Mini Getaway

I'm at the beach now. I came down here to paint my friend's condo for her, but I'll only be here by myself until Friday night when the family drives down. But this solitude is starting to irk me already. I had to leave the pups at home; my neighbor is looking after them for me. Brad left for his summer camp trips this past Sunday. I'm still not working anywhere right now and I've discovered that alot has changed within myself since my high school and college years. Used to, I could sleep in til noon, eat cereal for brunch, sometimes dinner too, and watch MTV or SNL reruns until the cows came home. Now, I am having a hard time sleeping in late, and I have to "do something productive". I've been away from work for a week and a half now and I've only spent one day doing nothing. I have painted the bedroom, primed and sample painted my guest bedroom, ran a gagillion errands, kept my house top notch clean, tended to my garden and now I'm painting some more, but away from home. So now I'm forced to either paint or chill out. My right hand is so sore from the work of today and I'm chilling watching re runs of Jon and Kate Plus 8. 

So, there's a temporary position open at my previous employer and I would be working for my friend who is going on maternity leave for 3 months. I would start in late June and finish in late September. So, this sounds great, given the places I've applied are taking their time arranging an interview. It's just a long frustrating process. 

This is off the subject, but Mattie, the twin of Jon and Kate's is just like Mikayla, in my opinion. Anyway...I did watch Across the Universe tonight. Oh mah gah.... it was amazing. I absolutely loved it! 

I'm trying to wind down and get sleepy. So, that's it for now...nothing too exciting going on just yet. 

Movie review/workout/it's hot.

I finally watched Juno last night. I really liked it! Ellen Page is adorable, I must say. Anytime a movie's or tv show's plot includes premarital sex, the radar starts to buzz. Obviously it's because I have a conviction about it that it's not the right thing to do (for many reasons). Lots of times it's viewed as something that's not that big of a deal; like daily life, you know? What I did like about Juno is that it proved this crucial point: It only takes one time to conceive. It baffles me that a married couple who wants a baby so bad can try to conceive a baby for years to no avail, yet for some couples it only takes once. I also liked the part about the baby having fingernails. I don't think that was what initially drove Juno to decide not to abort, but it did give the thought that she's not just carried a group of cells but a life. I thought that was cool. Anyway, I'm not going to pick the movie apart and tell you what I thought or if I approved or disapproved. I thought the movie was well written, had an excellent cast and I kinda teared up at the end. Oh, and I think my favorite character was Brenda, Juno's step mom. She was boss.
After watching the movie, I went to the gym for some cardiovascular exercise. I thought the elliptical trainer was best for this at the time. I slept like a rock last night.

Today I'm going to lift weights for lower body then meet up with a friend for espresso later on. There's a new coffee shop in downtown that I've heard a lot about so we're gonna hit that one up.

It's getting hot outside. Real HOT. Summer's here everyone. I guess thanks to global warming our planet's weather is a bit off, however thankfully the south eastern region of the US actually got to enjoy what's called Spring this year. I liked it.

Holiday Weekend

Yesterday was Memorial Day, fka Decoration Day. Thank you to corporate America, the general public follows the traditions of barbecuing and searching for big sales at Sam's Club, instead of taking time to decorate the tombstones of fallen soldiers, remembering the sacrifice they all made for our country. Ashamedly, I am one of those citizens that shopped and failed to recognize the reason for the holiday. So, for that I am sorry.

So, with that confession said, I'll give a re cap of my 3-day weekend. Friday night Brad and I met up with some friends at Mars Hill Cafe for dinner. Thank you, Corky, for the amazing dinner and the mango tea. Saturday I don't remember the details. I really hate when that happens. I do remember that I slept in some, worked out at the gym and went to see the new Indiana Jones movie with Brad, Will met us there. Thanks Will, for saving us seats.
I really liked the film. It got rave reviews from tough Hollywood critics, but the general public is kinda "meh" about the whole thing. I thought it was great.

Sunday we went to the morning service at church, People of Mars Hill and then I did some grocery shopping. I also bought a jalapeno plant. That day Brad worked in the yard and I cleaned the house. We had our "small group" friends over for a grill-out that evening. We wanted to do one big get together to visit before Brad left for his long trip. Man, the food kept coming! I made baked beans (for the first time, my own recipe), roasted potatoes, queso dip, and a strawberry shortcake. It was a bring-your-own-meat deal, and I filled up the grill three times, I think. It was a great night. Brad was awesome, he did most of the clean up while I was still visiting with friends.

Monday we really took the day off. I meant to go for a run, but it didn't happen. We slept in, watched some Monster Quest on the History Channel, then decided to do some shopping. He needed electric guitar strings and I wanted some more herbs. So we went to Musical Walmart, I mean, Guitar Center, then to Lowe's. We bought a few hanging planters, a thyme plant, and a cucumber plant. So now, in the yard we are growing:
tomato
cucumber
jalapeno
thyme
sweet basil
rosemary

Over the weekend, we discovered we have 6 gladiolas plants! For the past 3 years we thought they were only tall decorative grass. This year they are budding in bold red flowers. I am ecstatic! We plan on laying a pallet of sod in July. Our backyard is shaping up beautifully.

I took a few pics of some things we are growing and I also got a few of the babies.
Here's Lucille looking like she wants to kill me.

Here's a pic of my sweet basil plant, and you can see Arwen in the back ground going to town on a rawhide.

Here's Batman with HIS rawhide, in his favorite "chew spot".

And last but not least, is our fearless feline, Robin.


I finished the 6th Harry Potter book last night. I wanted to re read it before the movie came out. It'll be released in November, so I'm kinda ahead of myself.
Now I will finish reading Echoes of His Presence. I should have that done by next week if I don't allow myself to get too busy and distracted. After that I'm going to dive into more C.S. Lewis. I'm not sure where to start. I began to read Mere Christianity this past fall, I may just start that one over and go from there.

Today is a weight lifting day. I'll do that after work, hopefully I'll have time to put in some good cardiovascular exercise afterward. I have already cleaned the house for small group tonight so I have no excuse.

I'm looking forward to our discussion tonight. Jack's teaching this past Sunday was really good. I need to listen to it again though.

Hummph... I'm having a hard time getting into the swing of things today.

Apparently, I'm being watched.

I have an 8 year old sister. Apparently, she is watching me. Yeah, I watched my older sister too, but it didn't really dawn on me how MUCH Mikayla would watch me. She and I do have an interesting relationship. She came home to us when she was 11 months old. I had just turned 20, Brad and I were dating and I was going into my sophomore year of college. We had our bonds from the beginning, I helped out with her a lot. She was a lot of fun when she was in a good mood. Talk about a doll! Oh my gosh. But the little doll had a short fuse. She would shoot these looks that could make you choose your next words carefully.
Mikayla's deal is that she is extremely smart. Yes, she does well with school, but she's street smart. She knows how to talk. She knows how to converse with kids and adults alike. She also knows how to act 10 years older than she really is. I'm not being biased, she really is brilliant. Her memory is better than anyone I have ever met. We all lose memories of our childhood experiences over time, but she really holds on to them. If her recollection isn't sharp, her heart definitely is. Her heart remembers things. My mom posts about her too in her blog, just look to my links on the left.
I was going a different direction with this.
So, mom just called to ask Brad and I over for gumbo. (score!) Then she tells me that Mikayla said she wanted to be just like her big sister. Aw, isn't that nice? See, I'm thinking that she wants to be grown up, wearing high heels, shopping for purses and sliding that plastic through cashier's credit card machine. Nope. That's not what she meant. She wants to work in an office and write stuff. Yeah, that little firecrackers wants Santa to bring her paper clips, a stapler and rolodex for Christmas.
When I was her age, I wanted a She-ra castle complete with Glimmer, the iradescent pony. (which I got, thank you very much)
I don't know what about this part of adulthood appeals to her! This is the boring part. The fun part IS following a schedule that doesn't involve homework, shopping for fancy shoes and having my own bank account.
I think having a business card and tape calculator are fun to her. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy her a red Swingline stapler this year. She's going to be thrilled.

BTW, I think it's funny that this character's name from Office Space is Milton. That's my dad's name. Ha!
Seriously, grown ups, hear me out! The kids are watching so you better do things that you will want them to do. Beware!!!!

Good Movie

Brad and I saw Ironman last night. I was very pleased with how Marvel handled the film. Now, I'm not too familiar on the story of Tony Stark. Some extremists may be upset with how the suit didn't fit exactly to the storyline of the comics, or maybe his hair wasn't parted like the original drawn character. But being a novice to the story I greatly enjoyed it. Ask anyone who's known me for a long time and they'll tell how much I love super heroes. My favorites are Wonder Woman, Batman and the characters of Xmen.

The movie was clear of all crude language, which surprised me. There was one blip at the beginning where it showed a naked woman, covered by sheets, but that was it. The violence was no more intense than the Spiderman movies. I would feel alright taking a kid to see this film.

I really liked Robert Downey, Jr in this movie. He showed us all what happens when arrogance meets good intentions. I give it 4 stars.

Today I am about to get ready to meet up with Whitney and her husband, Craig, for lunch. Brad got a last minute call to do some work at a Crawfish Boil today at Felix's Fish Camp. He's going to work on the sound; there's going to be live music at the event. I may catch up with him there later. If time allows we'll go see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I re-read the book a few months ago, Brad read it yesterday.

My summer reading list includes lots of C.S. Lewis' works. So far, I've only read the Chronicles and a portion of Mere Christianity. We have a good collection started of his books. Brad is a huge fan of Lewis.

On a side note, I need some summer clothes...

Friday, Yay!

I woke up this morning, still feeling under the weather. My sinuses and headache felt better but I was feeling kinda dizzy and definitely not in the mood to concentrate at work. I went in to work and my boss took one look at me and said, "Get what you need done and go home." She's really a doll. Not just because of that, but she's just a cool lady. She has a great work ethic, and expects all of us to have one too. But she also has a good compassion for everyone at work. If we don't feel good, she knows we really want to be at home. I'm not one to take advantage of that type of boss, though.  I like what I do and I felt like I needed to go to work today to be sure I wasn't getting behind on anything. Since things have slowed down this week, after graduation, I felt okay to take another day at home. I came home around 9:30am and went back to bed. I didn't get back up until 1:30pm. 

I just made some lunch. I split a grilled cheese with Brad and I had some sauteed veggies on the side. He's re-reading Prince Caspian since we plan on seeing the movie tomorrow and I'm watching foodnetwork.....again. Right now Sandra Lee of Semi-Homemade is on. Oh, how I loathe that show. I'm only watching it because something better comes on afterwards.

I'm glad that Brad is home while I'm here. I would be lonely. He wants to take me to see Ironman tonight. I'm up for it. I haven't been to the theater since Christmas! 

We may go over to Target afterward to look at a few things. I need a new pan. I may also get that citrus zester I've been needing. 

Last night we went to the restaurant, Oysterella's, to catch some free live music. Shawn Mullins and Need to Breathe were there. Brad hung around a bit so he could meet Shawn. He's a really cool guy. After that we went to the Original Oyster House with our friend Will for a late dinner. 

Tomorrow Brad and I are going to Fairhope to see my best friend Whitney and her husband Craig for lunch. I'm so excited! I haven't seen my Whit in about 2 months. We are so overdue. Which reminds me, I need to post some Paige and Whit stories later....