Lots O' Cookies

Every year I host a cookie swap for my Bible study group. This year did not disappoint!! We had delicioso cookies out the wazoo.

I hope you can tell what kinds are in the picture. I tried to label them. Maybe it will enlarge if you click on it???

Can you guess what I made???

Blog Humbug

Thanks LBK....J for pointing out that I am way behind in my blogging.

My life is just not that interesting lately. I am busy, but none of it is worthy of a sentence or two.

And when I am not working (which I feel like is never) I am so blooming tired that I choose to take a nap instead of write.

Napping is very important to me.

So here is what I am thinking about today:

• I got a new (additional) job. I am working at the Chick-fil-A. Don't laugh. I am not making milkshakes or frying chicken. I am working in the office (and I use that term loosely, as it is a walled-in square of a space in the back of the freezing cold kitchen). The owner of the Chick is a friend of ours from church and he asked me to help him with his HR stuff and employee training. It's been a lot of fun... I enjoy the different people that work there...always some kind of drama going on. I am hoping that the additional income will help out the Chappell family get through the economic depression. (We're okay, Mom. Don't worry.) Oh, and I have a name tag! It says "Special Operations." Very important. My dad is so proud.
• I still work at the church, too. Lots of work for me...
• I am wearing my Christmas Date Party shirt from 2000 today. I guess that makes me that girl who wears sorority shirts LONG after graduation. I can't seem to part with the long-sleeved ones. Not that I really need a long-sleeved shirt as it is 78 degrees and sunny here today... Anyway, it made me think about the Christmas Date Party and how I think I took the same date every year. And then that made me think about how much fun Christmas was (and everything else for that matter) when I was in college. And now I am depressed that I am old. And still wearing sorority shirts. And none of the guys at Chick-fil-A even feel the need to flirt with me because I am so old. Not that I want them to flirt with me, but you get it...
• My "special needs" bread has fallen victim to price gouging. It used to be $6.49 a loaf. I thought that was preposterous, but hey, girl needs a sandwich. Yesterday when I went to the health food store it was $6.99. I need to learn how to make that stuff myself.
• Back to being old...my skin is changing. Is this normal??? I am getting drier and drier and even copious amounts of lotion will not help. Can anyone tell me what to do? And my legs just don't look nice and shiny like they used to. Old. Dry.
• I don't really care about the new coach they picked for Auburn. Should I be concerned?? My thought is this... I support Auburn, the school, the town, the institution. It is not all about football to me. I would still cheer for my team if they hired Steve Spurrier, and I pretty much hate him. And making a big fuss about it is not going to do anything. So hooray for Coach Chizik. I hope he will feel welcomed soon.
• Last night in Wal-Mart Justin decided to get some macaroni & cheese from the deli. He had to wait in line forever. When he got home he was all in a tizzy about the fat woman in front of him buying out the chicken. He said he wanted to yell at her about her fatness and take away the fried chicken. It was so funny to me, because Justin used to be a fatty.

That's all I got.

Maybe I will be in a better mood next time.

I should post some pictures about the cookie swap. Cookies always make me feel better.

Fatty Fatty Two by Four

Just in case you are wondering why I am muffin-topping over all my pants...

I was in charge of desserts for Thanksgiving.

I baked and baked for hours.

And I am asking for an apple corer/slicer for Christmas.

There is no more.

We finally ate the last of it yesterday.

My sinuses are glad. They need a break.

P.S. The guy wearing a large wooden cross around his neck in the cake picture is not Justin. It is his brother. Just in case you were worrying...

Think We Ate Enough Turkey??

Tryptophan (sp?) is the bomb.

Think this should be our Christmas card picture??

Official Recommendation

Oh my soul, I haven't blogged in days and days.

I have been very busy.

Reading about vampires.

I have a major crush on Edward Cullen.

Here is what he looks like:

Hey Boy.

Now you can have a crush on him too.

Of course his real name is Robert something, but to me he is just Edward.

I'm sure I've lost you by now.

Let me explain...

I've been obsessively reading the "Twilight" series.

They are a collection of four very long books about vampires.

Written for an audience of teenage girls.

And I love them.

And that is why I haven't been blogging.

Or doing laundry.

Or acknowledging that I have a husband, a job or any other responsibilities.

Just reading.

But now I am finished.

And I'm sad.

No more vampire books.

BUT!

The movie is coming out on Friday night, and you better believe I will be there with all the middle school girls.

Maybe I should get some Sperry deck shoes so I will fit in...

So RUN, don't walk, to Barnes & Noble and pick them up immediately.

Don't wait for Amazon to ship them to you.

You can thank me later.

Quirky

I have been marinating on this post for several days.

And by marinating, I mean doing hard-core, extensive research and thinking deeply.

Kristen and Michelle both tagged me to write something about myself…quirks/random facts.

My first thought of course was that I don’t have any quirks, for I exemplify perfection in its most complete form.

Then I asked the BF Lucy what she thought.

One incredulous look and a whole sticky note later, I give you these random facts:

1. I am extremely organized. I make lists. I cross things off. I write things down that I have already done just to cross them off. I use white-out or totally re-write something if I make a mistake or if it looks messy. Here are some sub-points to illustrate the degree of my obsessiveness.
a. Paper clips. Apparently I have a thing for paper clips. I use them when securing my check to my deposit slip… can’t have those two getting separated in the tube at the bank. I use them to tell me which week I am on in my planner. I use them to clamp stamps to envelopes before adhering them. There are no free papers floating around in my life. They are all clipped to something.
b. Checkbook. My checkbook is neat. Really neat. On the first line I will write (in all caps) to where the charge is (i.e. SEW UNIQUE). On the second line I will write (in all lowercase) for what the charge is (i.e. lucy’s birthday). I check my account online every day, and I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to keep our budget. I am very precise.
c. Closet. Every hanger is white plastic. If Justin steals one of my hangers, I know about it. And I steal it back. And if I loan a piece of clothing to someone I usually use one of Justin’s hangers just in case they don’t give me back the item on its original hanger. That drives me nuts. I also have all my stuff hanging in categories… from strapless to sweaters in degree of sleeve. Shorts to pants in degree of leg.

2. I have a thing about light switches. If a switch is up that means that there is a light on somewhere. If it is down the light is off. We have several lights in our house that have two switches. I spend time daily making sure that the switches are in the correct position. There is one circuit that is messed up so I had to hide that switch with a plant because it bugged me so.

3. I have a get-to-sleep bedtime routine. I get in bed, pull up the covers to my chin and lay on my left side for five minutes. Then I roll over onto my right side, readjust my pillow and pull the covers into a little pocket over my left hand (next to my face). I then stretch my legs straight out as far as they will go and bring them in one by one until each knee pops (I have joint issues). If a knee doesn’t pop I have to stretch out that leg over again until it does. Then I can go to sleep. But not before…

4. I must have poufy hair no matter what. This should come as no surprise. My hair must have volume at all times. You better bet that even the day I had my sinus surgery and was looking/feeling like total crap, the hair was teased. I know this is sick and vain.

5. I have these “piles.” You would think that with the extreme organization in my life that my house would be spotless. But no. Justin says I pick and choose what to be OCD about, and the cleanliness of mi casa is not top of that list. I am neat. But I am not clean. I have designated areas (Justin-approved) that I can let my stuff pile up. One is beside my bed. Right now there are 2 pairs of pajama pants, a sweatshirt, a couple t-shirts, the jeans I wore last night and 3 pairs of shoes in my pile. The pile gets cleared away every Thursday when I do laundry.

6. My dreams rock. I am not kidding. I have the best dreams (well, most of them). I dream every night and can usually remember every detail of the dreams if I talk about them first thing in the morning. They are very vivid and crazy. I always dream about the past… usually high school/some college. And I have two recurring dreams. One is that my teeth fall out and the other is that I can’t remember the combination to a dial lock. I’ve looked them up and they both talk about my need to be in control. Me? Control? Surely not…

After reading this list you have probably decided that I should see a counselor about my issues.

I am contemplating this myself… especially after actually writing out the bedtime routine.

Please still be my friend and visit my blog.

I promise my next post will not be so psychotic.

And want to hear about all of your quirks.

Especially Robin's!

If You Leave Your Kid With Us Overnight...

He might have a new hairdo upon your return.

We kept Ethan last week from Wednesday to Saturday.

That is three nights of babysitting fun.

We have been to the park, Chick-fil-A, a homecoming football game and a car show.

He loves me.

Really, he does.

Knock, Knock, Knocking on Thirty's Door...

Sunday was my Ju-C's 29th birthday, and you better believe we did some celebrating!!

I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he said that he wanted to go on the overnight camping/canoeing trip with the youth.

Okay...

Want to feel old and completely uncool?

Go on a trip with a bunch of kids.

I had a car full of middle school girls who were talking about how old our new youth intern is.

She turned 24 last weekend.

They thought I was 31.

Are you kidding me?

31?

Really?

Because I don't look a day over 18 I am sure.

We had a great time on the trip. I did get to share a tent with Justin, so that was nice. What wasn't nice was the rock hard ground and tree roots. I tried very hard not to complain about the lack of sleep I experienced. We also canoed seven miles together without tumping over. (Is "tump" a word??) I am not the best canoe partner, so I was quite amazed at this.

In this picture Justin is saying, "Emily, why don't you know your right from your left?"

And I am saying, "Get off my back, you ho."

Notice the Chacos... I am serious in my outdoor sporting attire.

And here is the group picture when we stopped for lunch. See all those middle school girls? Terrifying.When we got home Saturday night, we were completely worn out. We went to bed at 8 like an old couple.

It was wonderful.

Sunday was Justin's birthday, so we celebrated with brunch at the Grand Hotel after church. If you have never been to brunch at the hotel...

Go.

Immediately.

It was fabulous. I wanted to make a list of all the yummy food that was there, but I was too embarrassed to take out my scratch pad in the dining room.

That is also why I don't have a picture of his birthday lunch.

Darn my selfishness.

I do have an observation about our economy from the dining room at the Grand Hotel...

We must not be in terrible shape because that place was packed out.

And at $30 a head, that isn't a whole lot of "doing without" going on.

And I'm pretty sure that we were the only ones who blew our entire month's "entertainment" budget on lobster ravioli and bread pudding.

And cheese blintzes and waffles and made-to order omelets...

I digress...

Sunday night we had friends over for cupcakes.

Neither of us could eat the cupcakes because the brunch was still in our bellies.

Try making cupcakes when you are about to throw up from overeating...

They were chocolate with peanut butter & cream cheese icing. And this is what we looked like at the party.

Too tired to wear real clothes. Hooray for pajamas.

And Justin looks too tired to open his eyes all the way. And now I am too tired to finish this post.
Peace and love.

Pumpkins!

Last Saturday I picked up a couple of white pumpkins at our farmer's market. Love those things!

Got home, painted 'em up.

If I had a billion dollars I would have a truckload of pumpkins in my yard.

We will carve the orange one closer to Halloween... last year we got over-ambitious and by trick-or-treat time our meticulously carved masterpieces were rotten.

We carved the whole Peanuts gang... Linus, Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

It took hours.

Rotting pumpkin doesn't go over well with the kiddos. They don't so much like to see Snoopy with mold growing all over him...

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Oh my friends.

I have a problem.

And it is life.

How am I so busy?

I have no children to take care of, and I only work part-time.

What is the deal??

I've narrowed it down to the following:

• I have changed working locations. The lovely trailer that my office was in has been condemned a health hazard. Oh I kid. But it is in the process of being hauled off. I hope it goes to the dump. I am now working in the copy room in the church office. With two other people who got kicked out of their offices too. It is not the best of blogging environments... Sure, I love talking to every person that comes in each day, but really? I have no time to complete a thought, much less a paragraph detailing my thoughts on the Pussycat Dolls or Dave Ramsey. My productivity is at an all-time low, and I am very thankful for my quiet office at home where I can catch up when it gets too crazy in there.

• Speaking of Dave Ramsey... Justin and I are taking a class... "Financial Peace University" I think the title is corny, but I have really enjoyed the class. We have lots of homework...reading and such. And now I have less money than I had before... this cash only system is interesting. I would love to see a study from a psychological standpoint on how people with only cash spend their money. I would volunteer for it for sure, because now that I have my allowance in my hands I haven't bought a darn thing. And Sephora just opened up down the road. I'm impressed with myself.

• I am still hosting a women's Bible study on Monday nights at our house. We are going through a book about encouragement. More homework. And a lot of it is to practice being encouraging which really takes time and effort. But I guess that is the point, huh? And I learned to make coffee, by the way...

• Justin has been nominated to be a deacon at our church. We have been attending weekly classes (I have to go too) to discuss church history, what Presbyterians believe, the Book of Church Order, etc... LOTS of reading. We Presbyterians like to know stuff... This is a huge responsibility, and I know it will require much sacrifice on both of our parts. We are taking the class (and the nomination) seriously.

So, while my busyness has been good for the mind and soul, I am drained.

I think of good things to blog about all the time, but I usually decide to read or take a nap instead.

But I really need to be silly. All this seriousness has made Joe a dull boy.

So I hope to be back to complete useless posting soon.

I will leave you with this thought from my morning drive...

I heard a line in a song that went something like this:

"Tell Daddy what you're having, and I'll keep 'em coming all night long." (sorry, I know I butchered it...)

REALLY?

If I told my daddy what I was having he would tell me that I had had enough. And probably tell me it was time to go home (that is assuming that Greg and I would both be in a bar...)

But the song is "I Wanna Make Love in This Club" so I'm not sure why I was expecting great lyricism...

(And yes, I listen to WABB... don't judge me.)

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Now There's a Novel Idea...

Maybe our country wouldn't be in such a financial crisis if we didn't rely on credit... as in only bought what we could afford.

Or here's a thought... saved for those things we couldn't.

Being in debt to China for 500 billion dollars competely baffles me.

What did we buy? Really, I want to know.

Dave Ramsey for President 2008.

I think I'm a little bitter today.

The Last of the Reunion Pictures... I Promise to Quit Talking About it...

Shay, Amber & Katie's baby, Emily. Isn't she the cutest baby in the world??

Katie, me & Erica
Adam, Kevin & Josh
Big Group... I am holding little Emily, the cutest baby ever.
Erica, me, Amanda & Carla. I still have blisters on my feet from those shoes.
Lots of girls!!
Alan & Amee, me & Ju-CAnother group shot...Me & Kevin. Ladies, he is single!!
Me & Aaron. He was playing at the bar we went to after the reunion dinner. I love my brother!! I am going to give this pic to my grandmother for Christmas.

And Ten Years Later...

Long time, no blog.

I have been doing lots of very important stuff.

And taking naps.

So, since I have so much to say, I’ll just jump right in to it…

I have been planning my 10-year high school reunion.

It was a pretty time-consuming ordeal.

But it was last weekend, and now I am done planning.

I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!

I am amazed at how little people have changed.

I guess I was expecting some earth shattering differences.

Nope.

It was just like old times…everyone picked up where they had left off, even though many of us had not seen each other since graduation.

I loved watching all the guys who have become dads. And I loved seeing the beautiful children who look and act just like my girlfriends.

I loved reminiscing about who did what in high school, and who should have dated whom and can you believe he/she married so and so or didn’t marry so and so?

And I love the fact that the guys were too cheap to pay at the cash bar, so they kept their alcohol in the parking lot.

Nothing has changed.

It was like Prom 1998. (aka "Stairway to Heaven")

And I loved it.

(Note to Kay Bostic: I was certainly not partaking in the alcohol drinking during Prom 1998… just need to clear that up.)

Old Justin was such a trooper.

I was certainly in my element, and sort of forgot that I was married or something… I introduced him to a guy as “my friend Justin.”

The guy asked another friend what was the story with Emily and her friend, and he said that we had been married for like 4 years, and he was not sure what was up with that.

Oops.

And then I introduced him to my friend Adam as “my husband Adam.”

You can see how that could be confusing, right?

Poor Justin. He sure puts up with a lot.

I think he had fun too, because we stayed out until after 1:30 (IN THE MORNING!!), and he only said it was time to go when I put in to go to Waffle House.

The next morning I was really glad he did not take me to Waffle House. I would have regretted that.

That is how I got fat in college, you know…

Well, that and Guthrie's.

So, the weekend was perfect and wonderful… very worth all the planning.

I can’t reiterate enough how much fun it was to see everybody and catch up.

I think we should have a reunion every year!!

I don’t think I can wait 10 more, that’s for sure.

So if you are reading this and you were at the reunion, can we please get together over the Christmas holidays??

P.S. I’m trying to add pictures to this, but it is not working out for me… This one took half an hour, and I'm ready to go to bed. I’ll try again tomorrow.

P.P.S. I'm going to try to find a picture of Prom 1998, because I think that would be way fun to share.

RHS Class of 1998...I am in the back row. Imagine that.

Pictures...

Amanda speaking at the Homecoming Assembly

Me and Justin at Chili's after the Homecoming Game
Dusty & Mark. Little Allie got sick, so this is all they got to come to! :(
These boys were cracking me up. They were so happy to be together.
Some of my best friends in high school!! Katie, Carla, Amanda & Erica

I'm slowly adding pictures to this post. My computer doesn't like me..

So.

Check out this blog...
RHS Reunion

There is a link on there that has all the pictures, just in case you'd like to see them.

And I Thought I Had Something in Common with The Pussycat Dolls...

I have really been feeling the PCD lately...

I can really connect with their latest song:

"When I grow up I wanna be in movies

Drive nice cars

I wanna have boobies."

I have been singing that song since middle school PE.

My version went like this:

"Dear God, please let me wake up tomorrow and have boobs. PLEASE. I will be a good girl for the rest of my life..."

Turns out the PCD wanna have "groupies" not boobies, which really makes more sense since I feel pretty sure they have all already purchased themselves some boobies.

But I don't have anything in common with them anymore. Although groupies do sound fun...

And they should really work on enunciation...

Have Rollers, Will Travel

Not even Tropical Storm Fay could stop Em's Glorious House O' Hair from traveling up to the big ham for Lindsey's wedding.

It was a wonderful weekend!! Lins was gorgeous, the food was delicious and it was so much fun to visit with friends that I don't see often enough.

And the cakes were magnificent, too. I ate me some cake...and some mini beef wellingtons...

Enjoy the pics.

Rehearsal dinner... Susan, April, Meg and me Pub some number... after rehearsal dinner
Lindsey's glorious bridal hair!!! I think she is my sixth bride... Caroline, Susan and me at the reception
Dee and Robin (Lucy's mom and dad) I'm trying to get in good with the family... Robin has lots of jewels... and nice purses that I am hoping to inherit...
The Juice (who didn't even once complain that I pretty much ditched him the second we got there). Thank you Adam and Daniel for keeping him occupied.
With the brideSinging the AOPi songs (that's Taylor's "asymmetrical" haircut bottom middle...)

Meet Me in St. Louis

We went to St. Louis to visit Kris & Mitch last weekend!!

We made it just in time for their one-year seminary anniversary.

They took us to see the Arch on Friday. I was amazed at how big that thing is because all the pictures I have seen do not do it justice. The engineer in Justin was really impressed, and he kept asking me questions about the welding beads. I hated to tell him that I don't know anything about welding beads or how old they are.
The Museum of Westward Expansion is located underground at the Arch. It's free, so we decided to check it out. There are these little balls that you can get in that go up in the arch. This is what it looks like. When not slouching my head hit the roof, so I decided that I definitely was NOT going to be riding up in there. Can you imagine the 4 of us in that little ball? No thanks.
Justin decided to wear his Cubs shirt. Apparently St. Louis hates the Cubs, and it wasn't in our favor that they were playing each other in Chicago that weekend. This picture was taken right before we were asked to please leave the museum.
Next we went to the Anheuser-Busch brewing factory. We got there just in time for their last (free) tour of the day at 4 p.m. We got to see the Clydesdale horses and all the rooms where the beer is made. I have never seen so many bottles of beer in my life. That is probably a good thing...

At the end of the tour you get to go to the hospitality room where each person gets two free samples of whatever they want. Lucky for the boys, me and Kris aren't really beer drinkers. Needless to say, we had a great time laughing at Mitch and Justin.

"I LOVE this tour!"

That night we went to dinner at 1111 Mississippi. It was phenomenal.

{I should take a moment to say that by this point my "diet" was out the window. It all started on Thursday night at the Houston airport when we only had 10 minutes and 2 choices for dinner... Pizza Hut or Schlotzky's...bring on the Turkey Club. And for lunch on Friday I had a super cheesy chicken sandwich on a kaiser roll with honey mustard and a bite or three of J's buffalo chicken pizza.}

We each ordered something different... duck (me), veal, chicken and rabbit. It was delicious!! And Ju-C and I shared white-chocolate bread pudding and milk chocolate mousse wrapped in dark chocolate for dessert. I was seriously in heaven.

I think I am the most happy when surrounded by good friends and nice food. I know that probably sounds shallow, but it is the truth. I just appreciate a well-prepared meal.On Saturday we went shopping. Kris works at Anthropologie and gets a 40% discount, so I thought for sure I would find something I couldn't live without. I should have known better, because whenever I have money to spend I just can't seem to part with it. It's when I don't have any money that I find things and become obsessed with them.

C'est la vie.

So we left the mall and went to this famous ice cream place on Route 66. It's called Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, and I had never heard of it. I got a little something called a Big Apple Concrete, which is basically a piece of apple pie blended with vanilla ice cream. YUM-O. I sucked it down rather quickly. You would think by this point I would be really worried about the condition of my sinuses, but NO. We went home, got some barbecue and settled in to watch Michael Phelps win his last gold. For dessert? A couple dozen Krispy Kremes, which I washed down with an ice-cold glass of 2% milk.

I figure that if I am going to die, I'm going to die happy.

So we had a marvelous time in St. Louis. It was so good to see Kris & Mitch and get to act silly with them for a couple days. They are a lot like us, and we so enjoyed our time together.

Today I am sick. Imagine that. I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection, and I am going to be so embarrassed when I go to my last post-op visit on Monday. He is not going to be happy with me.

It was worth it.

If you care to see 84 more pictures of the Arch and 438 more pictures of the beer tour click here.

Heeeeey Michael Phelps

I would just like to say that I am obsessed with Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time.

I think he should move to Fairhope and live in my guest room.

I would gladly cook him fried egg sandwiches, omelets, french toast and chocolate chip pancakes every morning for breakfast...

...if he promised to walk around all day with his shirt off.

He can even bring his cute little dog. I'm sure Ollie would just love it.

Katee is the Woman

We were unanimous in our voting last night at the Chappell household...

We love KATEE!!!

Ollie had a moment of indecision as he agonized over his love of Twitch, but then he decided to go with ability over personality. He was getting kind of tired of that "4 Real" stuff, too.

So it was 4 (actual) votes for Katee, and we hope she wins!!

Here is how I think it will play out:
1. Katee
2. Joshua
3. Courtney
4. Twitch

(If America votes correctly, that is...)

Can't wait until tonight!

Pizza, You are Dead to Me

I am tired of this flippin' diet.

Jonathan and Nicole invited us over for pizza on Saturday night.

I can't eat pizza.

I am also tired of bringing my own food to social gatherings.

So I call my mom and ask her hypothetically what would happen if I ate just one little piece of pizza.

She said that I wouldn't die, and to just try it and see what happened.

So I did.

And let me tell you that I have never tasted anything so delectable in my entire life.

I ate it slowly, experiencing every flavor and texture... the saltiness of the sausage... the sweetness of the crust...the melty goo of cheese... the spices in the sauce...

It was euphoric, people.

Then something happened.

I went berserk and began shoveling pizza in my mouth like a rabid wildebeest.

A stark-raving mad starving rabid wildebeest...

I momentarily forgot that pizza is most probably the worst thing a person with a wheat, milk and egg allergy can eat.

And apparently no one around seemed too concerned as they watched me eat piece after piece after piece.

After piece.

I left very full and quite content.

I went to bed.

I woke up early with a stuffy head.

Then my belly began to gurgle and cramp.

Paralyzing pain, people.

Several trips to the bathroom later, the rumbling subsided.

(TMI??? so sorry...)

And here I am on Wednesday with a weak stomach, a very stuffy head and a runny nose.

BOO.

I think I shall never be able to eat pizza again.

Now join with me in a moment of silence.

(And I'm pretty sure the stomach thing had nothing to do with the food allergy and everything to do with the large amount of fat and grease that I am just not used to.)

SYTYCD

If I had known that so many of you were into SYTYCD I would have been writing about it for weeks!

Thursday night we went to Randy’s for dinner (formerly known as Randy’s & Tammy’s, but something happened to old Tammy…) with our friends Ryan and Adriane.

It was $0.35 wing/oyster night (which used to be $0.25, but you know…the rising cost of gas and all. I’m not too upset about this increase since I eat neither wings nor oysters, but whatever…)

Justin and Ryan are regulars and on a first name basis with the waitress. She even whipped them up some special cocktail sauce stuff for their oysters right there at our table.

I guess that extra $0.10 per oyster pays for that kind of service.

Adriane and I were talking about SYTYCD, and she casually mentioned that she has had to start TiVo’ing it because Ryan had gotten bored and lost interest and didn’t really want to watch it anymore.

After dinner we came back to our house for some dessert and to watch the results show. I was almost feeling sorry for poor Ryan, because nothing is worse than being forced to watch reality TV if you really are over it.

But then Ryan lets it drop how much he has missed Wade Robson choreographing this year.

Really?

Oh Ryan.

Have you been watching the TiVo’d shows over and over while Adriane is at work or something?

Is this what you do on your lunch break??

Because no one who is bored or disinterested would ever notice, much less mention, a missing choreographer.

But just so you know, I miss him too.

Party at my house for the finale! And you are all invited!

Welcome to the Family, Zoie!

So sorry I've been MIA.

Turns out I've had to WORK at work the past few weeks... imagine that.

I'm really no fun when that happens.

I've been meaning to introduce you to the newest member of the family:

Zoie Bostic (with her mom)!!

Zoie is Aaron & Sandi's new baby. She is a chihuahua-poodle mix and is about four months old. She is smaller than Isabelle!

Zoie loves her cousins, and Ollie loves her, but Isabelle is very jealous. It is fun to watch them all run around. Zoie is coming to stay with us at the end of August when A&S go on their vacation. We are so excited!

Here's a pic of all the Chappell/Bostic animals... Zoie, Oliver, Isabelle and Sophie (who belongs to mom and dad) Not sure what is up with their demonic eyes, but I assure you that all these babies are angels...

Now I must go watch So You Think You Can Dance. I have to start voting because our idiot nation voted off Will last week, and he was the best dancer EVER. I have to stop that from happening again.

Peace and love.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Have I mentioned that Justin and Jonathan own a trailer park??

It is a sight to behold, I tell you.

Well, we have lots of interesting tenants, and someone is always getting evicted or arrested or both at the same time. The stories these people make up for why they haven't paid the rent is extremely entertaining.

Jonathan always feels sorry for them and wants to give them a second/third/twentieth chance. He is the good cop. (And I usually side with him!)

Justin doesn't care if their dead-beat tale is out on the street. He is the bad cop. And he threatens to make me move out there when I don't behave.

They have a meeting this afternoon to evict another tenant. Justin's job is to be forceful with the mama that owns the trailer that her baby is living in with his baby mama and she other kid.

But I wouldn't take a man who dresses like this seriously at all:

This picture is from JC's trip to NYC.

This is what the boy do without me to tell him what shirt to wear with what shorts!!

And I thought he had some fashion sense...

Sure glad Nicole packed for her husband. He looks decent.

P.S. All the other pictures are of buildings. All 89 of them. Where are the pictures of the five guys who went on the trip??

P.P.S. Please do not be offended if you have ever/currently live in a trailer park. I'm sure this particular park would not be comparable to yours in any way, shape or form.

It's My Birthday, What, What?!

My 28th birthday was last Friday.

I can't believe I am this old. I am knocking on 30, people!!

Justin threw me a party on Wednesday night. He did such a good job of organizing the people and the food. I was a proud wife. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, and he even made a relish tray. I didn't know he knew what that was! I didn't have to lift a finger, and I enjoyed it very much!! These lovely little creations are gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookie cupcakes with icing. They made a decent substitute for the cake I would have rather had, and all the friends got to share! I am sad that they are all gone...
All the girls at the party... Betsy, Nicole, Lisa, Lauren, Lucy, Krista, Sally and Hannah Cate. (Mary Fuller was there too, but she must have been outside with the fellas)
The men (spouses/children of afore-named women)
I got LOTS of presents! And you know how much I love presents!! It was so fun for me to see how well my friends have gotten to know me over the past couple years... lots of cutesy girly things that I have a hard time buying for myself!

And books, of course. It really was a very fun party.

I got up early on Thursday morning and drove to Dothan with the pups. You will notice that old Ju-C isn't in any of the next pictures...that is because he went to NYC to see the Yankees play ON MY BIRTHDAY! He had never been to Yankee Stadium, so I told him he could go as long as he came home with a little blue box for me.

This is Sandi (my SIL) and me in my mom's garden. I want a garden like this!

The Bostic fam. This is probably the first family picture we've had in 10 years. Sorry it is blurry.Me and Daddy at Mikata. I chose to go there for the big celebration, and ate lots and lots of yummy sushi.And for an extra $6 they will sing Happy Birthday to you, give you a pineapple boat and take your picture with a Polaroid camera. I also got some chopsticks of my very own!On Saturday Dusty and I went to our friend Stacy's wedding. She looked beautiful, and we got to see several friends from high school that we have been missing!! And since old Dusty doesn't get out much without her darling child, we skipped the reception (after we said hello, of course) and headed to dinner just the two of us. I feel certain that we haven't done that since college.
We ate at this really yummy place downtown called Bistro. If you ever go to Dothan you must go there...it's open for lunch and dinner and is across the street from Grand Central Station. I almost cheated on this diet... D got a grilled chicken breast with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes in a pesto sauce over a potato cake with fresh mozzarella. OH YUM. It looked so amazing, and I was tempted like never before. I do love the food...

Anyway, we had the best time, eating and driving around town and pretending like we were 18 again. We stayed up way past our bedtimes, but it was worth it.

So my birthday weekend was quite wonderful!! When I got home yesterday, Justin produced a tiny blue box, true to his word! Yay! He bought me some silver stud earrings, and they are beautiful. He picked them out himself, and I think that is the most impressive part. He also bought me a new cosmetic bag from Kate Spade (so cute! brown with white polka dots).

The boy is smart I tell you (except he thought the cosmetic bag was a purse....)

So today I am exhausted, but the kind of exhausted you are when you've had too much fun. I am contemplating going to go to bed when I get home at 4...

Love, love!