Friday, June 30, 2006

Lunch with a gator

I really enjoy my job. Wait, to be more specific, I really enjoy my co-workers. :-)
On Wednesday, Sandy, Bryan and I decided to venture off to a little Greek cafe. I wished I had taken pics of the place b/c it was adorable and the owner looked like a perfect little Greek granddaddy. We get our lunch and decide to eat out on the porch by the pond. That's when Sandy and Bryan say, "I wonder if he's still got that alligator?" Pause. I'm an Alabamian at heart and I take all the news reports of gator attacks very seriously. I'm not trying to lose a limb, just eat a gyro. So Bryan climbs over the little deck and goes in search of the gator. Then the owner comes out smiling and pointing and climbs over the deck to find the grizzly creature. Out of sheer curiousity, I stand but don't see a thing. I figure a baby alligator may not kill you, but it will take a hand or foot and I was not dressed in preparation for a gator search.

Well, the boys found it and the photographer that I'm trying to be I took it's picture. It really wasn't studdin us, but I like to think of it as a very adventurous lunch.

Good Ole Six Flags

Nina, KJ's sister, has been putting this trip together for forever! Last year we all kind of backed out, so this year we were committed hook, line and sinker. KJ has deemed 6 Flags the most ghetto of all amusement parks. And he's right! I hadn't been in years, apprx 5 or 6 years I guess. It is now more of a hootchie momma paradise then I remember! hehehe Near the Superman ride they've set up a dance station where the dj plays hits from the Cha-Cha Slide to MC Hammer's Can't Touch This and pep come out the woodworks to shake their booties. Young and old, and I think the old are the scariest... We didn't dance, but Nina, Oneal, and myself watched them from the Superman line and I must say that the hour and a half wait was quite entertaining!

There were 7 of us total. 6 adults (Nina, Oneal, Rance, Shea, KJ, and me) and Desmond (who's 9) and we had a blast! It was the true Six Flags experience with broken rides, $8 hamburgers, $9 sippy cups (with 99¢ refills), and 2hr lines. :-) Let's just say that the people made the trip. We laughed, sweated, screamed and banded together against horrible service at an Applebee's later. I love this group of people, days like this are what being an adult should be about!





Umm... we should have measured

So, we've been on a really good kick furnishing this home and not measuring a thing. Washer and dryer, check - fit like a charm. Fridge, check fits in its little spot all nice and cozy. Couch... yeah... we met our match with this one. Seriously, we were on a roll just buying things we liked and KNOWING that it would ease into its allotted space with no problem. Dog-gone that couch. :-)

First let me explain that furniture shopping turned out to be more of a task than anticipated. KJ had opinions. Plain and simple. It threw me for a loop. Many of our conversations when we browsed the web were "What do you mean you think it's tacky?! and No, all seats in the sectional do not need to recline..." and so on. All of a sudden my dear husband wanted to help me "handle the inside stuff". (Yes, we foolishly agreed that KJ would do the outside of the house and I would do the inside. He didn't stick to his end of the deal, so I'm now rallying hard for hydrangea bushes... that's a whole other post...)
Anywho, our taste is generally like night and day, so when we walked into the furniture store and saw this couch that we BOTH LIKED, we knew we had to jump on it. All four caramel pieces of the sectional were coming home with us. Did we think to measure??? We didn't. Quite frankly, I think we overestimated our living space. And, although I had some question about the color, I was convinced that I could make it work. I'm all about painting a wall or two.

So the couch is delivered and the first 2 pieces come in giving a good indication that we could have stopped with them and been fine. But noooo, our eyes were bigger than our living room and we opted for the chaise and the bumper. So the delivery men look at each other and then us as if to ask "Are you serious?!?!?!" Well, good ole pride kicked in and I said, "Yea! This is looking just right, if you'll bring in the other pieces, we'll set it up just like we planned." So that's what they did. Brought in the last two pieces, stuffed them in our living room, and left with questions in their eyes. That's about when I looked at KJ giggling and asked if we should just stop them at the end of the street or call them the next day to come pick up our lovely 90ft brown space hog. Seriously, I watch enough HGTV that I should have known better!

Well, don't fret, we called the next day and decided to switch out for our then 2nd, now 1st choice. A lovely man/woman compromise I like to call it. (It's leather on the bottom but plush on top. Sounds funky, but I promise, it's more chic then tacky- KJ's new adjective of choice. hehehe) Here's the kicker. We get to keep the elephant in our living room until the other is in stock and delivered (about another week or so). So we've been scooting around our living room and I must say that Snuffaluffagus (big bird's large brown elephant friend aka our new temp. sofa) is kind of growing on me. KJ and I can both stretch out from head to toe and still be no where near one another (good for playstation/reading time), or meet in the middle for movie cuddling. So I've been thinking that I should probably host a gathering of 50 or so pep to put this thing to full use before it goes back to the store. ;-)

In conclusion I've learned that I probably should measure large items of furniture to avoid any future hassle, but I'm not going to lie, the rebel in me still smiles and says "Who needs a tape measurer, just eyeball it and run with it!" Yep, that's my method of choice. I think of this couch as one freak incident...


Thursday, June 22, 2006

starting off

So if you spend a good bit of your time commenting on the blogs of others, it only makes sense for you to get one of your own don't you think?
It's not that I'm that interesting (really...) it's simply that 1) so many of the people I love aren't located near me anymore 2) I'm horrible with the phone (when will the cell phone pep get a plan that let's you choose when your free hours will be?? sheesh!) and 3) I sit in front of a computer for over 8 hours a day... seriously it was only a matter of time. So tah-dah! An instant way to check in and see what's going on with me rather than chasing me down by reading the posts I leave for others. ;-)