Stuck in Florida without my Flat Iron

and my make-up

and my anti-frizz gel

and my pajamas

and everything else that was in my suitcase.

Oh – but Delta did give me a lovely little blue bag of “sorry we sent your luggage to Atlanta without you because we ‘played the odds’ on whether or not you would be put on the last flight out before all the rest of the flights tonight were canceled.”

So I guess I should be grateful that I have a smidge of deoderant, a tiny tube of toothpaste, a plastic foldable brush and a lovely t-shirt to remind me of this fabulous day.

I was fine with the canceled flight. I was fine with having to come back to the hotel and stay another night in the most comfortable beds with the most wonderful pillows I have ever placed my head upon. (seriously folks – these pillows are amazing)

But when the dude at the luggage counter told me that my luggage was nowhere to be found and that it was “most likely” sent to Atlanta… I lost it. And then I realized my flat iron was on that plane along with my make-up and I would be heading right to work from the airport tomorrow morning… I really lost it.

I’m much calmer now. And I’m sure it has a lot to do with the two glasses of wine that are headed up to my room on a tray from Room Service. (hey- it’s two-for-one right now – what am I going to do, not take the second glass?)

Ahhh… there’s a knock at my door.

Looking for the positive.

I have been having some seriously challenging work days lately. Not to mention the fact that I think my kids are starting to forget that they even have a Mom… “Mommy, are you working late again?”

Anyway… I decided to think of something about work that makes me smile… something good about this place… (and there is a lot of good – some days it might not seem like it, but there is) One of the things that amuses me about this hotel are all the nicknames. It took me months to figure out who people were talking about when I heard them use these names… and they all say them with such a straight face – like they’re so normal…

Here they are:

• “Hollywood” (because his real name is the same as a movie director… he doesn’t work here anymore – and is part of the reason I made sure my panic button was installed, but nevertheless…)
• “Two-Hawk”
• “Buddy Love”
• “Huggie Bear”

The only nickname that I’ve been given (to my face) is “Cadillac Whip” or just “Whip” (that’s what one of my colleagues calls me - kinda funny…although, I have a feeling there are others around who may have nicknames for me that they use behind my back).

That list is long.

“Mom, do you know what ‘pet peas’ are?”

“What?”

“Pet peas?”

**Thinking… pet peas? pet rocks? what?**

“Yes, pet peas.”

“I’ve never heard of pet peas, but I’ve heard of pet peeves.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Oh, okay. Yes, I’ve heard of pet peeves.”

“Do you have any pet peeves?”

“Um, yes I do… Do you want the that relate to work or the ones that have to do with home?”

What are YOU doing tonight?

First Day of School

That’s a first grader and a fourth grader standing there!

(the little one didn’t want to take off her High School Musical bag even though they had 15 minutes before they left)

They both had a great first day!

(Can someone tell me… when did they get so BIG?)

First Day of School – 2005 (preschool and second grade)

Last Weekend of Summer

School starts on Monday. Can you believe it? It’s only mid-August? What happened to starting after Labor Day?

Anyway… the last weekend before school is being spent hanging out at home, playing on the computer, playing around the house, playing cards, and doing a little of this:

and this:

They love scrapbooking too! Mack wants to be on a design team and doesn’t understand why she has to wait until she’s older. She’s like, “You do it, why can’t I?”

There may be more of that today… we’ll see. The sun isn’t out - and we’re actually a little bit happy about that. The temps are getting up to over 100 degrees outside. Inside fun is on the agenda for today.

Okay – the kids just started yelling at each other. Maybe *I’ll* go outside.

Just add that to the list of places I can never show my face again.

My darling, sweet, little boy goes to get a haircut today. It was the first time he let the stylist use the clippers without having to duct tape him to the chair… or see the other customers running out the door because their ears are bleeding from the screams of terror coming from my child.

So the husband takes the boy to get his haircut while I’m at work. Little angel boy is sitting in the chair when the stylist turns on the clippers. My precious child feels the clippers against the back of his neck and declares,

“Oh! My Mom has something at home that vibrates!”

I’ll just let that sink in for a moment…

Yeah. And I don’t know if you’ve ever met my son… but he’s not exactly good at accurately knowing his inside voice from his outside voice. So I’m sure the E.N.T.I.R.E. place heard my precious darling angel boy’s comment.

My husband, thinking fast on his feet, says to the boy, “Do you mean that pink crazy-looking neck massager.”

That’s right people… a NECK massager. Get your filthy minds out of the gutter.

Coming Soon: To a Scrapbook Page Near You!

My new favorite photo!

The little girl was putting on a stage show for us last night set to the music from High School Musical. You can clearly see that the girl knows how to rock! (the boy was in charge of lights and production)

The cutest baby girl evah.

Here are some photos of the sweet baby Emily, 12 weeks old:

Love her little toes.

There has been some… not a lot… but some, creating going on around here. I made this frame for Emily.

It looks much better with her own picture in it.

I’m trying to do some layouts today for Serendipity Kits. We’ll see how that goes. It’s way better than cleaning though… that’s for sure. (and that’s what I should be doing instead of scrapping)

Stupid Hot

The weekend in Florida was good. It was wonderful to get some quality time with the family… especially my Mom and little Emily. That baby is a teeny beauty.

But man, oh man… it’s HOT down there. Seriously. It took our breath away when we got out of the car. We were sweating before we got from the car to the front door of my sister’s place. Was it that hot when we lived there?

I can’t believe there’s that much of a difference just 6 hours north. There is. It’s not as humid and it gets a bit cooler at night. Big difference. It never cools off down there during the summer. It’s hot ALL the time. And you never know when it will cool down… October? Maybe, maybe not. November? Possibly. At least here in Atlanta you expect it to cool down a lot sooner. (that’s what I’m hoping, anyway)

I mean… it was the kind of hot where the last thing you want to do is stand in a queue line at an amusement park holding kids, a diaper bag and a stroller with tourists who forgot to put on deodorant and have no concept of ‘personal space’ while waiting an hour or more for a ride that lasts maybe two minutes…and then do it all over again and again and again for approximately eight to ten hours until you pass out at a hotel so you can get ready for the next day of the same kind of fun.  

Oh… I mean, have fun this weekend Jamie!

Ha!