Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner was a hit this year and, as always, went off without a hitch! I know everyone has some exciting story about Thanksgiving, and I guess I do have one but it always slips my mind-- I'll throw that in after the pictures.

In addition to us, mom, David, and Casey, mom's friend Sharon and her son Alex came, as well as Michael and the kids and Emmy-- a fantastic crowd! We spent the day cleaning, cooking, and watching what ended up being a mini-Rourke marathon with Iron Man 2 and The Expendables. I cooked a sweet potato casserole (which everyone said was the best they'd ever had!), and did the turkey and stuffing/dressing, plus the cranberry sauce-- all of these were first time experiences for me and they all came out amazing!

Pictures, of course, for your viewing pleasure:

Belle perked up when she saw mom with ham

So we treated her-- it's Thanksgiving after all!

The tongs from the ham fell on the floor-- guilty much?

mom's pretty mantle. Even if the teensy lightshade is tippled...

Jeremy and Sharon work the logistics of getting the bird to the carving plate

VICTORY!

I carve the turkey!

Everyone waiting for dinner

Violet used my old records as weapons of mass distraction

"I can have some, yeeeeeesssss?"

FOOD! (without the sweet potato casserole, that was warming in the oven)

Pretty table

Violet instructs Uncle Jeremy on the finer points of what will eventually go in her belly

Michael's been beaten and Violet realizes that there's food on Aunt Meg's plate to steal now!

We shall see this mischievous look more than once in her life!

It was a great meal and great company, I'm so glad we all got to come together!

My fun Thanksgiving story, for posterity:

It was my first year at the airline and I was living in Memphis. I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so I'd flown in to Atlanta a couple of days before and flew back on Thanksgiving day (fantastic day to travel, btw, business class was just me and another FA!). As the plane was taking off in Atlanta, I realized that I had not bought a turkey or even turkey breasts! When I landed, I called Amy to see if she knew of anywhere that would still be open and the only place we could think of was the Middle Eastern market so I went and got chicken breasts. We were having Jeremy and Ashley over for dinner, and I think Zac as well, and we'd been cooking up a storm when Ashley called to say she was there-- I went out to meet her and then Jeremy got there and I completely forgot about the chicken in the oven! It was sooo dried out it was nearly inedible, and we dug through the fridge and covered them with BBQ Sauce and Ashley opted for ketchup. It was still a great Thanksgiving, though!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's your list of things I'm thankful for this year-- how about you?

* My wonderful husband-- for doing the dishes and putting out a lot of heat since our heat is broken!

* A home-- it may not be a great apartment, but we do have our own place this year which is infinitely better than where we were a year ago!

* Wonderful neighbors-- John and Paige are so much fun and so nice to us, definitely an improvement over Jimmy... they even took us bouldering last weekend!

* A team worth rooting for-- keep up the good work, Thrashers!

* My staff-- they really do make my job easy. Yes, sometimes they're not perfect, but if they weren't so great then my stressful job would be even worse!

* A job-- I may hate my job, but I have one and that's worth a lot these days!

* Our godchildren-- Julian and Violet are crazy off the wall, but they're wonderful children who love us dearly and we love them, too!

* All of our amazing friends and family who have made our (almost) first year of marriage so fantastic.

Until later this week when I pull the pictures off the camera, I wish you all a wonderful rest of Thanksgiving and a joyous start to the holiday season!

Wonderful day

Our weather here was perfect today and I couldn't have been happier-- we had our first "people over" party today and it ROCKED.

Menu:

Chicken (Drumsticks)

Pomegranate Syrup Glazed Leg of Lamb

Hot Rub Ribs (a la Central BBQ)

Garlic Honey Hamburgers

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Chips and Salsa

Ciabatta Bread with Olive Oil

Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

Green Bean Casserole (Paige)

Mediterranean Salad (Michael)

Brownies

Apple Crisp

Sangria

Pinot Grigio

And more beer than you can shake a stick at

It was pretty great, even if it DID almost start by me being stupid and burning the tips of my fingers off with the meat thermometer probe... I have to get the pictures converted on Jeremy's computer since the camera was being ridiculous, but it was a great day filled with friends and food and great weather.

Fall is Here!

We grilled out steaks and Paige made a fantastic salad! It was a lovely night.

Welcome to AOII, Beta Zeta!!

This weekend we Installed our newly Colonized Chapter-- Beta Zeta at Kennesaw State University!

There were 99 ladies installed as a chapter, 97 initiated and 2 transfers, and it was a looooong and rewarding and exciting day! I have a few pictures here, but thanks to my budget on IC (Installation Committee) I got to pass off the photography duties to Caq!

Chandeliers in the Grand Ballroom

Kay tying bows around centerpieces

almost 100 roses!

A rose ever blooming will grow through the years

Roll Book

Charter!!

Charter with rose

Gift from Headqarters

Head table

SHOPPING! (too bad I was broke...)

Kay, Sherry, and Janet shopping the Emporium

Teri and Stacey

Jenny's on the right, she organized the whole thing!

Jenna and Stacey from HQ, this is their thing

Stacey and I-- we know all the same people!

Jenny checking people in

Barb Zipperian (IP), Brandi Nunnery (CDNS), and Aimee Meyers (CDND)

Lanterns inside the hotel

Me and Brandi-- she was my CNS in college!

I love AOII so much and am thankful every day that it's part of my life-- we have so many wonderful women and I'm so honored to have them all as sisters.

Memphis Bridal Shower

The bridal shower was a lot of fun, Jan and Fia did a really great job! Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

The cake, roses Jeremy picked out, and the cute little favor boxes Fia made

The cake was gorgeous!

I just love this because Fia looks like she's about to sass someone

Fia and Jan

punch, munchies, egg rolls, pinwheels, quiches, and fruits and veggies-- yum!

slicing the cake with Meghan's help-- we were sad it didn't taste as good as it looked!

Ignore the flash in the door... from L to R

Ashley, Meghan, Me, Suzy, and Fia

All in all, a good afternoon! The alumnae tea at Rhodes was also fun, I got to meet a couple of girls I know through facebook but hadn't met since they graduated long before I got there, and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in years!

This week is Halloween, though I STILL don't know what we're going to be! I thought today we could be Michael and Fi from Burn Notice, but it'd be good to have something that the kids might understand for the contest on Wednesday. And that wouldn't involve me being cold. Any suggestions?

Excuse me, please but...

Could we possibly stop killing each other? It would be awful nice if we could all just pause for a moment and realize that no matter what God/dess we believe in (if any), no matter what color our skin is (as it's really just an accidental evolutionary response to the climate in which our ancestors lived), and no matter who we love, we are all people and we all live on this planet together and we may as well make the best of it. Stop being so bloody hateful.

No pun intended.

That's all I have to say, I won't rant, but it would be nice if that could happen. I'm sure it would also be nice to solve world hunger and cure AIDS and cancer all in one fell swoop.

First day of camp went really well, the campers are all pretty well behaved (for a large group of kids between the age of 5 and 14) and I'm in charge of the kindergarten to second grade girls with another counselor, Brandy, who is a junior (I believe) at Georgia State. There are a couple of girls in the group who have given us trouble, and I'm hoping one of them is just trying to act tough (I had to talk her out of a corner this morning when she was crying for her mommy) while the other may just have an attitude problem a few sessions in time out will fix. We also have a couple of celebrity look alikes in our group-- one who looks like Jane Krakowski and one who looks like Catherine Zeta-Jones, and I'm not talking resembles, I'm talking LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE. It's totally crazy. They're also getting along pretty well so far, we haven't had to tell any of the girls to be nice even though the same aged boys have been giving Stephanie and Scott absolute fits.

I think there will only be a couple of people who are going to try my patience, but they're also going to try the rest of the counselors' patience so I don't feel too bad about it. I'm also going to like working with Brandy a lot, she's a lot of fun and we think a lot alike. I've been looking up a lot of info on stuff to do with kids in the area since we're supposed to come up with fun things to do with our groups to get brownie points, if you will, with Richard and avoid the monotony of duck duck goose and freeze-dance. The library has a few story times, but they're not really convenient to our schedule, so I think instead I'll just talk to Brandy about doing a storytime with the girls to try and match the theme of the week, and maybe even doing a movie to match the theme. We didn't get the pool this week, Glenlake is still recovering from a massive makeover this summer, and we'll be able to go Friday weather permitting-- the weather doesn't look like it will permit, however... perhaps that would be a good day for Finding Nemo since it's Aquarium Week!

Anyway, that's enough for now. I'm going to watch the rest of Quantum of Solace (which is making much more sense now that I've re-watched Casino Royale) and fall asleep. With luck, Casey will refrain from cranking the air down to sub-zero and I won't keep waking up freezing cold!

Ciao!

Seriously?

AT&T is really getting on my last nerve, but the sad thing is that apparently Sprint is even WORSE! I mean WOW!

They told me they wouldn't be charging me for anything, the guy said that the only charges would show up on my next bill, and yet... THEY FRICKIN' CHARGED ME! I'm in the hole $160 because of them! I am *seriously* going to kick someone's butt, and they're going to give me back my money and a month of free data. This is my decision. It looks like they decided for some reason to charge me for the Blackberry (according to the packing slip) which is BS because it was an upgrade and a refurb, therefore it was free of charge.

Anyway, I'm not going to keep ranting, I know you have all heard quite enough of my stupidity of walking in to AT&T traps lately.

I went over and watched the kids for Meg and Michael tonight so they could go out for Michael's birthday and had a lot of fun. Julian's adorable, and made them let him stay up until I got there so he could say hi and after about 10 minutes of cajoling we got him in to bed (he's a surprisingly obedient child for being SOOOO hyperactive!) and Meg and Michael were on their way. Vi was really fussy, turns out she was a bit gassy and her tummy was upset, so after getting her system worked out, I put her down on the bed and cranked up the ambient baby noise (like, the sound of a baby's hearbeat, the sound of a hairdryer, rain falling on the roof, that sort of thing) and she was out for the next few hours. Talked to Jeremy for a while, then put Vantage Point on to watch-- it was ok, but fell short of its potential, I think. Vi woke up around 1230a fussy again, and I thought she might be hungry so I made her a bottle-- she usually only eats like 4oz max but she drained the 5oz bottle! And then looked at me as if to say, "Um, I know that's not all." I burped her (that's what happens when you're a greedy baby!) and she started to drowse off again right as they got home.

I really enjoy watching the kids for them, they're so well behaved and I know they don't get a lot of time to themselves, especially since they have the new baby. Violet's about to turn three months and is getting her personality worked up and set in place, and does this hilarious thing where she'll take her pacifier out of her mouth while she's sleeping, start to get grumpy, and then put it back all without waking up. I can also feel her starting to work her legs when I'm burping her, like she wants to stand up, so I think she'll be an early walker!

Tomorrow I'm going to our staff meeting at Palate, and Susie's bachelorette party is tomorrow night. I'm excited, it'll be fun, but since I don't have any money to spend I feel a little awkward going out. Oh well, it'll be an excuse to dress up cute, I suppose and then I'll just go hang out with Meg and Michael and drink for free with them and play with the baby some more! (note: I do not handle babies while drunk, nor do I really get drunk-- I just have a beer or two. I have no desire to be that lady on COPS)

Ciao!

One of those days...

It's strange, I never really have those days where I sit down and look at my life and think, "Man, this isn't all that bad after all!" but today I kinda did. Work's been getting me down lately, as I'm sure you could tell, but I'm glad I had a good night tonight-- I could sit down and look at my photos from this weekend with a clear head and realize that I'm really lucky to have the life I do.

Living in Decatur is an absolute privilege, one I hope to give my child/ren some day, and one of the things its given me is access to a strong learning community and one that appreciates literature. Two of my favorite authors, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, came to the Decatur Public Library this weekend, and Jeremy got to go with me. They write popular novels, but are both very intelligent, very funny, and very witty. Their talk was great and then they signed books and took pictures!

This one's a little blurry, Jeremy was holding the camera weird, but from L to R is Lincoln Child, me, and Douglas Preston! I've been reading Preston's books since I was in middle school!!

After that, we walked around the square and looked at the artists booths, and we stopped in this great little shop called Taste on the back side of the square. LOVE that store so much. If you're local, you can get me a gift certificate there any time!! We poked around there a little extra because it started *pouring* down rain and we didn't have an umbrella, but Jeremy found some yummy chow chow to take back for his sandwiches and I found the most hilarious card to send to Shelby-- a print of Barack taking his presidential oath with the caption, "I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear to turn this mother out."

We wandered back to the car, and since I hadn't been able to get in touch with Meg or Michael, I decided we'd "swing by" (shoulda known better!) before going home to take a nap. We got there and Michael was hanging out with Sarah (a girl Meg and I went to high school with, but I haven't seen in who knows how many years!) and trying to get Vi to sleep and Julian was running around... being Julian. He took to Jeremy like nobody's business (not surprising, kids LOVE Jeremy) and took him on the grand tour of Casa de Julian and the costumes in his closet and all his toys. We fed Julian Altoids to see his reaction and he actually liked them, then he attacked Michael like a wild man, then he decided he was going to play with Jeremy some more and continued to use him as a jungle gym. Meg and I decided he's going to be one of those grandads all the little ones use as a jungle gym whether he's actively participating or not. Then we walked up to dinner and met Meg's mom and her sister Della-- The Matador in Oakhurst was pretty decent, and not too expensive. It waited until we got inside to start raining and didn't rain on us on the way home.

Today, I went up to Apres Diem for lunch and to see Adam and Erin in from Seattle. There were, of course, tons of other people there for fantastic company and the food was to die for-- and totally one-upped Fresh Slices which is a little funny. Apres Diem is a chic type tapas place in Midtown Atlanta, and their sandwiches range from about $8-10. With these sandwiches come a side salad AND home fries, whereas at Fresh Slices you don't necissarily get fries, even! Anyway, I got to see Aihanh and Igal, and Greg was there with his new girlfriend, and Hetal and Hugh and some other Tech people I vaguely know. Erin was asking about where Jeremy and I would be when he was done with school and it turns out... they have a house they're trying to rent! It's a three bedroom, soon to be two bath, and while it's not in the bestest area ever, we could get it for about $900 a month! And since we'd know the landlords, we could probably do most anything we like to the house which would keep Jeremy busy and would be at least half funded so we could afford to do it! Yaaay!

So, uploading those pictures to Facebook and Flickr, I looked at my life and realized that there are some really amazing people in my life-- I have a fiancee I love and sometimes still can't believe, there are a couple of pretty cute kids who think I'm swell and I love them to death, I'm re-acquainting myself with friends from high school who are wonderful people, and I feel kind of like I'm a part of a big family here, which is what's so great about Decatur in the first place. We'll be a little farther away, about 20 minutes, if we're at Adam and Erin's place, but we'll still be ITP and we'll have room for folks to stay the night which they just might.

Memphis was where I lived for five years, and I think I almost forgot what home meant while I was there. Now, I'm remembering it and I couldn't be happier.

Ciao for now.

What a weekend!

I'll just give a quick rundown of the weekend since I've told the story a few times now...

Thursday was the girls' preformal (date party) and the theme was Storybook Couples/Characters. My favorite was India and Houston who came as Calvin and Hobbes!

India's tummy was furry and she kept asking me to pet it, which was kind of hilarious. I also met Houston (her boyfriend) for the first time; he's a really sweet kid and I had fun talking beer and some academics with him. The girls were very well-behaved, but someone's date got way out of control and started a fight with the bouncer! I had to step in at one point, and was apparently pretty scary which is good-- it means word will get around that you don't screw up at an AOII event anymore! The girls are always great, but their dates have ruined stuff for them so many times, it's just not going to happen now that I'm here! The place we went to was called Cypress Pint and Plate. It was pretty good, but definitely on the pricey side-- they charged on average $2-3 more a beer than we do at Palate! $10 for a Hitachino White? Whaaaat? The food was pretty good, though, and the atmosphere was very well constructed. I wouldn't mind going down on a Monday night for their twenty cent wings and buying a couple beers then. After I broke up the fight with the bouncer, I came home and couldn't sleep because I was so wound up/ticked off. I wrote the chapter an e-mail explaining that I knew it wasn't their fault, but they needed to impart to their dates the severity of the punishment should they screw up on Friday at formal.

Friday we were on the Henry Grady River Boat at Stone Mountain for formal and it was AWESOME!! The girls and their dates were the most well behaved Greek organization the security folks could remember, and not only did we get our security deposit back, they actually *wanted* us to come back next year! The weather held out and was perfect-- nary a cloud in the sky and the moon was full and high in the sky, we couldn't have asked for anything better. I wore one of my grandmother's dresses, a really cute vintage number from the '40s. Everyone loved it, and so did I. I'm fairly set on having vintage dresses for my nice events from now on, they fit better and are just so pretty and so well made. They're quite expensive, though, so I'm thinking that it might be easier on my pockets to buy the vintage Vogue patterns and use similar materials.
Above is the view from the riverboat just before sunset of the forest surrounding the mountain.

Today was Susie's bridal shower, which was lots of fun. There was a woman there who is a "grace period" foster mother and I think maybe once Jeremy and I settle in and have our own who's a bit older, I'd like to do it, too. All you do is take in babies who are given up for adoption for the 10-20 day grace period Georgia gives a mother to change her mind so that the adoptive family doesn't have the baby and then get it taken away just as they've gotten it. All told, this woman's had 75!! She had her newest one who was only two weeks old with her, she got passed around and was a little shocked at the number of people there. Everyone was great fun, and my Mancala and Jenga went over well with Susie who loves those games as much as I do :) Her bachelorette party is in a couple weeks, I think, and should be a blast. I'm so excited to get to know Susie better, and Joanna as well-- I think we're all going to be really good friends. And it's appropriate, really, since Emily and I are very close now and met through a mutual friend, that I should be good friends with people I have met through her!

Work tonight was rough for a while, but not too bad-- and I really like working with Peter. If Shale gets in to medical school and heads on up to Philly, I'll probably talk to Jill about picking up Saturdays; they're a good money-making night and Peter and I just get along really well.

I'm so exhausted and have finally wound down enough to fall asleep maybe, so I'll leave you with a picture from my last trip to Florida-- my favorite billboard ever. Heck yeah, Chick'fil'A.