for the love of water

I love my best friend Stephanie. I love her husband and her kid. I also love her in-laws. And I love their lake house.

It is a small weekend get-a-way for me a few times during the summer. There is nothing like relaxing and laughing with people you love for a whole weekend. I have known Steph and her family since we were 10. Spending a weekend with them is like spending a weekend with my own family. It’s also amazingly nice to not have cell service for days!

Several weeks ago I went to hang out for the weekend. Of course my camera went with me. (it goes everywhere!)

At 6am, this is the most peaceful, quiet, calming place.

I love Diane’s little teal bird house.

Gavin, Eric and Madalyn getting ready to go out on the tube.

Sheila, don’t look… Gavin isn’t holding on!

I love these shots of Gavin.. he was cracking me up with his funny faces and super hero poses!

I love these shots of Sheila with her grand babies.

well, ok this one is just of the grand baby…

Sigh… looking through these makes me wanna go back. Right now! I am sure i will make it back one more time this summer before Beck gets here. I hope!
 

-m

pregnancy, swim suits, boats and the lake

Bathing suits: Reason #642 Why not to be pregnant during the summer.

Girls… how awful is shopping for a new bathing suit year after year? (Or every few years when you just can’t face the awful, harsh, florescent lights of the department store)

well, it’s awful. I don’t care what you say.

Its double awful when you weigh an extra 20+lbs and have a bulging belly!

I graduated to a one piece bathing suit years ago. I think it might have been after the summer Tori told me I shouldn’t be wearing the suit I had on because my butt jiggled in it. (you gotta love young kids and their honesty)

Several  weeks ago I knew I had a lake trip coming up and I would need a new swim suit. I forced myself to head to Motherhood at the mall to find something that would fit me. I tried on EVERY SINGLE swimsuit they had. Seriously. I finally settled on the last one. which was also the UGLIEST one. No fat girl looks good in floral. Ever. The sad thing is, none of my problem was with my belly fitting… it was all in the boobs. I couldn’t buy an extra-large top and large bottoms, because they were all sets.

So, after complaining to my friend Steph and showing her how awful it was she suggested trying Target.  A few days later I headed to Target and just happened to get lucky. I ended up with a pretty cute black with white polka dots top and black bottoms. I will be returning the god-awful floral print to Motherhood.

Steph and I did laugh a few times this weekend at the lake about “all those dots” on my suit. This photo was taken by Steph’s mom, Sheila. I was smiling because I had just threatened to shoot her a bird if she was taking my photo. She did it anyway. And tagged me on Facebook.

Let’s also discuss pregnant girls getting in and out of a boat. It’s a challenge. Steph and I had discussed that it could be a problem. I got in the water just fine and held on to my float with a death grip. I can swim, but even after a few minutes of kicking and swimming I was worn out. My swollen ankles hurt from kicking and my belly was cramping up from laughing at Steph’s husband Jason. I also was attacked by a 5-year-old and had to remind him that I had a baby in my belly and could hold the 3 of us up!

So… the time came to get back in the boat…I honestly was a little scared I wouldn’t be able to do it. Thank goodness for the men with us. Steph’s brother Eric was able to give me a hand after I had gotten my boobs and belly over the ledge of the platform. I felt like a whale. The 2nd time getting in the boat was easier. I had mastered the boobs-then-belly concept.

I also took a short ride on the seadoo. I was jealous because it looked so fun, but didn’t want to jostle Beck too much. Plus I didn’t want to fall off of it. Jason promised he would be careful with me and took me on a slow poke ride. The seadoo was very comfy and the water was very calm, so it was a nice little ride. The life jacket I had to wear wouldn’t exactly zip, or buckle completely, but I wore it anyway!

I am so thankful to Steph and Jason for letting me come hang out for the weekend. It was a nice little get away from the phone and social media. It was a fun, relaxing trip… and absolutely exhausting! I actually took a nap when I got home!

OK. I was going to also fill you in on my bra buying experiences in this post, but I will save it for a post of it’s very own. It’s depressing and completely comical.

-m

grown ups, 40s and a cotton candy machine

Michelle and Jamie brought their Cotton Candy Machine over a week or so ago.

That’s right. Their COTTON CANDY MACHINE.

Basically, you add 2 pieces of your favorite hard candy and wait for the magic to happen… while drinking your 40 of Bud Light.

When the candy melts, you swoop the cotton candy holder thing round and round to catch the sugary strings of goodness.

The look of pure cotton candy happiness…

or you just stick your face directly into the machine… Be careful though.. there’s a spinning, hot, metal disk thing in there. It’s dangerous!

side note… 2 pieces of hard candy will not make a beautiful-fluffy-perfect-cotton-candy-cloud as shown on the box.

There were no kids involved in the making of this cotton candy. Just 4 adults, laughing hysterically at the novelty of making cotton candy at home! It was absolutely the most fun you can have for an hour or so on a Saturday! Untill we made our selves sick eating so much cotton candy…

-m

M&M day 2010

I have a friend. (I know… shocking!)

Her name is Mandy. I would give you the full name, but she doesn’t like it when I use her middle name. How we became friends is a long, twisted weird story. But it happened. And though life changes and relationships end and friendships wither up and blow away, she and I have laughed and cried and laughed some more through it all. I have to say she is one of my favorite people to walk this planet. There is nothing about her I would change, and there is nothing about her I don’t love completely!

Mandy and I go through spurts of hanging out and sometimes we look up and realize it’s been 6 months since we have seen each other. Last year we caught up on the phone and realized we hadn’t seen each other in a long time.  It was July, I think, and we both grabbed our calendars and marked Sept 5th on the calendar for the 1st annual M&M Day!… It was our first free weekend available. September 5th arrived, and without any true plans, we just jumped in the car and took off. We ended up eating “burrocos” and drinking Margaritas. Then we hit up Wal-Mart for candy (um… m&m’s of course!), beer and arts & crafts. We sat in the parking lot of Wal-Mart and drank our beer, made amazing bracelets and visors and laughed our asses off. We finished the night off with the 1st Bama football game of the season. and we even got Mandy to wear crimson!

Immediately a tradition was born. When I bought my new 2010 planner, one of the 1st things to go in it was September 4th, 2010, 2nd annual M&M Day. There was no question that our day would be full of fun, laughter and football. I expected to have something big planned for the day. Considering I had 365 days to plan it, it should have been simple. Instead, we made no plans until the day rolled around.

We met for “burrocos” and margaritas again.

We documented each moment with my camera, iphone and kept the facebook folks up to date with our whereabouts. We went shopping at Piggly Wiggly this time for booze and snacks. All the while we laughed and caught up and laughed some more. People in the Pig thought we were crazy… and the are pretty much right.

Saturday was the most beautiful day we have had here in the Ham in months and months. The high was 85. There was a fantastic breeze. It couldn’t have been a better day. After eating, and shopping, we loaded up with a couple of beers and a blanket and went and sat in the park for over an hour. Even though there was a football game to be watched, we seriously considered staying right there on that blanket til the sun went down. The weather was really that amazing. But we sucked it up and made it in time for kick off.

We spent about 20 minutes trying to get a picture of us together in the park. This basically turned into us laughing like damn hyenas, and taking some pretty funny pictures. For some reason I couldn’t get the camera aimed right to get us both in the picture. So I have quite a few of half of Mandy’s face and all of my big head. After a little bit of practice, and some time to quit laughing, this one turned out and is one of my favorites from the day.

This is the best Iphone reminder I have had so far!

And a perfect representation of what this day was all about… relaxing!

We already have big plans for M&M day 2011. Most likely we will fail at those plans and end up eating mexican and drinking beer. I am ok with that!

-m

Some (or all) of my favorites from the zoo

All of these were taken at the Birmingham Zoo. The zoo has come a long way since I was a kid and is growing more. I enjoy it more and more every time I go. This also crosses #85 off my list.

Here are some more pictures from the day. My first set was posted here if you want to check those out.

I was only planning on posting the 2 that I loved the most. Then I started looking and couldn’t leave out the others that I liked the most too!!

The Gorillas were so much fun to watch. I really could have sat right there all day and watched them fight and chase each other! Amazing animals!

This guy posed for me for a while. I liked this shot the best.

This is my friend, she does not live at the zoo. But that little monkey with her probably should!

These last four (I know, I said 2! I have changed my mind again!) are my top picks from the day.

I couldn’t get a good shot of the whole animal, but I like what I did get! 

I was super proud of this one since it was in a dark room through glass… I think I lucked up on the settings and it just worked. Plus I have a thing for beautiful snakes.

This one is included because I think it goes nicely with the next one of her napping mate.

My absolute FAV from the day. I am actually envisioning this one printed out and framed in my one day house.

I just loved the colors and how peaceful that beast seems. I adore his paw hugging the back side of the rock. When I look at it, it reminds me to slow down and relax. Aren’t naps the BEST!?

-m

my google calendar is a rainbow of fun

 I am a pretty busy girl. I stay busy so that I don’t completely go insane. In the process of staying busy, I am completely insane!

I started using the calendar on google a few months ago. I am a huge fan of an actually paper planner in my purse at all times, but I am trying to get away from that. Eventually I will own a smart phone and it will be right there at my fingertips.

I like that you can set up separate calendars to show different types of events. Currently I have 8 different colors that represent 8 different items through out my month…

Makin the Moolah                 Birthdays and Anniversaries            Fun Stuff – Friends

Fun Stuff – Kiddos                  Hatred and Anger (aka workouts)    Other

Photography                            Roll Tide Roll

 

My calendar is PRETTY. And packed! I like it that way

Did you notice none of those say “sit my happy ass on the couch and do nothing”? I am horrible at that!

Mainly it’s packed with makin the moolah, and fun stuff.  I work all day and then cram my afternoons and evenings with awesome people and great times.

I am actually excited to be adding more “Hatred and anger (aka workouts) to my days. Don’t tell Mike,  but I actually enjoyed walking 4 miles in the torrential down pour Sunday night. I feel better already and can’t wait (did I say that out loud?) for the next workout. Even though my legs hurt like hell, I am liking it.

And most importantly my Saturdays are soon to be filled with friends, food and football! I am pumped about  September 4th. Not only do I get to celebrate the 2nd annual M&M day with my great friend Mandy, but we get to yell and scream at the tv while Bama plays ball.

The rest of this week will be working the 2nd job, a baseball game and cheep beer, working out, volunteering for BAAM!, listening to great music and maybe a trip to the Museum of Art.

Next week will be a little slower til I fly out on Thursday to visit my friend Ben. I can’t wait to spend a few days in a new city with an old friend. My camera will be well used that weekend!

I am excited to be doing new things, meeting new people, and enjoying the life I have.  I am finding it easier to express myself. whether it be through this blog, talking to a stranger, making new friends, or scribbling out my thoughts on a random scrap paper. I am finding it easier to keep my head up and enjoy the good things in my day-to-day life. As I read back through this, I laugh because I was frustrated with life when I started typing, but look at all the good and fun stuff I have going on…that makes me happy.

-m

Patron, popcorn and zombies Speakeasy style

yes sir… that’s my plan for this evening! You can’t go wrong with tequila and zombies… right? You should come too!

I will be here:

Watching this awesome zombie flick: (even though  I have seen it 100 times!)

“There’s a girl in the garden”

( Shaun of the Dead photos from here and here )

drinking this and eating that:

Hopefully hanging out with my zombie loving friends.

oh and just for fun… here is a picture of me as a Zom-BEE…
that’s right I am funny!

Man I love Halloween… Is it October yet?
-m

easily entertained by gumballs

Some days it’s the little things.

The little things that make you smile. The little things that make you laugh. The little things that can entertain the shit out of grown people and make you waste 15 minutes of precious work time!

I was in my boss’ office one day last month and this was on the desk…

It was a card. Now I can’t remember what it said. But something witty from some company wanting our business…

My boss and I had a laugh about it… wondering if they were going to send us a gum-ball machine like another company had done as a huge scam. Basically they called and got my name, then made a bogus order and shipped it to us via ups. Only after the poor ups guy had unloaded cases and cases of toilet paper, huge shredders and A FULL SIZE GUM-BALL machine, did we say “wait a minute… what the hell is all this stuff”. Then we had to refuse it and he had to load it all back on the truck. I am pretty sure he still hates us for it! It took me months of fighting with this stupid company to get the bill cancelled and us removed from their mailing lists and call lists.

So, the gum-ball machine has kinda been a joke.

Then we got this in the mail…

We opened it up and laughed. It’s just a tiny desk top one but it hold about 1lb of gumballs. AND they sent us 2lbs to go with it. MLL and I spent 15-20 minutes opening it, filling it up, looking for change to put in it, testing it out and laughing. She read me the instructions that stated “hours of entertainment and enjoyment.”

me: how in the wold could a bubble gum machine give me hours of entertainment?
MLL: Well I don’t know Melissa, it’s already given you 15 minutes!
me: oh. true.

Now the cute little machine sits in the pharmacy, with a pill bottle full of pennies next to it. And it’s almost ready for the next bag!

-m

Grapico and Peppermint sticks

I wrote this all out, then saved a draft and it disappeared. I am a little unhappy about it. But I am pretty sure WordPress had warned me and I ignored it. So here is my 2nd attempt!

I spent last Sunday afternoon with my dad and my grandparents. I am all too aware of how important it is to spend time with people you love while you have it. It had been a while since I had gone to visit so I called dad and asked if I could come up Sunday. He told me about a family reunion going on and I said I would try to make it. Instead I was a sleepy head and stayed in bed too long. I called him and told him I would just be at the house when they got back.

During the drive I spent most of my time contemplating life and decisions I needed to make about mine. Though deep in thought I couldn’t help but notice how incredibly beautiful the sky and the clouds were. I almost pulled over several times to take pictures of it.

My 1st stop was at my Great Grandparents house. Daddy Gay and Mama Gay. Daddy Gay died when I was itty bitty. But I do have a slight memory of him. Mama Gay was around a little bit longer so I have a few more of her. Most involve Grapicos and peppermint sticks. There was nothing like getting an ice-cold Grapico from the fridge and a peppermint stick from the cookie jar. And I seem to remember biscuits! Also, she had a table full of little animal figurines in the front room. She let me pick one out once and I still have it. It was a little figurine of a Collie dog. I am sure I picked it because of my Sassy dog that lived at the farm.

Not only did I obtain a love for Grapicos and peppermint sticks, but also for old farm houses. I adore wrap-around porches, porch swings, old wooden floors. I am a little obsessed with 1910-1930 California Bungalow architecture in houses. Now I know bungalows and farm houses aren’t exactly the same, but they remind me of each other a little.

Anyway, this was the 1st stop for me.

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Then I drove through the pasture to get a shot of the barn. I love driving my car through the pasture. I don’t know why. It just makes me giggle. When we (the grandkids) were little, Papa would take us out on the tractor and ride us through the pastures. Some of us got to drive… I missed out on that part of it due to stepfamily idiocy. Oh but look a those clouds!

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My last stop was my grandparents house. I remember when they started building the house. I couldn’t have been more that 2 or 3. But I remember the basement being dug out and there being a hole in the ground. My snipits of memories are quite diverse and random.

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I traipsed around the yard for a while snapping pictures of flowers and corn stalks and squash plants. I also took my flip-flops off and enjoyed the soft grass between my toes.

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Then I realized I was melting in the hot bama sun.

Once inside, I dug around through my grandmother’s recipe books and settled into the kitchen. By the time they got back, I was “stealing” recipes to take home with me. It’s a good thing grandmother keeps a stash of index cards near her cookbooks. I think she buys them just for me! I can’t wait to try out the new ones I stole!

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The visit with the family was quite nice too! I got to eat left over yummy food from the reunion and take home fresh squash from the garden. Though my dad tried to make me drink fresh sweet tea from an ugly Auburn cup!

I know I just spent an entire blog talking about barns and houses and grapicos. I could spend just as much time talking about my grandparents, lincoln logs, peanut butter cookies, plastic coloring sheets, watermelons and bubble wands. I will do that one another day!

-m

pool party, cake fight and a baby

We had Tori’s pool party Saturday afternoon. It was a combined party for her and her best friend, Jessica.

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Hunter was there too.

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There wasn’t much for me to do except hang hot and melt in the hot sun. I did get in the pool a few times, but it was FULL of people. Luckily, Brandi and Darren came. So I got to play with John Paul. I was able to focus my camera on the girls a few times, but mostly I came away with a million pictures of John’s 1st swim! I will be posting more as soon as I can. Plus… I love the frog outfit!

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Once the cake was cut, the icing started flying.

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And my favorite, non-person pic of the day.

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Next year, Tori will be 16…! eek! If she survives 15, that is!

-m