Bathing Beauty

I fell in love with this bathing suit the first time I saw it, but the smallest size that they make it in is 12-18 mos....
what's a momma to do? ------Order it for next summer, that's what!

I couldn't help but try it on her and it's big, but still looks so cute...

I cant wait to see her walking around in it next summer!!!

We got home from the river on Friday. As wonderful as the week was, it's good to be back. I completely agree with Dorothy, that "there's no place like home."

I do hope that this week is better than last as far as "big news" goes.

After Jon & Kate's announcement, then Farrah Fawcet and Michael Jackson both passing away, Sunday morning we got up only to learn that Billy Mayes had also died. I've said before that I have a weakness for an infomercial. I didn't know that Billy was a fellow Floridian. I also don't know who they'll get to replace him. Who else could sell everything from "The Awesome Auger" to "Mighty Putty" to insurance with such excitement and the ability to convince millions that the advertised product will not only work, but will change their life? Nobody could get me as excited to see what else you'd get if you called within the next 10 minutes, with his signature phrase, "but wait, there's more" like Billy. I just hope they don't replace him with the guy on the Sham-Wow commercials. Bless his heart, he's just scary.

We had a busy weekend, so all the laundry was waiting for me yesterday. After 3 loads, I thought my washing machine was going to be next on the list....
It stopped and wouldn't do anything. None of the lights would even come on. It's on it's last leg anyway, so I wasn't that shocked that it had finally quit. DW worked on it a few weeks ago and we were hoping to get some more life out of it. When he looked into what was wrong with it, he said the new part that we'd need would be around $100.00, and since it's as old as it is he hated spending that much on it, so we'd just let it keep doing it's thing and once it quit, we'd buy a new one....I broke the news to him yesterday afternoon that I thought the time had come that we were going to have to replace it....then he came home, looked behind it, and plugged it back in.

Oh..., okay.... Seriously, who's washing machine comes unplugged on it's own? It sounds terrible when it's spinning, and it even does a little walk to halfway to the middle of the laundry room when it's going... but I keep the laundry room door closed and after each load I push it back in it's place against the wall.... and keep on hoping it will last another year or two, because we don't want to be buying a new one anytime soon--- especially when there's cute bathing suits to be bought for a certain little somebody....
~annie~

So much to say....

What a crazy-busy few days we've had!

Friday night we went to an old fashioned "camp meeting" revival with some of our family. Our cousins invited us down for the evening to hear an evangelist that they have heard in the past and love. We had a great time. And when I said, "old-fashioned", I meant OLD fashioned. It was held in an outdoor sanctuary that wasn't closed in and had no air. Hot doesn't even seem suitable for what the weather felt like. It was the hottest Belle's ever been. Her little face was pink and she even had sweat beads on her forehead. She was such a good girl. And despite the heat, it was so good. The worship was wonderful---they sang a mix of old and new songs and it was beautiful to sing in such a setting... the guest vocalist who provided the special music was awesome.

When they got ready to take up the offering, our cousin looked over to catch my reaction....

He knew I'd love this...I looked up to see the ushers passing big Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets down each pew. NOT KIDDING. W (the cousin) said that they have done this for as long as he can remember. (He's been going all his life). I'm not going to act like I didn't get a little nostalgic when I saw those throw-back KFC buckets...made me remember the days of Colonel Sanders and the extra-crispy fried chicken back when it was still known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, not the abbreviated KFC and before they had to try and get all healthy and start serving "Kentucky Grilled Chicken"... Have yall seen that?

After all the good worship music, good laughs from the KFC offering buckets, and a great message, the whole congregation moved to the camp cafeteria. Which, thanks be to the Lord, was air conditioned. DW and I weren't planning to stay for the fellowship afterward, but everyone kept telling us we just couldn't leave without having a "Walk-away Sundae"... all it takes is the mention of ice cream and I'm in. We decided to stay...and am I ever glad we did.... This is the goodness that convinced us to stay and visit after the service...

Yall, they make these during the day, then put them in the freezer and break them out after the evening service. On top of having the ice cream, they had tons of other snacks and drinks....They even had Sunkist in a can. Ice cream and Sunkist?!?!? I think I could live there...well, on second thought, I think the non-existent A/C will just keep me a visitor in the future.... it was a great time and we are glad W & S invited us.

Saturday we headed here....
It's our family's week at the river house. Our whole crew enjoyed the Sunshine and coldest water you've ever stuck your foot in on Saturday.

To say that I love Blue Run is an understatement. The first time DW took me down there for the day, I was sold. I've been enjoying Devin's family's little piece of paradise for 7 years. But the really neat thing about Blue Run is that it's been in the family for over 60 years and several generations. I love the idea of my children splashing around in the cool water and toddling around the same house that their daddy and his daddy did when they were both babies, too! Blue Run is definitely rich in family traditions and history and I am thankful that my children and I get to be a little part of it.

Sunday was church and afterward we grilled steaks for lunch in celebration of two of my favorite fathers... my own Daddy and the Daddy to my babies. Annabelle wanted to do something special for her first Father's Day for her Daddy. So, we took a field trip to "Do Art" last Wednesday to paint something special for him. Thankfully, we had some help, because I don't know how I would have been able to take Annabelle by myself and "create" our project... (Thanks, Arielle)! We had Belle's foot prints done on a plate.

I have high hopes that one day all of DW's beloved Gator "stuff" will take up a new residence in his office at work. Mine and Belle's thought was that when it does, this plate will be so cute hanging on the wall or displayed on a shelf next to his replica of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium... We painted the plate orange and blue with a football theme. Around the rim it says, "Daddy's #1 Fan." Here's the plate, before it had been fired in the kiln.

(the colors will be bright and glossy once it's been fired... right now they look like peach and purple...but the lady assured me they'd come out gator orange and blue....let's hope she doesn't let me down. I don't know how my husband would take me not picking out the right orange and blue. Sometimes during football season I try to wear orange or blue that isn't exactly UF's colors, and I get told that I'm wearing Auburn colors or Tennessee.... I've had to learn that we take these things seriously around here....) Anyway, 'Do Art' was so backed up with father's day gifts, that it was going to take longer to get it in the kiln and I cant pick it up until tomorrow. I'll post a picture of the finished product when I pick it up! It was such a fun thing to do, and I cant wait to go and do something else.

During our Father's Day shopping last week, we had to get a birthday gift for one of our cousins' birthday party that Belle had been invited to. The party was on Saturday and we were here:


So we missed it. But I wanted to send our gift... We picked up the cutest little cotton dress and I had an idea about making something to match it. I have been wanting to make some covered flip flops since I saw them at my Kelly's Kids party back in February. So we decided to make some to match the dress for the birthday girl, "S". While we were at it, we decided to make a hairbow, too. Here's the finished ensemble:


I loved the way the flip flops turned out! I so wish I could find a solid white pair of baby ones in Annabelle's size... they'd be so cute with an "A" and some bows on them!

Wow, this post keeps jumping from day to day... I made those on Friday... then Friday night was the revival... Saturday was Blue Run.... Sunday was church, lunch and then that afternoon, we packed our bags and headed back here:


Blue Run's totally relaxed and laid back....

I'm talking pony-tail hair and no make-up kind of relaxed....We also EAT the whole time we're there. Dinner Saturday night was fried shrimp, grouper & homeade fries

What is it about the water that makes you want to snack??? Among eating and snacking, we also enjoy swimming during the hottest part of the days and taking boat rides in the evening.

The water is super cold.
Little Miss loves the icy cold water! Momma can only take so much of it. So while Daddy's at work, she hangs out in this pool (in the shade, with her hat and sunscreen on) while I sit right next to her trying to tan my pale white skin..... When it gets too hot, we'll take a dip in the cold water...It's 72 degrees year round. (I think that's right...)When the heat index is 106 in the sunshine state, that 72 degrees feels arctic! But so refreshing.

These two spent the night with us on Sunday and Monday night.
And DW and I are staying the rest of the week. Except tonight. I came home today to wash some clothes (& my hair...) and do a few things around the house. It's good to be home for a day- and have Internet access! I feel lost not having my email at my fingertips and being able to do my daily blog checking...

Speaking of which, one of my blog buddies gave me an award! How sweet...
Heather and I "met" when I stumbled on her blog from a blog she'd left a comment on. She's another Christian blogger, and just one more example of why I love the whole blog world. I love the Christian "community" that's found here and the friendships that are made through it. I enjoy keeping up with her and her family and love it when Fridays come around and it's time for the "Kelly's Korner Show Us Where You Live Friday" posts to go up, because Heather's house is amazing. She's got great taste, the cutest kids, and such a sweet, kind spirit. Not to mention she's totally the friend you'd love to have. She looks like she's 18 ---MAYBE---she's such a pretty person---inside and out... I love reading Heather's blog because she's just real. She blogs about everything from missing her family in TN, to swimming at the pool, to trusting God, to what yummy things she cooked for breakfast... Thank you, Heather for the sweet words you wrote about me! We'd so be friends in real life if we lived close...I'll settle for blog buddies! :)

Now, it's time for me to get some laundry done... I've got to be somewhat productive today, because the rest of my week looks like this:

~annie~

A New Word

Guess who learned a new word?
Guess what the word is?


Here's my first attempt to post a video.... maybe it will work.


On a side note, I am pretty sure if DW wasn't already wrapped as tight as he could be, after watching this it's a done deal.

She's also developed a fake cough that gets her lots of attention.
She's quite dramatic even at just 6 months old.
We're not sure where she gets it from.

~annie~

Strep, Watermelons, & a Swap

Yesterday I was close to performing a tonsillectomy on myself. Had I been able to find a do-it-yourself guide on the Internet, I may have tried. I woke up with a sore throat and gave it my mom's age old diagnosis; I figured, "something must be blooming...."

My mom has 2 diagnoses for ANY problem you ever have. If it's something related to snot, coughing, watery eyes or your throat then "something's blooming" and its "just allergies". If it is ANYTHING else, from your toe feeling like it's rotting off to your neck being stiff, then you get the question that comes in a low whisper tone with a slight nod of her head, "When's the last time you went to the bathroom?"---

Since this particular ailment had my throat feeling like it had been scraped with a switchblade, I told myself it was "just allergies" and would be better by lunch time. Lunch time rolls around and it was still hurting and I was beginning to feel a little achey all over. By 2:00, I was SICK. I took my temperature and sure enough I had a fever of 101.3. I immediately called DW's cousin's husband's office (did ya'll get all that?) and begged them to let me come in and do a strep culture...I didn't care who did it either--- a doctor, a nurse, the receptionist, another patient in the waiting room, just as long as I found out if it was strep and got some medicine or a tonsillectomy. They could get me in at 4:00. I dropped Annabelle off with her Granny and saw the nurse practitioner. She did the culture and said that strep didn't show up, but that I for sure had an infection in there (tonsillitis) and prescribed me some antibiotics. She said it could be strep, but that it might be too early for it to show up on the culture....She said that it's spread through saliva (a.k.a. spit). Since we're typically not the family that goes around spitting on each other, I figured we'd be fine. She told me to try not to get in Belle's face or kiss her or talk when I was close to her in case some stray saliva came out.... with that, I was out the door.....

As I was driving home, it hit me. If this is spread through saliva, (a.k.a. spit) then I'd just like to know who the heck spit on me and passed it my way. Gross.

This morning I woke up feeling better than yesterday and the fever is gone. I'm trying not to hold Annabelle very much and am not talking to her at all when I am holding her. Needless to say, it's been a very QUIET day at our house and I think she is wondering what in the world happened to her mom. DW on the other hand has sprayed down all the important parts in our home (the TV remotes, phone, and the furniture) with Lysol. Guess we know where he thinks I spend most of the day and what I do....ha...

Now, the watermelons..... My brother, sister-in-law, and newest nephew, Garrett, were here last weekend. I've been planning how I was going to take Annabelle's pictures with some watermelons for several weeks now. I had the sweetest image in my head, of carving one out and laying her in it.... that wasn't going to work when I realized that she isn't the tiny 6 lbs she was when she was born and she wasn't going to fit in it. Oh, but wait... Garrett would be coming soon and we could do that with HIM! There was a slight problem though... "baby" Garrett, who's 2 months old, is basically the same size as Annabelle. He's a haus for sure and it was decided that he wouldn't be fitting in the melon either.... So we thought we'd carve the melon and let Annabelle sit in it like a chair....

We tried to fit Garrett in the melon, too. He ended up looking like a turtle that had flipped over. The melon was the perfect "shell" but he wasn't very impressed. Garrett, the "Watermelon-Turtle"

We didn't do all of this until it was close to 8:00, and we should have done it much earlier, for the sake of lighting and the moods of the little peeps.

Garrett didnt want to be put down, much less put down in a pile of watermelons... look at that lip! Pitiful, but so cute!

not quite so upset in this one
Little man liked it much better when we moved him inside--look at that grin!

Here's the rest of little miss.....

And last, the "swap." LuLu is hosting a monogram swap... I signed up because its fun to do something for someone else and so fun to get a package from someone you dont know! You can get all the details and sign up by clicking over to her blog via the link below... Sign up ends Sunday, though!

http://lifewithluluandpete.blogspot.com/2009/06/ok-lets-do-ita-monogram-swap.html

Have a great weekend!

~a~

A half birthday

Half a year.
Where did half a year go?
It seems like yesterday we brought our sweet baby girl home from the hospital.

But in reality, yesterday she turned 6 months old!
We celebrated her half birthday at the pediatrician’s office for her well-check visit, which means she received three shots on her big day. I promised her that I wouldn’t be scheduling her one year well-check on her actual birthday! Poor baby, girl… She definitely doesn’t like shots, but who does? Of course, as always, she’s easily consoled, which makes it much easier than it could be…

At 6 months she’s:
- weighing in at 14 lbs, 8 oz. (50th percentile)
- measuring 25 ½ inches tall (25th percentile)
- “talking” more everyday. We are pretty convinced she has the sweetest baby
girl voice we’ve ever heard. Sometimes it’s soft and sweet, sometimes deep
and loud… but ALWAYS precious! Even at 1:00 in the morning.
- calling me from her crib every morning—I’ll hear, “maaaaa, maaaaa, ma” when
she’s READY to get up---she’s like her Momma and needs ‘a minute’ before she
gets out of bed in the mornings (Cooper was the same way, too)… she wakes up
and talks to herself and plays in her crib, then decides she’s ready to face
the day and calls for me… so sweet….

- Rolling everywhere. She loves a pallet on the floor and rolls from one end
to the other.

- “tri-pod” sitting, but not self-sitting just yet. It wont be long, though.
When she lays flat, she constantly holds her neck up, and has abs of steel.
At least one of the girls in this house will have a 6 pack… yesterday her
nurses couldn’t believe how strong her tummy muscles were. When they gave
her the shots, she literally pulled herself straight up to a sitting
position. They couldn’t believe it. Me either.
- Loving solid foods. We’ve been on them for a few weeks, and she’s loving it!
- On a bottle & formula full time. Those two teeth were just too much of a
temptation for her…

- chewing on everything…
- drooling on everything…

- Laughing out loud and snorts when she gets really excited
- Loving being tickled or “got”…if you tell her “I’m going to get you…” she
squeals and tries to climb up the person who’s holding her…
- Happiest when someone is talking to her.
- SUCH a GIRL!
- Recognizing her “people” and gets so excited to see them
- So much fun!!!!!

Some of her favorites at 6 months:
- Food: Yo’Baby yogurt. She’d eat it all day, if I let her.
- Toys: her baby doll, “Abby” – anything with “yarn hair”, a tag or something
to chew on…

- Being outside
- Riding in her stroller, facing FRONTward like a big girl…

- Her 2 favorite DVD’s are: “Praise Baby: Born to Worship” & Baby Einsteins: Day on the Farm. She also loves Little Einsteins on Disney. (These all happened to be favorites of her brother, too). I tried to introduce her to Sesame Street and some other different shows, but she wants nothing to do with any of them. I guess it’s just in their blood….If it’s not those three, then she’d rather just watch real TV, so she can watch the people. She will smile at them, and take in every word they say. Because, after all, everyone’s talking right to her. She’s funniest during the local news. She recognizes the news anchors and get so excited to see them. She also loves the Steven A. Bagen & Associates law firm commercials. She thinks she knows Steven, too. We’ve tried to figure out who he may look like that she really does know, but cant figure it out.

She gets really excited though, when his commercial comes on. She smiles and laughs and really does think he is talking straight to her.

There are no words for how much we love her, how proud we are of her, and how thankful we are that God chose us to be her parents.

~amw~

Houston, we have a......

HAIRBOW!!!!

As in, a hairbow clipped in our hair, not on a headband!


Little Miss has been doing her best to grow some length to her hair, and it's getting pretty long on top... long enough, in fact, that I thought we'd try to see if a tiny hairbow would clip in...

it does!
She's pretty proud of herself... and her new bow...


Her hair has some serious texture to it, we think when it finally comes in, it's going to be curly...See the tiny curl on top?!?!?


After our excitement today, with the new hairbow, we met Aunt Carrie & Allie Claire for lunch and a stroll around the mall... I think these two girls were the loudest in the mall today. They were certainly having a yelling match in the Gymboree... I think their Daddies might have put them up to it... Belle finally gave it up, but not little miss sunshine... she was just a fussing, until I pulled out the camera, of course. She's had her picture taken a time or two....

Yep, having a hairbow finally clipped in her hair and seeing her BFF, wore this little lady out!

~amw~

A surprise package & an invitation...

Yesterday morning around 10:00, I checked my email and had a “Good Morning” message from my sweetheart (he does that every now and then…it’s like reliving the old days when we were both working and would email during the day…wish these “reenactments” came with the paycheck, too…ha--- Internet conversing goes way back to our beginning. We fell in love over email when we were both working at the bank…well not JUST email--- it wasn’t like Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks in “You’ve got Mail” or anything like that, but we certainly did our fair share of flirty messages---I’d email him “Annie Fun Facts” and random tidbits for laughs…I’d send him a daily birthday countdown the month before my birthday, and later, even messages with big red hearts on them…(I thought I was so smart when I learned the letters in the “Webdings” font that were the birthday cake and the heart).
ANYWAY, in my good morning message, he said that the UPS man had brought my package from Barnes & Noble to the office and he’d see me at lunch.

Hmmmm… UPS man dropping off a package for ME at the office? Completely understandable. Nothing new. But why would he drop off a package that wasn’t mine? Or was it?

I’d never doubt my husband’s ability to read my name because, besides the fact that he’s like, one of the smartest people I know, he’d be able to identify my name even if he couldn’t read one word in English, considering that I am a doodle-freak. (that was SUCH a run-on sentence). (Definition of Doodle-freak: “One who writes his or her name, their love’s name, their children/future children’s names, random words, creates amateur drawings, or takes dictation if there is a pen and notepad around, adores colored ink and markers, and even writes with their finger in the air, on their leg or whatever flat surface is close by.”) I know, I am SUCH a weirdo. It’s true though; I write or scribble anytime there’s a pen close by. Needless to say, with all that doodling and scribbling, the man has seen my name plenty of times that I am quite certain he wouldn’t misread a package thinking that it had my name on it when it didn’t.

Which led to my conclusion: this package WAS indeed FOR ME. Well, since I established that, my next thought was, “what could Barnes & Nobles be sending me for free?” Followed by, “Oh Lord have mercy, have I gotten my name on some book club list?” You know the book clubs I’m talking about--- the ones where they send you new books or CD’s or movies every 6 weeks and you have X amount of days to “preview” them and return them before you’re charged. You always forget and then end up with E.V.E.R.Y. Praise & Worship CD that was ever made. Not that this has happened to me or anything. (I know someone though…and she has the best CD’s!) Anyway, It’s a miracle it didn’t ever happen to me, because growing up I was forever ripping out the magazine inserts for the Columbia House and BMG Music Company clubs to order 10 CD’s for 99 cents and marking my selections.

I thought hard and couldn’t remember signing up for anything. So then, I figured that it must be some kind of “free” something… maybe a children’s book for Annabelle…

I pondered some more and was just beside myself excited to know what it was. I was counting down the minutes for DW to get home for lunch so I could check it out. He came in----WITHOUT the package. It’s an understatement to say I love mail—especially packages… and he FORGOT it? As soon as he realized it though, he ran back to the office and got it for me. I know, he’s sweet.

When he got home, I tore into the brown box to find…
Well, first, let me give you a little background...
DW and I started a new couples devotional on our anniversary that we read together every night before bed. It takes less than 5 minutes and although some of the questions are cheesy, we’re enjoying it. This week the focus has been on Prayer, which is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Doing, also, but just not enough…

So anyway, in the brown box, I found…

“A Quick Note with Beth Moore: Scriptures & Quotations from ‘Praying God’s Word’”

along with the packing slip that read:
“Hope you enjoy this!”

The packing slip had the shipper’s address and it was from my blogging buddy, “LuLu.” Here’s how we “met” - She and I had both signed up for a “Pink Swap” back in January on another blog and the host of the swap randomly drew names and paired us together. “LuLu” (which isn’t her real name, by the way…not even close) sent me the cutest things for the swap, and today, out of the blue, this sweet surprise! Which happens to be right on target with the theme of our devotional and what’s been on my heart and mind the past week or so… Do you not just LOVE when something like that happens? (I certainly don't think it's a 'coincidence'!)

Let me read you the description on the inside of the book: “For any time you could use a word of reassuring truth or lasting comfort, A Quick Word with Beth Moore meets a world of need with the sure love of God. Dip In. Be Refreshed. And rise up to live again.”

Hello. Someone has my number here... do I EVER need a good “dip”, to be refreshed and to “rise up to live again…” So thoughtful, so sweet, and such perfect timing…

I’ve read Beth’s book, Praying God’s Word, loved it and it's a really special book to me, I wrote a little about it on a old post here.

I am excited to start reading a page, or a "quick word," during my bible reading each day…

Which brings me to the next thing...lately, I’ve been struggling to know what to do during my daily quiet time. I’m not in a bible study right now, and I’ve just been doing my daily bible reading on my own, but I feel like I need some “direction”--- some commentary and some questions and some “mustard & cheese” to go with my “meat”…. You know?

Now, here’s the other way God has blessed me--I’ve been participating in the Siesta Scripture Memory team over on the LPM since January and enjoy reading the blog… Well this past weekend, they announced the “Siesta Summer Bible Study” (you don’t have to be part of the scripture memory group to participate) and after talking to my BFF, Carrie, we’ve decided that we’re going to pair up to do this study together! The study that they have chosen is “Me, Myself, & Lies” by Jennifer Rothschild. I’ve never done any of Jennifer Rothschild’s studies, but have heard her speak at a 'Women of Faith' conference a few years ago. The study is about women and the lies we tell ourselves and believe. Anyway, the deal is that everyone does their “homework” by themselves and every 2 weeks the group comes together to view a short video that Beth will put up on the blog. It sounds like the perfect plan for summer, since schedules are so crazy with vacations and everything… the group only meets 4 times (every 2 weeks), which we’ll do at my house, (I think)… Most of the other groups are meeting on Tuesday nights since the videos will be posted on Tuesdays. I think we are leaning toward Tuesday night, also, but we want to see if anyone wants to join us, first. So this is an open invitation to all my friends and family who read this (and who live close…but, Steph if H would let you fly in from Houston every other week for 4 times, we’d LOVE it!)—if you want to join us, we'd love it… I am really excited about it and I am praying that God will put the right group together for this and that he’d just speak to all of us during this time…
(for those who read this and don’t have blogs and don’t comment, you can call me or email me if you want to join us)… I know the first session with Beth is suppose to be on June 23rd, so we’ll definitely meet that day or soon after… I’m excited to be doing a bible study with Carrie, too…. We’ve never been in a bible study group together, so even if it turns out to be just me and her, I think it’s going to be awesome… (although, I hope we do have more in our group…they want us to name ourselves, too, and send in a picture of the group.. how fun is that going to be? I’m already thinking about what we can do!!!)
Here’s the link that tells all the details on the LPM blog.

What exciting things…

Thank you, “LuLu” & Thank you, Jesus…

~amw~

Just Get Gas, Part II

Another Lesson Part II


Saturday morning DW loaded all the boxes in my car, we woke Annabelle up and headed out. He was going to bring the tables to our yard sale site in his truck and get them set up for me, then head back home.

When I got in my car, I was greeted by that ever so lovely ding and orange light. You know the one, or maybe you don’t, but I definitely know the one. It's the "you're running low on gas and need to fill up soon" light. Only this particular morning it was the, "I started glowing and dinging on your way home from Gainesville on Thursday and you drove all the way home and you had better ask your husband if he's got any lawn mower gas to put in your car to get you to the nearest gas station to fill up, because you're going to be lucky to make it down your driveway" light. Yep, me and that light go way back. We’ve spent lots of time together, and surprisingly, as much as it stays lit up, the fuse hasn’t yet burned out.

DW was already backed out and headed down the driveway and all I saw were his tail lights. Oh, no. I grabbed my phone and tried to call him....after several rings, it goes to voice mail. Let me just interject here that he ALWAYS has his cell phone and ALWAYS answers it. Me? Not so much. Him? ALWAYS. This particular time of need? Nope.

He was headed down to the shop to look for a rack for me to hang some stuff on, so I waited for him to come back by at the end of our driveway, with my car turned off. He stopped on his way back and I told him my gas light was on. I didn’t tell him it had BEEN on, but felt it only fair to prepare him for what I thought was my inevitable running out of gas. We stopped in at my in-laws to load up some tables and then we were on the way. Thankfully my mom was here by this point and was following me to town, because DW had to run home and get something... that I forgot to get... I know, I was striking out that morning for sure.

The whole way to town I was sweating it. I was totally preparing myself that I was going to run out of gas. (which I have done twice in the past... never since we've been married though... I've tried to be better)... I turned off the A/C because I've heard that conserves gas and I even turned off the radio in hopes that somehow that might help, too. At least without it on, the Lord would be able to hear me better, begging Him to push my car those 5 miles on fumes... Within seconds I was drenched (the Florida heat is no joke, even at 7 in the morning).... I started doing the mini-swerve thing to try to slosh as much gas as I could into my fuel pump. I know, my car anatomy lingo (fuel-pump) is pretty impressive. I only know about the fuel pump and it's importance because I burnt mine up in my first car. My Dad blamed it on letting my gas tank get too low. (He's always told us to keep our gas tanks above 1/4 tank---keeps the "trash" that settles in the bottom from getting sucked up by the pump and going through your engine. Also keeps your fuel pump from working so hard.) Dad blamed me and my stubbornness to not keep my tank full, but I blamed Volkswagen and their faulty fuel pumps. Thankfully, my beetle was still under warranty and I got a new fuel pump at no cost. Maybe if I'd had to pay for it I would have learned all those years ago... But, no. It seems every car I've had, I know exactly how far I can push it with the gas light, and I always seem to do that.

I just hate pumping gas! I hate it. The handle always feels so dirty and gross and you always leave smelling like gas no matter how careful you are. Plus, I just hate taking the time to pull in and do it. Ridiculous, I know. But, still, I just can’t stand it, which is why I always wait until I absolutely HAVE to do it. This probably reveals some terrible part of my personality, but I just can’t help it…

My car was beginning to sputter a little and I could tell it was fixing to be over. I did the mini-swerve thing a couple more times and was even rocking back and forth in my seat trying to give it a push. She kept rolling. I topped the hill just outside of town and knew I was home free. As I rounded the curve, my car’s “glory-land” was in sight, but so was a bright orange cone and a flagger holding a “STOP” sign. “NOOOOOOO,” I yelled as I threw up my hands, PLEASE don’t make me stop! The flagger must have thought I was waving at him, because he flashed a smile and gave me a nod. I’m not usually one to complain about road construction, seeing as that is what pays our bills, but I had circumstances that were preventing me from supporting the asphalt industry that morning! I just knew I was going to be there for 5 minutes and that this in deed would be the spot where I’d stay until someone could bring me some gas. But, before I could even get out another whine, the flagger turned the sign to SLOW, and I punched it, hoping my fuel pump would be able to slurp up the last few drops of gas in it’s tank. Sure enough, we started rolling and rolled right in to the gas station. Praise the Lord.

I SO did not want to call Devin and tell him I’d run out of gas. Especially after I was selling his “raceday” shirt!

So there it is, girls…the lesson--- JUST GET GAS. I’ve vowed not to put myself in this predicament again. We’ll see how long it lasts… I wonder if I’m the only one who HATES pumping gas?!?!?!

Just Get Gas

*Edited to Add: This is Part I, I'll post Part II sometime later today...

Another Lesson PART I

I always like to share helpful lessons that I've learned... and today, I feel it only right to share a lesson that I NEVER seem to get. Oh, I've had a front seat in the "class", and been on the "field trip" SEVERAL times, but I still don't seem to have mastered it.

On Saturday morning, the alarm went off at 6:30. Yes, SATURDAY at 6:30. The worst part of this story? We actually SET IT to go off that early.

I've had several big boxes stacked up in our office for a couple months labeled, "Yard Sale" and on Thursday I decided I had looked at them long enough. Saturday would be the day I'd try to unload my once-treasures on someone else. I called my Mom, who had some boxes of her own that had taken up residence months ago on her backporch, so she agreed Saturday would be the perfect day to set up and get rid of this junk! (I mean once-treasures)...

Friday, after it took me like 10 hours (a slight exaggeration) to upload all of the pictures of Belle's nursery for the "Show us where you live Friday" post, and Annabelle was bathed and in bed, and I FINALLY got motivated, I started to bring the boxes out of the office and get them ready to be loaded into my car. (It was about 10:00 by this point). DW was watching some ballgame on TV and kept a close eye on all the loot I was dragging out... At one point, (during a commercial break of course), he started pilfering through the boxes to see exactly what I was getting rid of. Then he came to the back to tell me that he was going to have a contract drawn up for me to sign that stated I'd start keeping things for longer than 10 minutes. He also had to remind me how the two comforter sets that were up for grabs were "JUST" purchased. I gently reminded him that yes, we did buy those in October of 2007 ("JUST?") and that we had no need for those matching two sets anymore, since the room that once had two guest beds in it is now our baby girl's room....he was thinking of a rebuttle when the ballgame came back on... whew, saved by the end of the commercial break....

I kept hauling out and stacking up. Then, I started looking around the house for other things that needed to go. That's when DW must have heard the hallway closet open because he appeared once again. This time to tell me that I was "NOT selling this shirt"--- (which he was holding in his hand). ...he has a whole section in his closet of old orange and blue shirts that I've tried to get rid of over the years. I'll pull one out and tell him that as long as we've been together, I've NEVER seen him wear it... He'll then tell me that that was his 19-ninety-whatever football season shirt, and Florida beat so-and-so by however many points, and so-and-so made the best throw or catch or some other play, and it rained during the game and they had to buy trashbags from a janitor to use as ponchos and they had so-and-so for lunch before the game, and...(you get the idea) and we can't possibly get rid of that shirt, even if he never wears it again. I get it, sort of. I've even come to accept all those old shirts in the back of his closet, especially since now we both have closets of our own...but this one wasn't a gator shirt, I knew better. It was just an old polo and I had no other choice but to just lay it out there for him--- I said, "HOOOONNNNNEEEYYYYY, (yeah with three syllables), you've had that shirt for a REALLY long time and I'm just telling you it looks bad and it's time for it to go." The shirt had definitely seen its better day and I cringed every time he wore it. He stood there for a minute, and says, "well fine. Get rid of it. But you better get the name and phone number of the person who buys it because you're going to have a hard time getting it back if Kyle Busch starts doing bad because this is my raceday shirt." Oh mercy. Please don't tell me we're going to have a spot in the closet for raceday shirts now, too.....

Back to the lesson. Man, do I ever get side tracked. Of course, I think there is a lesson to be learned it the story thus far, and that is pack up your yard sale stuff when your husband's not home.

Since this post has already turned into a mini-novel and I've got things that need doing while my little darling naps, I'm going to save the "real lesson" for later.

But first, here's a picture from Memorial Day... she was loving the pool...
~amw~