67 Years' Celebration

here are some pictures from my dad's birthday party from earlier in the month. :)

my mom made him a cake version of his favorite: boston creme pie. she glazed & then put it in the fridge so that's why it looks kinda flat..but it sure was tasty. btw, cake and beer go great together. ;) he was really surprised to get the wii, but sadly, i think it was more of a present for my mom than my dad...i haven't heard about him playing it much..... ;)

today's the day

today is it...the last day in my office.

there's a lot to do before i turn out the light for the last time, but it's still going to be difficult. i don't want to get all mushy or sentimental, but it's an unfortunate position to be in. ....i've decided i'm going to take a week or two to get organized at my house (since my office is coming to live with me) and then go out in search of a part-time gig (or full-time)..because if i have nothing productive to do for the next two months, i'll go crazy. that, and i'd work out a lot and probably drink a lot...and sleep a lot. yikes. actually, the working out and sleeping part sounds pretty good..but i need something to get me up and at it every day.

...my sister comes this evening. we're gonna try to go to this new place, dandelion market, and have some fun because goodness knows, i need it! she'll stay with me tonight and then spend the rest of the weekend with leah. so, i'll be on my own tomorrow night. i behaved myself and stayed in last weekend, but i can't say the same for this weekend. 0:)

hope everyone has a great friday and lovely weekend.......

can you tell i am in love with http://www.picnik.com? ;)

thursday, i took a half-day from work and got my hair cut (eek!). i came home and cleaned the kitchen & took out the trash..and realized that i still needed to pack and would be leaving during rush hour. so, i took my time..we finally headed for raleigh around 7:45. i spent the night in raleigh and headed down to greenville friday afternoon because....

after 7 years of money issues, taking time off, and working full-time, my best friend, has done it! friday evening around 5:15pm, adina and her purple chucks walked across the stage to officially graduate! i am so proud of her for pulling through and finishing her degree.

after the ceremony, it had started to rain...ugh. after losing adina in the parking lot (she ran off--silly girl!), we went back to toby & jenn's to start the celebration with some super mario on the wii. her "boyfriend" was there...that's a whole other story. i will say that it was nice that he came to her graduation.


i love my girls. here's the picture of the FIVE of us ready to go over to paul & stephanie's (jackie is pregnant!).


it was so nice to be able to see jackie (we didn't plan to match either!) and hannah. i can't wait to plan a baby shower for baby brown! :) it's due in june--what a great birthday present that'd be!

i will refrain from talking about friday night because it reminds me why i have come to hate greenville. it was great to see jacob & the guys, but let's just say that i'm not planning a trip back until hannah gets pinned for her associate's from pcc (in 2 years).

i headed back to raleigh late saturday afternoon and stayed with my folks. with the threat of wintry weather, i didn't want to be driving in the dark. we decorated the tree and watched "ratatouille". after a wonderful brunch of my mom's french toast & my dad's scrambled eggs, i packed up the car and we headed back home.

Weekend Preview

Nothing exciting planned for this weekend...I aim to prime the living room, kitchen and dining room so once I decide what color goes where, the walls are ready to go. Saturday, I will officially start my new exercise regime. I'm excited. I'm sure I'll be sore come Monday, but it'll be worth it. I do need to decide if I am going to train for the half marathon in December..there is a cap of 3500 runners and if I register by August 31st, the fee is only $50. Hmm, guess we'll see how this weekend goes??

Next weekend will be more exciting. On Friday, I am working 1/2 a day and getting off at noon. :) I have a hair appointment at 1pm, to get my color done. It's been 4 months since my last appointment and the color has grown out and I'm back to being light brown/blonde. I think I'm going to go back to brown with red/blonde highlights. I'm doing it now so I can get it done again before Paige's wedding. :) Friday afternoon, my mom & Paige are coming to Charlotte to shop for Mom's MOB dress/suit and hopefully find shoes for the bridesmaids..So, I'll be cleaning again to get the place ready for their arrival. :)

Hope everyone has a fabulous rest of their Friday...I need to get some comments sent to CESI before the end of business today as well. Ack! Where does the day go?!

See you Monday! Maybe I'll even take pictures of my primed walls to post?! :)

Post-Thanksgiving

We had a pretty nice Thanksgiving this year. Bella and I got to my folks' early enough to help make a couple dishes (total shocker for my mom!). Joe arrived around 1:15, followed by Paige and Paul around 1:30. We munched and talked while Mom and Dad were fiddling with the turkey, that came out too soon and had to be put back in. We had a great spread, the usual, but still yummy: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans oriental, yummy fruit salad, cranberry sauce (at Joe's request). Later, pumpkin pie and carrot cake. It was delicious! :) Paige, Paul and Mom had fun making music in the living room while I watched football with my dad and Joe. My mom said Paul got extra points for bringing his new guitar with him! I wish I would've taken a picture!
Friday, I spent the day with my mom and Bella spent the day with my dad. My dad raked the entire yard and let Bella hang out. He said she had a great time running through his piles of leaves and at one point, even stole his rake that he'd left on the ground! :) Needless to say, when she came inside, she couldn't stay on her feet she was so exhausted. She'd sit up in her crate and basically slide down in exhaustion. It was really funny and super cute! :) Saturday, I went to the fabric outlet off Capitol with my mom and got a couple swatches. I intend to recover the blue chair (again...since Bella went to town on my incomplete upholstery project a couple months ago!). So, we'll see. That will be my January project perhaps. And that's where the "great" parts of the holiday end.

P.S. The Conference USA East Division Champs, the East Carolina Pirates will be playing Tulsa on Saturday in the conference championship game, 12pm on ESPN2! AARRGGHH!! :)