They'll Get Me One Day!

I have more where these came from.... many, many more!

Another Tax Season Bites the Dust...

I know, this may sound a little strange to most of you, but for my family this is one of the best days of the year! You see, my Diddy is a CPA, and January - April is what we call "tax season".

This generally means that for these 4 months my Daddy is at work 24/7, or at least 20/7 ... he is forever at his desk in Atlanta, or the one at my parents house with someone's tax return in hand. I can remember as a little girl looking into the office and seeing him in there with piles of paper everywhere, as he worked long into the night.

Last night he sounded tired as I talked to him on his cell phone. He was on the way home from his office, and it was after 9 p.m. There were extensions to file, and a long night ahead. But, through his tiredness he was quick to tell me a joke, and that is my Daddy. He is a rock through the tough times, and I am so proud of him!

I must say though, my Momma is pretty involved in tax season as well... over the years she has become his secretary at home, and all the while raising my brother and myself, and everything else that comes with running a home. She also had her own job as a school secretary, and then teacher when we were a little older, so she juggled a lot during tax time too.

Diddy had a firm in Atlanta with a few other gentlemen for 41 years, but in 2006 they merged their company in with another one. He is gearing up for retirement, and we are all excited that in the next few years "tax season" won't be as stressful, tiring and long for him.

We have our beach trip, scores of antique shops to check out, and many tractor pulls to attend to when this tax season ends tonight, so Happy April 15th yall!

Elizabeth's Art

We go to the beach in 5 1/2 weeks, to a place that is near and dear to our hearts. In 2001 my parents went on a cruise with family, and ended up buying a timeshare in Cocoa Beach, FL... we have been every year since then, except the summer my Grandmomma died.

It's a great place to go and relax, or it's so close to so much that you can fill your week with tons of activity. Since our family continues to grow, Diddy and Momma just bought a second timeshare at the same place... Now we can all go and have enough room to spread out! Of course, I love just staying at the beach, or going to the pool... Geoff enjoys that NASA is just down the road, and my parents love the antique stores and flea markets along the road. We usually have a pretty good balance of it all, but one thing the kids enjoy is Disney World... it's a short hour away from our condo. Seeing the Princesses and Buzz Lightyear in person is, well, magical for them.


Not too long ago EJ made this heart at PreK. I don't think you can read it from the picture, but it says, in her own writing - I love you because "They take me to the beach!".

I will frame this after it comes down from the side of the fridge... it is touching to know that they have a place to dream about, even if it isn't somewhere incredibly far away. There is plenty of time for far away places. For now, I just love knowing she looks forward to our beach trip every year with family, and the anticipation of this years trip is growing daily!

$12,244.00

I know I have said it before, many times... but we live in a rural area. This means that our internet is either powered by a dial up connection, or by satellite.

Neither is as good as what most of you have... a cable connection.
(Please forgive me if I am not using the correct technical terms - I am so not a technical person!)

A few years ago, my graphic designer, Mac computer expert husband got really fed up with our dial up connection (!)... we bought the latest and greatest satellite for our house. It is supposed to run both our TV and our computer, but somehow we still have two satellites on our roof. At least they aren't those huge ones that sit in the yard like the old ones from the 80's.

Anyhow, the speed of our computer was greatly increased, but I understand it is still slow in comparison to what most everyone else is used to. Geoff can tell a huge difference from his office in Atlanta and our home, so I know it is frustrating for him. And, when the wind blows too hard, or it is storming, we have no television or computer access... seriously!

My Daddy is a CPA who also works in Atlanta... and, yes, it is quite a drive for them both to get to work, but necessary. My parents only have dial up at their house, and because of this are seldom on a computer. Daddy does need to use the computer for tax returns/work he does from the house, so he too gets very frustrated with the slow connection.

Momma has been calling the cable companies to find out just what it would take to get cable to come to our homes. She has been put on hold, transfered, and almost laughed at for asking, but found out today that the grand total to get cable run to their house would be $12, 244.00! That is just the figure to get it to their house, it would cost more to run it on to our home, and then BB and Reynie's house.

I guess we will just stick with the satellite for now!

Now, This takes the Cake!

Here in the south we have a Groom's cake at weddings.

I never knew until I got older that it was a southern thing, but I am told it most certainly is, or that it started here at least.

When Geoff and I got married, our talented cake lady made Geoff a Piper Cub airplane for his groom's cake... it was pretty cool, and got lots of attention. Only it was so hot and humid in September that it began to melt, and the wings had to be held up with big cups so they wouldn't collapse.

But, yall - this one truly "takes the cake"... at the wedding we went to this weekend, this was the groom's cake -


Isn't it awesome?!

I can't begin to explain to you how we are kinda related to the groom, but he went to high school with us. In a nutshell, Geoff's Aunt Betty Jo is married to the groom's Daddy, among a few other family connections that might really confuse someone. They own/run a large dairy farm not far down the road.

This cake is absolutely perfect for his Groom's cake, and also the most awesome one I've ever seen. I was told the Bride's Aunt made it... she should go into the cake business.

And, just so you can tell that it is really a cake, here it is after it's been cut. Yes, it's also red velvet!


We wish Kirk and Stephanie many blessings and lots of love as they begin their life together - God bless you both!

Monkeys at the Zoo

Last week was a whirlwind of activity here at our house...

Sunday, while also shopping for the jogging stroller, we picked up our nephew at the airport. The kids were thrilled to see him, and also all the big airplanes!

I was very nostalgic being back at ATL International Airport - I have spent much of my life there, (or, going to and from there I should say!) and it is a bit of a heartbreak to not have my ID anymore. Silly, I know, but true nonetheless... even the old familiar smell of jet fuel is always strangely refreshing. What we flight attendants and pilots say is true (even us former flight attendants!) - flying gets in your blood. Even though you may hear them complaining about being overworked/underpayed, piggy-backed, and short called, many wouldn't give it up for the world. Some of us only considered it for the best opportunity ever - being a stay at home Mommy. And, to be honest, some days you may still hear me complain about being overworked and short called, but never "underpayed".

On Tuesday Nana flew in from Seattle. She really lives in Charleston, SC, but was helping family in Seattle with newborn twins, and their 18 month old brother! (Talk about a Mommy being a bit stressed - though I hear she is taking on the task like a champ!)



So, on Wednesday we all loaded up to go to the Atlanta Zoo. Geoff, Nana, EJ, Cub, Jeffrey and I... It was a lot of fun - and the kids really enjoyed seeing the animals. EJ had been about a year ago with Nana when Cub was in The Children's Hospital with a bad bout of rotavirus, which is a long story in itself. And even though I believe Jeffrey has been to many zoos, he was as excited as Cub, who loved his very first trip to see the animals he sees in the books we read at night.



Especially the monkeys, and this gorilla! We watched them for a long time, and all the kids enjoyed seeing the baby monkeys play. This Daddy was taking a nice siesta when one of the babies came over to mess with him... in the blink of an eye the daddy Gorilla shot up and tried to grab that baby monkey for interrupting his nap. But, before that even happened, Mommy monkey jumped in between them and pulled the baby to safety. She held him tight and smoothed his hair down, trying to calm the little scared thing, all the while giving Daddy gorilla quite a look. Anyone else see how funny this is?!

We had church that evening, and then EJ had a play date after school on Thursday. Jeffrey came back over to play, as everyone else was cleaning and getting ready for a family wedding on Saturday night. The wedding was beautiful, even though it was supposed to be outside, and it had been raining for two whole days. They had a tent for the reception, and moved the ceremony underneath it as well.

Through it all, I have neglected the house and laundry... so, today is catch up day for as much as I can do!

As I used to say a thousand times a day on the plane, at the boarding door when everyone was leaving... (just for old times sake, you know?!)....

Bye Bye, Goodbye, Bye Bye, Thank you, Bye Bye!

Take Me Home, Country Road...

This is the dirt road that goes to our house, BB and Reynie's house, and Momma and Diddy's house! And, it connects to another little road that takes you to my Aunt and Uncle's house, as well as the house that started it all - my Grandmother's house... she is in heaven with our Lord, but the house remains. I have lived on this country road/property most of my life - I grew up here, as did my Diddy. I took several roads that led me out of this small town for brief moments in time, but not for long. There is just something about this place that is special. Things do change, and so has the look of this property, but there is alot of history here that is a strong bond between our family, and our friends. Thing is, we are not unique... I can tell of many other families in our community who live next to their relatives, and have also been here forever. Geoff's family is much the same... he grew up just like this, in the next small town 5 minutes down the "big road". I hope it can stay like this for years to come... it's a great place for children to grow up.

I have been a little in the dumps lately, and realized that only I could fix it... over the winter I had gotten somewhat complacent, and wasn't taking the best care of myself.

So, I decided I needed to start running again. My options were slim, as part of the "problem" is scheduling. Between the kids school, activities and other outside obligations, I'd taken on too many other projects as well. I really enjoy being involved, I always have - but overload is stressful, and I had reached it. Stress alone can send me into the dumps!

So, about the running... I used to love to run. It is so relaxing and helps keep me in shape. Of course, for a few years there I was either pregnant, nursing a newborn/baby, or pregnant again... I wasn't able to sleep, much less run... or think, shower, etc.

Last January I started to run again, and caught the fever... Somewhere in the summer I lost the fever (!), but I know it is just what I need now to get me out of this slump. It will also help me loose those few pounds that always make me feel terrible. We go on our annual trip to Cocoa Beach in about 6 weeks, and I want to enjoy being at the beach with our family... not worrying about putting on a bathing suit!

Well, I will always worry about that... but I don't want to be terrified.

Anyhow... I started last week on a whim. The kids and I were outside, and I was pulling them around in their wagon. They were loving it, so I decided we'd go up the road and into "town"...

After two or three days of that, and the shin splints I got from tugging them along, I decided I needed a jogging stroller! We had one when EJ was little, but I now needed a double. The double stroller we were using wouldn't hold the weight of both kids anymore, and wasn't good for running anyhow... so, after church on Sunday, we went and bought a new double jogging stroller that I am thrilled with. We have tried it out, and it is soooooooooooo much better than the wagon! (Yes, okay, Duh!) Seriously, it is perfect, and I am so thrilled to be out running again.

I can already breathe a little better knowing I am doing something good for myself, and my children are enjoying it too!