Christmas Eve Eve

This is pretty much how I imagine christmas day will go. Coy will have tons of presents to open, but he will prefer to play with a remote control or some old tupperware containers.

Gun Show Weekend

JR and I worked a gun show this past weekend. Rather than shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year, I helped set up gun displays. Since I hate shopping in crowds, that was a perfect alternative. JR and I had dinner at Old Town on Friday night and the food was delicious as always.

I realized on Saturday morning that I would have some long term side effects from the gun show when a vendor across from where we were set up kept burning this survival kit crap. He kept scraping shavings from one of those fire starting devices that all boyscout troop leaders should carry, in attempts to lure people in to buy one. It smelled like a cross between fire works and incense. I could tell by the end of the day that the smoke from it had damaged my nasal passages.

Since Sunday was a slower sales day from Saturday, the burning of the survival tool was on full force sale mode. By this time, it had seriously done damage and my nose kept running in defense. JR had a full allergy attack and sneezed and blew his nose all day. We kept discussing how we were going to go over to the guy and offer to buy all of the devices so that he would stop demonstrating how they work.

Today is Tuesday and I still have a sore throat. As for me, I will carry a lighter...thanks anyway.

Super Wittle!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year and I predict that next year will be even better!

I Love Fall

I love this time of the year! The weather is so nice and there seems to be so many fun things to do.

This past weekend, JR and I enjoyed the annual Jazz Festival in our hometown. It was a great weekend except for the eight or so hours that JR and I both spent with a stomach virus that we caught from Coy. Minus the stomach virus, it was a great weekend.

Also, I am loving college football right now. My Seminoles are winning more than losing, my Auburn Tigers are doing great and South Carolina has pulled off some big wins. It is awesome!

The rest of the month and first part of November is going to be fabulous as well. We have a beach trip planned, trick-o-treating with Coy, and a trip to Florida where I will hopefully get to meet a new niece or nephew that is scheduled to arrive sometime around November 3rd.

Can I just say once again that I am loving this Fall!!

October!

Pretty much everyone who knows me is well aware of my hate for Halloween. It started about thirteen years ago and has lasted...until now. Now I can't wait to dress Coy up in his halloween outfit and use him as a tool to get my own stash of candy! I can't wait, I can't wait!

Too Tired

I'm too tired to come up with something good for this post. That's actually my excuse for all of my blog entries that have sucked thus far.

I took Coy to the doctor today for his one year old checkup and shots. He had to get four shots and I had to hold him down. It was so sad. JR told me that he could have come to the appointment, but it would have been too sad for him, so he chose not to. Thanks, JR.

Random fact: I love the show Man, Woman, Wild. It is awesome and I have a secret crush on Mykel Hawke. Since JR has a secret crush on Audrena Patridge, I had to develop one of my own.

Circus Party

Coy's first birthday party was a smashing success. The weather was perfect, so we set everything up outside. It is so hard to believe that my little boy is one!

A Very Productive Day

We made a family trip to WalMart this morning to get Coy's birthday present. JR spent all morning and much of the afternoon assembling it. JR doesn't curse, however, putting a swingset together brought a few curse bombs out of him. My sweet neighbor noticed that he was about to have a melt down and offered some wonderful words of encouragement. She said, "Oh, the first one that you put together is always the hardest. I remember it took us a quart of bourban and a nap to get through it". I love my neighbor!

While JR worked on the swing set, I tried to burn some calories by push mowing our grass. Then, we took a break and walked downtown to watch a bike race. We had a friend riding as an ameteur, so we went to encourage him to finish the race. He actually placed, so we were very proud!

Tomorrow, I am going to make a trip to Charlotte to do a little shopping. JR is going to do whatever he wants to do and JR's parents are going to have fun being Granna and Grandpa with Boomy. Life is great!

Wish It Was Friday

I feel like I am wishing my life away, but I want it to be Friday. I am ready for a break from work! Tomorrow is customer appreciation day and we are serving hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch. I really hope that it is fun and not a pile of stress.

Also, it was brought to my attention today that I put the wrong date on Coy's birthday invitations. I put Sunday, September 4th and it should have been September 5th. Oh well! One of the joys of being a working mother is that you can blame all of your dumb moments on your overworked brain.

I really am looking forward to Coy's 1st Birthday and I cannot believe that he will be one in just a couple of weeks. It is just crazy!

Random fact: This crazy guy came to the bank last Friday and got out of his car cursing and high stepping, because he was highly intoxicated. He was really skinny with long hair and a long beard and he had on cutoff camouflage pants. My boss told him that he couldn't come into the bank, so he high stepped back to his car cursing at us and cursing at his driver. Then, he came through the drive thru today and was cursing and carrying on with the female driver of the car. She was cursing and carrying on too. Then, he slapped her across the face. Seriously, every time this guy comes around I hear banjos start playing in my head.

Next Stop: ENT

Coy went for his follow up with the doctor today and he was referred to an ear nose and throat specialist. He will probably have to have tubes put in his ears. Other than that, he is doing great.

JR and I are going on a short beach trip this weekend to celebrate our eight wedding anniversary. I am looking forward to the beach and doing a little shopping.

I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday. Work has been crazy this week with trying to catch up from being out most of last week and then new projects from this week. For whatever reason, I have had a bunch of small loan requests this week. I hate doing small title secured consumer loans! Also, I had a conversation with someone from credit risk this afternoon and I was amazed at how stupid that the person thought that I was. Thankfully, it was the first time that I had ever spoken with him, so it wasn't from past experience with me that he had decided that I was dumb.

Anyway, I'm just ready for this week to end.

Sunday Fun

We made a quick trip to the Cheraw State Park yesterday for a time filler before Coy had to go to bed. There's only so much time that you can spend inside and only so many strolls around the block you can make before everyone becomes stir crazy. So, the state park was a great change of scenery.

Then it was dinner time for Coy. I had no idea that teaching my child to eat real food would be so difficult. Not only does he have multiple gag episodes when he tries to eat anything with texture, but the process of him eating takes forever!

Today was his first day back at daycare. It was also the first day that I have ever cried over leaving him there. I think I will end today's post on that depressing note.

Saturday Fun

Thankfully today is not as blazing hot as every other day for the last two weeks has been. We decided to make a family breakfast trip to Huddle House this morning. You can really get a glimpse of some interesting attire at the local Huddle House. We took this picture of one of the patrons wearing some super cute jean shorts, a.k.a. jorts. Coy couldn't keep his eyes off of them!

Feeling Better

Coy was back to his normal self tonight. I feel pretty certain that he will come home tomorrow.

Poor Wittle

Our poor little guy has been so sick. He has been at the hospital for the last two days, however I do think that he is coming home tomorrow. He has had nasty sores in his mouth from a virus and he had to have I.V. fluids to keep him hydrated.

Today is mine and JR's eighth wedding anniversary. We actually forgot about it until around lunch time. But we are going to go out to eat in a little while and then I am going back to the hospital to spend the night with my sick wittle.

New Camera

I got a new camera. I am so excited about it too!

More wagon ride pics!!!!!

This Weekend

This past weekend was really laid back. Me, JR and Coy went to Hartsville for dinner at Bow Thai. I always order Pad Thai as my first order at every Thai restaurant to see if it measures up to Thai House in Fort Walton Beach, which I consider to be the standard of which all Pad Thai dishes are measured. Unfortunately, it didn't measure up and we probably won't go back. I figure if you can't get the national dish correct, then I can't give you a second chance. We did get some fresh rolls that were pretty good, but those are so simple to make that it doesn't count.

After dinner, we drove by Lowes to check out swing set prices. Coy is getting a swing set for his birthday, because he loves to swing. Since the wooden playground swing sets are $1500 and are by far the popular, cool kid thing to do, we are going outside of the norm and getting him a $200 metal swing set. I figure all he wants to do is swing and that will be sufficient. Also, in a few years when he doesn't want to swing anymore, I want feel so bad about giving it away.

Dental Conspiracy

Recently, I have had a lot of dental work done. One root canal, a crown, five fillings and I still need to have a filling replaced. It is a little embarrassing, because I feel like I really do have a jank mouth. Also, JR has given me a really hard time about it, while he was busy bragging about how he never has any problems with his teeth.

JR started complaining Sunday evening about his tooth and jaw hurting. The pain got progressively worse until he made a dental appointment for yesterday morning. After the dentist looked at his x-ray, it was quickly decided that he needed a root canal right away. JR didn't take the news very well. To quote him "I just can't believe this has happened. I take good care of my teeth. I just can't believe that this has gone down".

I took a picture of him while his mouth was still numbed up.

One Of Those Days

It has been one of my cynical days again when I hate people and feel super self righteous. It is very unbecoming, however unavoidable. Ninety-five percent of the people that I have interacted with today have been perceived by me as idiots. I really hate days like this. Many times it is co-workers that drive me crazy. Not the co-workers that work in the office with me, but the ones that work in a building in another state. The majority of our communication is via email which can get a little snippy at times. It reminds me of how people don't mind flipping each other off in a car or swearing from a car. There's a barrier that keeps the perpetrator feeling safe. I try to be nice, but I know that I come across condescendingly. I just want them to know how freaking stupid they are, but in a nice way.

Last night we had a going away gathering for one of our co-workers. I actually like the vast majority of the people that attended, so it was a pleasant experience. The bad part was driving home in a terrible storm with science fiction movie style lightening popping all around the car. I drove 35mph most of the way with what my friend Gail referred to as "the pace car" leading the way in front of me.

Vacations Always Have To End

I had a great time this past week visiting with my family in Florida. It was great to be away from work for a week. Coy has entered a new phase. He is trying to walk, but doesn't have the coordination yet. He crawls everywhere and pull up on everything and only wants to play with things that are not baby approved. It is exhausting, but it is so much fun at the same time. I love watching him learn to do new things and become more aware of his environment.

Random: I just saw a commercial for this new workout equipment called the Shake Weight. It is the weirdest thing I have ever seen and I will be completely appalled if anyone that I know ever buys one or uses one. I could barely watch the commercial without gagging. Please do not ever use one!

Coy misses Tiny B, Doc, Aunt JaMollie, and Geg!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to all of the good dad's out there!

Weekend Update

Coy and I both had colds this weekend. I hate being sick, but even more having to care for someone else that is sick while I am sick. Coy is crawling everywhere now and he is pulling up on things, so it won't be long before we have to put everything out of his reach.

I'm just counting down the days til vacation!

Fun and Not So Fun Facts For Today

*Coy is nine months old today. I can't believe it has already been nine months. It went by so quickly. Being pregnant for nine months....not so quickly.

*We discovered that we have termites. The pest control people are at my house today eliminating them, so that I will not feel like I live at Joe's Place. Thankfully, they were isolated to one area and we caught them before they did thousands of dollars in damage.

*I had a facial last night at the spa. It was amazing. However, after she examined my skin, she suggested a treatment called the four layer face lift. I initially requested the organic facial, so I am not sure how to feel about her suggestion. I think I am getting old and I think that it must show.

Happy Saturday

Yard Project

Today JR and I started our yard project. In the middle of digging up grass in preparation for a flower bed, it started raining really hard. We had to stop working and now we just have a dirt garden. Unfortunately, our dogs don't understand that walking on the brick path makes for less of a mess.

Coy played in his swimming pool while we were digging up the grass. It's the second time he has played in his pool and he enjoyed it even more this time around.

Tomorrow I have to start the work week again. I also have to go to the middle school to present awards to three children who earned the most points for reading the most books in their school. Even though I hate being in front of a crowd, I guess I am sort of excited to give awards for achievements in reading.

To Have a Servant Heart

For some reason, WalMart has a way of bringing out the worst in me. If I need to get a good idea of what part of my character that I need to work on to become a better person, I just make a trip to WalMart. It always reveals the evil that lies within. Usually, it is my lack of patience that really shines through, but today I discovered something else.

As I was leaving the store with my shopping cart, I could see my car in plain view. I could also see that someone had left their shopping cart behind my car. Apparently, they were parked beside me and after loading their stuff into their trunk, they just pushed their cart two feet away and left it behind mine. Thanks Mr. Helper! Over the next 2-3 minutes, so many evil thoughts of how much that I hated that person crossed my mind. It is truly too ugly to put into this blog exactly what I thought and felt for that individual.

So, after my conscience got the best of me, I decided that I needed to see it as an opportunity. It was an opportunity to learn to have more of a servant heart and a chance to try to love my neighbor. I really am trying. So, as I returned two carts to the respective spot, I tried to do it as though I was doing an act of service or an act of kindness towards the person who was unable to muster up the energy to walk an extra thirty feet.

On another note, I did crossfit for the first time Tuesday. I really like it and hopefully will try it again this weekend. I would have done it today, but my body is too sore from Tuesday, so I opted for a regular trip to the gym, which is much less intense. I have been working out regularly for the past two weeks and I am hoping that my aggression towards people will become less over time.

Another Great Weekend

This weekend has been great so far. I am already looking forward to next weekend which includes Monday. I love three day weekends.

My life has been pretty uneventful lately. I am going to have to start doing some random things and hope that something news worthy comes out of it. Right now, life is pretty routine and consists of me having many freak out episodes at work while I deal with imbeciles all day everyday. I have got to get away(I think there's a song with those lyrics).

JR is in some tactical combat shooting class today. I don't know if that is really what it is, but it has something to do with shooting his hand gun. He claims that he would rather be home with us, but I'm not sure, since he loves shooting his
1911. I get to hear about that gun all of the time and how it is the greatest piece of machinery in the world. He does say that about every gun that he owns, though.

Speaking of guns. I had a conversation earlier this week with one of the bleeding hearts that obviously get their news from some MSNBC type source. She said to me that she believed in the right to own guns, but the type of gun that people can own should be regulated. Oh boy, I started to breathe hard, because I know that she is a follower of Obama. I said, well it's great that you believe it is a right, since your president believes it is a privilege. She seemed to not believe me on that, but proceeded to tell me that people should not be allowed to own an AK 47. I told her that it was a rifle and that contrary to what she believed, it was not automatic...that it really is illegal to own an automatic.

Even if I didn't know that the liberal media uses AK 47 to try to dominate the weak people's minds, since it sounds scary, I would still know that most people wouldn't carry around an AK 47 anyway. They are heavy and if you were going to go commit a crime, it probably wouldn't be with a big, heavy rifle. I am still unsure of this person's thought process. But I do know that she is one of the many that desire to be told what to do in life. What to eat, what to wear, where to go to the doctor.....

Anyway, I need to go to Disney World or something, because I am really starting to abandon the Love Thy Neighbor thing.

I am adding pictures to lighten the mood :)

Great Weekend

This weekend was really nice. We went to dinner and bowling with friends Friday night. I bowled a 72....I am awesome! Saturday was a family day and it was a lot of fun.

Today was my favorite. JR and I put Coy in his new baby pool. I don't know if he really understood that it was supposed to be fun. I think he was confused, because the only water that he has been in is bath water. JR and I definitely enjoyed it more than he did, but I know that he is going to love it before the Summer is over.

The Loan Closed

The loan that I originated back in February, finally closed today. I truly can't believe it! There are so many stories to tell from this one little loan. People involved will be talking about it for years to come, seriously!

1. Customer enters into a contract to buy their first house.
2. Underwriter does crappy job underwriting loan and the investor took forever on their end, so the loan closing was delayed until April 29th.
3. At the closing, the attorney discovers after reading the trust that the person selling the house DOES NOT OWN THE HOUSE. He can't even sell it. *Also, the attorney was not provided a copy of the trust until thirty minutes before the closing, despite many attempts to get it throughout the two weeks prior to closing.
4. The true owner of the home is contacted that evening and agrees to sell the house.
5. A new contract is created and is signed on April 30th...the last day for the buyer to qualify for the tax credit. It's a miracle!
6. The loan closed today....another miracle.

That was the really really nice version of the story. The version that doesn't defame any one's character.

I'm adding a picture that has no relevance to the post, but it has been requested by my husband that a picture of Boom always be added.

Mother's Day

Today has been such a fun day. Coy gave me a beautiful pink rose, 2 boxes of nerds, a plant, and a sweet homemade card. So sweet! Today was also baby dedication day at church, which was very special.

Coy is eight months old today. He is trying to crawl and has almost figured it out. JR and I are going to be in trouble once he does, because he is going to be in to everything!