Shop 'Til You Drop

Day #212:
Getting ready for a trip. If I don't get to blog tomorrow, I will see you all in the blogosphere on August 8th with brand new pics. I'm headed to Alaska to find my sanity. I hope it is there. We fly out Thursday to go to Houston and then from Houston to Seattle on Saturday. Then one glorious week on a boat going to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchican, and British Columbia. I have my cute hats and scarves packed and I'm ready to move to cooler weather. Tonight, we had to do a bit of shopping for Sister. She got her some shoes and a shirt. We still didn't find raincoats. Hopefully, it won't rain. :0) Adios, Amigos!!!

Singing in the Rain... without a raincoat. :0)

Days #208- #211:
The weekend? Nothing exciting. I was by myself. We had training for the new Small Group year. That was exciting. I'm ready to get my 2nd graders back. Church yesterday. I went to the breakout session on depression. That was pretty good. It was hilarious. They set up the coffee and doughnut/muffin station RIGHT IN FRONT of Bro. Steve. Mark and I found that hilarious in that nobody would be getting up for a refill in that room. Self image problems? Yeah.. get up and get your 2nd doughnut in front of everybody. You'll really be depressed by the time you leave. Faye also told me I was glowing which #1 made my day and #2 cracked me up. She said, "What is with you? Do you have a new man or is God just working wonders in your life?" I came EXTREMELY close to saying, "Nope. I'm pregnant." However, I didn't think church was the best place to make that joke, all things considered. That and she's old. She'd either have a heart attack or hit me over the head with something. Today? Sister and I have been on the hunt for raincoats. You wouldn't know how hard it is to find a raincoat. Tonight I noticed that I must be getting old. AS we were looking through the clothes, I was very glad that I didn't have a teenager because clothes these days... oh my. :0)

Lemon Pie and Willy Wonka

Day #207:
Wonderful day. I realized a few things. First off, I am not a fan of lemon flavored anything. I don't like cakes or pies that are lemon flavored. However, when Chef called me on his way in this morning and told me Amanda had made a pie from Mama Jean (her grandmother's) receipe, I couldn't resist. Oh my. It was worth every fattening calorie. I believe she might possibly be a better baker than Chef. I took a picture of it.. and cracked up because I've noticed anytime I take a pic of somehting delicious, it always has one bite missing. I've also temporarily misplaced my camera again, so you'll just have to trust me that it was both beautiful and delish!
2nd up on the agenda tonight was a trip to the Shoals Theater to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I go to church with the kid that played Charlie, so a lot of the Grace Lifers were there to support. I'd say we did a good job of representing. And James was AWESOME! He did so good. When I sent the info to sister today, she asked if I wanted to go becuase she knew how I loved the Oompa Loompas. I do love those little green guys. And they were EXCELLENT! They sang the old school Oompa Songs like on the original with Gene Wilder. Willy was good too. He looked like Charlie Sheen, so I kept waiting for him to scream "WINNING!" at the end of every scene. You can check out the article here: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20110721/ARTICLES/307219996/1006/entertainment?Title=-Wonka-players-let-pure-imaginations-run-wild
And if you are in Florence this weekend, swing by. It's well worth the $12. And I'll totally go back with you. It was that good. Fun Times. :0)

Fungus and Popeye

Day #206:

I love fungus. At least the kind you eat. Today, I noticed that THIS is possibly the greatest, most wonderful pizza ever and I am very thankful Chef has made me love portabello mushrooms. Absolutely delicious. Sister and I had it for dinner.. I think I could've eaten the entire thing. Speaking of my Icelander, we have been working on creating a new kids menu, design and all. We are possibly the two most unartistic people at work, but none of our resident artists seemed to interested in helping us out, so we just did it ourselves. And if I do say so myself, it is going quite beautifully. You will definitely be seeing our artwork when I'm finished. It's not like anybody's going to be calling us to redraw the Mona Lisa anytime soon, but I think a 4 year old will be impressed. :0)

Hot Tea and the Obituaries...

Day #205:

Two incredibly funny stories for your Monday. For starters, I have the hungarian flu once again. Every time I get sick, Chef says "Drink some tea with honey". He swears by this. It MUST be a European thing. So once more, I go in the kitchen, they fix some hot tea with honey I take one sip and that's all. I hate hot tea. I've tried. IT's gross. Tea should only be served cold and with sugar in it. I went back in later on this afternoon to plate up some food and the girls told me I sounded awful. "Of course," was my reply. "I drank the tea." We finally agreed drugs would be better. My other funny story also revolves around my favorite Icelandic friend. He was having a somewhat crappy day, I felt awful, so there wasn't a lot of happy going on in the office. So at a low point, I broke out my Icelandic Newspaper and told him we were about to learn to read. Hearing from the homeland always makes him happy. I picked a page and away we went. He got incredibly tickled when he realized I had picked the Obituaries. "Really? You want to learn to read Icleandic by reading about the dead people?" I felt it was a fitting place to start. Do you remember learning to read English? I don't, so this has been a whole new experience. However, it is getting better. Fun times. :0)

Jake is 6!

Day #204:

This makes me laugh... hysterically. Jake turned 6 today. To let everyone know, Skip bought sugar letters to put on the cake. This is why I have decorated all of her grandkids birthday cakes for...well.... forever. This is what happens when she's in charge. The video is proof positive that none of us will ever be on American Idol. The other is me and my cat... chillin. :0)

Working on the Weekend!

Days #202 & #203:

Yesterday, we celebrated Dad-o's Birthday. I got him the festive hat. FOr some odd reason, he didn't want to wear it inside the restaurant. Go figure. Brian Lovejoy also made my afternoon with some Peachy-Grenadine something or other. It was VERY pretty and didn't taste bad either. As always, it had whipped cream and a cherry on top. Delicious. Tonight, I spent another evening working with Chef. We did an event on the lake for all of the Who's Who of Florence. They were raising money for the Children's Museum of the Shoals. There were exactly 61 stairs between the lake and the lake house and I think I walked every one of those stairs about 61 times. I'm tired. Good night though. :0)

CAKE!

Day #201:

As promised, I've got to do a little back-tracking. During the great Air Conditioner Disaster of 2011 and we were homeless, we stayed with the Mays and Chloe had her 4th birthday. SO CUTE. We had cupcakes. Then while Sister and Leigh-Ann were doing... something... we had a pretend wedding. It was hilarious. I was the "talker" as Carson put it. I was performing the ceremony as an ESPN announcer until I finally figured out I was supposed to be the Minister. The vows were great. Carson's went something like, "I promise to be a good big brother. I will be an AWESOME dance partner and I promise to never step on your toes or punch you in the nose." Then Chloe threw the foam visor bouquet. Fun times. The pic from today is Chef, Lisha and Donnie. It was Lisha's birthday and I made her a coconut cake. Since Betty Crocker doesn't have coconut cakes in boxes, I wasn't quite sure how that was going to turn out. However, Chef smiled and said, "That is dern good!" Which #1 when he uses phrases like "dern" it cracks me up. and #2 When Chef says it tastes good (and I can tell he means it) , it's like an A++ in Kim World. :0)

The Beauties of COOL AIR!

Days #196 - #200:
Missed me yet? I'll explain my hiatus in 3 words, NO AIR CONDITIONING. Saturday morning I woke up to a somewhat warm climate inside, but didn't think much of it. I usually keep the air off during the day when I'm gone or when I'm not passing out from heat stroke to conserve energy, so it didnt' dawn on me that there was any drama until Saturday night when I cut the air on and it never got cool. Finally I went over and felt the vent and there was air blowing out, but it definately wasn't cool. Saturday morning at 1am I woke up and felt as though it were at least 100* in this cracker jack box. I was roasting. I got up and took a FREEZING COLD SHOWER. This happened for two days. Monday, we got the news that it couldnt' be fixed until Wednesday. That was it. I couldn't take anymore. I called my dear friends, Brent and Leigh-Ann, and Sister and I moved in with the Mays for 2 days. It was fantastic. I'll post those pics tomorrow and tell you of all the fun we had with the kids. Anyway, we finally got to come home to much cooler temperatures tonight. I am without a doubt THANKFUL for air conditioning. I don't know how they survived on the prairie without it. :0)

Wedding Bells Part 2

Dyas #194 & #195:

What's that? Wedding bells again? Yep. My dear friend, and fellow 2nd grade teacher, Becky, got married tonight. It was a great wedding. Bro. Matt poured the Gospel into everyone, there was a short wedding charge/ceremony, awesome music, and DELICIOUS food. It was great. Becky was absolutely beautiful. The flowers, groomsmen and bridesmaid's dresses were beautiful. Fun night! :0)

My Love Returns...

Day #193:

Oh friends and family... have I told you that a former love has returned to my life?! Sice the wedding is now over and I no longer HAVE to fit in a dress, I have rejoined the world and am indulging in chocolate (in somewhat moderation of course). I have been waiting for months.. ever since Chef returned from Iceland.. to dig into my Icelandic Chocolate Bar. I've told you before it's the greatest most wonderful chocolate ever. And it is. We opened it up first thing yesterday morning and ate nearly the whole thing. On a sidenote, my roomie is just as excited about my return to the chocolate world as I am. I have been depriving him for 6 months as well. He knows my love of milk chocolate, not dark chocolate, and normally brings me back the BIG Milk Chocolate Bar. This time, he got a little festive and brought one with berries and nuts inside. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! Good times! :0)

I'm Lovin' It!

Day #192:

Chef and I were busy all day, so not much fun at work. After Tofu Tuesday, Sister and I had to go across the river and then ended up at Wal Mart. I once again got Fruit Loops, but this would be my 3rd blog post raving about the Fruit Loops, so I decided to go with something a little different that I KNOW my Aunt Ila Vee will love. After much searching for the perfect t-shirt, I finally found one! Here's my new Texas Longhorns shirt! :0)

Happy Birthday ~ Happy Birthday!!

Day #191:
Oh what a fun day!! My dear cat turned 19 years old today!!! In honor we had a little par-tay! It was great. JJ got a bath for the occasion. Gran, George, Barb, Terry, Uncle Den, Aunt Bren, Daniel, JonDawson, Adam, Mary, and John all joined us for the festive event! We had a blast. JonDawson, Daniel and I swam for about 4 hours straight. Hilariously, it was like we were 10 again and now I'm exhausted! Good times ~ Happy 4th!!

Tonight was a good good night...

Day #190:

Well... 6 months of dieting and 3 months of tanning came to a head tonight at 7pm for a 15 minute wedding. And it was a GORGEOUS wedding. Absolutely perfect. Didn't stop there. After the wedding, we had a little thing called a reception. FUN FUN FUN to be had. And ended the night with fireworks and sparklers. It was perfect. Linda and Mal danced to "You are the Wind Beneath My Wings" leaving not a dry eye in the house. The guy in the pic with Cody was my dance partner, Jay. He was aweseome. The guy in the checked blue shirt with me is Jacob Haley. He was the first friend I ever had in my life. Love that guy. He's my Dawson. Me, Mal and Jenn sported the Charlie's Angels look again. Next is me and Mal's dad, Danny. He used to bust out the guitar and sing to us back in the day. His favorite story is when I told him that Mal picked me but got stuck with him. He thought that was so funny. Chloe was absolutely adorable. Next was me and Sister. Then Me, Jessica Boozer and Jenn waiting to get the party started. And finally, Mr. Carson May was the most adorable ring bearer ever. That wraps up the pics. It was a great night. :0)

Here comes the bride...

Day #189:

Dum dum da dum.... My bestie is getting married tomorrow!! We had a bridesmaids luncheon today and rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tonight. Mal's family is awesome. They are hilarious. I wish I had on tape a conversation between Brad and Leah (Mal's brother and sister). We were crying we were laughing so hard at the two of them as Leah practiced her toast. It's going to be a frist class wedding all the way. Can't believe it's already here! IN the pics, we have Brad, Mal and Me, Carson and Allie (making pirate hats out of their napkins), Leah and Mal, Jenn (practicing her walk down the aisle) and Danny and Mal. More to come tomorrow after the event of the year! :0)