Dawg Gala

This past Saturday evening we went to an Awards Gala/Fund-raiser for the UGA Terry College of Business. It was really a lot of fun. Governor Perdue and Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson were Honorary Guests but we didn't see any of them. Perdue did the live auction last year and we were hoping he would again. Oh well. More exciting was that head football coach Mark Richt was there and sat two tables away from us. Also in attendance was UGA's SEC Champion basketball coach (he got a louder cheer than Richt) and Damon Evans, the young and very popular Athletic Director. The most exciting auction item of the evening was a day with the coaches and athletes at UGA. It went for $20,000! That was more than they were expecting so they told the gentleman who lost that if he would match that amount they would do a 2nd day. The second largest amount was $16,000 for two rounds of golf for 7 at Oakmont with the club president as your host. We bid on a silent auction item for tickets and lodging for the Georgia/Florida game but lost :-( All I hear about at home is how the Dawgs are ranked #1 preseason. Keeping true to UGA form there was some red and black tackiness going on. One gentleman had on a black jacket with red, yes red, tux pants with little dawgs all over them and black velvet slippers. Go Dawgs - sic em'!

Counter and backsplash installed

Here is what it looks like so far. They will do the grout and a few other finishing touches on Wednesday. The electrician will do the recessed lighting later this week...Our black fridge is on backorder and should be delivered in June...

Cabinet Install Day One

The installers still have to add moulding on the top and bottom of cabinets and all of the shelves, etc. Then in a couple of days we'll get our counters. The electrician comes Friday to install lighting, etc.

Oops - too late to turn back now!

Here is hubby with his handiwork. Right now he is ripping out old wallpaper. We were really glad to see drywall behind the soffits.

Good Riddance Ugly Kitchen

We are starting the tear-out on our kitchen tomorrow. Or, I should say, my dear hubby and a friend of his are tearing out our kitchen tomorrow. It can't happen soon enough. We've taken the doors off of the cabinets and emptied them out. Tomorrow they will tear out the cabinets, countertops, the old broken double oven and the soffits above the cabinets. The soffits are the scary unknown. We're not sure what the ceiling and walls will be like behind them. The new cabinets are delivered Monday and then will be installed by Monday the 24th at the latest. I'll update you as we go.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

How do you go from the cute and sweet boy to the wild boy in a matter of seconds? It amazes me! My friends all tell me that it's completely normal for a seven year old boy. Little brother doesn't look too impressed...no wonder the poor thing always clings to me!

Super Bowl Ads

We were so glad the Giants won the Super Bowl last night. Woo hoo! Gotta love those New Yorkers. They have a special place in our hearts. I thought the play of the game was definitely when Eli Manning broke out of the attempted sack and threw to Tyree for that out of this world catch. Tyree was not letting go of the ball if his life depended upon it.

But almost more fun than watching the game was watching the ads. There were some pretty cute ones last night (and some pretty bad ones too - what was up with the VS ad?). My two favorites were the e-Trade ads. You can view them here:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=27486877

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=27487048

What were your favorite ads?

Amusing Will Quotes

Will has come out with quite a few interesting quotes lately. He cracks me up on a daily basis. Here are a few:

1. "I feel like a new boy!" After putting on the red hat and the tote bag around his neck in the picture to the right.
2. "That drives me crazy!!" When I was listening to music and/or talk radio. I've heard this several times lately.
3. "I met a little lady." When he was playing in the child care center at the health club. He describes the various girls he's played with by the style of their hair.
4. "You've been a good Mommy today." This has been said several times recently when he got something he wanted.
5. "This is my wacker dacker." aka his hammer.
6. "The cat came in and pulled it out." This was said today when I walked into the bathroom to find the toilet paper unrolled from the holder and on the floor. The thing is...we don't have a cat!

The Vera Bradley Chronicles

Okay, in an effort to demonstrate the "I've got to have it" sentiment I talked about in my "Things We Want" post, I've finally bought the Vera Bradley purse that I "had to have"! I've attached a picture - isn't it cute? I really love the cell phone pocket on the outside - my pink Razor phone looks so perfect there.

I kept obsessing about this purse and had to figure out a way to buy it while keeping with my husband's new budget. My circle had a late Christmas party in January and I received a Parson's gift card, I added to that a gift debit card and a $10 off coupon and the grand total came to $9!!! Isn't that awesome?

But then I wasn't satisfied. I needed a little cosmetic bag to match. My old one just wouldn't do and I have to put my lipstick and compact somewhere, right? So, I went back and purchased that. And then I went on eBay and discovered that some crafty lady in Kalamazoo, Michigan makes the cutest little checkbook covers using VB fabric. So, I decided that if I had a checkbook cover to match my purse then I would start carrying my checkbook and have it when I need it. That just came in the mail today and I love it!! My set is now complete - I think. We'll see...I keep thinking a zippered sunglasses case would be so perfect.

Am I the only one who obsesses like this?

A Rare Snowy Day in Georgia

The boys got to play in the snow twice this week! These pictures were taken Saturday January 19, 2008 in Georgia. Our "snowstorm" was pretty pitiful. The weather forecast called for the temps to drop all day but after playing outside for around 45 minutes we noticed that the snow was melting - the temperature was increasing!! I think at the peak we had 2 inches.

On Thursday we had better snow to play in in Roanoke, Virginia. There was about 5 inches on the ground and we borrowed my Uncle Jerry's sled for the boys to ride.

We were in Roanoke for the funeral of my Nana. She was almost 92 years old and lived a beautiful life - I'll really miss her. It was a sad time but it was good to visit with everyone.

Things we want

So I started a new knitting class last night. It was really fun and I met some very interesting women and heard their interesting views on politics, who they think can win, etc. I'm starting a pattern for a scarf with a cable in it and was trying to decide on a yarn. There are just so many beautiful yarns available and the group was talking about how we just wanted to buy all of them!

It reminded me of several days ago when I was looking at Vera Bradley purses with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. My "need" for a Vera Bradley purse started before Christmas when a friend gave me a cute little VB change purse. I don't currently own a VB purse but I started thinking how lovely it would be to own one (never mind that I had one several years ago, never used it because it clashed with everything and promptly sold it at a consignment store!). So, here I am shopping for a VB purse with my mother-in-law egging me on (she was shopping for her own as well) and my sister-in-law laughing at me. Not really out loud but I know she was laughing :-) It amazed me how so quickly I can go from not really even thinking about wanting a specific item to wanting it so badly I feel like I "have to have it".

A good friend of mine typed an eloquent letter with her Christmas card this year. I liked it so much I wanted to copy it and send it along with my cards! I didn't but would still like to share the message she was trying to convey. I agree with it whole-heartedly - thanks Shannon! I know it's a Christmas message but it really does apply to our everyday desire to have more things.

"The holidays are here again. More plastic, more packaging, more stuff we don't need, more money spent trying to make my kids happy and excited on Christmas morning. The kids are busy circling toys in the ads and making long lists of things that make noise, break, and provide two seconds of entertainment before getting tossed aside. And I cirlce some toy ads of my own: a pair of sparkly earrings, an I-Pod, CD's, new clothes, and more books when I haven't even read the ones I own.

While the kids finish circling, I am on the educational toys website, trying to find something non-toxic and higher quality, that might at least stiumulate imagination or develop some thinking skills. This is my compromise; I know nobody would be happy with a children's book.

Like many parents, I wish that they'd say "Mom, don't worry about getting me more toys. I'll play with that game you got me last year or make something new out of the blocks. Let's save our present money or send it to the poor and call it a Christmas." This is how I want to raise them, but the outside world is too strong, and I can't seem to fight against it.

How much we adults are like children on Christmas. Except that Christmas is every morning, and God is an extra loving parent. Only the presents we are given are not usually the things we circled. We prefer the plastic toys, the short-term entertainment that provides "joy" for a few moment's time and envy from our friends. We rarely take notice and enjoy the gifts we already have - our children, our health, enough food, adequate clothing and shelter, more safety in our day-to-day lives than most of the world enjoys, another day to enjoy it all.

Or we don't notice or treasure the special gift-moments: the child who takes time to make a special present for someone he loves, the daddy who gets down on the floor and really plays with his children, the brother who hurts someone's feelings and then says he's sorry without being told to, the kiss and hug from the guy who's usually too cool for that kind of stuff.

I can't do much to fight the outside world, short of moving us to remote Alaska and cutting off all TV and internet access but there is something that we can all do to show our kids what's important: notice what matters with wondrous eyes, express real joy, model a spirit of thankfulness, and love each other on Christmas and every day."

My very first blog ever!

I decided to create my own blog because my husband, Chris created one last night. We were really both inspired by our friends Allison and Gaines Redd who have a blog. We both kinda felt old and out of date and decided creating our own blogs would alleviate that feeling. We'll see if it works.

I may have to monkey around with my template but right now it's a muted pink and burgundy/purple with a few subtle turkey tracks down the right side. I thought that was so appropriate for my hokie identity. Side note: I'm a little disappointed right now in my Hokie team's performance in the Orange Bowl. Not quite what I was hoping for. The Chokies showed up and I wasn't pleased. A crappy way, half-a** way to end what was supposed to be a healing season for us in the Hokie Nation.

More later when I figure this whole blog thing out.