Cynthia, Gran, Flora, Wilma, Pop, Nick, Lizzie! :0)

Day #155 & #156:

Spent the better half of the day with my favorite old woman! Cynthia and I snuck in and spent the night with Gran last night, then got up, had breakfast, and chauffered her around all morning. It was great. We went and saw Aunt Flora and Aunt Wilma. She was, as always, hilariously funny. We had lunch, then came home. Great day. Took an afternoon swim and had watermelon when we all went to see Pop and Nick who had come over to go fishing. They are two peas in a pod. It's kinda like watching the movie Grumpy Old Men. Nick's just like Pop and he's only 6. Lizzie followed us down and decided to tkae a swim. Nick said she was a "dogfish". Get it? Catfish.... Dogfish? I thought it was funny. :0)

The Other George

Day #154:

Oh that George. Seriously I had nothing to blog about until just now. I just had a chat with my good buddy George. He's actually Andy Tucker but I've never called him that a day in my life. He's always been George. Hilariously funny. The BIGGEST Alabama fan I've ever met. And one old connection to Lynn. He's awesome. I'm not certain we've ever had a serious conversation. Ever. That's what I love about him. He never ceases to crack me up and we always end with an "I love YOU!" Great guy. That's George. :0)

The Girls...

Day #153:

Work = Blah. Church = Great. Visitation = Excellent.

I have the greatest church friends. Tonight, visitation consisted of me, Becky (who I teach 2nd Grade with) and Meredith (who I work with). IT was much fun. Becky's the best. I wouldn't want to teach with anyone else. Working with Meredith has been the greatest thing to happen at the Hotel in a while. I met a real live Atheist the other day. I've never met one before. Just so happens not only did I meet one, but I WORK WITH one. I got very excited. What better way to share your faith than to start out with an atheist. I think I convinced him there's no way this world came out of nowhere and evolution is the dumbest thing I've ever heard because hellllloooo if we came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? However, he said he wasn't buying what I was selling regarding which religion you should choose and why. I told him only God could make Jesus come back from the dead. Buddha and Mohammad, still dead. None of those guys came back to life. Anyway, said all that to say when I ran out of good debate points with this guy, I went to my pal Meredith. She had a GREAT explanation all about grace. It's so nice to have a fellow Grace Lifer at work. She's a great friend and a great sister. :0)

Do you like Pina Coladas?

Days #149-#152:

Quick Recap -

Saturday - My guys SHINED at the James Beard Event. It went off without a hitch! They did awesome!! Everyone was singing their praises in NY.

Back home, I went to Carson's baseball game. They are better this year. The other team was terrible, but Carson's team is stacked.

Sunday - The kids were relatively good. The boys bounced off the walls but the girls were somewhat subdued. We celebrated Rog's 50th Birthday... Tittle style. Complete with signs up and down the streets of Lynn, lots of off key singing, and enough food to feed a small country. Yep, it's good to be a Tittle.

Monday - The most excitement was Tofu Monday. Sister and I had to have the Tofu becuase the rest of the day was nothing to write home about.

Today - My Icelandic Roomie came home. So glad to have that guy back in the office. I've missed him. He was in meetings for most of the day, so my fill in fella was Brian Lovejoy. This guy is hysterical. He has a very dry sense-of-humor but absolutely cracks me up. He also brought me a Pina Colada complete with whipped cream, a little umbrella, and a cherry on top. Delish! :0)

James Beard Day #3

Day #148:

I am so ready for Chef to come home! Actually, I'm ready for Meredith to come back to work. I had to fill in for my pal at the Conference Center today and it just so happened that we hired a new Sales manager so we needed to clean out the entire workroom to get ready for his arrival. Yeah, guess who got to cart HEAVY boxes up and down stairs today. That would be me. I am EXHAUSTED! However, I opened up the Facebook and saw this pic. I had to overnight the Muscadine Cider to Chef and Company in New York and was so busy I didn't get to talk to him today to see if they got it. Well, this pic was proof they got it. I was going to send them some KitKats, but forgot my keys and money when I went to take it across the street, so all they got was a cute little piece of paper. I think it at least made them smile for a minute though, so it was all worth it. Tomorrow's the BIG DAY!! :0)

James Beard Day #2

Day #147:

Talked to Chef twice today. They are good. He's seen all his old New York buddies and feels like he's at a family reunion. Blah blah blah. :) I told him he needed to go visit the TODAY show and eat pizza. New York has the BEST pizza. They are uber excited and are well on track to being all prepped for Saturday night. They did forget their Muscadine Cider, so I've sent that off in overnight. Hopefully it will make it in one piece. Here's my favorite guy. Actually, Kyle is in front, Josh Quick is in the middle and Chef's in the waaaaaaaaaay back. They're in White Plains, NY at Chef's old hotel. He's loving it. Aren't they just cute in their little whites? :0)

I got Left.

Days #145 & 146:
Hmmm.... yesterday? Don't really remember much from yesterday. Today, I told Sledge I was determined to be bitter all day. Chef and Company took off on a private plane to New York to cook at the James Beard House. If your not a foodie, the James Beard House is like going to the Oscars for food and beverage people. It's the big time. Carniege Hall, for example. For most people, it's a once in a lifetime thing. Chef's so good, this will be his 2nd time. Anyway, a very generous friend and member of the Tennessee Valley offered their private plane (since we are broke) and flew them up for free. They'll be there until Sunday. Saturday night is the big night. The events been sold out for a couple of weeks. Josh called it "Homegrown Alabama" and he's featuring all Alabama products. Yep, my honey from the bees made the trip. Steve's lettuce and tomoatoes were on board. They even took Quail and Pork (they went and picked out the pigs themselves) to go. Anyway, they left me behind. So sad. Don't worry, I gave them a fair share of grief about it. Here's the link (hopefully) so that you can see what was on the news last night. :0)http://clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/19054/2470181?wpid=9715

CTC

Day #144:

Today, I noticed that yes, I still buy the cereal with the best prize in the box. Cinnamon Toast Crunch this week has a wind up car inside. How awesome is that? Everbody loves a free Hot Wheel and how could you not love the Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Delicious. :0)

A little bit of catch-up...

Days #139-143:

Where do we begin? Thursday was FUN! WE had a huge cigar event at the hotel and since we are currently one chef down, my Chef had to make all of the hors'douerves. And as always, when Chef's playing in the kitchen, I am TOTALLY up for a little bit of that action. We made Bourbon Pecan Brie tarts and Chicken Skewers which I promptly named chicken popsicles. Utterly disgusting, but nevertheless fun. Sister bought me some Fruit Loops with Marshmellows Friday. Holy to the Moly. IT's like Fruit Loops married Lucky Charms and I proudly prounounced them man and wife. They are Scrumptious!!! Spent a little time with Grandma on Saturday. We had scrambled eggs, baked beans, pickles and canataloupe. Delicious. Church today = Awesome. Aubrey told me that I'd never be able to go anywhere if I didn't have an iPhone. How did I navigate around the Tennessee Valley without and iPhone?! And last but certainly not least, it's a VERY important birthday today. Happy Happy Happy Birthday to Aunt Ila Vee!!!! Love you!!!!

Fruit Loops

Day #138:

Fruit Loops WITH Sprinkles... need I say more?These things make me incredibly happy. :0)

M Day with the G Maw

Days #136 & #137:

Mother's Day at Grandma's house. It was loud, there was lots of food, and there was a whole lot of fun. Gran was especially entertaining. She loved her 32 pack of Wahoos which she also named Lahoos. Either way, she loves those disgusting little chocolate milk drinks. We did all the normal family photos. Then I went to Dad-o's house to check on my cat. That beautiful little think is 18 years old. She'll be 19 on the 4th of July. Love that cat! :x)

Prince Harry and the Wahoos

Days #134 & #135:

Where to begin?! I guess yesterday. I had lent my camera to Robin because her son Adam, aka Prince Harry, was having his band banquet and she needed to take his pic. That's him with the red hair. Doesn't he look look just like Prince Harry?! I've been calling him that ever since I met him. When he turned 13 I made him carry out a big batch of balloons with smiley faces drawn on them out the front doors of the Marriott. He was not amused... I was. Love that kid. The Wahoos are for my dear Gran for Mother's Day. She'll be so excited. I just got a Sam's card and found this big box. Perfect timing. The other pic is from this evening. Just got back from Wal Mart where I saw a kid... on a leash. That's just wrong. :0)

A Word of Advice...

DAy #133:

Today I noticed bad moods spread like the plague. I also noticed I am not a talker. The old Coach Smith once told me that if you keep your mouth shut and your ears open, you can learn a lot. That was in the highschool relm of course when you are moving from one end of the hall to the other between classes, but it also can and should be applied to everyday life. Of course, I've also been told being quiet makes you appear stuck-up. I don't really believe that - most of the time I just don't have anything to say. I do wish I could relay that to some of the people that call the hotel. Kid you not, I had to listen to a lady for about 20 minutes today. She was, of course, trying to sale something. I don't think she ever took a breath. When I told Studley, our DOS, about her, I told him to go and listen to a jackhammer for an hour and then get back with me. He'd get the same effect. If I'd had the power to buy what she was selling, I wouldn't have done it, just because she wouldn't quit talking. Tomorrow will be better. Happy Cinco de Mayo! :0)

Jessie's Party and the Mc

Day #132:

We have a pic from yesterday and today. Yesterday, we had a bit of a par-tay (because we love us some birthdays) for Jessie. She's our wacky hostess who never ceases to crack me up. From left to right we have Mikie, Mrs. Ann, Chef, Jessie and Tonja. The other pic is a Frozen Strawberry Lemonade from McDonalds. Sister thought we needed to try one before they jack the prices up to $2.49. If you go before May 14th or so, you can get it for $1. I'd go before May 14th if I were you. They aren't worth $2.49, but it's a nice little pick-me-up for only four quarters. :0)

I hate customer service.

Day #131:
You can tell alot about a person by the way they treat their server. Enough said. But for those of you that are curious, I will expound. I can not go to the grocery store, pick up a sackful of groceries, and tell the cashier that I'm a nice person and I'll pay my cousin that works at Wal Mart later because I forgot my cash. They will not accept that and I will go to jail. What then makes you think you can come up, order $40 worth of food and tell me you'll pay somebody the next time they see them? And then, why YELL at me in front of a Ballroom full of people when my boss tells me to tell you no? Really now. And to top it off, if you are going to be a jerk, don't preface it by telling me you go to church. That gives us church people all a bad name when you have to act like a moron. Can't wait to tell Chef about my night. I'm confident he'll call the guy a jack wagon. Speaking of my Icelandic roomie, he CRACKED ME UP today talking about a song on the radio. He was appalled that the lyrics said, "I used to love to make you cry". He thought that was so mean. I'd never thought about it before. My reply? "Maybe the girl was really sensitive and it was just funny." He thought that answer was even worse. It was hysterical. :0)

Tofu Monday

Day #130:

Tofu Monday. Need I say more? We now have a new ritual. Why? You may ask. IS it because we love tofu? Yes. Is it because the FABULOUS people of the Rice Box have expanded and put in a Papa Wok 1 mile from our house? Heck to the Yeah! We are so excited. We have also branched out and tried 2 things other than honey sesame tofu. We've had Teriyaki Tofu and Orange Tofu. Both delicious. I'd had Teriyaki before but neither of us had ever had Orange. Let me just say, IT IS HOT! My lips were on fire. Delicious but incredibly spicy. ANd now, we will watch the BEST 3rd baseman in the Major League.. Mr. Chipper Jones. :0)

Happy Anniversary, Bro Jeff!

Day #129:

Today was a GREAT day at Grace Life. Bro Jeff celebrated his 30th Anniversary on staff! He was completely surprised and it was AMAZING to hear the testimonies of different people and then to have Bro. Jono Sims come and preach the evening service was great. It's good to be a part of Grace Life. Can't believe I've been here for 7 years. It's been the best 7 spiritual years of my life. I've learned about justification, sanctification, glorification, Soverign Grace, and most importantly, It's ALL ABOUT THE GLORY OF GOD. And, it's all thanks to Bro. Jeff and the wonderful people of Grace Life. Happy Anniversary, Bro. Jeff! :0)