Independence Day Weekend



I'm back! I spent Independence Day weekend with some friends at a lake house down in Wetumpka, AL.

The view from the back porch

We went down on Thursday afternoon and came back last night. I love traveling, but can I just take a minute to say how much I don't love driving through Chattanooga at rush hour? I don't normally get frustrated in traffic, but rush hour in Chattanooga is a thing to be avoided at all costs. We had intended to leave in time to just miss it, but Greg ended up getting stuck in a loop at work and we didn't leave until an hour later. So we ended up getting caught in the middle of it. Not only was there normal rush hour traffic, but also holiday rush hour traffic and construction.

G really needs to wash his window!

I took this picture to let Amy know how far we'd gotten and that traffic was pretty light for Chattanooga. Famous last words because about 5 minutes later we came to a full stop. According to the GPS we ended up losing 25 minutes in Chattanooga. After a stop for fuel of both kinds, we managed to get there only 30 minutes after I thought we would.

 

The next morning I discovered my breakfast spot!

The front porch was about 15 degrees cooler than the back, so I enjoyed most of my morning meals on the swing. Southerner, y'all. Hahaha.

 

Since it was after sunset when we got there, G and I didn't go out on the water until Friday morning. But I got to do something new; kayaking!

I know a lot of people who love kayaking, but I hadn't had a chance to try it out. There were 2 kayaks at this lake house, a single and a double. After testing them out on land (read: making sure my long-legged love wasn't too tall), we headed out.


Whoo hoo! He fits!

I can see why people really like it! It's so peaceful and relaxing (if you're on a calm-ish lake like we were). Plus, it's a great upper body/core workout. :-) Greg ended up going out in the single kayak while Amy and I went in the 2-seater. It was definitely a bonding experience (like we need more??). I sat in front and had a one-ended paddle while she was in the back wit a double ended paddle. We might have gone in a few circles before we found our rhythm. It was fun though! I lost count of the number of times we went kayaking over the weekend. It became sort of a time killer while we were waiting for other things, which was great. And ever since we got home, G's been looking to buy a kayak. Fun stuff!

Friday night we took the pontoon boat out to watch the fireworks. I looks behind the boat and was just in love with God's color scheme for the evening!


After that I didn't really take too many pictures. We kept meaning to, but time just got away from us. It wasn't until I was typing this post that I realized I didn't ever take a delfie with Amy. Tragic! Overall it was a good holiday weekend. I hope yours was enjoyable, too!

Biscuits

I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it is already August! Tony starts 10th grade on Monday, Amy's birthday is in 19 days (good thing I already know what she's getting), and the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day, is just around the corner. Then it will be time for football, apples, chili, and pumpkins. Don't get me wrong, I love Fall. It's my favorite season. But where the heck did my summer go??? Luckily I have some pretty fun thins planned for the rest of this month.

This weekend is Tennessee's Tax Free Weekend, so we are going shopping bright an early tomorrow. Thank goodness, because I am in desperate need of some new shirts, pants, and shoes. Since Tennessee's sales tax is so high, it's like 10% off of everything I need! I may look at some of the school supplies for some craft projects I have in mind, but my main mission is to get clothes.

We intend to take a 9-Inning Vacation on the 11th. I haven't gone to a game all season which is a little weird. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but it's always fun to go. And I love this one because The Tennessee Smokies are playing the Montgomery Biscuits. I'm not kidding. Here's there mascot.

 How could you not want to see that team play?? I love our local team, but I'm not gonna lie... I kind of want a Montgomery Biscuits shirt. Only in the South, right?

Then, like I said, Amy's birthday is in 19 days. She's going out of town for a few days on her actual birthday, but I'm sure she and I will do something before or after her trip. I'm pretty stoked about her present, but seeing as she reads this blog, you're going to have to wait to find out what it is. Rest assured, it involves some craft-tastic goodness.

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I have a few other things to catch you up on, but I'm going to leave this post on a high note. Hope your August is off to a great start!

Leading

I know I keep saying this, but the past few weeks have been rough! Work has been super stressful, and it's bleeding into my social life. I'm hoping that since today was the last day of the summer contest I was running, things at work will smooth out a bit. Fingers crossed, at least.

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Yesterday was a really dramatic day anyway. Greg sent me a text at about 2:00 saying that his sister was taking his mom to the doctor because she was acting odd. She had been a little off the past few weeks, but I just chalked it up to her being 60-something and life just catching up to her. Yesterday she was being unresponsive so off they went to the doctor who promptly sent them to the emergency room.

It looks like she had a stroke, and she had it a few weeks ago. She doesn't have any paralysis or speech issues which is why no one noticed at first. However, she is having trouble thinking. For instance, last night when Greg and I went to see her in the ER, she knew who we both were. She talked to us just like she has every day I've known her. But when the nurse asked her if she could name any of us, she couldn't. You could TELL she knew, but just couldn't spit it out. It made me think of when someone asks you a question and you respond "I could have told you til you asked me..." The nurses said to be encouraged by that, but it was still hard to watch her struggle.

We stayed at the hospital until she was settled in her room for the night. She went for a CT scan and an MRI this morning. They showed that she had a blockage in her brain that might lead to mini-strokes. I'm not sure if they can remove it and when they plan to do so if possible. I do know they are not letting her go home until they figure out exactly what happened which will probably be another 2-3 days.

Needless to say, Greg's freaking out and upset. We're hoping that she is able to move back into a calm household with people who are taking care of her and supporting her. Greg very well may lose it if otherwise.

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I'm looking forward to August. I have a few things coming up that should be really exciting. This weekend I'm going to a  Group Leader's Gathering at the church. I'm feeling called to lead a bible study, so our groups pastor asked me to come to the gathering. It should be fun and informative. Then next week I am going to the Global Leadership Summit.

Can you tell I'm being called to lead?

 The Summit is actually in Nashville, but my church is hosting as a satellite. I'm excited. I looked at the list of speakers, and I think I'll really learn a lot that I can use in multiple areas of my life. Plus I'm taking 2 days off from work which is a little exciting in itself.

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I hope you had a great July and your August is AWESOME!

Oh, my, it's already July?

I've been a bad blogger lately, and I am truly sorry. Things have just been goofy lately, and any time I sit down to blog I can't seem to form coherent thoughts. There have even been days when I didn't get on the computer at all. I know, the shame.  Please forgive me, loves. 

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June was a crazy month filled with stress and sadness and drama. Between my oldest brother moving to Texas, random dramas at work and with friends, and a few weeks work of nightmares, I'm glad to see it over! I had more headaches, outbursts, and breakdowns last month than the previous 5 combined. Sheesh!

That being said, I cannot believe that it's already JULY! Tony Baloney's birthday is 2 weeks! And he leaves for camp in 9 days. I'll have to get started writing his notes from home for this year. I'm not sure what the theme for camp is this year, but I can wing it. :-) I'm going to try to make July a little better than June (if I could hold off on the nightmares, that'd be great). I'm also hoping to fit in more adventures. 

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Does anyone else have that one question you seem to get asked a lot? One that you can't seem to go more than a few months without hearing? My number one used to be "so... what are you, exactly?" They meant my ethnicity, but I usually responded with "a girl," "tall," or "mostly human." Oh, and apparently "sarcastic." I think it was the exactly that got to me. Who knows what they are "exactly?" It's very existential for a 7 year old. Anyway! Lately I keep hearing "why do you wear your watch like that?" If you ever see me take a picture of my watch, it will look like this:

Watch face = back of hand

But that's only because it's easier to take the picture that way. This is how I actually wear it:

Watch face = palm

And lately people keep asking me why I wear my watch "upside down." The short answer is "because my Mimi does." I've done it since I was a kid. I was maybe 10 years old. One day I noticed that my grandmother was wearing her watch like that, and I decided that's how I would wear my watch, too. I didn't know why she was wearing it that way, but it didn't matter. Mimi was (and still is) someone I greatly admired, so if she wore her watch like that then by golly so would I. And now it's just the way I wear it. If actually feels uncomfortable for me to wear it the "right" way. Occasionally, I'll spin it around if I'm typing or something else where I don't want to scratch the face, but I find that more annoying so I usually just take it off. 

[Side Note: Yes, I do have a thing for watches. I have several in various colors. At the moment I have them in white, bright pink, orange, tennis ball yellow, aqua, emerald, purple, white leather, brown leather, and red. I'm still on the hunt for a black and a silver that I like.]

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For the record, my mom is Welsh/Irish with a trace of Native American, and my dad is African American.