I dedicate this moment to "No Child Left Behind"

So yesterday, I made a couple of (required by administration) phone calls to parents of students who are failing.

Here is how one conversation went:

ME: I'm calling because ___________ has a 32 in my class. He doesn't turn in assignments. He tunes out. I've tried everything I can think of to motivate him, but nothing seems to be working.

MOTHER: He don't care. And if he don't care, I don't care. I can't make him care.


Thank you, NCLB, for holding me responsible when this child fails and/or drops out of school. Obviously I am the problem here.

11 Months (Well, last Sunday)

I can't believe Amelia is 11 months old. I took this quick pic on Sunday at a cookout on the lawn of our church. (It was SUPER windy.) All Amelia wanted to do was walk around...oh, and play in the ice bucket by splashing water everywhere. That girl loves water.

Anyway, I'm finding myself getting very nostalgic in this month leading up to her birthday. (Seriously, I actually mentioned to Darryl--in a very sad tone--that we probably just need to make one more "formula run" to Costco.) I can't believe that a year ago, we hadn't even officially met her yet (although we were already in love with the idea of her), and now it is hard to imagine our family without her. She makes us belly laugh at least a couple of times a day. She's such a joy!

Greetings from the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took Amelia to Burt's Pumpkin Patch in North Georgia. It was insane, y'all. People everywhere. My main objective, though, was to get a picture of Amelia with a pumpkin, so I guess that was achieved.

I love the picture below. I love the angle, the smallness of Amelia in a field of pumpkins. Good photography skills, Darryl!

Afterwards, we went to a nearby apple orchard to pick up some apples (and some apple cider doughnuts). Amelia did her part to help:

Pollyanna I'm not

My efforts to be positive are losing steam. Quickly.

I Kid You Not

I'm making a concerted effort to be positive this week, and here is a teacher story from today that I just have to share.

You know the PERFECT 5th period class I have? Well, this conversation actually took place in my classroom as we finished our discussion of Night:

K in the front row: I loved this book. Loved it. In fact, I've enjoyed every book we've read so far.

E in the back row: Me, too. I've loved them all. These books have been so good.

(Everyone chimes in with similar remarks. It's a freakin' lovefest.)

Me: Well, while I'm thrilled you've loved all the books so far, keep in mind that you may not love everything we read. Maybe you will, but don't be too disappointed if you don't. (I say this only because I know Julius Caesar--ugh--is on the horizon.)

K: Mrs. ___________, it doesn't matter. We trust your judgment. If you assign us a book to read, even if I don't like it, I'll read it anyway because obviously you think there is something I can gain from it.


Is this class for real? I'm not trying to toot my own horn here; I'd say the idyllic nature of this class is 100% because of the students. They read. They discuss. They care.

I love them.

Eyes on the Prize

This week is going to be a tough one, probably. We have midterms, and I have tons of grading to do in an effort to make midterm grades as accurate as possible. I also have lots of other teaching tasks to tend to as well. (How's that for alliteration?)

I'm not too dismayed, however, because I know what lies ahead next weekend:

1. It's a long weekend. We have Monday off for Fall Holiday, and the students are off this Friday as well. (It's a "work day" for teachers, but we all know that "work day" is a day spent in meetings, workshops, and such instead.)

2. Darryl and I are going to take Amelia to a pumpkin patch at some point in the weekend.

3. I should have the opportunity to scrapbook next weekend.

4. I have plans to meet up with my friend Casi Sunday...and we'll probably eat a sinful dessert.

5. I get to spend all day Monday with Amelia, just the two of us.

I can't wait!

This weekend has been good. While I've had to work on lots of school stuff, the three of us have enjoyed just hanging out at home. I made taco soup for dinner last night and baked cupcakes just because I was in a cupcake mood. I think this weekend has been just what I needed.

Here's Amelia in the middle of a good nap yesterday:

I'm Still Here

I honestly haven't had time to blog, but I hope to update soon. Don't give up on me. :)

Here's the rundown in very random order:

--I just finished my shift of supervising the building of the sophomore Homecoming float.
--Darryl, Amelia, and I went to Florida this weekend for an event in honor of Darryl's mom and dad; I definitely will tell more and will update with pics.
--I'm tired all the time.
--I'm tired of grading papers.
--I liked the first episode of The Office (go Jim!), but thought the first episode of Grey's was really drawn out...could have easily been an hour-long episode instead of a two-hour one. Oh, and even though I haven't really watched ER since Romano lost his battle with the helicopter, I boohooed over Pratt's death. (I watched that one while I was packing my suitcase for Florida.)
--This gas shortage is getting old.

And here's a sweet Amelia story for the day...I came home from float building, tired, a bit irritable (it's been a long day), and so forth. I picked up Amelia, and she smiled really big, took my face in her hands, and put her forehead up next to mine and laughed. Be still my heart. Just what I needed.

Rough Week

This past week seemed endless. Seriously.

The Bad:
--For reasons I won't elaborate on here, I have found work very difficult this year. My kids are not bad (with the exception of a few boys and an honors class who--I think--hates me), but I simply cannot catch up with all the things I'm supposed to be doing. I guess if I went home, had no down time with Amelia and Darryl, and didn't do non-related school things that bring me happiness, I could possibly catch up, but I'm not going to do that. School is not my life 24-7. Do I care about my job? Yes. Do I try to do a good job? Yes. But I'm not going to do it 80 hours a week.

The Good:
--Speaking of school, one upside is that I have one of the best classes I've ever had. I think I've mentioned it briefly before, but it is a class of mostly girls with a few really likeable guys (who probably enjoy being in a sea of girls). Maybe this class is in my life right now to keep me going on the school front. Not only do these kids care about school, but they like to discuss. They do their reading and homework without complaint. They leave class saying things like, "I really enjoyed class today!" Ah, perfection. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.
--Amelia is too stinkin' cute these days. One of my favorite things is watching her learn and process things. She's becoming a pro with the walking, too, and is crawling less and less. She has even gotten to the point where she can crouch down to pick things up without falling over. We love her so much and are completely enjoying her!
--Even with all the demands on my time, I have taken up a new hobby: scrapbooking. I've become a bit obsessed with it, actually. I don't have time to do it all the time, but I try to take a few hours every few weekends to scrapbook at some local "crops." (See? I don't even have to mess up my house to do it...I go make my mess at other places.) I just feel this need to preserve memories about Amelia--and Darryl and me--while they are fresh on my mind. So far, I'm loving it.

Birthday Parties: A New Era

Today Amelia and I embarked on a new adventure: the children's birthday party. From what I hear, this is the first of millions to come.

Amelia received her first invite from her friend Denton:


(Tim, I deliberately didn't crop this photo because I wanted to see if you could tell who the person is on the left...although the view is somewhat obstructed.)

Here's Amelia checking out the gifts:

And here is a shot of Amelia and two other little girls, Sophia (top) and Jayden, mere seconds before a collision that resulted in a heap of little girls on the floor. The culprit? Some discovered Cheerios that had fallen on the floor. No one was injured, thank goodness!

And because Amelia's outfit was too cute, I thought I'd give you a full-on shot so you can appreciate it in all its fashion-forwardness. Shiloh and Suri have nothing on this gal!

And here's another one for your viewing pleasure. I'm being an obnoxious mother now, aren't I?

Sometimes I have good ideas...

...and sometimes I don't.

I learned last weekend that my love for hand-dipped corn dogs does have its limits, and that limit is the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain.

I had been wanting to go to the Yellow Daisy Festival because several of my friends told me it was really cool, and last year someone gave me a really cute T-shirt for Amelia that came from a YDF vendor.

So last weekend, when I realized that the YDF was happening right then, I decided I wanted to go. I asked Darryl if he wanted to go, but he declined so that he could spend some time with his mistress, College Football. But let's be honest. He wouldn't have wanted to go even if it weren't football season.

Amelia and I started off on our adventure. I was excited. I was going to have some good food, find some cute kids' clothes, and have some mother-daughter time as well. The trip there was uneventful. Amelia napped the whole way, and I listened to the Rick Dees countdown on XM 80's radio. Good times.

Until we went got close to Stone Mountain. Apparently everyone else in the metro-Atlanta area had the same idea to come to the Yellow Daisy Festival.

There were a couple of moments I considered turning the car around and going home, but I always shot down those thoughts with, "Nope. I've made it this far. I'm not turning back now."

It took me longer to find a parking spot than it did for me to drive to Stone Mountain. I'm not kidding.

I ended up parking probably a little over a mile from the Festival. It didn't occur to me, as I was walking downhill to the festival site, that I would have to walk uphill later that afternoon to get back to my car.

Here's Amelia at the entrance to the Festival:


I stood in line for about 20 minutes for a corn dog. I had some lemonade. I attempted to look at the crafts and other goods in a crowd that was making me more claustrophobic by the second.

After about an hour, I started the long trek uphill back to the car. People who were on their way to the festival would chuckle at Amelia as they passed us. Not sure what was going on, I managed to get a side view of her, and she was doing this:

Here's me, Amelia's foot, and most of Amelia's face. Awesome photography skills, yes? My excuse for my appearance is that I just walked a mile uphill pushing a 25-pound child in a stroller.
So basically, I went to the Yellow Daisy Festival for a corn dog.

And y'all, that was way too far.

Quick

I haven't posted this week because it has been extremely hectic, and when I do have a moment, I'm too tired.

I'm glad it is Thursday and the weekend is approaching.

I have too many papers to grade, too little time.

I'm sick of the Presidential election and am ready for it to end. I did find it exciting; now I wish politicians and their cronies and the media would stop acting like my 10th graders.

Random

--Amelia LOVES Cheerios. That is why I'm able to blog right now. :)

--The honor roll party went well, for the most part. Here's some irony for you: you know how teachers complain about how students can't follow directions, well, let me tell you how many teachers can't follow directions. After an email explaining how we were doing the party, when to send kids to the commons area, when to pass out tickets, etc. (our new principal doesn't allow announcements over the intercom during the day), several teachers didn't do what they were supposed to do. Oh, well. (Tim and Kim followed the directions, though!)

--Darryl is excited about the Florida State game tonight.

--I'm ready for some fall weather, y'all.

A Milestone and More

Amelia took her first steps Monday evening!

This photo is horrible quality, but you get the idea:


And technically, this pic was taken last night and not Monday, but still...

I was absolutely thrilled that Darryl and I were the first ones to see this big milestone. To me, one of the hardest things about being a working mom is missing these events. She rolled over for the first time at daycare, and then Amelia had to be a showoff for her Nana and stood up for the first time when Darryl and I had our "one-night vacation" in July. But this one was for us. And even better, she did it all over again for the video camera. :)

That's the good news.

The down side to all this is that Sunday and Monday nights were HORRIBLE. Monday night, Amelia woke up every hour, almost on the hour, from 12:30 on, and I have to get up at 5. Most of my baby books talk about how this happens when babies are approaching or are reaching a milestone. I remember she did this when she started crawling and then when she started standing, but those things happened during the summer when I could catch a catnap during the day.

Tuesday, I was a bear. I was so sleepy I had a headache. I have to give big props to Darryl, who, seeing my need for sleep, took care of getting Amelia to bed, emptied the dishwasher, fixed bottles, loaded the dishwasher back up again, cleaned the kitchen...all so I could go to bed at the glorious time of 8:30. Pure bliss! (And Amelia slept through the night last night, too. Even better!)

This week is a busy one. My pile of grading doesn't seem to be getting any smaller, and I also have an Honor Roll party to throw Friday. I'm ready for the weekend again.

I'm just sayin'...

I'm getting really tired of seeing celebrity moms' bikini-ready bods mere weeks after they've given birth.

Long week, long weekend

Forgive me, my 6 or 7 readers, for not blogging this week. I was doing well just to get to bed by 11:00 each night, so it left little time for blogging.

Besides, Monday and Tuesday I was in a FUNK, so you probably wouldn't have wanted to hear from me anyway. These days were just rough, not for any big reason, but for lots of little ones. On top of that, Amelia did this thing for a couple of days where she cried (yes, cried) when I picked her up from daycare as though I was the last person she wanted to see. While the logical side of me said it was just a phase, the mother part of me was a bit hurt that my daughter wasn't thrilled to see me. Wednesday, however, I was apparently back in her good graces and all has been well with her since (except she is teething with her top teeth and is cranky off and on).

Wednesday was much better overall, and I had a couple of experiences with my students that made me remember how much I really can love what I do. These are experiences that probably would lose their value if I retold them here--you know, those "had to be there" experiences--and I desperately needed them. (However, Jen, you'll appreciate this...my students were reading The Crucible the other day, the student playing Abigail was absent, so this goofy guy with a deep voice said he would read it...and it was the "sweating like a stallion" part. Hilarious!! The students were rolling, and I was, too.)

Amelia also had her 9-month appointment at the doctor Wednesday; she's already 25 pounds and is off the charts in height. She did very well at the appointment, though...I think she cried over her shot (just one this time!) for about 10 seconds. Brave girl!

Yesterday was a half day at school, and teachers had a potluck lunch. Yum!

And now we're to the long weekend, thank goodness. While I do have papers to grade, I fully intend to enjoy some peaceful down time with Darryl and Amelia.

TGIS

Thank goodness it's Saturday.

I'm not going to sugarcoat--this school year has been kicking my rear so far. I told Tim (fellow teacher) yesterday that in many ways it feels like my first year of teaching.

For starters, I have more students than I've ever had. I've been a little, oh, whiny about this, but I guess I need to put on my big-girl pants and accept the fact that my classes aren't going to get any smaller. Unless I can convince a few to drop out of school...but I don't think I'm supposed to do that. :)

Our new principal is also big on consistency between classes, meaning that if two teachers teach the same class, our tests should be the same and they should be given on the same day. Now, I don't think that is a bad thing, but the person who also teaches American Lit (not Tim, someone else) has a tendency to "lolligag," and I'm more of a "let's cover it and move on" kind of teacher, especially for some of the lesser-known works. I spent an hour and a half meeting with him yesterday discussing our Crucible unit and trying to talk him out of some projects that would have eaten up days and days of class time. My goal is to get this guy to the Postmodern period by the end of the year, come hail or high water. (It is hail, isn't it? Not hell? In this case, maybe both.)

I won't even get into the grading. I made a plan at the beginning of the week that I was going to stay after school TWO hours and spend the first hour planning and the last hour grading. That was a great plan until I had a collaboration team meeting one day and a parent meeting the next and then my Crucible meeting yesterday. But after putting in 50 hours at work during the week, I really don't want to take time away from Darryl and Amelia this weekend, but alas, I have a bag full of tests to grade. In short, I'm struggling for that balance of personal life and professional life.

But I like teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else. I'm trying desperately to find a system that works and that doesn't take away from sleep or family time. Any suggestions, fellow English teachers???

I'll end on a happier note. Here are a couple of recent Amelia pics. She is now 9 months old. I can't believe it.

A bit of this n' that

I'm taking a quick break from typing up a test on Native-American and Puritan Literature.

Thrilling stuff, I know.

I love American Lit, but I cannot wait to get out of the pre-Romantic period phase. Students hate to read as it is. Anne Bradstreet is really a tough sell, people. So is Jonathan Edwards. And that's after we've read Native American poems about the voice of the grasshopper.

Here are a few random bits of info:

--I was digging through our big "outdoor" trash can this morning at 5:15 in an effort to rescue an Anne Taylor Loft coupon I realized I accidentally threw away. Fortunately, it was in last night's trash, so I didn't have to plunge head first into the can or anything. It was also fortunate that it was still safe in its plastic shopping bag and didn't fall prey to the gross coffee grounds that surrounded it. My rescue mission was successful, thank goodness. I'd hate to know I picked through those coffee grounds in vain.

Those $25 off purchases of $50 or more coupons are gold, people. Gold. And now, after all that effort, I'm obligated to spend it.

--I was watching the Olympic trampoline jumping competition last night right before I fell asleep. (Seriously, trampoline jumping???? An Olympics-worthy sport??) Y'all, those people were getting some serious air. It was a bit freaky.

--Amelia is apparently Miss Charm at daycare and Miss Crankypants when she gets home. This evening she cheered up, however, when I gave her a graham cracker...her first one. Does that mean she's an emotional eater?

Well, back to typing up the test. Yawn.

I'm still here!

Before I get into my week...did anyone see Michael Phelps win that race last night be 1/100th of a second??? I practically had to pry my eyes open to stay up to watch it, but it was worth it.

You can tell this was the first full week of school for us. I've had no time to blog.

So far, things are going pretty well except for the overwhelming exhaustion that comes with the first full week.

For the most part, I really like my 10th grade honors classes. I have one class of almost all girls, and they are wonderful--focused, smart, sweet. At first, I was concerned they would be all chatty and dramatic, but they're not...at least so far.

My juniors are pretty good. There are three boys I could do without, but I'll just have to make the best of it.

Here are some non-school-related things that went on this week:

--Monday evening, I met my friend Jessica for coffee. She was in town for work, and I haven't seen her in probably almost two years. Since we've seen each other last, she's gotten married, and I've had a baby. It was great to catch up!

--Darryl and I also got to see the proofs of the pics I had made of Amelia a couple of weeks ago. They're too cute. If there's a way to scan a couple of them to put them up here, I'll do that. We won't get our "real" pics probably for a month or so.

--My parents are here this weekend getting their Amelia fix. Darryl is in Florida with his family, and I didn't feel like making a quick trip to Florida this close to the beginning of school, so I invited my parents to come up here. They're going to watch Amelia today while I grade lots of stuff. Isn't it sad that I'm already behind on grading?

Well, I better go. Have a good weekend everyone!!

School, the Olympics, and More

I started this post on Saturday and finished it Sunday night. Oh, well.

This has been an exhausting week, to say the least.

We have a new principal at our school, and he has required a lot from us (the teachers) over the past couple of weeks. I'm not really voicing that as a complaint because, in reality, these are things that we probably should have been made to do years ago, but no one actually made us do them. Regardless, the process has been exhausting, but I'm optimistic that it will pay off.

Thursday, the students returned to school. I have three Pre-AP English 2 classes (10th graders) and three "regular" English 3 classes (juniors). I think I'm going to like my 10th graders--I can tell I have some great personalities in those classes--but I'm not too sure about two of my three junior classes. I definitely have some potential troublemakers. Anyway, two days are behind us now, but those two first days wore me out. The teachers in my lunch group were all joking that we have the scratchy throat that comes with adjusting to talking all day again after a summer break from it.

Friday night, I met my friend Lisa for Mexican food. It was a nice way to end a busy week. I needed a little girl time. Lisa and I used to work together when I took a break from the academic world and worked at a law firm; she's one of those friends I wish I could see more often than I do. My jaws literally ached after dinner from laughing so hard. Definitely a good way to spend the evening.

And on to the Olympics...anybody watching? Why can't the Olympics come on during summer vacation when I have time to watch it? I can get seriously sucked in to it. I Fake Tivoed the Opening Ceremony, but I made it home in time from my dinner with Lisa to see the awesome-cool-freakin'-fantastic lighting of the torch. I hope to watch the rest in bits and pieces this week.

Well, I think there was more to tell, but my mind is drawing a blank. I'm sleepy, but I need to fix bottles, straighten the kitchen, prepare my lunch...the list goes on.

Exhaustion

I haven't blogged lately because there has been too much going on. Too much. This is going to be a fairly short post because bed is looking a bit better than Blogger right now.

On the Amelia front...she has her first tooth. I noticed it Sunday afternoon. (This info is partly in here for when I finally get around to writing the date in her baby book. Baby book updating is so not happening this week.)

School pre-planning has consisted mostly of one meeting after another with little time to work in our rooms. Today was an exception--we pretty much spent all day in our rooms--but the downside was that it was also Open House day, so I was at the school from around eight until six this evening.

Oh, and here's another kicker: three people asked me if I was pregnant this evening. I'm HOPING it was the dress that I was wearing, which had an empire waist. Another teacher who was also wearing an empire-waisted dress was also asked by a parent if she was expecting, too. Still, this was a blow to the ego that I didn't really need this week. (And what happened to that etiquette rule that you NEVER ask a woman if she is pregnant unless you are 100% sure she is???? Hello?)

I'm going to bed now. I've had enough of this day.

Last Week of Summer

This is the third blog post I've started this week. My goal is to finish this one and actually post it.

This week has been pretty full.

Monday, I crossed one of the items off "my list" by having photos done of Amelia. A friend from church is a photographer, and while I haven't seen the finished products yet, he showed me a couple of shots on the playback screen of his camera and they were totally cute. Amelia was pretty pleasant through the process, so I'm hoping the pictures turn out well.

Tuesday, I went to the school one last time before I go back tomorrow for the real thing. I was able to get a good bit accomplished, so I consider it time well spent.

Yesterday, Amelia and I had a lazy morning and stayed in our PJs until almost noon. I had wanted to take her swimming one more time, but thunderclouds were looming overhead all afternoon, so we strolled through a shopping center instead. It never did rain, though, and Darryl was able to take her swimming and I went to dinner with my friend Sabrina.

Today, Amelia and I went to see my cousin Vicky at her office, and then we spent my $100 Georgia Teacher Gift Card. My big item was a heavy-duty electric pencil sharpener. (Exciting, I know.) I've also decided to bring back good ol' journal writing in my regular English classes this year, and I found 70-page composition notebooks at Walmart for 5 cent each, so I bought 75 of them. Thank goodness the cashier scanned only one and took my word that I had 75 of them. :) Seriously, y'all, that was a BARGAIN! I was practically giddy. The rest of my card went to pens, pencils, index cards, and other little necessity items.

The rest of the day was spent playing, napping, and just hanging out. I'm going to confess that I held Amelia every minute she was napping.

I'm probably going to sound like a big sap here, but I think I may have a harder time taking Amelia to daycare tomorrow than I did the very first time I took her after my maternity leave. It's like my mom said on the phone tonight...it's like Amelia is a person now. Now I'm taking my daughter who loves to crawl, stop, then look back at me and laugh. I'm taking back my baby who likes to fiddle with my necklace charm as she falls to sleep and play peek-a-boo endlessly. In many ways, I'm looking forward to going back to work and seeing my friends and getting back in the classroom. But I'm definitely going to miss the luxury of time I've had with my girl.

Shopping and Stuff

I've been a bit negligent on the blog front because y'all, not much is going on. Let me give you the rundown on what "not much" looks like in our household:

Wednesday, I did a little shopping for me. Yep, I did. I need some school clothes every year to get me excited about going back to school. (It didn't work.) After shopping the mall for two hours and going to all my favorite stores, guess where I had the most success? Target. That's right.

Thursday, I had to take care of some personal maintenance (meaning I had my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed--poor Amelia is going to be especially blessed in the eyebrow department because her dad and I both have healthy eyebrows). I also worked most of the day at school while Amelia spent some time in daycare.

Friday, I became obsessed with finding Amelia a pair of shoes. Amelia has pretty wide feet, so that means the cheap shoes at Target do not fit. After doing much research (seriously, MUCH research) on mommy boards and such, I discovered a brand called Pedipeds and bought her a pair. They're adorable. I see how this could quickly become an obsession because I'm already thinking about her second pair.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I shopped a little more (sue me), and Amelia and I had a bit of a "bedtime showdown" last night that is a blog post in itself. I'll go ahead and tell you the score: Amelia-1, Her Mother-0.

But she's cute.

The Weekend, Heat, and Other Stuff

This past weekend, we went to Florida again. Darryl needed to do more work at his dad's (his dad probably kept every used checkbook and every bank statement since the mid-80s--lots of shredding to do!).

On Saturday, my dad's brothers and sister and their spouses came over for a cookout. This was the first time they had seen Amelia, so it was a big event. I could kick myself now for not getting more pictures, but I did get a good one of Amelia with her Great Uncle Joe:

Sunday, I was able to take Amelia swimming with her Aunt Ashley and cousins Madison and Avery. Amelia loves the pool!

Afterwards, she had even more fun by swinging in her swing at Nana and Papa's house.



As for me...I played Guitar Hero for the first time ever this weekend. I loved it--definitely my kind of game. It's probably good I don't have it at the house.

Mr. Benny's dog (and now Ashley's dog) Lily loves my niece Avery's bouncy seat probably more than Avery herself. Any time we couldn't find Lily, she was usually curled up asleep here. Forgive the wicked eyes...I couldn't fix them on my computer. Oh, you can see just a tiny bit of the "to be shredded" pile behind her.


In other unrelated stuff...it is so HOT here. I had been getting up in the mornings and walking with Amelia, but it has been in the high 70s by 7:30. The other day, I had decided to walk in the evening, but at 8:00 (still light outside), it was 90 degrees! Ugh!

This, too, is completely unrelated and random, but I've mentioned before how much I like Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. If you like them too--or even remotely like them--you should pick up the latest Ladies' Home Journal. (I had to buy it immediately when I saw them on the cover.) There is a wonderful interview with them about their friendship through Roberts's cancer--apparently they are extremely close friends in "real life." I think I loved this article so much because it is such a positive picture of female friendship. Women often have the reputation for being catty and jealous--and in my opinion this reputation is often earned--but here are two women who have tremendous respect and gratitude for each other. (And Sawyer is a hoot, too.) It made me even more sure that I want to have them over for chips and salsa and board games. :)

And on the school front...yesterday, Amelia had a somewhat impromptu day at daycare so I could start working on stuff for school. I'm not sure why I do this, but every year I have all these ideas of how I could reinvent the wheel, and then I get overwhelmed by reinventing the wheel. My American Lit class is pretty straightforward--it is taught chronologically. However, I'm thinking of teaching my 10th graders' class with a more thematic approach. This is requiring a bit more thought than I have energy for, however.

I know this post is rambling, but I figured I would just cram all my thoughts into one long one instead of dividing it into several. Anyway...

Cute Amelia Pics...Just Because

Pureed sweet potatoes with chicken must be delish!!




I love this smile!

Amelia likes playing with her new farm animals...

BUT they aren't as fun as the TV remote!!!!

Baking and More Baking

Today was Amelia's daycare day. (And no, I wasn't one of "those" mothers who take sick children to daycare...Amelia appears to be fine.) I decided to make this a "me day." Did I want to shop? No. Did I want to nap? Well, kind of. But really what I wanted to do was bake a couple of things from my new cookbook, Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. We're heading to Florida again this weekend, and I wanted to take a couple of things that both adults and kids might enjoy.

The first recipe I tried was "Chewy, Chunky Blondies," a delicious combination of butterscotch, chocolate, coconut, and walnuts in a cookie dough-ish batter. I do think I baked them just a hair too long (I blame it on the fact that the blondies didn't do what they were supposed to--pull away from the sides of the pan--to indicate their doneness), but they are still pretty good, especially with a scoop of ice cream.



Later, I made just good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies (from the same cookbook). I love chocolate chip cookies (seriously, who doesn't?), and I always like to try new recipes for them. These are good, a bit thinner than I like my cookies, and I think I prefer a sweeter chocolate than the bittersweet chocolate the recipe calls for, but that's just a personal preference. The cookies still taste really good, though, and I would make both these recipes again.

I also made stuffed bell peppers for dinner. And picked Amelia up from daycare, fed her, and rocked her to sleep. And I did laundry.

I'm every woman. I know. :)

Now I'm tired.

(I would like to add that Darryl did help feed her--it took two attempts because she was CRANKY the first time--and he also bathed her and tried to rock her to sleep. That, too, took two attempts. I just wanted to clarify that my husband wasn't just sitting on the couch, eating bonbons while I was being every woman.)

My Big, Fat Waffle House Wedding

I had heard about this on a local radio station, but Kim sent me a link to the pics. Scroll to the bottom to watch the slide show!

"Nana's" Departure, School, Cold, Grouchiness...

My mom left yesterday. Amelia and I had a lot of fun with her while she was here. It also gave me a bit of a break. I've already discussed the night out that Darryl and I had, but it was also nice to take a shower every morning without feeling rushed.

I realize I need to start thinking about school. To inspire me, I've bought a few English-teaching-related books. I just need some fresh ideas in teaching old stuff, you know?

I think I'm getting a cold or a sinus/allergy thing. Runny nose yesterday, sore throat today. I hope it passes quickly. Amelia had something similar earlier this week, but she seems to be over it. When I called Sunday morning to check on how the night went with Amelia and my mom, my mom said, "Well, she has a runny nose this morning, but I promise I didn't do anything to make her sick!" Anyway, she was better the next day. I hope I am, too.

Speaking of Amelia...she has been a bit grouchy the past couple of days. Not sure what's going on there. Teething, maybe? (Surely this girl is going to get a tooth SOMETIME.) Change in routine? Not feeling 100% because of the runny nose thing? All of the above?

So that's the excitement going on here...

Our Getaway!!

Because my mom was in town and insisted she could take care of Amelia for 24 hours by herself, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a night to ourselves! Going to a nice restaurant! Staying in a hotel! Having a full night's sleep! Woohoo!

First, let me say that Amelia, who turned 8 months old yesterday, decided to accomplish the major milestone of pulling up to a standing position by herself about 45 minutes after we left the house:

Figures.

Anyway, our first stop was the new World of Coke museum. We just wanted something to do that was "different" and that wouldn't kill the whole afternoon. I guess the museum is worth a visit; it kept us entertained. And the kids there seemed to enjoy it a great deal. However, if any of you had been to the old one...I think the old one was better. To me, one of the cool things about the old museum was the coke that shot in the air from one side of the room to the other in the tasting exhibit. The new one doesn't do that. :( That made me sad.

After the museum we got settled in our hotel room at Twelve, which is located at Atlantic Station. Twelve is a fairly new hotel that really markets its "modern" decor. We actually had a suite (all Twelve has is suites), and it probably would have been really great for a week's stay; the kitchenette featured new, stainless steel appliances and the furniture was really modern. The TVs were flat screens. However, what struck us most about the decor was how it just felt unfinished...bare concrete in places, a wooden ceiling that still had the builders' notes written in pencil on the wood. Interesting. Oh, and our room featured a spectacular view of the really strange Roman-like arch in the middle of it all, which apparently is the Millennium Gateway of Atlanta. Whatever. Here's Darryl looking at the Millennium Gateway from our balcony. Is it me, or is that arch just a bit out of place?
Last night we had a wonderful, fabulous dinner at The Capital Grille in Buckhead. We have been there a few times before and have enjoyed it, but I think last night's dinner was the best yet. I swear I have never been this full after dinner, not even after Thanksgiving. We started out with prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella with tomatoes. Holy cow. There are no words to describe it. Simple, but good. Then we shared a crock of French onion soup. Even if you are not a big French onion soup person, you might like theirs. It is hands-down the best I've ever tasted. I was already feeling full by this point, but we went on with our entrees; I had the beef filet and Darryl had the Delmonico ribeye. Again, delicious. I ate probably half of mine, though, because I wanted dessert, which was coconut cream pie. I love coconut cream pie, period, but this was fabulous. The crust was wonderful; my guess is that it possibly had some cake mix in the crust--which may sound weird--but it tasted very similar to the crust on the cream cheese bars I make, and that crust has cake mix in it. Anyway...I thought I was going to have to be fork-lifted out of the restaurant. (Also, is it just me, but when you eat a lot at a restaurant--like A LOT--do you almost feel as though you need to say to the waiter, "I don't normally eat like this" or "I haven't eaten anything all day." I don't say these things, but I really, really want to.)

After eating that delicious dinner, we walked around Atlantic Station for a while. The walk did absolutely nothing in making us feel less miserably full, however.

But of course, this morning (and I'd like to add that my eyes popped open at 6:30 on the morning I had an opportunity to sleep in!), we ate breakfast. We went to Silver Skillet, which is this old diner-style restaurant that is known for its good hearty breakfasts. The fare is pretty standard, but it was delicious, too. (I know... you may be marveling over the fact that we could even hold food at this point.)

Then we came home. It was wonderful to have some "us time," and we hope to do it again soon. And, of course we were happy to see our girl when we returned!

Friday, Friday

My mom flew up yesterday and is here for a few days for an Amelia fix. So far, we're having a big time. The perk for me--aside from getting to visit with my mother--is I get some relief with some Amelia-related tasks. Just to clarify...I don't mind those tasks, but I also don't mind getting a break from time to time. I took a 2-hour nap this afternoon. Heavenly.

And that's about it for now...

Book Notes: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Last night I finished The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. This was the second book I've read by her (I can't remember the title of the previous one and I'm too lazy too look it up...that's how much I liked it; it wasn't My Sister's Keeper or Nineteen Minutes), and here's the deal: something about her books annoys me. I do remember that with the first book, the plot was often hokey in parts; with The Tenth Circle, I was completely annoyed with the ending. I'm not one who has to have endings tied up in a neat bow; however, this book left too much up in the air at the end.

I did record the Lifetime movie of this starring Kelly Preston, but I've yet to watch it.

As the mother of a daughter, I did learn one lesson from this book: When a teenage Amelia says she's going to some friend's house to spend the night, I am so calling that friend's mother to confirm. The girl in this story was up to a lot of shenanigans, y'all.

My next book on the list is Atonement, a book I began last summer but ended up stopping because school started. Tim hails it as one of the best books he's ever read, and I think Max and Jen like it too, so I have higher hopes for this one.

Weekend wrap-up...wait, it's Tuesday already?

Wow. It's Tuesday? Why can't time fly this quickly during the school year?

Anyway...

Our weekend with our friends ended nicely. Kim ("Theatre Director") and her daughter were kind enough to look after Amelia so we could go out and have a good meal with just the grown-ups. I have to admit it was nice to have a meal without having to entertain Amelia with a pack of crackers. :) The food was good, too...steak, creamed spinach, molten lava cake for dessert. Delicious. On a food note, if I told you everything I ate this past weekend, you would be in awe. Oddly enough, I was down one pound this week. Go figure.

On Sunday, Darryl and I drove around a few neighborhoods we liked and just looked at houses from the outside and picked up a few fliers to get an idea of what certain prices will get you in a house. All this did was make me want to sell our house. I do love our house (with the exception of our heinous laundry "closet"), but we are quickly outgrowing it. The thought of getting it ready to sell exhausts me.

In "almost" news...I almost joined a baking blog ring that is devoted to baking through the cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Then I decided that while that may sound fun right now, those crunch grading situations I often find myself in would leave little time for making tarts and pies. I did buy the book, though, because it looks like a good book to have on the shelf anyway. If you have ever been in my kitchen, you might have noticed that I have a bit of an obsession with cookbooks.

Yay for Nicole K. and Keith U. on their baby daughter. I have mixed feeling about the name Sunday, but as far as celeb couples go, I like these two...tons more than I like Brangelina. :) (That one's for you, Kristy!)

Yep, that's it.

First Fourth!

Amelia had a very festive 4th of July. Our friends Damian and Rebecca came to visit from Baton Rouge, and we've been having lots of fun.

We watched the fireworks. (Please forgive the blurry picture. And the "Do Not Enter" sign. This was my best attempt to capture both Amelia AND some kind of firework in the background.)


Today, Rebecca and I took Amelia to a 4th of July parade. This was pretty much Amelia's expression the entire time.

Here's a pic of Rebecca and Amelia, just because.

And here's a pic of Amelia and Darryl cutting up at Hudson Grille, where we had lunch today. Quite frankly, I'm putting up this pic so you can see Amelia's cute red white and blue outfit.


HAPPY 4th of July!!

Just Playing Around

On pins and needles

I like how the world's focus has turned to France, where Angelina is expected to give birth--to twins!!--any day now.

Could I get a show of hands? Does anyone care? (Not to minimize the excitement of the arrival of the child, but I swear...)

Randomness

--I had a little "me" time today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so Amelia was in daycare for a few hours. After my appointment, I ran a few errands and had a child-free lunch with my husband.
--Amelia is kind of crawling. She's doing what I like to call the "soldier crawl," where she keeps her belly on the ground but moves her arms and legs toward her desired destination. Too cute!
--Is anyone watching The Bachelorette? I confess: I am. I am because 1) Summer TV is pitiful and I'm desperate for something to watch, and 2) I typically do watch The Bachelorette because unlike the "bachelors," the "bachelorettes" usually make an attempt to have a relationship with the person instead of breaking up three days later. You know what I've decided is a problem with these shows (aside from finding a potential mate for life on a TV show)? The stupid fantasy dates. When, in the real world, does a couple drive a luxury sports car to a deserted restaurant where the girl wears diamonds and a fancy dress? Or when, in the real world, does the girl get to treat the guy to a day at the baseball field playing with the pros? Who wouldn't get along in those circumstances? I say put 'em in a clunker of a car that breaks down in the pouring rain in an area that is out of cell phone range. That would test their compatibility, yes?
--You must check out my friend Kristy's latest post about her niece's baby shower. Hilarious!

Florida Cleaning

We went to Florida this past weekend to start cleaning out Darryl's dad's house so Darryl's sister and her family can move in soon. We didn't get as much done as Darryl had hoped, but I think we made a good dent in what needs to be done.

Yesterday we went to the Methodist church in our hometown (this is where Darryl's family went to church when he was growing up and where his sister still goes to church), and I saw tons of people I hadn't seen in years. In particular, I saw my best friend from elementary school. She now lives in the Atlanta area, but she was having her new baby christened yesterday. I haven't seen her in probably fifteen years. Anyway...

And that's it.

Cleaning, Movies, and Such

Yesterday, during Amelia's "daycare day," I was actually productive and marked an item off my summer to-do list: I cleaned out her room/closet. This involved boxing up the clothes that no longer fit and re-organizing some drawers and things. It was a bigger job than I anticipated, but I'm glad it's done. I have to confess that I wanted to get a little teary-eyed as I put her hospital things--her blanket, bracelet, Northside Hospital t-shirt, coming home outfit, etc.--in their own special box. I know this sounds cliche, but I can't believe how quickly she's growing up.

I had hoped to organize my kitchen, too, but I at least was able to sort through expired food in our tiny pantry (c'mon...everyone has expired food in the pantry, right?), and threw out enough stuff to give Amelia her own space for formula and food.

Darryl was out of town four days this week and three days last week. Now he's home for a while. Thank goodness.

I did manage to watch two movies this week after Amelia went to bed. The first one I saw was 27 Dresses. When this movie came out, I rolled my eyes at it and figured it would just be a formulaic romantic comedy, but for some reason, I decided to pick it up at Blockbuster. Anyway, the movie was formulaic, but it was more entertaining that I had anticipated, and I actually kind of liked it. Academy Award winner? No. Decent romantic comedy that a tired mom (or dad, or person in general) can follow? Yes.

The other movie was Enchanted. Y'all, I adored this movie. Funny, smart, satirical, endearing...and Amy Adams is incredible. And it is very family friendly, if that's a concern. I highly, highly, highly recommend it.

And if I can coax myself out of this chair with my coffee by my side (and Amelia's in an Exersaucer, no worries), I will have walked four mornings this week. I think I'm going to do it.

Fun Tuesday!

Amelia and I had lots of fun yesterday afternoon! We went to Kim's house, where we met up with Kim, Miss "Mac" (Kim's daughter), Sabrina (friend/former guidance counselor at our school), and her two kids Connor and Suzanna. We had a blast eating some good food (mozzarella bites, chips and salsa, fruit and dip, cupcakes), playing (well, the kids played while the adults chatted), and swimming. It was a whole lot of fun, and it was definitely good for this mom to get out of the house and interact with some adults!

I could kick myself for not taking my camera, though. Amelia had the best time in the pool, and all the older kids reminded me of myself at that age as they performed numerous water stunts ("Look at me!" "Watch me!"--My parents swear that they could have just gone anywhere with a pool for summer vacation and I would have been content.)

On another note, kind of...Amelia's latest "cute" thing is that she likes to communicate with me through the bars of her crib. She'll grab the bars and put her face close to them, and I'll do the same on the other side. She just smiles and laughs. Let's hope that's the only "through the bars" communication we'll ever have with each other in our lifetimes. :)

Cupcake #1-B: Key Lime Cupcakes, the Remix

Well, I tried Max's recipe (posted in the comments for the first Key Lime cupcake, if you are interested), and it is really good. It is definitely easier than the recipe I tried last week, and I think the results are just as good, if not better. I did add a couple of tablespoons of key lime juice (bottled, I confess) to the frosting just to give it a bit of a twang. So, thanks Max. I think I've found my key lime cupcake!

I'm not going to bother with a pic because these cupcakes, on the surface, look exactly the same as last week's...lime wedge and all.

(By the way, I had 1-1/2 cupcakes last night--I had the half to determine if I wanted lime juice in the frosting--my dog enjoyed the other half. And of course I had to taste the finished product. Other than that, I did pretty well with eating "lighter," and I also walked yesterday and today. Just wanted to clarify.)

Ugh, that stupid ticker

Well, I faced the music and updated my weight loss ticker.

I'm sad. Basically between all the post-funeral food and the cupcakes, I've gained six pounds.

Here are my resolutions for this week:

1--Walk at least four mornings this week.
2--Eat just a couple of snacks--preferably fruit or at least something lower than 100 calories.
3--Eat a light breakfast and lunch.

So I guess my shorts being tighter wasn't just my imagination. Sigh.

Saturday Realizations

--The problem with making things like chicken enchiladas and cupcakes is that I eat them. My shorts are tighter. Salads and fruit this week, people! (Except for our get-together, Kim. I'm totally eating then. And I'll bring something with key lime.)

--Sloping parking lots are a real pain when you're dealing with a child in a shopping cart. I'm just saying.

--For every project I check off the list, I think of about three more I want to accomplish. I told Darryl that I'm really trying to take one project at a time, but it's hard. This weekend's project is to get the playroom/guest room finished. My next project is going to be organizing the kitchen or Amelia's room. (True, she hasn't been here long enough for it to get out of hand, but I need to box up clothes that don't fit and redo some drawers and so forth.)

--The summer is passing quickly. We have something going on the next three weekends...and then it will be just a couple of weeks until school starts. What?!?!?!

I'm now off to work on my project...

Chicken Enchiladas

Yesterday was Amelia's daycare day, so I got a much-needed haircut and made chicken enchiladas.

These enchiladas were really good; my only complaint is that they needed more salt. I have no idea how much more to suggest, so I would just salt to taste.

I actually found this recipe on another blog, but it gave credit to the source. I highly recommend these (with more salt, of course):

Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas
Recipe by Rebecca Rather

Ingredients:

1 store-bought roasted chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (32 ounces) sour cream
1⁄2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles, undrained
1 (10 ounce) can tomatoes with green chiles
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt (My suggestion: Salt to taste)
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears), or one 8 oz. can corn kernels
1 cup canola oil
12 corn tortillas
2 1⁄2 cups (10 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9X13 inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.

Remove and discard the skin from the cooked chicken. Pull the meat from the bones, shred it into bite-sized pieces, and set it aside in a large bowl.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, heavy cream, green chiles, tomatoes, salt, and pepper until smooth. Cook until warmed through, being careful not to let the mixture boil. Reserve 2 cups of the sour cream mixture for pouring over the casserole. Stir the corn and chicken into the remaining sour cream mixture, which will be used to fill the tortillas.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Using metal tongs, dip each tortilla in the hot oil for a few seconds on each side, until softened. Stack the tortillas on a paper towel. Spoon a generous line of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam side down, in the prepared pan. Pour the reserved sour cream mixture evenly over the tortillas and sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Bake uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Note: I had TONS of filling left over, so I just poured some extra on top and along the sides (and still had more left over). I think you could really get 20-24 enchiladas out of this recipe.

Cupcake #1: Key Lime Cupcakes

Y'all, I've been obsessed with cupcakes lately. I look at blogs of bakers who specialize in cupcakes; I look at books of cupcakes. (I've also been obsessed with mini-cheeseburgers--"sliders"--lately too...maybe it has something to do with mini-versions of bigger foods or something.) Anyway, I've decided that I want to get in on this cupcake action, so last night I made key lime cupcakes.

I didn't find the perfect recipe on the Internet, so, in a very-uncharacteristic-of-me-like fashion, I took a cupcake recipe and adapted it (it didn't have enough lime juice in it for my taste, so I added more), and a frosting recipe (again, adding more lime juice). (I say this is uncharacteristic of me because I'm very "go by the rules" when it comes to recipes.)

At first, the results were disappointing. The cupcakes themselves were ugly and sunken in the middle. And still not lime-y enough for my taste. The frosting was better (a cream cheese/key lime mixture), but I thought the result wasn't worth the effort. To make my concoction look prettier, at least, I added a lime wedge for garnish.

This morning, though, I tried them again after they spent the night in the fridge. They seemed better. I don't know...the verdict is still out.

Here's a pic:

Father's Day, This Week, Etc.

I meant to give a shout out to the important dads in my life on Father's Day, but the one time I had the opportunity to blog on Sunday, I was having Blogger issues. So here are my belated Father's Day greetings...

Happy Belated Father's Day to my dad, who celebrated his first Father's Day as a grandfather this year. Amelia has him completely wrapped around her finger. This is my favorite picture of my dad. It was taken at the hospital the day after Amelia was born; you can tell he was excited to be a "Papa"!


And also belated Happy Father's Day to Darryl. Sunday was bittersweet for Darryl; it was his first Father's Day as a dad, but also his first Father's Day without his dad.

Amelia also has Darryl wrapped around her finger, of course, but she is very fortunate to have him for a father. Darryl is definitely a "hands-on" dad, and there is no task he can't handle. We're both thankful he is in our lives.

This pic is obviously from the "early days" of fatherhood, but I love this picture. It looks like they are both checking each other out. :)

Other than Father's Day, not too much is going on around here. Amelia and I have been hanging out together. Monday, we met Kim ("Theatre Director") and Sabrina (another co-worker friend) and their kids for lunch the other day, and that was fun. We have plans for some pool time together later this week.

And that's about it. Exciting, huh?

My Day so Far

6:45--Amelia wakes up; I feed her.

7:00--Amelia plays in her Exersaucer while I drink my morning coffee. I decide that today is going to be the day that I begin walking in the morning. It will help my feelings. It will be exercise. I'm pumped.

7:15--I get dressed in my "walking" clothes.

7:30--Darryl leaves for work. I dress Amelia in a cooler outfit as it is already warm outside.

7:45--I can't find my keys. (I have to drive to my preferred walking area--it's not even a mile away, but we live on a curvy road and I wouldn't dream of walking that road, especially with a stroller.)

8:00--I still can't find my keys. Remembering Darryl had them last, I call him. He tells me a few more places to look.

8:15--I still can't find my keys.

8:30--I call Darryl because I still can't find my keys. He says he'll come home to help me look.

8:40--Figuring that walking is a bust today because Amelia is fussy and it is getting hotter by the minute, I decide to put her down for a nap. I'm successful!

8:45--Darryl comes back home to help me look for the keys. The dog barks upon his arrival and wakes up an irritable Amelia.

9:00--I find the keys in the side pocket of the diaper bag. Darryl says, "I remember putting them there now." I feel stupid for not checking there. (But Darryl never puts anything in the diaper bag.)

9:01--I try to rock Amelia back to her naptime sleep.

9:30--Amelia is still not asleep.

9:45--I feed Amelia again.

10:00--Amelia still won't go to sleep. I give up and get ready to go to the pool with her. Amelia is grouchy about getting in her bathing suit because she's sleepy, but won't sleep.

I'd just like to say we spent more time going to and from the pool than we did actually at the pool.

I'd also like to say that while Amelia slept about 20 minutes in the car on the way back home, she still won't go to sleep.

I'm tired.

Edited to add: Amelia finally went to sleep at 3:00. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take a much-needed shower or a much-needed nap. And I just realized it is Friday the 13th.

Friday the 13th, indeed!

Grey's

I finally watched the Grey's Anatomy finale. I'm usually a tough critic of this show (Meredith hate, depressing story lines, gross couplings like the Izzy-George deal), BUT I have enjoyed this show lately and thought the finale was awesome. Finally...a happy season ending! And now that Meredith has finally decided to get to the root of her issues, I might like her better.

So many great moments...Bailey's realization she had to make cut something out of her life to make her marriage work (and then passing the clinic to Izzy), the Cristina-Hahn showdown in the O.R. and the Chief's admonition to Hahn afterwards, George's case to the chief that he deserves a second chance, the success of Mer-Der's clinical trial, and of course their big kiss at the end. And on top of that, we learned that bad things happen to your body when you are submerged in quick-dry cement. (I had no idea!)

I really don't expect a response to this post, but I was so happy with the ending that I just had to talk about it. :)

Amelia playing

We moved the bed out of the guest room and into a storage unit. The sofa bed is coming Saturday. I love the fact that Amelia has all this CARPETED room to play around in...she seems to like it too.

How Fitting

I marked the end of my first full day as a summer-stay-at-home mom by going to Walmart with bright orange spit-up carrots all over my shoulder and shirt sleeve. I realized this while I was in the store, of course.

Thank you.

Summer Plans

I feel as though my summer vacation really started today because today was my first day being home since school got out.

Amelia spent a few hours at her daycare so that I could get a few things done--buying groceries, cleaning out the fridge, running errands. She's actually going to spend a day a week there so I can do such things and have a little "me time." Trust me...that makes me a much better mother.

I don't really have any "big" summer plans. I do, however, have a list of things I'd like to accomplish at some point:

--I need to cook more meals at home, and I need to figure out how to do that with a 7-month-old who tires of any activity (jumperoo, exersaucer, toys) after about 15 minutes. I managed to make a casserole tonight, but Amelia traveled from the jumperoo to the exersaucer to the high chair to the crib while I cooked.

--I want to get some official portraits done of Amelia. I set aside some gift money for this purpose, and the photographer is actually someone we know from church, but I need to actually make the appointment and show up with a cooperative child.

--I need to frame photos I already have and display them in our house. How pitiful is it that Darryl and I have exactly one framed photo of Amelia in our house, and it is a pic from when she was 6 weeks old?

--I need to organize the clutter in our house. We're actually converting our guest room into a play room (with a sofa bed for guests), and that will help.

This post was rather boring, wasn't it?

First Swim!

Today Darryl and I took Amelia for her first swim. I had a feeling she would love it because she absolutely LOVES taking a bath, and I was right. She doesn't even care if water gets splashed in her face. Her favorite thing, though, was having Darryl hold her high in the air and then dip her legs in the water; she just shrieked and laughed! Here are a couple of pics. Darryl looks a bit odd in the first pic (sorry, babe, but you do), but I couldn't really crop him out very well. :)

Mr. Benny

Benny and Amelia, Easter weekend

I had plans to write this really poignant post about Darryl's dad, but now that I'm sitting at the keyboard, I don't really know what to say. How do you really comment on someone's life in a blog post, for Pete's sake?

Mr. Benny was such a presence in our family. Over the past week, we've shared our favorite "Benny memories," and they are quite extensive...and hilarious. Every one of them made us laugh. Even as we were driving with Darryl's brother and sister and their spouses to the funeral home to tend to details and make arrangements, we were joking about how he would probably be disappointed that we weren't buying his casket from Costco. That man LOVED warehouse stores, and even a few weekends ago when he came to Atlanta for Amelia's baby dedication, he was able to muster up the strength to walk the aisles of Costco.

On Christmas mornings, he would give each of us two plain white envelopes marked with just our name, and each envelope was filled with cash. One was for our birthday, and one was for Christmas. It didn't matter if the birthday was in June or October, he gave it all out on Christmas Day. (And cash always fits, right?)

He often called things by the wrong name. My favorite example of this was several years ago when Darryl and his brother, sister, dad, and I went to the Sugar Bowl, and Dayton (Darryl's brother) wanted to go to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Mr. Benny kept calling them "beagles." (He also kept asking why they didn't serve bacon and eggs.)

When he called on the phone, his conversations usually started with, "What's going down around the town?"

He loved dogs, and boy, did they love him.

Even though he wasn't the most outspoken with his emotions, I often saw him kiss his grandchildren on the head when he held them in his lap.

I think what makes me the most sad is that Amelia will not know her grandfather or her grandmother on Darryl's side, and they were both remarkable people.

We will miss him.

Update

Many of you probably know that Darryl's dad passed away Saturday, not long after I posted that last blog entry. I'll post more about him later because I do want to say a few things about him (all good, of course), but my brain is too tired at the moment. It will have to wait until I get home.

People have been coming by in droves, and I've eaten more ham, homegrown veggies, cakes, pies, casseroles, fried chicken, and other comfort foods than I care to mention. (I think it is safe to say that my weight-loss ticker is no longer accurate.) The funeral was yesterday and it was really a great tribute, and now things are winding down a little.

Darryl and I are going home Saturday. I probably won't blog again until then.