lit up when I asked him if he wanted to try jumping off the diving board. When we got over there he confidently walked out on the board while I was treading water in the middle...then he stopped. He backtracked...he said he wasn't brave enough. He climbed down, then climbed back up...walked out to the end again...and changed his mind, again. Meanwhile I'm treading water and gently encouraging him...and reminding him that school starts on Monday and our days at the pool are numbered. He just couldn't do it. I started to swim to the ladder to get out and all of a sudden he just went for it...it was awesome! The look of pure joy on his face when he popped up out of the water reminded me why we might become parents in the first place. He went again and again and again! He'll probably dream about jumping off the board tonight! It's also a good way for him to build his swimming skills since he has no choice but to swim like crazy to the edge of the pool. Hurray for Kyle the brave!

School is expensive!

We just got home from Kyle's open house...where we shelled out $35 for four weeks of lunches ($1.75 a day) and $60 for the after-shool program ($20 registration and $40 for the first week). Oh and add to that the cost of small toys for the prize box, additional school supplies that were not on the list, and whatever else may come our way and we may have to get second jobs! Kyle got to meet his teacher though (Mrs. Hammond) who seems to be really "gentle" which may or may not be a good thing for Kyle!

Boys!

This is Kyle's "birthday twin" Cory - they were born within a few minutes of each other, of course Kyle was born in Topeka, Kansas and Cory was born in Augusta, Georgia. They're pretty different size-wise - Kyle's a giant next to Cory, but they are certainly spot-on in personality! Cory has a big sister, Cassie, who treats Kyle like a little brother, too. They're like this little "pack" moving around the daycamp each day!

Thriller...

Have you seen this yet? It's this prison in the Philippines doing "Thriller" - I've seen some wedding receptions where obviously the wedding party spent more time learning the choreography for Thriller than they did in choosing their wedding attire, but this one is by far the largest "Thriller" group I have ever seen! YouTube just cracks me up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

Friday

I love Cook's Illustrated. They have these crazy articles with titles like, "Perfecting Glazed Chicken" and "Ultimate Apple Tart" and they deconstruct each recipe so you know how they come up with the "ultimate" I devour (no pun intended) each issue cover to cover and have a crazy collection of them. I don't really ever go back to them and have only added a couple of their dishes to my regular repertorie, but just can't get rid of them!

Kyle starts school on the 13th - 1st grade. That seems really early to me - what ever happened to that Memorial Day, Labor Day school schedule? I think he's ready though. He's been at day camp each day with the same friends he always spends his summers with, but I think he's beginning to realize some kids are just hard to be around. It cracks me up though, when we get there in the morning several boys run up and start chattering to him all at once and he's so "aloof" about it all...kind of like he knows they love him! Funny kid.

Thursday

I was prompted to call my friend Carol yesterday while listening to the 80s station on XM satellite radio. They were playing "Every Rose Has Its Thorns" and I realized it may very well be the worst song ever written! I knew Carol would laugh right along with me! Yesterday also happened to be the anniversary of MTV...August 1, 1981...of course that was when MTV was more than just crap television! Another MTV tidbit - I was reading the wedding announcements in the New York Times not too long ago (yes, it's true...I read the wedding announcements in the Times every Sunday...no sudoku or crossword puzzles for me, thank you very much!) and there was Alan Hunter's wedding story...the first MTV VJ had married some woman in Birmingham, Alabama. And the woman was too young to have even watched Alan on MTV...plus the fact that her parents didn't have cable (some of these wedding stories get very in-depth!)

This blogging thing could be fun. I can post random thoughts about anything at any time!

My first entry!

It's vain to assume that anyone will want to read my occasional musings on life, love, family, and all things southern to a non-southerner, but here goes! It was hard to decide what to actually call the blog - I mean I don't have any specific hobbies, etc. so I just went with my love of my home state and my current position as a southern belle!