Saturday At The Red Lobster - Maybe Not

We had a busy morning today. Maribeth brought Everley over around 6:30am, since she had to work today and Everley chose not to spend the night here last night. The original plan was for Molly to go to Maribeth's and wait for Everley to wake up, then bring her over. However, upon Molly's arrival at her house, Everley decided that Molly was the spawn of the devil and would have nothing to do with her. Hence Maribeth brought Everley over with Molly following in her own car.

Soon after their arrival, Lindley woke up. We put on our daytime clothes and headed for breakfast, followed by shopping at Target and Opry Mills (this took several hours, including play time at the playground at the mall). We returned to the Doik for naps, and Sam and Lynnette came over and took Lindley home after she woke up from her nap.

Everley slept a little longer, and when she woke up I asked her where she wanted to eat dinner (Maribeth had gotten off work and decided to go home and rest a little before picking up Everley). Everley chose Red Lobster because she wanted some shrimp. Since it was 5:00pm, I thought this would be an excellent idea, and probably wouldn't be busy at this senior citizen dinner time. I thought wrong.

I should have realized when the Red Lobster parking lot was full that our dinner was in peril. Sure, we usually eat lunch here at lunch opening time, and have no problem getting a parking place at the front of the store. But tonight there were no parking places close, so we parked at the back. We then proceeded to check in at the front desk, passing a throng of people sitting outside on the benches, standing around outside, sitting inside on the benches, and standing wherever there was room.

Still I was undaunted. Certainly this was a temporary glitch and they just hadn't had a chance to seat everyone. I checked in, told Lobster Dude we wanted a table for two, and watched as he began to write down our name and hand us a pager. And then he said that there was about an hour and ten minute wait for a table. At Red Lobster. At 5:15pm.

Sure it was a Saturday evening. Sure it was the first day that it wasn't snowy or icy or sub-zero freezing outside. But the idea of waiting 70 minutes for a table at Red Lobster was just a little too long to wait for Everley's shrimp. At Red Lobster. And so we left and went through the drive-thru at Captain D's. Everley got her shrimp (which she ate after peeling off the breading) and everyone was happy.

As for me, I'm going back to lunching at Red Lobster. Senior Citizen Dinner Hour is just too stressful for me!

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Today is a gift because: breakfast at First Watch and Target shopping and Opry Mills shopping and lunch with Molly, Everley, and Lindley; afternoon naps; dinner with Everley and Maribeth bringing soup

It's Friday!!

Today I know which day it is and I have on new underdrawers. I know - it's a great day. I have to be honest though, as I was tossing my holy drawers into the trash, I examined the troublesome hole. And I briefly entertained the thought that I could probably stitch the hole up and everything would be fine. Except for the facts that (a) I buy my drawers in a 6 pack (8 if it's a special package) at the Wal-Mart, so maybe I can cut this pair loose, and (b) since my label of "toss" was written in Sharpie, I don't think it would wash out, and with my luck these drawers would be the ones I would be wearing when I would be in the inevitable car crash my mother warned me about as the reason I should always wear my good underdrawers. So into the trash my holy ones went.

Otherwise today was fairly uneventful. Except for the argument my computer and I had. For some reason (translate that as I hit the wrong buttons on the keyboard - which ones, I do not know), when I was on the Google website browser thingy, my mouse refused to work. It would move around but not really click on anything. My screen is a touch screen, so I was sort of proficient at touching stuff, until I would reach up to grab the screen and thus hit the button that put the computer into sleep mode. Yeah, do this about sixty-eleven times and you just about reach the point that the screen is about to go through the window. Since I didn't know what I did, thus preventing a remedy to the problem, I did my fail-safe method of computer repair - I turned off (shut down) the computer with the intention of turning it back on (restarting it/booting it up) at a later time. I did, and everything was back to normal. I guess we just needed some time apart.

Anyhoo, tonight is "spend the night at LaLa's" because Steve is out of town. Just me and the girls and Disney Junior!!

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Today is a gift because: taking Everley to school and picking up Everley and Lindley from school; chocolate donuts with sprinkles for an after-school snack; relaxing soak in the tub; Lindley spending the night and watching the Brandy version of "Cinderella"

More Fuel For The Fire

Just in case you didn't think I was looney-bin worthy enough after yesterday's day confusion, I thought I'd add today's story to the evidence. Because I have a feeling some people are keeping a dossier for future commitment hearings.  But I'm not naming names.

Anyhow, today after I took a shower, I was putting on my underdrawers. And lo and behold, as I was putting them on, I noticed a hole in the waistband. It was right where I grabbed them to tug them on. I seemed to remember that I had a pair of drawers that had a hole in them, and I had meant to toss them in the trash. However, once they are off and in the laundry bin, all bets are off for them being tossed in the trash and instead getting washed and put back in the clean drawers rotation.

Yes, this is a photo of the actual drawers ...

So, after I had put these holy drawers on, I had a decision to make. Should I take them off, toss them away, and put on some non-holy drawers? That seemed like a waste of a good clean albeit faulty pair of drawers, so I kept them on. And then grabbed a magic marker and wrote "Toss" right on the drawers. So I would know that when I took them off, they were to go into the trash and not the laundry bin.

Wonder what I'll be labeling tomorrow ...

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Today is a gift because: Everley bus duty; Steve airport duty; getting a Hyatt room for Anne pre-cruise

And Today Would Be ...

So at some point this morning, I heard (or thought I heard) that it was Thursday. I don't know why or where or who said it - but for some reason I decided (or somebody decided for me) that it was Thursday. And frankly, I was a bit distressed because I didn't know what had happened to (or on) Wednesday.

I should have been cognizant of the fact that it was not indeed Thursday, because my favorite night on television is Wednesday night, and I had not seen my usual Wednesday night shows. But I had seen my Tuesday night show. However, none of this registered, as I was convinced that it was Thursday and not Wednesday.

Thankfully at some point in the afternoon, someone (like maybe Maribeth or Molly) set me straight that it was indeed Wednesday. Which meant I would indeed be able to see "The Middle" and "Modern Family." And I had not missed a day.

I wonder what day tomorrow is ...

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Today is a gift because: Everley time; finishing the laundry; taking stuff to Goodwill

Tuesday

Today I spent time cleaning out my drawers and closet. I got rid of two bags and one box of clothes that I dropped off at Goodwill. I also got some bills paid and errands run. And through it all, I watched some stellar Lifetime Movie Network movies. It was a pretty good day, indeed. And in just a few minutes, I'm going to copy Everley's pose from this morning ...  Happy Tuesday, y'all!!

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Today is a gift because: quick visits with Sam and Maribeth; Steve's burgers on the grill; success with the zipper dude about fixing Steve's golf bag; accomplishing a few tasks; chatting on the phone with Elizabeth

Recovery Day

It was a great weekend, full of pretty good wogs and great times with new and old friends. I fell asleep last night during the Oscar show, before Lady Gaga and Julie Andrews made it on stage (but I got to see it online today). I woke up early this morning to take Everley to school, and came home to a every-growing list of things to do (if only I had written down the list instead of hoping to keep it in my brain). In other words, I'm tired.

I did make it to the grocery store to stock up on stuff we needed and put some beef in the crock pot for dinner. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I need to do, but instead I think I'll just take a nap. That should be enough to do for a Monday ...

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Today is a gift because: catching up on the home stuff; taking Everley to school; beef tips dinner with MB, Steve, and Everley; texting with Pam and Laura

Half-Marathon Day!!

It is dark at 5:00am!!

And so it began the same way today - up at 3:30am to be on the bus at 4:00am for the 5:30am start. It wasn't as cold this morning, which meant we didn't have to wrap up in our lovely trash bags. We got to the start and waited around for awhile until it was time to head for our corrals - about a mile's walk away (still haven't figured out why that can't be part of the 13.1). Eventually we found our corrals, waited for the national anthem to be sung, and then waited for our turn to cross the start line.

The race was fun, and I actually did well (for me, anyway) until Mile 8 when my body decided it had had enough (which was a mile further than last week when it had said the same thing). Nevertheless, I managed to keep going, albeit even more slowly (I know, even I didn't know that was possible) and eventually finish the race. Of course Katie and Pam had zoomed on and were done. And probably had already had a shower. And taken a nap. All by the time I was finished. KB and Molly stuck around with me, even though they could have zoomed on. Although it might have been because they didn't want to have to hunt me down with the ambulance people. Anyhow, we got our medals - one for the 10K, one for the half-marathon, and one for the Glass Slipper Challenge (for doing both races). And I got my Perfect Princess ribbon for having done every Princess Half-Marathon since the first one. But you already knew I was a perfect princess, didn't you?!


It was a great weekend, and just to leave you with a laugh, here's why the Rockettes haven't called me. Or possibly anybody else in this photo. This was taken by the official photographers at yesterday's race. We were trying to be cute and do a kick line. At least we were having fun!!

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Today is a gift because: finishing the race and lunch at Wolfgangs with KB and Molly; gift cards from Nancy; safe, smooth ride home (with an empty middle seat); sleeping in my own bed

10K Day!!

At the bus stop - like our bags
(not the ones under our eyes)?

3:45am is really early. Especially early if you're supposed to be completing a 10K. But we met at 3:45 in our kitchen, ready to head for the bus to meet Pam. We donned our bags and our tube socks and joined our fellow 10Kers on the bus to the start. Once there, we waited for our turn to start. And waited. And waited. See, we are in the "later" corrals (notice I did not say "slow" corrals) so we get to wait until the earlier (not "faster" even though they are) corrals are started. To give you an idea, I think the winner had finished before we even started! Nevertheless, we soon (I'm saying that in perspective) were on our way.

Pam, my friend from the good old days.
Did we ever imagine we'd do a 10K race together?
Heck no - we didn't even know what a 10K was!!

Eventually we all managed to cross the finish line (some faster than others) and regrouped at the resort for some more fun times at brunch. We all shared our highs and lows from the race and more fun and sweet memories from our history as friends.

Great times with great friends!!

Once we were fully full from brunch, we had our obligatory group medal picture - thanks to Gregg for the photography help! Then it was time for naps and showers and trips to the parks and shopping and more carbo-loading. After all, we have a half-marathon tomorrow!!
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Today is a gift because: finishing the 10K; brunch with the gang; shopping with KB and Molly; afternoon napping; Giordanos dinner 

Prep Day

With everybody in town, we spent today getting ready for our fun weekend ahead. This meant picking up the last bibs and information from the race expo, carbo-loading, and making sure everyone has everything they need. This morning half the group headed for the parks while the rest of us waited for some of us to get out of bed ... Once that feat was accomplished, we headed to the MK for the first carbo-load. We then headed to the Contemporary to locate a bus headed to the expo, where KB and Molly picked up their race stuff, we had a pretzel (or two), and found a bus to take us back to our resort.

Soon it was time to head to Epcot for our pre-10K meal. We carbo-loaded some more in Italy and caught up on old (and new) times. It was a great meal with great conversation with great friends.

We finished off the night with a trip to Wal-Mart for necessities for the race tomorrow - trash bags (for warmth because it's going to be cold and nobody brought throw-away coats) and tube socks (for the same reason, except nobody brought gloves). Now that we've made all the necessary preparations, we should be ready.

However, ready for what, who knows!!

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Today is a gift because: MK and loaded waffle fries and beef roast mac & cheese with Molly, KB, Katie, and Nancy; expo-ing and pretzel-ing with KB and Molly; finding buses and napping on buses with KB and Molly; dinner at Tutto Italia with KB, Marilyn, Molly, Katie, Nancy, Gregg, and Pam; Wal-Marting with KB, Marilyn, and Molly

Welcome To Sunny Florida!!

Sunny, yes. Warm, not so much. But it's going to warm up - or so they say ...

This morning Sam got me to the airport in plenty of time. I haven't flown out/in/through the Atlanta airport in a very long time (if ever). I walk into the Southwest ticketing area and head for security - hooray for TSA Pre-Check! Anyhow, once I got through security I looked to see where to go next. Did I know my gate? Of course not. So I had to find a departure display board to find that out (after wandering around trying to figure out why Delta was everywhere and not Southwest).

That's Disney World down there - see the MK?

I got my gate number and discovered it was at the C Concourse. And where was that? Oh - down this escalator. To get on the subway. To travel several more stops to get to C. And there I found the Southwest area. I still had plenty of time before departure so I chatted with a group of three ladies (one little girl lady) who were also going for the Princess Weekend. Eventually we boarded our plane and soon after an uneventful flight (unless you count the rocking in the wind as we landed) we were in Orlando.

I got the rental car and headed to the expo, picking up my race stuff. Then I checked in at the resort, but of course our room wasn't ready. So I had some lunch before heading back to the airport to pick up Marilyn. We picked up a few groceries and went back to the resort (our room was ready by now) and put stuff away. Katie and Nancy arrived at the resort (they're staying with us in our 3-bedroom) and then my friends from my Starkville olden days, Pam and Gregg, arrived (they're staying in their own studio room). Marilyn, Pam, Gregg, and I went to the expo to pick up their bibs (it's Pam's first Disney race) and then Pam and Gregg headed to Epcot while Marilyn and I ate dinner at ESPN.

The only thing left for today was to wait for Molly and Karen to arrive at the airport. So, Marilyn and I found something to do - at Krispy Kreme. And that's all I need to say about that ...

Eventually Molly and Karen arrived and we picked them up and we all ended up at the resort. Where we all eventually went to bed.

The gang's all here - let the fun begin!!

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Today is a gift because: fun at the ATL airport; safe, smooth ride to MCO; chatting with the Princess ladies; nice car rental lady; getting my race stuff at the expo; lunch at Bongos; airport pickups: KK donut fun and the clerk; fun with Pam and Gregg and Nancy and Katie; Katie getting Starbucks Disney mugs

Snow Day!!

So of course we wake up this morning to snow!! I think it was predicted, but our local predictors don't exactly have a great track record - after all, it's Nashville!!  Anyhow, it snowed enough so those interested could get outside and play (even if it was for only a few minutes). Sure, there was ice underneath the snow (as Lynnette will attest to), but everyone managed to have fun without injury.

Clearly having one's picture made with one's own snowman is a happy occasion.

However, having a picture made before going out in the snow is not a happy occasion.

Family portrait time!

Fun on a sled!

Sam's snow workout ..

Of course, this latest weather left a small question as to whether Sam and I would get to Atlanta. However, by lunch, with the sun's help, the snow was melting as well as the stuff on the roads. We decided to go to Atlanta via the usual Chattanooga route (we had considered taking some extra time and go through Birmingham in case there were bad roads at Monteagle). But once we cleared the local area, the roads were fine and we were in Atlanta in time for IKEA and dinner. Even with no snow and ice, it was super-cold in Atlanta. The wind was freezing and had I not needed that flibberdigibbet from IKEA, I probably would have stayed in my hotel room under the covers.

Tomorrow morning I'm supposed to head to Orlando. Where it's also supposed to be cold. But warm up by Sunday, just in time for the Princess Half Marathon. And then it's supposed to be cold again when I get back to Nashville. I love winter, don't you?!

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Today is a gift because: Lindley and Everley time; safe drive to Atlanta with Sam; dinner at Yeah! Burgers and IKEA shopping with Sam

Ice, Ice, Baby

So the snow never happened, but the ice did. In other words, here's some ice, there's some ice, everywhere's some ice, ice. It's not as bad as it was many moons ago in Nashville when we lost power at our old house and had to find a hotel (no heat + sub-freezing temps + three kids = disaster). But there's still ice on the roads, ice on the sidewalk, ice on the driveway, etc. And just in case you did not know this fact - Nashville does not do well with ice. Did I mention we have ice everywhere?

Of course we have been glued to the news to listen for weather updates and watch the crazies get out and attempt to drive on the ice. Apparently in some places, Metro police were stopping people and asking why they were out in their cars. If their answer was deemed unnecessary travel, then the police sent the people back home. Maribeth called in to check on the mail delivery and since she decided she would never make it to the post office anyway (and instead end up in a ditch), she decided to call in a snow ice day. Schools have been cancelled (as well as daycare) so we hunkered down for another fun day at the Doik including art with foamy stickers, afternoon naps, and watching "Despicable Me."

Flights were again cancelled, so Sam cancelled his planned trips. There was a story that they were having problems de-icing the planes - as soon as they got a plane de-iced, it would ice back up. This certainly has not thrilled my soul, since Thursday morning I am supposed to leave at butt-crack-early in the morning (5:55am) for a flight to Orlando. And the temperature at time of the morning is supposed to be below zero. So I made alternative plans. Sam is driving to Atlanta tomorrow night for a meeting, so I'm going with him and flying out of Atlanta on Thursday morning. Here's hoping that plan works out.

Later this afternoon, some of the family ventured out. Molly came over for a visit. The roads weren't too bad, but certainly not worth getting out to see how many crazy drivers you could avoid. Tonight the weather people are forecasting snow - and I certainly haven't called my bookie to make any bets on that!

Anyhow, that's my weather report for today. However, I'm beginning to wonder if Elsa is around anywhere ...

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Today is a gift because: sitting around with the family; lots of Lindley and Everley time; Molly's visit

Just Another Typical Nashville Snow Day ...

Yesterday while we were waiting in the airport in Jacksonville, we paid close attention to the Weather Channel. They were predicting all kinds of winter weather for Nashville, and we wanted to make sure we could get home. Steve also had a business trip to Chicago, and he needed to check on travel conditions for that. As the afternoon wore on, he would tell me that they were predicting 2-4 inches of snow for Nashville, then it went to 5-8 inches, then up to 8-12 inches, then back to 2-5 inches. The snow was going to start at 10pm on Sunday night, then 4am on Monday morning, then noon on Monday. Steve changed his flight to Monday morning. Sam was also flying out on a business trip, so he decided that he would go to the airport with Steve. Sam decided to spend Sunday night at our house, and go ahead and bring Lynnette and Lindley over to spend the night also. After all, this was going to be a big deal. Since Mathieu is away at school, Maribeth and Everley decided to spend the night too. Molly decided to stay at home at her house. In other words, we were going to bunk together and brace for this winter weather.

This morning when we got up, of course there was no discernible snow. There was a lot of sleet and ice, which is terrible for Nashville and its citizens. Mainly because we do not drive very well in such conditions. We had sleet and freezing rain most of the morning, covering the roads. Of course schools were closed and cars were sliding all over the place. Businesses were closed and generally the city shut down. Steve's and Sam's and almost all other flights from Nashville were cancelled, so Sam and Steve stayed put.  In fact, we all stayed put. Lindley and Everley and various adults ventured outside to stomp around in the ice, but there was no snow to even build a small snowball. In other words, it was pretty much a typical Nashville snow - predicted for a lot and receiving none.

The big deal is that the weather is going to stay cold this week, so its questionable as to whether any of the ice is going to melt. Schools and businesses and day cares are closed again tomorrow. But Maribeth has to get to work - she delivers the mail and you know the "neither rain nor sleet nor whatever ..." slogan of the USPS. Flights out of BNA are cancelled again tomorrow, so Sam and Steve won't be going anywhere.

Of course they're predicting snow again later this week. Possibly only a "dusting." You know what that means - I'd better go get a snowplow!!

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Today is a gift because: full house sleeping over; lots of Lindley and Everley time; Steve making Edam grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch 

And The Streak Continues!!

Today I finished the 26.2 With Donna Breast Cancer Marathon. I've done it every year since its inception, eight years ago. Last year my streak was in danger, since Donna scheduled her race the same weekend as the Disney Princess Marathon. And since the Princess is totally a family and friends event, there was no question as to which race I would choose (although there was a lot of agony in the decision). However, while we were in the Tampa airport last fall, Molly found an ad for Donna and they had announced their virtual race, where you could do the distance, send in your time, and it would count for last year's race time. You would get your medal and if you were a streaker, your streak would be intact!  Happy Day!! So this year my streak was intact! This year our special streaker prize was a small charm with the running ribbon and "8 Years Streaker" on it. Now can you see how stressed I was last year?

Anyhow, back to today's race. It started at the friendly start time of 7:30am. I got on the bus at 6am to get to the start. I chatted with some other runners until it was our time to cross the start line and off we went! This is a great race with great supporters along the course. There was a lot of pinkness displayed on the houses as we ran through the neighborhoods, and many complete strangers encouraging you as you run wog past. My favorite and best two personal supporters were out again this year. My sister-in-law Kitty and Ray were out on the street (for who knows how long in the cold weather) waiting patiently for me to amble past. Eventually I did and since my camera was malfunctioning, some complete stranger took this photo and texted it to me. See what I mean about the great supporters?

Anyhow again, back to the actual race. My first seven miles were great. I was on pace (never you mind what that pace was - it was a forward pace and that's all that counts). However, the last six miles were not so great. It seemed my untrained and overweight body thought that seven miles was enough and decided to put it into low gear for the rest of the race (yes, it was in a pretty low gear the first seven miles - who knew there was a lower gear than that?). The last three miles are basically a series of inclines until that eventual downhill to the finish. I even managed to run in the last tenth of a mile (okay, so "run" is a relative term - let's just say I picked up the pace). Steve was at the finish and cheered me on and took a video (which shall stay in the archives). I finished, received my medal and charm, got my two free drinks, slurped my free soup (best ever), and headed back to the hotel for a welcome shower and get ready to head back home.

Last year I decided that for each race I did, I would do it for someone I knew. This year I hadn't planned on doing the same thing until a recent event prompted me to do otherwise. So this year, this race is for Debbie, a lady I will never meet. Let me explain ...

Debbie is the wife of Rich, a fellow I went to high school and church with back in the olden days. As with most of my high school friends, we had lost touch until Facebook came about and we started re-connecting. Several years ago Rich and I became FB friends and with my usual FB stalking ways, I found out about his family. Then a few years ago I found out that his wife Debbie had breast cancer. She had treatment and surgery and seemed to be okay. Then it came back and despite treatments, took her life last January. Last week Rich posted on Facebook about a new vaccine for Triple Negative breast cancer, the type that took Debbie's life, that is being developed at the Mayo Clinic, the very place that sponsors this race, the very place that receives all the proceeds from this race. So it seemed only fitting that I should do this race for Debbie, a person I'll never meet but whose life influenced so many people. And so at the race expo, I took a bib and wrote Debbie's name. I wore it for the entire 13.1 miles and finished for her. I did it for the life she lived, the one I wish she were here to finish living, and all those Debbies who will hopefully benefit from this new vaccine.

Because in the end, finishing 13.1 miles wasn't so bad. It wasn't chemotherapy, or surgery, or hearing that initial or final diagnosis, or having to say goodbye to those you love. It's just 13.1 miles that I was privileged to finish - and today it was for Debbie.

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Today is a gift because: chatting and talking with the other runners on the bus and in the corrals; super supporters along the course and particularly Ray, Kitty, and the phone lady; finishing the half-marathon; seeing Steve at the finish; streaker charm and all the food at the finish; lunch at Colonel Mustard's with Steve; getting a few errands complete before heading to the airport

Donna's 5K

This morning Steve and I headed downtown to participate (notice I did not say "run") in the Donna 5K. As you can see, it was a little chilly. Also as you can see, we made a new friend, mainly because she was handing out free Chick Fil A chicken and biscuit sandwiches. Since we hadn't had breakfast, the sandwich seemed like an excellent idea. And since it was free, it was basically a no-brainer. And so we had our sandwiches and waited for the race to start.

It's a great 5K. It's for a great cause (all the money goes to the Mayo Clinic, which is making great strides in breast cancer treatments and cures). The participants are supporting survivors, and many are survivors themselves. There's a lot of pink and today there were several cute costumes (not me) because they had a costume contest. The course is not too bad - there is a big hill at the start and a steeper one closer to the end, but it's a very scenic course along the water. Eventually we finished and got our medals and then decided to do what? Go eat, of course! Never mind the free Chick Fil A sandwich - that was pre-race fuel-loading!

Anyhow, we head to the Fox Restaurant, where we have also been once before, and got in line (yes, there was a line and yes, we were in it). We had a nice chat with the family of four waiting before us, and then went before them when the Fox Dude said there was space for two at the bar and did anybody want them? It ended up being a great place to eat because I could watch the cook make the food. I had the Hawaii 5-0 omelet (ham, pineapple, onions) and Steve had the french toast and eggs breakfast. At this point, I think I will just start over with Weight Watcher points on Monday - do you get a break when you're on vacation?

Steve is going to play golf this weekend and I am going to read or nap or something. Tonight we're going to dinner with Kitty and Ray and make it an early night. There is a lot to accomplish tomorrow!

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Today is a gift because: 5K with Steve; free chicken biscuit sandwiches; lunch at the Fox Restaurant

13000 Calories Later ...

This morning Steve played golf while I sat around in the quiet and looked up stuff on the computer - a perfect morning for both of us. It's rather chilly down here in sunny Jacksonville, Florida, but not so chilly as in other places, so I'll just be quiet about that.

Steve returned around noon and we took off to eat lunch at Metro Diner, a place we like (that we've eaten at once because it was on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives"). I had the shrimp and grits which was basically some cooked shrimp and andouille sausage slathered in basically high-calorie sauce/gravy and poured over grit cakes. It was delicious and probably used up all my Weight Watcher points through the end of February. Steve had meatloaf with all the fixins', which didn't faze him since he doesn't have to worry with points. Nevertheless, we were both filled to the brim upon finishing.

Once we felt like we could move again, we headed to the race expo - did I mention we were down here for the 26.2 With Donna Breast Cancer Marathon Weekend? We perused the expo and got our race bibs and shirts. After a fruitless trip to the outlet mall, we headed back to the hotel, where we both had a delightful full-calorie huge-meal nap. Once up from that (Steve thought it was the next day and he was supposed to go play golf again), we headed to dinner (because we hadn't consumed enough calories) at Barbara Jeans's (a restaurant not a person's house) where I consumed all of March's points on a vegetable plate (all of which were in some sort of sauce, thus making what would seem a good choice into a bad choice). We finished off the evening with a visit to Steve's sister Kitty who was at work at her Stein Mart store. And Steve managed to find some pants to purchase - amazing.

Anyhow, that pretty much sums up our Friday the 13th here in Jacksonville, Florida. I managed to get through the day without a catastrophe, unless you count the food I ate. Which was super-delicious but not WW friendly. And yes, I didn't have to eat it. And yes, I could have only eaten a little of it. And yes, I could have made smarter choices. But I didn't. So there. Happy Friday 13th to you too!!

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Today is a gift because: race expo-ing with Steve and seeing Jeff Galloway and Joan Benoit Samuelson; lunch at Metro Diner and dinner at Barbara Jean's; visiting with Kitty

Up In The Air

If you know anything about me, then you should know that I have a love/hate relationship with flying. When it's a perfect flight, I'm good and I love it. When it's anything less than perfect, I'm freaked out. And by anything less than perfect, I mean anything. Let's not even talk about the recent air mishaps or Denzel flying the plane upside down while drunk in "Flight."

Which brings us to today. Or should I say tonight. Steve and I are headed to Jacksonville, Florida, for the weekend. We had originally intended to leave early this morning, but Steve had some stuff to do at work, so we changed our flights to 6pm tonight. This meant I could take Everley to school but I would not be able to pick her up. It turns out I could have picked her up anyway...

Steve came home from work around four because that is when we decided to head for the airport (Davidsons generally like to get to the airport early - possibly the day before). As he was headed into the bedroom to pack (okay, so maybe Davidsons like to pack late), he mentioned that he had just gotten a text that our flight had been delayed. By two hours.

We decided to go ahead and go to the airport to have a little dinner and avoid rush-hour traffic (which turned out to be poor choices for both). Rush hour was rush hour and dinner took all my Weight Watcher points for the week, possibly the year. We had hopes that maybe our flight would be moved up by the time we arrived at the airport. It was moved all right - another 45 minutes late.

Once we had eaten, we settled into our chairs at our gate along with our fellow Jacksonville-bound travelers. Steve called Southwest to find out the reason for our flight's lateness. And perhaps when we could expect to leave Nashville. The answers were "mechanical problems" and "when the plane gets there."

When it comes to reasons that I would like to be late, I prefer "bad weather in Chicago" as opposed to "mechanical problems." Mainly because the weather from here to Jacksonville is great, and how do I know if the mechanical problems were of the "a light bulb went out" and not "the engine done quit on us."

Eventually the plane arrived and the passengers got off. I always look at the people deboarding. I figure if they fall to the floor and kiss the ground, there's a good chance I won't be flying. These passengers seemed okay, so I decided to take the next step - get on the plane.

Steve, since he is a Southwest A Travelling Man, has a boarding pass of A16, which means he gets on before me. I paid $12.50 to get an A boarding pass, so I'm not too far behind him. By the time I get to his row, some old lady had put her bag in the overhead compartment and was attempting to sit in my seat. He informed her that he was saving that seat for his wife and pointed to me. She didn't seem convinced, but did move to the seat behind us.

Eventually we took off with the usual flight attendant instructions. Of course I'm still wondering about the "mechanical issues." Were they gluing the wing tips back on in Chicago? Were they replacing light bulbs? Were they duct-taping the wings on? The pilot had said they were late due to "a couple of mechanical issues." A COUPLE??? Shouldn't this plane be in the shop by now?

Anyhow, we're flying along and the pilot cuts off the "fasten seat belt" light. This is a good sign. By the time we boarded, I was about to fall asleep, so I was dozing when the drink order was taken. At least I got peanuts. At some point we get a little bump and the seat belt light comes back on. A little later the light goes back off. A few more bumps and the light comes back on. Then Pilot Bob (or whatever his name was) comes on. This is what transpired ...

What my ears heard: "This is Pilot Bob from the cockpit. (As usual, I can barely understand what he is saying, due to his quiet voice, my lousy listening ears, my anticipation of what he's going to say, and the general noise in and around the airplane). Mmmrsf, mujkl, mmsge, 30,000 feet, cruising altitude, mmmrrfs, jjrjhmmm, keep the seatbelt light on, mmmmrs, 45 minutes to landing."

What he probably said: "This is Pilot Bob from the cockpit. We're at our cruising range of 30,000 feet. While we thought we had some clear air, we apparently do not, and will have a few bumpity bumps, so we're going to keep the seat belt light on. We promise on our mother's lives that we will have you safely on the ground in 45 minutes. Even less if you take a nap now."

What my fearful-flying brain heard: "Hey there, this is Pilot Bob from the cockpit. We are way up in the air at 30,000 feet, if our gauges are working right. We hope that the fuse they replaced in Chicago fixed that. However, the Elmers seems to be coming loose from the wing tips they glued on, so the wings may be flip-flapping a bit. And the stabilizers (no, I don't know if planes have these but it seems plausible) seem to be grinding a bit, so we may be jumping around. We're pretty sure we can land this baby in around 45 minutes, if our headlights are working."

So now I have 45 minutes to burn. Because we have wi-fi on this flight, I can log in (using A-List Steve's credentials) and check on the progress of the flight. I could watch it as the minutes tick by (the only thing worse is watching the inches pass by as I walk on a treadmill). However, I decide on a better plan. I play one game of Sudoku on my phone followed by three games of Solitaire on my phone, THEN I can check the progress. This works and eventually we land in Jacksonville, wing tips intact.

If flying freaks me out so much, then why do I do it? Because it gets me from Point A to Point B in much less time than it would on foot or in a car. And when the flight is good, I like it. I keep doing it in spite of the fact that I don't always like it. I understand that there is a Bernoulli's principle that explains flight. To me, it makes about as much sense as taping baby ducks to the wings. In other words, I don't understand nor care about how and why the plane flies - I just want it to safely and smoothly fly until I reach my destination.

So I guess I will keep at it. For now, anyway. As long as Pilot Bob is flying ...

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Today is a gift because: taking Everley to school and listening to her chat about the weather; getting packed and the house picked up; Goodwill drop off; safe flight to Jacksonville; dinner with Steve and O'Charleys; new fitbit

Just Another Day of Dumping and Cleaning

Today I went to the city dump to drop off some cabinets that I had removed from my laundry room. There was a part of me that thought that maybe I would keep the cabinets just in case I might need them in the future. But most of me said to just take them to the dump and get rid of them. I have enough stuff sitting around waiting to maybe be used someday (which probably would be never). So off I went to the dump to leave them.

Once I got there, I drove around looking for the correct place in which to leave my items. I had stopped and was about to pull the cabinets out of the car when a dump dude stopped and inquired as to the contents I was dumping. He then informed me that I was in the "metals" area and then he instructed me to another area. Once I got there, he unloaded my stuff into a nearby dumpster. This was one of those situations where I wondered if I was supposed to tip him - I didn't, unless you count the case of Propel water I gave him.

Anyhow, other than dumping stuff out, it's been a pretty quiet day. Except that I did get the sunroom sort of cleared out and cleaned up. The only problem was that I didn't have any Mr. Clean to mop the floor, so I poured a half-empty bottle of Windex into the mop bucket to clean the floor. I'm not sure how effective it was in cleaning the floor, but it sure smelled good in there. And as of a few hours ago, it still hadn't dried. But there were no streaks!

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Today is a gift because: Everley sleepover, watching "Chicken Little", and ride to school; trip to the dump and dump helper dude; getting the sunroom back in order; airport run to pick up Steve

And Then There's The Back Door Knob ...

Not ours, but looks like it

Since we remodeled the den (family room, TV room, whatever you wish to call it), we've had problems with the doorknob to the back door. On this door we have two locks - one is a deadbolt and the other is your handle-type doorknob. The problem was with the handle doorknob - no matter how hard we (and our go-to handyman guy) tried, we could not get the doorknob to accept our house key. Well, sometimes it would accept somebody's house key, but most of the time it would obstinately refuse to allow the inserted key to perform its duty. Which led me to believe that this particular doorknob was either (a) a two-year old, or (b) a menopausal old woman. Nevertheless, the family just adjusted to it and locked the deadbolt upon leaving, which was a pain due to the fact that it took an extra five seconds to lock it with a key (it was a key deadbolt on both sides) as opposed to simply flicking the lock on the handle.

So, after my recent semi-reno, and after yesterday's second trip to Home Depot (the first was to get the hardware to install new shelves in the spruced-up laundry room and the second was to get new shelves because the ones I had on hand were warped), I decided to get a new doorknob and install it myself. Easy peasy, right? Sure it would be - if anybody else had done it. Let me expound on this subject.

Uhhh, it's an American Flag key?

Yes, I bought the new doorknob yesterday. I avoided the first catastrophe quite by happy accident - I actually talked to a Home Depot employee. I was staring at the doorknobs like a deer in the headlights when the HD Dude said, "Can I help you?" I said I was looking for an exterior doorknob (and not lawn fertilizer in the doorknob department). He then asked me what kind of key I had. I didn't want to say "American flag," since I didn't think that was what he meant, so I just showed it to him. He looked and then gestured to the entire wall display I was gawking at and said, "Well, that key won't work with these locks because that key is a gibblety-gook." Okay, I don't know what technical term he used - I just got the drift of his words. Anyhow, he escorted me to the correct display and helped me find a brushed nickle one (because I have to have matching doorknobs). As I was leaving his jurisdiction, I asked my helper about having the lock re-keyed, and then he said it was one of those brands that you can re-key yourself. And yes, smarty reader person, I have done that re-keying thing myself, so I felt confident (as I usually do on these adventures) that this would be a quick fix. I need to quit feeling that emotion.

Since actually purchasing the doorknob seemed enough effort for one day, and I knew I needed peace and quiet and no people around to complete this task, I decided to wait until this morning to get started. And so I would have the entire day if I needed multiple trips to Home Depot. And time to call a locksmith.

Anyhow, here's how it went ...

1. Take off the offending lock. This was fairly easy, thanks to the fact that I had a fully-charged electric battery screwdriver.

2. Take new lock out of the packaging without slinging the screws all over the room, which I managed to do. I also located the instructions, in case I needed them (which I eventually did). By the way, I HAVE installed door locks before. Not that it bears any weight on this particular installation, but I just thought I would mention it.

3. Start installing the new lock. First you have to put in the door thingy that pokes into the hole in the door frame when you close the door. Which is tricky because one side is curved and the other is flat. Which ones goes which way? It said that the flat part goes toward the direction that the door closes. Which of course I did backwards and screwed it in. Then I (a) read the directions, (b) looked on another exterior door, and then (c) looked at the pokey thingy in the other lock on the door (this is a crucial point that is going to come into play later), and noticed that the pokey thingies were going in opposite directions. In other words, I have it in backwards. So, that involved unscrewing the thingy and turning it and rescrewing it in.

4. Next was putting the actual door knobs on. Again, this was fairly easy, except I just couldn't get them to line up correctly and screw them in. There was a lot of unscrewing and screwing back in and studying and looking at the pictures in the directions. I finally had it semi-together and was looking at the other door lock when I discovered something important - instead of taking off the offending doorknob, I had taken off the deadbolt. So basically I had done nothing to remedy the "I hate your key and I'm not opening" doorknob situation.

5. So now I had to take off the new lock and re-install the deadbolt. Which should have been easy. Shoulda, coulda, wouldna, wasn't. I guess the deadbolt was miffed that it was taken off, because it took some finagling to get it back in its spot. But eventually with a few nice words, it was back in its location and working.

The casualties of not cooperating

6. Take off the offending doorknob - Part Deux, aka The Right One. Again, this part was fairly easy,
except for the part where I had to twist and turn and bend the cover to get to the screws. I wasn't planning to reuse the stupid doorknob again anyway. Eventually I got it off and put it to the side - just in case this whole experiment turned into a fiasco and I needed it.

7. Now it was time for the big moment. Will Luanne be able to install the new doorknob AND rekey it? Will it work? Will all this be done before dark? Will Luanne run out of gas running back and forth to Home Depot? So many questions and so little time ... Well, many moments later (we needn't contemplate how many), and after more screwing in and unscrewing out and trying to locate screw holes and holding together and turning and more such maneuvers, the new doorknob was in!!  And it seemed to work!

8. It came down to the final task - rekeying the lock. I have also done this maneuver before, and it really is pretty easy. But just to re-education myself, I read the instructions. I did as the instructions dictated (at least by the pictures). When I put the re-key key in, the instructions said I might hear a "click." I didn't. Of course I panicked, wondering if (a) I had a faulty lock and was going to have to do the whole Home Depot/reinstall/call a locksmith thing. But instead I decided to forge ahead and hope the re-key was in the right position to do its work. I took out the old key and put in my key and VOILA'!!!  IT WORKED!!!

The new member
of the family

So in the end, everything worked as desired (well, the outcome anyway - the process got a little more involved than desired) and we now have a functioning back doorknob and accompanying lock. At least it worked the 984 times I tested it after installation. And it worked when Steve came home before he went to the airport.

One might think, "Gee, Luanne, you're on a roll. Whatcha going to do next?" And my answer would be ... absolutely nothing. I know when to stop!! Well, maybe ...

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Today is a gift because: Taking Everley to school with her teachers' prizes; installing the new doorknob; new library books; airport run for Steve's trip to Boston

Oh, Why Not?

A couple of weeks ago, I joined Weight Watchers. Again. I'm not sure number joining this makes, but I'm hoping it really takes this time. Again. I've been on a lot of diets - some successful and some not. But by far, the best "plan" that actually worked and made sense for me, was/is Weight Watchers. It's been successful a few times (but did not cure me, so I gained the weight back) and it's been unsuccessful a few times (again, since it did not cure me, it certainly didn't work when I joined it and did little else).

Anyhow, here's hoping it works this time. I need a plan to stick with for the rest of my life - a way of eating that makes sense with what is on a plate before me.

So here I go again. Here's hoping for change (but not a cure!).

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Today is a gift because: Taking and picking up Everley at school and seeing NetNet at pickup; nice shelving dude at Home Depot; installing shelves in laundry room

Happy Day!!

Do you know what day it is?  It's February 8 - like seriously!! Needless to say, early this morning as I was getting caught up, like around 3:30am, I was looking forward to writing this post. BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT I AM ALL CAUGHT UP!! Now, the big question is ... can I keep this up?

Of course there were many missed events during my "catch up" phase (as my editors/proofreaders/daughters have told me). Hopefully by actually blogging on the actual day, I shall avoid this oversight in the future.

Anyhow, back to today. It was a nice day. I got a few miles in, I had a nice brunch, and I got a few things accomplished. But most of all, I'M ALL CAUGHT UP!!

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Today is a gift because: Five miles with KB in the 'hood; brunch with KB, Molly, Everley, and Maribeth; Molly's new haircut; fixing window guard in laundry room; ichatting with Everley

Saturday At LaLa's

This morning started early, since I was due at Maribeth's for early Everley duty (Maribeth had to go to work early and it is Mathieu's National Guard weekend). However, Everley decided to wake up and wanted to return to my house before Mathieu left the house. So we headed back to the house for some breakfast and whatever else the day held.

Matheiu mentioned that Everley had gotten to sleep late last night, This became evident when she fell asleep before lunch. David is still in town and they played upstairs for a bit (thank goodness for grown-up cousins who will play with little cousins!) before Everley passed out. David went out for lunch with his friends, Everley snoozed, and Molly and I made some travel plans for upcoming trips (which gets confusing when you're looking for flights to and from the incorrect cities that you are planning to visit).

Anyhow, eventually Everley woke up and reminded me that I had promised she could help make cupcakes. Which I probably did, but who knows when I did. Luckily Molly had not left, so she and Everley worked together to make the cupcakes. Even though Molly hates to cook in my kitchen, possibly because (a) I work on the premise that the fewer ingredients I have on hand, the better, and (b) I rarely have the utensils she requests. In this case, my measuring cups were in the bathroom (they make excellent toys for bathing small children), but I did actually have a lever-type ice cream scoop, which apparently is the best way to put cupcake batter into the cups (who knew - certainly not me!).

The cupcakes got made and everybody got a taste (and hopefully someone will take the leftovers away from my house and my mouth).  All in all, it's been an excellent day!!

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Today is a gift because: Lindley and Everley time; chili in the crock pot; family time; beautiful day outside; getting packages mailed; travel plans made with Molly; visiting with Cheryl and Granny

And They're Stacked!

Will today be the final installment of "Luanne's Hot Water Heater/Laundry Room Project?" Yeah, I doubt it, too. But today is a very important episode - the washer and dryer will be stacked!!

After taking Everley and Lindley to school (after a nutritious breakfast of chocolate milk and sweet rolls and after promising Everley could take a book to share with the class but forgetting that Lindley wanted to take one although she never mentioned it until we were headed down the road in the car), I arrived back at home to wait for the handyman miracle dudes. I was given a hour's window of when they might appear, which they did, of course, at the last part of the hour. Nevertheless, they arrived and set about their work (there were two dudes).

I showed them the project areas and the tile I had found that was fairly close to the existing tile and the replacement outlet. They studied it a bit and got to work. The outlets were done with ease. The tiling was done with ease. Then it came time to stack the washer and dryer. It was eventually done with ease, once the dryer plug was relocated (which meant a trip to Home Depot to get some pipe stuff to encase the wire because there needed to be a junction box because the other wire that was behind the wall wasn't long enough and the dryer was high in the air now). The dudes also moved in my folding/cat-litterbox-hiding cabinet and snaked the dryer exhaust hose through it (after putting two hoses together). In the end, it was finished and fabulous! Nope the washer and dryer do not exactly match. And yes, I sort of have to get on a stool if I want to carefully choose my dryer settings. But they are stacked and the pipes from the tankless are hidden and everything looks great. And sort of makes me want to do some laundry. Makes one wonder if I fancied up a room with exercise equipment, would it make me want to do some exercise ...

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Today is a gift because: getting Everley and Lindley to school without tears; Gdiz and Steve's safe travel back to Columbus; handyman dudes; getting the laundry room done

And We're Back At LaLa's!

Today we're having a super-big slarty (remember slumber + party = slarty). Because Lindley's and Everley's parents are going to see "Kinky Boots" at TPAC tonight, I will pick the girls up at school and head home for a spend-the-night-at-LaLa's tonight. GDizzle is still here, so he'll be sleeping in the downstairs "Mississippi Guest Room." Meanwhile, the girls (and probably me) will be sleeping upstairs in the "Animal Kingdom Guest Room." My nephew David asked if he could stay a few days while interviewing with an architecture firm here, so he gets the "Disney Room" upstairs - he gets the extra-long twin bed. The inn still has a couch upstairs that could be made out into a twin bed, so I guess there's still a spot for someone.

As you can see, LaLa remembered the snacks today, even though I had to bring cinnamon teddy grahams because we were out of the chocolate ones. I managed to get everyone home, fed, bathed, and in bed at a reasonable hour (and we needn't debate on what reasonable means). Getting them to sleep was a bit more difficult as we had to go to the bathroom, get a drink, get a snack. check on something (which was never really clear to me), read books, put the Legos to bed, change a diaper, and various other tasks that were very important.

Eventually David arrived and found his bed. And then they all said, "Good night."

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Today is a gift because: picking up Everley and Lindley at school and having them spend the night; David's visit in Nashville 

How We Hang

These are our new recliners/couches. As you can see, they are enjoyed by all, including Minnie the Cat, who likes to plop herself on the foot part of whomever has their spot popped out. It's a real test of character to see if the popper-outer has the meanness to put the chair down and force Minnie off, or if the human will attempt some gymnastic move in order to get out of the chair with the foot part still popped out, thus allowing Minnie's siesta to continue.

Anyhow, today, three generations are enjoying their own siestas, as is Minnie. Because sometimes at the Davidson Doik, that's just what we do!!

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Today is a gift because: taking Everley to school; a quiet day

Another Blow For Granny Of The Year

Today was a busy day. I started the day by taking Everley to school and getting back to the house so Steve could get to work. This afternoon the plan was to pick up Everley and Lindley and take a field trip to the airport to pick up Lynnette, who was returning from Cleveland.

First let's review yesterday. I am taking Everley to school in the mornings because Maribeth has to be at work early. Yesterday Everley was not in the mood to go to school. At least she wasn't until I suggested we go to the doughnut store for breakfast. As most people would, she perked up and decided to get dressed and decided that perhaps school would be a great idea. We got the least nutritious doughnut possible, had some milk to make breakfast semi-legitimate, got doughnut holes and hats for her class, and made it to school on time. Score one for Granny of the Year. And then today happened ...

I was running a bit late to pick up Everley and Lindley, so I did not have time to pack the requisite snacks for the long trip back to my house (about 15 minutes). So I had the brilliant idea that upon our arrival at the airport, I would park in the parking garage and we would head inside the terminal to the Starbucks. It seemed brilliant because Lindley informed me that the Starbucks had cake pops because she and her daddy had gotten one yesterday after school. Strike number one - they went to a different Starbucks. The airport Starbucks did not have cake pops. However, they did have items that each girl picked. Lindley chose a gigantic chocolate chip cookie, and Everley chose a container of pineapple, a bag of barbecue potato chips, and a jug of orange juice. And for a while, everything was good. They ate, we enjoyed the music of the jazz trio that was playing a few feet (although it seemed like inches) away from our table, and Lindley enjoyed practicing her athletic skills by hoisting herself up on her arms and swinging on the tables. That is until the table decided to split and she went crashing to the ground. At the same time as Lynnette was walking through security. Which was in full sight of the neglectful grandmother who was not making the child sit dutifully in the seat. Which if Lynnette had not seen, she would know anyway due to the wailing and screaming and crying of the injured granddaughter who was allowed such dangerous actions.

The good news is that Lindley did not break her face (or anything else) in the fall. Somehow we managed to get out of the airport without intervention by well-meaning strangers or security personnel.

And I was so close to getting that award ...

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Today is a gift because: taking Everley to school; picking up Everley and Lindley and then going to airport to pick up Lynnette; Lindley not breaking her face or knocking out teeth during her crash; grocery shopping with Everley

Stacked Possibilities

Welcome to today's installment of "Luanne's New Water Heater and Laundry Room Saga." Today's guest will be the dude from the handyman company.

With the old hot water heater gone and the refrigerator moved in, it was now time for the washer/dryer issue to be solved. As you may remember, my grand plan of putting them on pedestals was a bust. With Melvin's idea of building a platform to put the machines on, I forged on. Not for me to make them, but to hire someone to do so. Maribeth has had some handyman dudes do some work for her and highly recommended them, so I emailed them to do the same for me. Today was the day Mr. Head Handyman was going to come out to look at my requests.

Basically I had two - the first was to change two regular outlets with two outlets that have USB ports in them. Sure, I could probably read the instructions and done it myself, but instead I decided to protect the few remaining functional brain cells I have and not electrocute them by such a task. Mr. HH said sure, they could do that.

Then I took him into my laundry room to assess that situation. I explained my pedestal situation and asked about his dudes building the desired platform (they were also going to have to tile the corner that was tile-less, thus creating a level place for this whole project). Well, Mr. HH took some measurements and took some pictures and thought a bit, and then asked, "Have you thought about stacking your washer and dryer?"

Well this was music to my ears. Of course I had thought about stacking them. I had also thought about hiring Mary Poppins to do my bidding and wearing a bikini on the beach this summer. None of these have seemed plausible up to this point. However, now Mr. HH was giving me an option to at least one of my dreams.

I mentioned the fact that although the machines were of the same brand, they were not of the same model - could they indeed be stacked? He quickly assured me that they could. And being the trusting, gullible soul that I can be, I quickly said, "Whoopity do, let's do it."

So, later today I will get an estimate for this work and soon I will have tile on my floor and a stacked washer and dryer. Maybe there's hope for Mary Poppins and the bikini ...

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Today is a gift because: taking and picking up E to/from school; chatting with handyman dude about possibilities; Molly chicken and dumplings for dinner