Odom Party of Five

FIFTEEN

2012-01-25T19:49:00.000-05:00

Someone had a birthday!!

I cannot believe that #3 is 15!

Her birthday was on Sunday.

She started out the weekend by spending Friday night making

cupcakes from scratch..... and destroying the kitchen!

She made a Martha Stewart recipe that of course required double boilers, three different kinds of sugar and several rounds of mixing.

And LOTS of dishwashing!!

Just after midnight, exactly the minute she turned 15, her dad and I

went to sing happy birthday to her.

She was all cocooned in the middle of OUR bed.

She ate a(nother) cupcake

while Lola stared at her.

We also looked through a photo album of her first year.

(This is almost torture for her.)

She was a cute one!

This picture is the day of her baptism.

I thought the T shirt she was sleeping in was perfect.

She didn't want a to have a party or anything. She likes to keep things simple.

Thank goodness!

She was excited to just have her sisters come home from school and spend

time with her.

They came home Saturday and

helped with our usual birthday decorating.

Saturday night we went to Cafe Luna to eat.

It is a really neat Italian restaurant in downtown Raleigh.

Sunday we took her to lunch at NOFO at the Pig.

It is an eclectic cafe in an old grocery store called Piggly Wiggly.

Have you ever heard of a Piggly Wiggly?

Anyhow, it was so much fun. It is a very colorful place.

I wish I would have taken a few pictures.

Once we got back home,

#3 opened her presents before her dad had to leave

to go out of town.

She didn't want me to take pictures of her because she

thought she looked bad!

Bubbles sat patiently waiting for a NEW box to be opened.

That is his favorite thing in the whole world - a brand new box!

He got a little over excited and thought he just might be able to fit

in a little bracelet box!

I had some charms added to #3's charm bracelet.

We try to buy a new charm everytime we go on vacation.

That is why we have a Disney themed charm bracelet right now!

(too many of dad's conferences are in Orlando)

I thought it was time we do something about that and added

a purse, wedge heel and her initial "B".

Now it looks a little more teenager-ish.

She loves to open her cards as much as presents.

My dad is sooo good about getting things to my girls on time,

it really does mean a lot to them.

It just about makes me cry everytime.

As usual it was a mess after she was finished.

If you look right in the middle of the picture

you will see that Bubbles

was a happy

cat

FIVE DOLLARS LATER

2012-01-17T18:50:00.002-05:00

And there it is......

I broke down and spent $5 for more image storage space for Picasa and Google.

It is not the $5.

After

weeks of searching through forums, clicking through link after link, googling "Why must I pay Google/Picasa for storage space'",

going down several dead ends and taking the wrong fork in the road over and over again

I still do not understand.

I really don't think I signed onto having Picasa, but I really do not read the fine print often enough.

I now know that Blogger, Picasa and of course Google are all together.
And that is more than I ever wanted to know.

Oh well,

now I can stop thinking about that Christmas header that I could not get rid of.
And stop dreaming of this:

Image

From your computer:

We're sorry, but you have exceeded your photo upload quota. For more information, check out this Blogger help page.

Whew!

BIRTHDAY FLASHING

2012-01-16T23:32:00.000-05:00

We always get so caught up in the Christmas Hoopla

that somehow #1's birthday gets lost.

I know she feels like it is not that important to us,

but it is.

Her she is flashing the big 22!

Here she is flashing her sparkle shoes

and

yes, I do think they are ridiculous!!

Very ridiculous.

Our traditional birthday sign...

She really really liked her gift.

She shed a few happy tears.

We had a little cake at home.

Later we headed to #1's restaurant of choice, Angus Barn.

It was all decorated for Christmas and since it was very early in the

holiday season, it was the first decorations we saw.

It was a great way to get into the holiday spirit.

This tree was beside a roaring fireplace and it was beautiful.

The girls made themselves at home.

BF1 was there too!

The Angus Barn gives you a warm homemade pound cake

if you are celebrating something.

#1 couldn't help flashing those double twos again!

Sorry #1 for overlooking your birthday post AGAIN this year!

M.I.A.

2012-01-15T23:26:00.001-05:00

Well,

I am MIA again.

I have been trying to change my header for several weeks

and post our wonderful Christmas and New Year's pictures BUT,

I keep getting this lovely message....

Image

From your computer:

We're sorry, but you have exceeded your photo upload quota. For more information, check out this Blogger help page.

I have visited the Blogger help page too many times to count and as soon as I click on the link

I am sent to a Picasa page that informs me that I have succeeded in

completely filling my Picasa storage limit and that I cannot do anything

until I buy more storage space.

I am just too busy/impatient to investigate any further.

I see no other way around this, but to "buy" storage space on Picasa.

Have any of you had to deal with this?

I am not the most tech savvy person,

I am self taught, but do pretty well.

This has me confused though and I would love any advice.

Please email me.

Of course one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more....

so much for that.

*******

Christmas was WONDERFUL!!

I just discovered that I CAN post pictures, but still cannot change my header picture.

So without further adieu......ladies and gentlemen....... our Christmas...

Christmas Eve morning we spent in the kitchen cooking for my dad's house/Christmas day.

I love when we do that.

We put on Christmas music or play movies that have Christmas or cooking in them.

This year we watched some of my favorite movies of all time:

You've Got Mail

Julie and Julia

Under The Tuscan Sun

The Santa Clause

#3 on Christmas Eve

after opening their Christmas PJs on Christmas Eve

It is THEIR tradition to all sleep together in the same bed on Christmas Eve.

It started many years ago, back when #3 was still a toddler.

They all still want to wedge themselves into a full size bed.

I used to love knowing that they were all up there together listening and anticipating Santa Clause visiting and waking up to Christmas morning.

On Christmas morning,

it is their dad's tradition to cook sausage biscuits outside

on the grill.

This is Christmas morning...

Lola was ready to open presents....

because she knew she was getting this fancy dress coat!

Here is Art (in his Christmas jammies) putting Charlie's new Barbour coat on.

Charlie thought it was a straight jacket and wouldn't move once it was on.

#1 with her Ewok vest.

Watch the mess grow....

Christmas afternoon we headed to my dad's house.

He was still recovering from shoulder surgery so we kept it low key there.

It was the first day that he was able to remove his sling, dressing and take a shower

and it was so nice having #1, the almost nurse there to do all of that.

We headed to the beach the day after Christmas and spent New Year's there.

It was mild enough and we were able to spend time on the beach

(with jeans and sweatshirts).

This past week was my first week with my house back to "normal".

#1 was the last to go back to school and her first day of class was Tuesday.

We have had an unusual and quiet weekend.

It takes some getting used to....

2011 CHRISTMAS CARD

2011-12-22T16:29:00.000-05:00

AWWW, I wish I could figure out how to get this on here without it being so

blurry.

This is our Christmas card this year.

It says:

Wishing You JOY This Christmas

(the odom family)

We took pictures on the beach with this amazing sunset as the background

over Thanksgiving weekend.

We were going for a Christmas card picture similar to this,

but the girls HATED something about every picture

and

HATED the shirts that THEY chose.

I kept telling them to wear white shirts, but they of course would not listen to me.

They think the shirts came off looking like pajama tops.

Cannot believe that this is my baby!

They begged me to not use any of these because they thought they were u.g.l.y.

but

I thought they were beautiful.

As the sun went down, the sky got even more beautiful

and the girls ended up being silhouettes .

I told them to jog towards me....

and it reminded me of Charlie's Angels....

so I told them to show me their guns...

I wish this one would have worked out.

#1 (left) didn't cooperate.

Here is one with the flash turned on...

Another one of #3....

because she is my baby after all.

They decided to run towards me

and not stop...

and finally the last little drop of sun.

PARTY AND PRAYERS

2011-12-21T21:28:00.000-05:00

Our sorority party was on Saturday and it was a success.

We had a great group of girls here.

This is a picture of some of them.

Before the party, we all worked hard getting things ready.

Well, at least I did.

I am pretty sure the girls were supposed to be doing something else

besides yoga under the Christmas tree!!

My other critters also got bored with the whole cleaning and sprucing agenda...

But,

after #2 dismissed the yoga class, I got some work out of #1 in the dining room.

She got her first lesson in silver polishing.

Thanks to the movie "The Help", it is now a cool thing to do.

Believe me, I took advantage of her interest to polish and started pulling out things that had not seen the light of day in years.

Here is a little peak at some of our Christmas decorations around the house:

These little snowmen are a conversation piece.

Everyone wants to know why one is in being punished.

I moved this little guy around trying to find the perfect place for him.

He ended up in a urn with some Christmas balls on top of him.

It looks like he is taking a bubble bath.

Our tree in the family room is decorated with all of my ornaments I have collected

on trips, the kids ornaments they pick out yearly, ornaments from my relatives trees (that I may or may

not

have decided to "borrow" from them when they were not looking)

and many other sentimental things that aren't necessarily Christmas things.

My grandfathers red lantern is on the bottom left side in this picture. It is the lantern he used when he was a little boy. My great grandmothers sifter is on the right side, half way up. She used it (so I am told) to make biscuits everyday. It is the one I use when a recipe calls for sifting.

The other day we had to go get it off the tree to make cookies!!

I have plaster footprints from all of my pets I have had

and they also are hanging on the tree somewhere.

It is also full of snowmen and Santas.

They are my type of men.

The foyer...

opens up to the dining room...

and the tree in there is decorated with burlap ribbon, gold and crystal ornaments and

a parchment paper banner. I love the contrast of the burlap and crystal.

(My dining room is not photogenic!)

Looking from the other direction...

it is ready for the party.

We served dinner buffet style from the dining room table.

On the kitchen table, hor dourves were served...

Brittany attempted a Martha Stewart impression before anyone arrived.

My sweet girls before the party...

Can you believe how grown up #3 is!!!

When I first started blogging she was a little girl. :(

The outside of our house...

wears Christmas well.

I have a snowman on our front porch with his very own tree...

it is decorated with snowflakes, mittens and hats.

It is cute,

but

this little pillow always steals the show.

Like I said,

#3's sorority party was great and

we are ready for Christmas!!

Are you?

**************************

Since you have read this far,

let me add a prayer request:

My dad is having shoulder surgery tomorrow morning.

Please pray for him to have an easy recovery.

It is so different since my mom is no longer here.

He is trying so hard to be independent and trying to convince us he will not need any help.

This is not the perfect timing for anyone to be having surgery and it is an added stress on us all.

I will be traveling back an forth and doing what I can.

Thank-you!

FA LA LA LA LAS VEGAS

2011-12-15T20:08:00.001-05:00

We have been busy.

Tis' the season.

We also have been out of town.

Art had a conference in Las Vegas and me and #3 went with him.

SHE (#3) could afford to go and miss school

because she has an A average for the semester

and is exempted from all of her exams.

She is a smart one.

I have A LOT to catch up on.....

I have been busy getting ready for a big party at our house.

I am having #1's sorority here for their Christmas party.

It was such a good idea back in the summer,

but now this holiday season is a blur because of it.

But,

I do love it!

I love all of the planning, cooking, decorating and watching my girls do all of the cleaning! ;)

So back to Vegas....

I had such a great time with Barrett.

She is a joy to be around.

She is easy going, appreciates the same things I do, goes with the flow and never really complains.

We stayed at the Bellagio...

and had a great view of the fountain show. The rooms have the music piped in.

This is the view we woke up to...

The Bellagio had wonderful Christmas decorations.

Their tree is the largest in Vegas.

While we were there, we watched the progress on this large flower mural.

The polar bears were all made of flowers...

One day it was sooo windy...

it was all over the national news.

We still spent most of the days walking in and out of the different hotels.

(are they resorts?)

We walked through the mall at City Center.

It was being built the last time I was there and so I was anxious to see it.

I spotted the perfect Christmas tree!

I am not so sure what the tree looked like,

I just liked what was under it!!

Look at the names on those boxes!!

While dad was busy at work,

we couldn't resist treating ourselves to some great lunches....

I am now regretting that HUGE milkshake

and crepe...

and gelato....

When we were tired and too full to keep walking we headed back to our room so that

Barrett could do some homework.

At night, daddy could come out to play...

We went to Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant.

It was great!

The last picture I took in Vegas was this.....

while walking out of the hotel.

Five hours later we were home and in full Christmas mode.

Fa La La La La

La La La

Odds and Ends

2011-11-03T22:20:00.001-04:00

Some odds and ends... in no particular order.

We are headed to Asheville, NC tomorrow after school

for #3's soccer tournament. Her game is early enough that we hope to

"drop by" the Vanderbilt's house.

It will be decorated for Christmas this weekend. Although it is a little early in the season,

I would love for Barrett to see it.

Art and I went during the Christmas season when we were first married and

Barrett has been in the summer.

It would be a great way to start the Christmas season this year.

The Biltmore House

I wish #1 and #2 could go with us, but it is the big rival game this weekend...

UNC vs NC State.

Seeing that one of them goes to UNC, the other to NC State and we have season tickets (plus two doggies that need to be watched), they are staying in town.

Our Halloween was uneventful.

I do not miss my children dressing up and going trick or treating.

I went ALL OUT when we did.

I stayed up all night sewing costumes.... the best Jasmine costume you have ever seen, clowns, court jesters, leopards, gypsies and so on.

I guess I am burned out.

I now like Halloweens like this.......

a big group of friends going to the "Fear Farm".

I am not liking all of the Christmas decorations in the mall and on the outside of shopping centers.

I love Nord___s though!

We are seeing this girl so much more these days.

She is home Monday - Wednesday most weeks

and home Saturday - Wednesday some weeks

(depending on her social schedule)

and yet we are paying for a prime apartment space in Chapel Hill....

full time.

Go figure.... it is just money.

This is how she looks on Mondays....

She goes to the hospital for meetings about her patient she is assigned to for the week.

This is how she leaves the house at 6:30 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings....

these are her "patient days".

She is pretty much hands on and doing everything.

And this her posse...

Two years ago my mom was in the middle of the fight of her life...

and

she did not win.

It seems like every week (fall of 2009) we heard more devastating news and life changing diagnosis.

I am more melancholy right now, reliving those days and remembering those punch to the gut feelings.

I just want my mom to know that I have not gone forward by myself

and neither have "her girls"...

(plus the BF1).

She is just as much apart of our lives as ever.

We turned the heat on last week.

I now am raking up the dust in our house.

What is that all about?

Why did I volunteer to have all of the parties at our house this Christmas?

For starters,

in three weeks the seniors from #1's sorority will show up at our house for dinner, a bon fire, a sleepover and breakfast.

Back in July it did not sound like such a big deal.

And what does a mom do when a house of 22 year old girls show up for a "sleepover"?

I suppose I will wash dishes and go sit in my bedroom with door closed.

You will definitely be hearing A LOT about this.

I have been making lists for all of the lists I have.

I opened a bottle of red wine tonight.

I poured myself a glass and went upstairs to the TV room to watch last Sunday's Dexter.

The hubs yelled at me from downstairs.

I promise I did not know that it was a $75 bottle of wine.

Not what I would normally have on a Thursday...

my bad!

FANNIES ON THE PORCH

2011-10-28T13:33:00.000-04:00

I sure would have loved to have been a fly on the ~~wall~~ porch yesterday.

I am not sure what these two were up to.

Lola and Charlie sat side by side

with their fannies on the porch and their front paws on the step

for the longest time.

Meeting?

Talking about the weather?

Watching squirrels?

Deer?

Guarding?

Waiting for the UPS man?

He always brings snacks after all.

Watching the day go by?

Waiting for naptime?

(probably)

GUNNY SACK FLASHBACK

2011-10-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

It was Homecoming last week at #3's school

and everyday was a different themed dress up day.

One day I sent a little nerd to school.

Another day was Flashback Day.

While everyone was planning their hippie and 80's Flashdance look,

#3 had a totally different idea.

She wore my prom dress from the year 1980.

(I knew I kept that for a good reason!)

The bright blue eye shadow and corsage completed the outfit.

So did the hot rolled hair and barrette.

I think she looked better in the dress than I did!

She's bringing the gunny sack look back!

FALL

2011-10-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

We had a beautiful weekend here.

The weather was perfect and we had no soccer games on the calendar.

The break is short lived though, we will be hitting the road this coming weekend for

two out of town games. The end of the season is close, just a few more weekends to go.

I spent some time outside just enjoying the sun and the signs of fall.

The leaves are just starting to turn here.

So finally the wreath on the door doesn't stand out like a sore thumb!

We have a few fall decorations outside....

of course mums...

and the deer have left them alone!!!

But, take a good look at these pansies because they won't be around too long.

The deer LOVE them.

I am not sure why I plant them year after year.

I just get so caught up in how pretty they are.

It was a little warm for Skeeter, the frog that sits on the column out by the pool.

He broke out in a sweat yesterday!!

I did a little decorating in the house too.

I just did a little Halloween collection on the mantle, I have some turkeys and pilgrims that will replace those things next week (already!!!).

Jack Frost is out.

I tucked a few pumpkins...

and gourds around the foyer...

and dining room.

Barrett's Halloween Tree is all smiles...

and my terra cotta jack o lanterns don't seem to mind sitting against the dirty kitchen window.

I just love lighting their candles and watching how the light bounces off

all of the nasty!

It is scary!

FALL BREAK AND A BIRTHDAY

2011-10-11T15:47:00.001-04:00

This one was on Fall Break....

and so we headed to the beach for a few days. October is a beautiful time there. It was warm enough to sit in the sun during the day but cool enough at night to open the windows. I rode my bike and walked on the beach every morning while #2 slept in. We went out to eat a few times and stayed in one night and cooked and watched TV. And of course there was some shopping done! (There is an outlet mall forty five minutes away.)

#2 spent some time painting a cooler for a fraternity function. She really did a great job. We have all decided that she needs to paint us a family cooler instead of spending so much time on coolers for other people and giving them away.

When we got home we celebrated Art's birthday!!

(he took off his sling for pictures)

He requested his favorites......

country style steak...

and mashed potatoes made with Boursin Cheese.

A Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake finished our dinner off.

It was delicious!

Happy Birthday Honey!!

OUR PITIFULNESS

2011-09-30T17:38:00.001-04:00

The hubs had his surgery (completely torn rotator cuff) and is on his way to a slow but full recovery.

At the hospital, they called me back after they got him prepped and I had the pleasure of sitting with him and listening to him ramble on and on about crazy stuff due to the medication they had given him. He kept asking EVERYONE their life story and how they got to Raleigh and who they were married to in case he new them, how they met..... and on and on and on. I guess his nurses were used to crazy people, because they just played along with him. I did finally tell him to close his eyes and go to sleep because he was talking too much and then all he wanted to do was apologize to everyone. I was so glad when it was time for his surgery and they came and got him.

This is him in the recovery area, getting ready to go home.

He was wide awake and very talkative again... a/k/a very medicated!

After the really good meds wore off, he did nothing but sit in the chair and pretend to watch TV.

Someone please tell me how a man who is not walking around the house can gather and accumulate

so much clutter around him. One of biggest pet peeves is to have tables loaded down with ugly stuff and there he sat with his little growing collection for days watching the Golf Channel non stop.

The first three days after the surgery were pretty tough for him. He could not get comfortable and couldn't move unless I helped him. He was up and down all night. He is better now and mostly pain free. He just has his entire arm in a brace that keeps it against his body like a wing. He has one more week to go in that and then he moves to a sling. After three weeks in a sling, he will begin PT.

He has kept me very busy since as his chauffeur. He was given strict instructions to not drive for three weeks. He works on the other side of town, technically in another small town, so with that drive, school carpool and soccer carpool I have done next to nothing else but sit in my car. But things are slowly getting close to being back to normal, he went against the doctor's orders and started driving over the weekend because.....

I had an accident on Sunday morning around 6AM. #3 had a soccer game in Charlotte at 11:00 (3 hour drive) and I was rushing to get ready. My round brush slipped out of my hand as I was drying my bangs and when I tried to catch it, I pushed/raked it into my left eye. I cannot tell you how painful it was. I saw stars, the moon and I do believe Jesus was there too. It hurt sooo bad. I was supposed to be driving to Charlotte, but there was no way I was able to do that since I could not open either of eyes... funny how your eyes kind of stick up for each other. So Art drove with one arm while I sat with my eyes buried in a wet washcloth.

I did not see any of the entire trip there, the game or the ride home. Somehow, I went all day feeling like I had glass in my left eye, with both of them pouring nonstop, my nose running and for some reason my ears ringing. I ended up going to the emergency room Sunday evening. The first thing they did was to put drops in my eye that would numb it. After the "slight stinging sensation", (I saw Jesus again) it went completely numb and I do believe that is what heaven must feel like.

I was sent home with the diagnosis of having three "good"scratches across my cornea, several bottles of drops and some heavy duty pain meds.

And just because I promised I wouldn't put any of his pictures on the computer..... and I broke that promise......her I am in all of my glory.....no make-up, hair pulled back and totally blindsided (pun intended)....

sunday

I am not sure who took pictures of me - I could not see them - but they are grounded!

Five days later, I am just now beginning to get on with things and it is finally feeling better. It is no longer swollen and the lovely shade of crimson red is fading!!

Seems we just cannot get going this September at our house and are looking forward to October. We definitely have had our share of set back, accidents and the craziest drama this month. Our weekend is going to be full of tailgating, football, soccer and finally so Fall like weather!

ANOTHER DAY DURING THE SUMMER...

2011-09-12T21:41:00.000-04:00

Well, this is a big week for us here at the Odom house.

#1 has her first official day at the hospital as a nursing student. She is staying here at home on her clinical nights. She will have her own patient to attend to. She went in today to get the paper work for her patient and got a bit overwhelmed and nervous. She will be working with post surgical patients. The worst part is that she has to be there at 6:45 AM..... everyday. It makes me laugh and cry all at the same time. All through school, she was the WORST about getting up and being ready on time. It has been really nice not having to fight with her about getting out of the bed the past few years and now here I am back at square one.

While #1 is headed towards one hospital in the morning, Art and I will be headed towards another one. He is having rotator cuff surgery tomorrow. We will be there most of the day and he should be released late tomorrow afternoon. So I am just guessing we are going to have a long night tomorrow night.

I am still catching up with end of summer pictures. We had so many "last night of summer" dinners and outings because all three girls started school on different days. We are into our nights out around here and look for any excuse to not cook!

This is my traditional picture of the sun going down on our summer.

Instead of our tradition of having

Nutty Buddies on the front porch while the sun sets, #3 chose to go to a new frozen yogurt place.

It is one of those places that has 100 different flavors of self serve frozen yogurt and then

at least 1,000 different toppings to choose from.

(That is only a slight exaggeration.)

After you finish creating your masterpiece, you take it to the counter,

it is weighed and then you are charged based on what the scale says.

I love this picture below and how Barrett is sitting out in front of everyone.

BF1 has tagged along with us for almost five years now.

#3 gave up.

She needed a doggie bag.

One Day During The Summer...

2011-09-01T23:29:00.000-04:00

Since I haven't been such a good blogger over the past few months,

I want to go backwards and take a look at some of the things we did

over the summer.

One day during the summer,

while the Man of the House was busy in Charleston tearing his rotator cuff,

the girls and I went French.

We went to a new small restaurant called Simply Crepes.

They of course have a menu full of delicious crepes plus soups and salads.

We really liked it and couldn't stop passing our plates around for everyone to taste.

This is the turkey reuben crepe.

I love anything with sauerkraut on it!

#1 had the seafood crepe.

For dessert we shared the berries and creme brulee crepe.

"O-M-G!"

We ate it so fast I wasn't able to get a picture of it!!

From there we went to see the movie

Midnight In Paris.

I new nothing about it, except that it was about Paris, Owen Wilson was in it

and it was a Woody Allen film.

What a pleasant surprise.

This was one of our best girl's nights during the summer.

THIS AND THAT

2011-08-30T19:02:00.002-04:00

Well, we made it through Irene just fine. Our yard here at home is a big mess and you cannot see the driveway in some places. We had a good amount of rain and wind, just enough for the power to go off for about an hour and to undo everything that was done in the yard just a few days before.

Everything is fine with the beach house also. We went to the house there last Wednesday to get the boat out of the water and to put all of the outdoor furniture inside. There was a loooooong line at the boat ramp, everybody else picked Wednesday too. It was a long day of driving.

The hubs is going back tomorrow and he will set all of the furniture back to where it is supposed to be.

constant action at the boat ramp

would hate to have to pull that boat anywhere!!

The water was already high on Wednesday.

The grasses were almost covered.

It was soooo humid too.

The clouds were so big and fluffy they did not look real.

The water was very high on the docks in our canal.

This was taken from our little dock looking across.

The docks were covered with water by Thursday.

So I can only imagine what it was like on Saturday.

The Man of the House found out on Friday that he will be having shoulder surgery in two weeks. He has a completely torn rotator cuff thanks to a golf ball and a sand trap. He will be in a sling and completely immobile for almost four weeks and then rehabbing until November with strict instructions to not lift anything or use his arm until late November. HMMMMMM..... we have put off cleaning out our attic in our house because he could never find the time to commit to it so I made him put down in blood during the summer that THIS fall, as soon as it cooled off up there, we were going to spend as long as it took to go through every box, every paper, holiday decoration and just get it done. I knew he REALLY didn't want to do it, but going to this extreme to get out of it is just ridiculous. (say prayers for me) :)

We had a great weekend!! Friday we went to The Jimmy V Foundation "soiree". Jim Valvano was the basketball coach at NC State, when they last won the national championship. He found out he had cancer while he was the coach and spoke out publicly about his journey. (There are some really great and moving videos of him speaking about his prognosis on the website - check it out. ) It was a reverse raffle for your choice of any loaded BMW all to benefit cancer research. We ended up buying three tickets and so we took #3 with us. She loved it!! There was wonderful food and we had a front row table. She hobnobbed with some celebrities - are they still "celebrities" if she didn't know who they were? Ha! Sadly, she did not win the car. With her luck, she will probably do it next year!

Barrett with Charles Barkley

Barrett with Joey Fatone from N Sync

The bottom of her chair had a $250 gift certificate to a jewelry store on it!

She had a LARGE time!

Saturday (while the weather was bad) we went to our annual Pre Tailgating Party. It just happened to be our good friends birthday too so he went all out and had it catered and had a band. We had a great time. NC State has their first game this Saturday and so the timing of the party was perfect. Sadly I did not take any pictures!!

Sunday, we went to Winston Salem, NC. #3 had her first soccer game of the season. We carpooled with another family and it was just so much fun to chit chat and laugh all the way there and back. They started the season with a tie, 1-1. That was a really good outcome because we were playing one of the top elite teams in the state. Their girls were not too pleased with how the game was going and as they became more desperate towards the end of the game, it turned very dirty. Let me just say...."Nobody puts #3 in the corner!" She held her own and took a few names!

The past few days I have just been trying to play catch up. Busy weekends are a lot of fun, but really hard to recover from!

IT IS OFFICIAL

2011-08-22T20:36:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning, it will be official.

"S-E-N-I-O-R!!"

#1 starts classes in Chapel Hill and she will walk into the classroom as a SENIOR!!

That means I will have a senior and junior in college and

a freshmen in high school.

In mom year's does that mean I am getting old?

It sounds so o-l-d.

I do not feel old and defiantly do not look old. :)

I refuse to dress old.....

except my girls have told me that they think some of my capris look like

"grand-ma pants".

I will admit they are a little loose and roomy, but I promise it is because of the heat and humidity around here in the summer.

I cannot stand to wear anything that touches me when it is:

or especially when it is:

(pictures from my dash this summer)

So I took my SENIOR to UNC's bookstore to get her her first nursing uniforms.

She will have to wear them to class and to the hospital when she is doing her clinical work.

Here she is trying on lab coats...

here are her polo, jacket and pants...

and her first set of scrubs!!!

I should have made a video of her dancing a little jig in the dressing room.

She was so excited!

I was proud.

I also saw this in the bookstore.

Love it!!!

Can't decide if I need it though.

GIRLY PICTURES

2011-08-17T23:38:00.001-04:00

I took some pictures of the girls on Sunday after church.

They were all gussied up and in good spirits.

Here is who you know as #3.

She is 14 1/2,

and

on Monday started high-school.

I have never had to wake her up for school. She wakes herself up,

gets dressed and then comes downstairs and gets in bed with me. I then get up and fix her breakfast and make her lunch. Her dad plugs in her straightener every morning in our bathroom after he gets out of the shower. After breakfast, she straightens her hair while I throw on some workout clothes in the bathroom and we talk about our schedules for the day and afternoon.

Her dad drives the carpool on the weeks we drive mornings, except for the days he is out of town, the mornings he goes to the homeless shelter and cooks breakfast (once a month) and on Friday mornings because he goes and eats breakfast with his buddies.

Around these parts, this one is know as #2.

She is named after a cute little blond girl that I sat beside in the waiting room of my OB's office.

I was eight months along and felt like a slug/whale and was out of breath just sitting there.

The cute blond was also eight months, but looked like she swallowed a ballon, but besides that she was, well, cute and full of energy. I could not take my eyes off of her for some reason. She glowed.

When the nurse opened the door and told "Brooke" to come on back, I knew what the name of my little baby slug/whale would be.

So... I named my daughter after a stranger I watched in a doctor's office.

This is the one and only #1.

She will be 22 in a few months.

Now that she is an old lady, she is no longer playing soccer.

She can be seen running through the campus in Chapel Hill

or practicing her poses in a yoga class.

When she is home she makes me go to spin class with her and for that I am thankful.... after it is over.

Oh how I miss those little girl shoes!!!!

This is their end of summer of sad faces!

It is also the sad eyes they use on their daddy when they want something.

Pretty pitiful isn't it?

HUGGING SUMMER GOOD-BYE

2011-08-15T08:49:00.000-04:00

We've been a little sentimental around our house the past few days.

It always happens at back to school time.

I love our time together and hate to see it come an end.

Don't you love all the turbie twists!

This morning my little baby B headed off to her first day of HIGH SCHOOL!

It is not going to be too much of a change for her because she is just changing buildings at her school,

and she is used to everything else there already.

But we were all excited just the same.

She was ready!

Her monogram was on display...

her new purse and "lunch-box" were all packed up...

her feather hair extension was showing....

her conch shell ring and Pandoras were just the right bling...

(one is hers and the other was one of my mom's)

and that new dress was just perfect!!

(Freshman 2011)

Her daddy was the perfect escort too!!

#2 also headed off to school during the week.

There was not a lot fanfare this time.

This is her third year in school, she is only on the other side of town and we've been slowly getting her set up in the little house that she and two other girls are living in this year since the end of July.

She literally pulled everything out of her closet and had it in her car in less than an hour.

The girls were not too happy about me wanting to take their picture

before Brooke headed off...

there was no make-up involved and Barrett was in her soccer clothes.

Brooke was in such a hurry to get there you may have heard her tires screech as she pulled out!

Not only did she not even stay for dinner, she never looked back.

#1 is still here.

We have one more week together before she heads back to Chapel Hill.

But we found out some news about her schedule.

She starts her first clinical class two weeks after school starts and she will be working in a Raleigh hospital on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this semester and will be spending

two nights at home during the week.

We are all excited about that.

LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE

2011-08-03T22:55:00.000-04:00

When we go to the beach we take every creature we can gather up....

including Mr. Bubbles the cat.

Charlie and Lola are usually the first ones in the car.

They all love it there.

The sand and sun really take a lot out of them though.

It also does a number on someone else I know.

I know THAT someone is not going to be too happy with me for putting this picture on display because it is not his best look....

and his hair is lumpy looking.

But it is so funny (and sweet) to me and I could not resist.

Charlie later traded in Lola for Pengie his penguin.

UP TO NO GOOD

2011-07-31T17:03:00.001-04:00

I spent last night organizing photos of the beach house and trying to get before and afters together

while we watched The Fighter.
I want to make a photo book and also post them on here.

The Fighter was such a good movie, I only got part of what I was trying to do together.
Stay tuned....

Today we had a WONDERFUL day here at OIB.

(BUT) I will be sore tomorrow, if not sooner.

I walked three miles and then ran maybe a mile this morning.

(I have really bad plantar faciitis and heel spurs in both feet so this is pretty good for me!! woo hoo!)

Just have to say I have a wonderful husband.
He wakes me up by bringing me coffee every morning.
Just recently he has started bringing me 3 A_vil along with the coffee!
I cannot tell you how much that helps so early in the morning.
In twenty minutes I am ready to move!!
:)

Around noon Art and I kayaked down the waterway and up and down some other canals

looking at docks, we are going to re-do ours to make room for some water toys.
Going against the tide and current was tough. .

Just now I am back from biking to the end of the island..... and then walking and wading looking for shells... and then biking back.

Seriously, every part of me is tired right now, but it is a good tired.
A, I need a glass of wine tired.

So right now.... the girls are up to no good!
They say they are tired too.

They spent their day playing with the casting net, kayaking and reading.

(Love how Charlie is almost passed out on the couch!

He did go for a short run with Art this morning and then for a long golf cart ride!
Life is tough when you are an Odom dog!)

Hope your weekend was a good one!

CASTING CALL

2011-07-28T23:13:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow #3, my baby, will go to her last Driver's Ed class. I am still trying to figure out how that happened. I feel like she was just learning to ride a bike last year. She has had class all week. After that, we have to wait until she is called for the driving part of the class. There is a long waiting list and since her birthday isn't until January she probably will not drive until late Fall. After that she will be able to get her permit when she turns 15 on her birthday. We have had a little bit of a hard time getting up at 6:30 this week and have stumbled around some trying to remember our morning routine. We get very spoiled in the summer.

Finally #1 is finished with her summer classes at Carolina. Once you are admitted into the nursing school, you are in school full time until you finish. She does have some time off during the month of August and is so glad to be at home with everyone else. We plan on spending as much time at the beach as possible and are headed there tomorrow.

Since this is the first summer with the beach house, we have been learning and trying new things. The girls decided they were going to learn how to cast a net.

they started out on the grass

#3 perfected her skills

Our house is on a canal and so they gave it a whirl there.

I love how Brooke, #2, is holding on to #3.

Pulling the net in and not getting it caught on the oysters

is a lot harder than it looks.

So hopeful!!

What a catch!!!

POTTER BOUND

2011-07-15T07:20:00.000-04:00

The girls were full of excitement last night because they were

headed to see the midnight showing of H__rry Potter.

They were all dressed up for a night on the town and as it kept getting later and later,

slowly but surely the sweat pants came out.

smart girls

I tried to take pictures, but they were having too much fun being silly and irritating me.

I went to bed around midnight - when the movie was starting.

They got home close to 3AM still excited and wanting to talk about it.

They love their Potter, but I love my sleep more!

So I pulled out my wand and made them disappear.

BEACH HOUSE

2011-07-13T09:25:00.001-04:00

My cumputer has been threatening to crash and I am also out of space on my harddrive.

I have over 22,000 photos on my computer and I have been spending all of my computer time making sure I have them all on discs and trying to free up some space.

My Apple Time Machine has not backed up my photos for several months

and so I have been in a pickle and a panic. For the past several weeks I have not been able to load any pictures.

But anyhow....

Our summer is speeding right along.

Several months ago we signed the papers on a beach house and it has been so exciting!!!!

All spring and summer until now has been spent going back a forth every chance we get.

We have completely revamped the place

and

have enjoyed every minute of it.

We are having a ball and are so proud of it.

Here is a little tease of some of the things we have done.

before

after

I will share more house pictures later.

We spent the week of July 4th there
and we went to the parade the morning of the 4th.

It was so much fun watching all of the decorated golf carts go by.
I cannot wait until next year. We are already planning our theme.

Most "floats" threw out candy, but Charlie and Lola loved the one float that threw out dog treats!

So many people took pictures of Lola. She sat on Brooke's lap with her July 4th
hairband on almost the entire parade.
She is the little diva of the family!

We went out on the boat everyday and all three girls got up on skies.
#1 and #2 have skied before, but #3 had not.
She got up on the third try and from then on there was no looking back.
I love my athletic girls!

We also did a lot of tubing.

The thing I love most about our house, isn't the house, but the people that fill it
and the time we spend together.

SATURDAY'S STUPID PIICTURE

2011-06-25T18:55:00.000-04:00

This may leave a mark!

DC

2011-06-22T17:41:00.000-04:00

We returned from our trip to DC on Friday and it has taken me this long to recover.
The Man of the House goes to this same conference every year and this is the first time we have taken advantage of its location.
We have been on trips to DC before, but it has been a long ago and we have never had this amount of time to spend.

We had six full days of sight seeing, walking, eating and going to receptions in the evening.

Since this was a working trip for the Man of the House, he was up early and off to meetings

with senators, congressman and other legislative folks.

#2, #3 and I headed out of our hotel most mornings with plans that filled the entire day.

(#1 had to stay back in NC because she is in summer school. She stayed at home and took care of things and commuted back and forth from Raleigh to Chapel Hill everyday. Lola and Charlie (and Bubbles) were glad about that!!)

Our hotel was just two blocks from the white house and so must mornings we walked right by it.

We had our priorities in the right order and our first stop was to head
over to the Smithsonian to take a look at all 45.5 carats of the Hope Diamond
and the rest of the gem stone collection.

We are such a fan of the movie Julie & Julia and Food Network
and
so we were excited to see Julia Child's kitchen.

We lucked out on the weather, it was really comfortable,

but still decided to take a few breaks here and there.

One day we headed over to Georgetown via a double decker bus and did some shopping.

#3 L.O.V.E.D. the Vineyard Vines store and sweet talked her way into
a bathing suit, pair of shorts and shirt.

I got a few things also, but my big purchase was shoes.
I promise I needed them.

#2 wanted cupcakes from DC Cupcakes.....

but so did everyone else.

We could not believe how long the line was.

It was wrapped all the way around the building.

We decided that waiting in a line for thirty minutes was probably not the smartest thing to do because it looked like it was going to pour any minute and decided to head to the bus stop.

We lucked out a were able to take a tour of the Capitol one day.

We met up with you know who for dinner each night and I just about ordered crab cakes at every restaurant. They were wonderful everywhere we went, but I have to give first place to
Oceanaire's.

Another night we went to Bobby Van's and got to experience this wonderful thing...

I have been craving lump crabmeat since!!!

The girls and I were having withdraws from tomato sauce and so on the night that
we were on our own, we headed to Carmine's for a family style italian dinner and
had a platter of salad

and another HUGE platter of spaghetti and meatballs.

AND
I am so glad that my girls got to experience this bea - u - ti - ful sight.

I had to crop a lot OUT of this picture.
That is a man in the bra and thong, everyone else didn't bother to wear anything and there were more participants than just these three hunks!
I am not so sure why they were riding around the capitol of the United States in their birthday suits, but I assume it was in protest of something.
Can I protest their manner of protesting?

I was so proud that #3, my baby, got to see "THAT", if you get my drift.
IT was nothing new for #2 though.
Years ago, she bumped into a skinning dipping frenchman while she was snorkeling in the Caribbean.
But that is a story for another day!

NEXT STOP.... HIGH SCHOOL

2011-06-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

We have been in DC for the past four days and will be here for until Thursday. During the day we are seeing all of the sights while the Man of the House is hard at work.

Every night, we are having dinner in some wonderful restaurants.

The crab cakes here are amazing.

A few days before heading to DC, #3 celebrated her last days of being a middle schooler...

She ended the year with a 98.7 average

and that is with algebra, physics and latin 2 in her schedule.

I was very proud watching her walk across the stage to receive her A honor roll plaque.

I always take pictures of the first and last day of school.

Here she is on the first day of eighth grade:

aug. 2010

And here she is on the last day:

june 2011

She's looking like a high schooler!!

Where did all of the time go?

posing with some friends after the awards

It is officially

SUMMER!

GROOMING ON THE GO

2011-06-03T12:30:00.001-04:00

typical scene in the back of my car:

so glad I am able to provide the opportunity for their "Grooming on the Go"!

TGIF

:0)

CHAMPIONS!!

2011-05-31T23:19:00.000-04:00

The end of the school year has been an exciting one for us.

#3's school soccer team won the division championship

AND

#3 walked away from the end of season awards banquet with a little something...

but more about that later.

It was a tough and rough game.

There was a lot of pushing and grabbing between #3 (17) and the player she was marking.

She (14) was supposed to be their dangerous and quick scorer.

It makes a mama proud to hear that her baby was assigned to stop her.

#3 did a great job!

The final score was 2-1.

The team was so excited when they were announced as the division champions....

and were even more excited as the five eighth graders accepted the trophy...

and ran it back to the rest of the team.

#3 carried the trophy around after the game.

Of course pictures were taken!!

The eighth graders were all smiles!

Right after the game we headed to our house for a little celebration party.

And we just HAD to take more pictures!

Later in the week the spring sports banquet was held at #3's school.

I loved seeing the team in regular girl's clothes. I had a hard time recognizing some of them.

(#3 is the third one from the left in the back row)

#3 came away from the banquet with the big prize.

She was presented with the Impact Award.

She was given it for being a leader on and off the field and

for having a positive effect on the rest of the team.

I am so proud of #3!

THE SCHOOL OF NURSING

2011-05-14T22:33:00.000-04:00

We are so proud of #1.

She was accepted into the UNC School of Nursing!!

Lola is giving her a high five!

She found out a few weeks ago while I was away from blogging. She was so excited when she opened that envelope up that she said she started jumping and dancing around in the middle of campus. She was on the phone with her dad and he said he could not figure out what she was saying, all he could hear were squeals.

Classes already started on Tuesday, after an eight hour orientation on Monday. She got only a three day break after finishing up the spring semester. That is what is going to be the hard part. Once you are accepted into the school, you are there and go straight through until you are finished. I am glad that she is close by and that she can come home on the weekends.

We did not think she was going to get in this time. She found out in December that she was put on the waiting list. The deadline for reapplying was just two weeks after receiving that notice and the prompt for the required essay was to explain what you had done since finding out that you did not get into the School of Nursing to improve and make yourself a better candidate. What exactly can one do in the two week time period? We all got a good laugh out of that. She was so tempted to say, "I have done NOTHING, but I am not going away so you might as well let me in now instead of later." Anyhow, I don't remember exactly what she came up with for that two page essay, but we all kept throwing ideas at her. It was a group effort.

She sat and worked on that essay all weekend while we were at the beach.

You go girl!

THE TRAVELING PANTS

2011-05-14T13:53:00.000-04:00

I just synced my iphone to my laptop this morning and loaded some pictures I had taken a few weeks ago. We recently had some terrible tornados in our area that resulted in a lot of homes being completely destroyed about four miles from our house. I remembering watching the local news and the people affected were dumbfounded about where all of their belongings and houses had gone in just a matter of seconds. Our neighborhood was untouched by the tornados, but we had large pieces of siding, insulation and roof shingles in our yards and streets. Very sad that we walked around our yard picking up the pieces of someone's home.

Our neighbor ended up with a little something else hanging near the top of one of his trees.........

............... a pair of jeans.

I would love to know just how far this pair of jeans traveled during the tornado.

LIFE GOT IN THE WAY

2011-05-09T23:01:00.000-04:00

I am in a little bit of a hole and overwhelmed with all of the time that has gone by since the last time I even opened this page. Funny thing about habits and routines, it is so easy to let them get away from you.

The past month or so have been (and usually are) the busiest for us.

The Man of the House is never at home because of tax season and some end of the year deadlines at work.

From sun up to sun down, seven days a week he is MIA.

He is a hard working man.

#3 is on two soccer teams in the spring, her school team and a traveling club team. She has been leaving the house at 7AM and most days getting home after 8PM.

I drive in several different carpools and usually my time at home this time of year is also very limited.

Once we are home I am usually throwing dinner at #3, calling out science and history and washing soccer uniforms. She has and always does handle this schedule beautifully. Right now she still has a

98 average for her eighth grade and gets out of the car smiling when I drop her off.

So... we have been chugging right along around here,

taking it one day at a time.

It is just what we do.

I thought I would try to catch up a little with some collages.

While I was on hiatus, I had a little birthday.

I turned 47 this year. I am still trying to get used to it. I guess you know you are getting old when you keep forgetting how old you are.

The girls came home from school that night to surprise me. They were sitting at the restaurant where

The Man of House made reservations. That was a nice surprise! After eating we headed home for cupcakes and some impromptu shagging lessons! Our house is never quiet when everyone is home.

Like I said,

our second home this time of year is a soccer field.

I never get tired of watching these girls play. They are very physical, aggressive

and great athletes!

One weekend

#2 and #3 took advantage of the beautiful weather and played some tennis in the driveway.

Lola was the ballgirl.

Our busy lives are finally slowing down with the end of the school year coming soon.

I still have some catching up to do, but it feels good to be back!

WEEKEND BOOKENDS

2011-03-22T23:40:00.000-04:00

I know that the weekend is long gone, but I have been meaning to sit down to post these pictures.

The last time I opened my laptop was Saturday and somehow it is already Tuesday evening!

The weekend was a good one though.

This is how it began on Friday...

#3 had all of the eighth grade girls on her school soccer team over to spend the night.

They were complaining that I waited until Saturday morning to take their picture,

but I love them with their bedheads and sleepy eyes.

Lola went upstairs and woke them up way too early (especially after staying up late),

but they were good sports about it.

Saturday afternoon we went to #3's (club) soccer game.

She is playing really great right now as well as her team, but they ended up in a tie.

Her team was winning until the very end and the other team got a questionable goal.

I hate it when that happens.

And this was Sunday night...

The big girls came home to eat dinner and brought the BFs with them.

We grilled chicken and shrimp and had sweet potato fries and a caprese salad.

We sat in the den around the coffee table so that the guys could watch the basketball games.

That was a yummy way to end a weekend!

TWO IS TWENTY

2011-03-15T14:41:00.002-04:00

Everyone is home from spring break and my nerves are finally calming down.

Over the weekend #3 had a soccer tournament in Virginia Beach. She and the Man of the House left

Friday afternoon and I stayed home to wait for the other girls to get home.

I had about 24 hours home alone (in an already cleaned house)

and it was wonderful!!

I wish I could come up with list of all of the things that I did and accomplished, but I cannot.

Time flies.....

I did go out to eat with my aunt (my mom's sister) and that was a nice treat.

While #2 was in Florida, she celebrated her birthday.

I wasn't too happy that she wasn't here for the big day, but I am glad she was with a lot

of friends and that she had a good time.

After both she and #1 got home on Saturday,

they were full of stories and soooo tired.

They couldn't wait to go to bed.
They were arguing about who got to sleep with me since their dad was not home and I guess

it was my lucky day (night) and got a two for one deal.

Look what I found when I went to go to sleep!

Charlie was already O-U-T and snoring,

Bubbles was there, but just didn't make it in the picture and

Lola got fed up with all of the talking and jumped down and got in her bed.

We celebrated #2's birthday Sunday after #3 and the Man of the House got home from

the soccer tournament.

(They won the tournament by the way!!)

Unfortunately, we kind of had to rush things because

the older girls needed to get back to school and it was getting late.

Here is the birthday girl with her birthday sign.

You would think we would spruce up our signs by now instead of using notebook paper every time!

Ain't she pretty!!!

(I cannot believe I just said "ain't"!)

Glitter was the theme this birthday!

Lola was not too interested in the gift opening!

Brooke wanted to go to the Angus Barn for her birthday dinner.
If you ever visit Raleigh, you need to make sure you go there.
It is one of the areas most known landmarks.

They even give you an entire homemade pound cake if it is your birthday!

Happy Birthday #2!!

GIRL ONE

2011-03-07T08:04:00.004-05:00

#1 sent me a picture after she boarded the cruise ship yesterday.

She is all smiles of course.

I would be too if I was getting ready to sail to the Caribbean

and feel the warmth of the sun for the next week.

Thought I would share some pictures from last weekend.

We went to her Sorority Parent Cocktail

at UNC.

It was held at the beautiful Carolina Inn.

This place has southern written all over it.

I did not take my camera with me and used my iphone as an experiment.

I am not really happy with the results and won't rely on it again.

#1 and one of her best friends.

Daddy proving that he really does know how to shag.

Her eyes are looking a little wicked in this picture.

I tried to clean it up, but it made it look worse so

I just left it alone.

We had a great time and met a lot of the parents of the girls she is always talking about.

It is such a blessing to be apart of a sorority.

Instant family!

MARCH ALREADY

2011-03-04T10:59:00.000-05:00

I flipped my calendar the other day.

And guess what...

it is March already and I cannot believe it.

I let out a little gasp last night when I realized that my birthday is now "days away" and not "months away".

How did it do that?

Age doesn't really bother me, but how I am living my life and what I am accomplishing does. The year has flown by and I do not feel I have accomplish all that much. In fact, I am still working on getting motivated. Hmmm. I better get moving. I have 19 days to do something so that I can end my 46th year on a good note. I am not liking this whole time flying by thing that is happening. I will start tomorrow or maybe on Monday! :)

I am on pins and needles. My two older BABIES are leaving for spring break today. They have never done this to me both at the same time and it scares me. It isn't where they are going, but how they are getting there.....

they are driving.

#1 is going on a cruise, which really isn't the part that worries me, it is the five hour drive to Charleston to board the ship. #2 is going to Florida. Several cars from her sorority are caravanning for the LONG haul. I believe it is over ten hours. I have given my girls a lot of leeway in a lot of things, but driving distances has not been one of them. I have had to put my big mama pants on this year, but it still makes me so nervous.

Back to spring break plans:

#1 is going on a cruise and she looses count when trying to name all of the people she knows going on it also. They are just not people from her school and sorority, but several other schools and she has some old friends from high school who will also be on it, along with many of their school friends. I cannot imagine working on this ship or being a family vacationing along with all of these spring breakers. If you are, I am sorry. I have already read her the riot act and threatened to take all of her shoes and purses away if there should be anything she does to mar MY name. HA! I am just kidding. I do have faith in her and I know how much it would hurt her to loose all of her shoes.

#2 and 25 of her closest sorority friends have rented a house in a quiet little beach in Florida. So if you are reading this and live anywhere near the Panhandle you are welcomed to come and stay with me for the upcoming week. She also informed me that all of the sororities and fraternities from her school have done the same and will be there too. All I know is that my name is NOT on any papers at any rental office in Florida at this time. And any parent that willingly signed these rental papers will be in my prayers. #2 also has my upmost respect and I know she will make good decisions. It is the others that I worry about. And then there is the driving there and back. I am not a fan of this plan. I offered to fly her there and even tried to throw in a limo pick up at the airport, but she was not interested. (In case you are wondering what #2 would loose if she should happen to make me look bad..... the internet, phone and DVR.)

So the big three - me, the man of the house and #3 will be looking at each other all weekend long. It has been and continues to be an adjustment for #3 to be the "only child" in the house. She is close to her sisters in spite of the big age difference.

I am just glad that my nest still has one little bird in it.

I know how my blue bird felt last year as her last little baby sat and peeped out at the big world for several days before taking off.

I let out another gasp when it really hit me that #3 will be in high school next year. I cannot even fathom that. The next four years will, I am sure, fly by and feel just like days when it is all over.

sigh

Until then we will do everything to wear ourselves out. #3 has two back to back soccer games this afternoon. It is the first game of the season for her school team and she will be playing center mid - the position that runs the complete field the entire game . Straight from there she will go play in her club team game (she plays on the classic level, if that means anything to you) and play the same position and she usually plays every minute of every game. That will give her over two and half hours of constant running, sprinting, fighting and banging this afternoon.

But she can do it.......

see, she is one tough little soccer player!

And cute too!

Needless to say, I made pasta salad for her lunch today and also packed a Powerbar, a banana, granola mix and a Gatorade. I threw another Powerbar and Gatorade into her soccer bag and told her to eat and drink that after school. I am considering an espresso in between games! (Just kidding!)

After her two games, she gets to jump into the car and we are headed straight to the beach for the weekend. I guess we will be driving with the windows rolled down because there is no time for her to take a shower! Can't wait for that!

This will be my view Saturday and Sunday morning.

It will do.

WEEKEND IN FLORIDA

2011-02-22T20:17:00.001-05:00

Me, The Man of the House, #1 and #3 took a little trip.

We went to Orlando on Friday and touched back down in Raleigh last night... well, some of us did

#1 was able to get away from school, but had to fly back by herself on Sunday evening.

#3 and I came back last night.

We left you know who there to attend a conference and work.

We tried to count up how many times we have been to Disney World. Somehow we came up with the number eight (with kids). We usually go every couple of years because of a meeting or conference that Art has.

This time was no different.

We did go a few days earlier than we needed to because the girls wanted to go to

Harry Potter World at Universal Studios.

We have been to Universal Studios before, but have never stayed there.

I fell in love with the Portofino resort. It was beautiful!

If you squinted and held your mouth just right, you could ALMOST pretend that you were really in Portofino, Italy.

(iphone)

(camera)

Do you see much difference in the quality of the two pictures?

There was a cute little bakery where we got coffee and pastries in the morning.

( I want a room in my house that looks and smells just like this.)

We had dinner on a balcony overlooking the square. There were italian singers and musicians that would come out on the balconies behind us and sing and play during the night.

Wonderful!

#1 and #3 were so giddy about going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I forgot just how important HP was to them and that #1 especially grew up waiting for each of the books to come out and then would stay up all night reading them, even the one with over 700 pages.

The bad thing about Harry Potter World is this:

once you are in Universal Studio's Islands of Adventures

you have to make your way all the way back to HPW and then once you are there,

you wait in a line to get a ticket stating the time you can actually enter the HPW.

We had a three hour wait.

That was not a big deal to us because we were hungry and literally had gone straight to the Harry Potter area when we got there, so that gave us some time to wander around and actually sit down

to a decent lunch.

(FYI: I had fish tacos.)

the main entrance

on our way to Hogwarts

there is an awesome 3D ride inside

Hogsmeade

the Butterbeer stand

Barrett with her Butterbeer and look what her dad is doing... as usual!

So after this adventurous day we relocated to Disney property

and to the fabulous

Waldorf Astoria.

our view...

silk robes and slippers for everyone

in the lobby

(taken with my iphone)

I am so sad that it is not as wonderful in the pictures!

The colors (peacock blue, green, silver, cream and taupe) were beautiful.

Unfortunately I do not think it shows up here.

We are pros at catching the buses, monorails and boats and buzzing through the four different parks, going straight to what we want to do

or getting fastpasses and then slowing down to enjoy it all.

It was so nice to see flowers of every color this time of year.

I took so many pictures of the flowerpots and hanging baskets so that I can copy them in a few months.

After doing that on Saturday, we enjoyed a day by the pool on Sunday.

Now that we are home, I have been freezing the entire day.

I am so ready for warm weather!

LOVE

2011-02-13T23:56:00.001-05:00

HAPPY

VALENTINE'S

DAY!

Sometimes it is the little things in life that bring us the most joy.

Here are some of the little things that bring me joy and that I love:

bubble baths with friends...

or alone

butterflies

zinnias

smiley faces

front porches

good daddies

being able to watch the home team win...

and celebrating

drizzle castles

a good nap

family recipes

puppy kisses

the smell of rain

making new friends

snow days

school spirit

big bites

sidewalk chalk

sister pictures

AND

a good long pedicure

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

365 DAYS

2011-02-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

My mom passed away one year ago today.

I cannot believe that it has been that long and then again it seems like forever ago.

I am choosing to celebrate today.

My mom turns one today in "forever years".

On Sunday we (along with my brother's family) went to my hometown and went to church with my dad and then out to eat.

We placed the flowers in the church in honor of my mother.

It was so nice to have all of her friends come up to hug me and express how much they miss her.

I am glad to get the year behind me.

It was an entire year of "firsts".

It was a year of not being sure exactly what to do on those days.

It was a year of feeling guilty if I didn't do anything on those days.

Not having my mom has been hard.

I thought that the holidays were going to be awful, but honestly they were not.

The hardest times were the regular days.

I cannot tell you how many times I, out of habit, looked for her while shopping at the mall.

We always went there every time she came to visit.

I cannot tell you how many times I reached for the phone to call and just say hi or ask her a question.

I can remember two of my hardest days:

One day was when I did not think about her the moment I woke up.

I didn't think about her until late in the morning and that crushed me.

I felt she was slipping away, not on my mind, and that scared me.

I didn't want to move on and her to become a memory.

I wanted her to remain a part of my life.

The other hard moment was back during the summer.

It was after I had gone to pack up my mother's clothing and I brought them to my house in plastic bags.

We stacked up the bags in our garage until we took them to the battered women's shelter the next week.

That evening I went for a walk and when I came back I rounded the corner and was hit in the heart at the sight of my mother's things.

I was so saddened that my mom's life was deduced to being stacked in the garage in garbage bags.

At the moment, I felt that was all I had left of her.

It is the little things I do not want to forget:

how soft her cheek was when I kissed her hello and good-bye,

the pink frosty nail color she always wore,

the sound of her clearing her throat every time she answered the phone, the way she pronounced "Italian" and couldn't say "oxygen", the way she folded my towels wrong, the sound of her digging through her purse, the way she pushed her food around on her plate and how slowly she ate, the way she said "hmmm", her finger over her lip, the fact she didn't wear enough mascara, her back seat driving, how she always had a tissue in her pocket, her potato salad, the sound of her walking up the stairs, her toes, the methodical way she signed her name, the way she could never master a camera, her quiet laugh, the way she unwrapped a piece of chewing gum and how the way she chewed gum drove me crazy, how still she sat in church, her bad dream she repetitively had, her bug mole... and many many more

I often think about how it would be if we could get letters from heaven, even just one a year.... or even just one. How great would that be? I heard somewhere just a few weeks ago that every time we think of our loved ones that have passed way, at that exact very moment, they are thinking of us too.

She thinks about me a lot.

I THINK I AM IN TROUBLE

2011-02-07T18:34:00.002-05:00

I do believe I have gotten myself into some trouble.

We ordered three iphones through Verizon as soon as we could last week.

Three of them came today.

The Man of the House did not splain it to me like he should have.

He said, "All you have to do to activate your phone is plug it into your computer."

I did not know that it was important to only plug MY phone into my computer.

I was just curious and so I grabbed one of the phones from the box

and

hooked it up to my laptop and clicked a few times when it told me to

and

"poof"

just like that, #2's Blackberry died....

all the way over there on her college campus.

Why did The Man of the House find it necessary to call me asking all of those technical questions like,

"What did you do??!!"
and
"Why?"

#2 does not have a working phone right now.

She cannot call or text ANYBODY.

She has to come home.

I think my hole just got a little deeper because I may have erased all of her contacts, pictures and entire life off of her Blackberry account.

yikes!

IT'S 3 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE

2011-02-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

Usually three o'clock is naptime around this house. The house becomes mysteriously quiet and still. There is no barking, bell ringing, toys squeaking or claw sharpening going on. Today I found the crew having their siesta in my room...in my chair...snug as a bug in a rug.

And this is where and how they stayed ALL afternoon.

FOURTEEN ALREADY

2011-01-26T19:35:00.001-05:00

I am not sure how it happened, but #3 turned 14 on Saturday.

She was not interested in having a party, thank goodness, so we kept it low key and just made it her day.

Her dad started off "her day" by making homemade waffles. That's what she wanted and he was happy to oblige. He always makes pancakes or waffles when it is a special day or if someone is sleeping over.

For lunch we went to Sparians. It is a new bowling alley in a newer swanky area in town. It was awesome. I cannot even begin to describe the place and do it justice so check out the link. We had a long wait for an alley so we sat around the fireplace, watched one of the many big screen TVs and ate dill pickle chips.

I actually had fun bowling - even with The Man of the House!! Long story short... we went bowling on our third date - he corrected me and coached me everytime I picked up the ball and everytime I rolled the darn thing. I was really close to telling him to drop dead when he took me home, but didn't for some reason. I did tell him several dates later that I would never ever bowl with him again.

Over twenty four years later, I guess I ate my words on Saturday. (never say never, right?) He was (mostly) well behaved. He did start out wanting do give advice and tell everyone what they were doing wrong until we all cut our eyes at him and then he got the message and piped down.

Afterwards, we went to eat sushi at Mura, #3's favorite restaurant. It is one of our regular places and we never leave disappointed.

Once home, there were presents to open, cupcakes to eat and a game of Monopoly to play. I do not like Monopoly, it feels like torture to me and this game was. I think it went on for three hours.

Aren't these cupcakes wonderful looking? They are from here. It also is new.

There was a lot of discussion about which two cupcakes we were going to eat. We were all so full from dinner there was no way we could all have our own and so we decided to share two.

She fittingly chose the "Princess Cupcake"!!

We have three versions of Monopoly in the game closet, at least she chose the one with pretty colors!!

Guess who else doesn't love Monopoly and spent the last hour of the game coming up with different ways she could wear her scarf...

and guess who got hot rollers for her birthday!!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Fast forward four days later:

#3 spent the afternoon getting braces put on. She is upstairs right now sitting in the dark, watching a movie and trying to eat a little something. She thinks she is sore now, but I know tomorrow will be even worse. She has a long haul in front of her.... two years and at least three surgical procedures. I am amazed at the things they do now and they involve screws, chains, drills and jawbones. She is walking around with the equivalent of an automobile in her mouth right now! I just hope they are very liberal with prescriptions for pain killers, I am going to need a lot!!!