Recently, I've rediscovered blogging.  Some of you may have all but forgotten my little area of the World Wide Web because I've been less than consistent in updating but heck, that's the story of my life.  ...I digress.  In any case,  I have a couple of dear friends who have also recently discovered the joys of blogging.  I shall put their links on here as soon as I receive approval but let's just say that I hope they provide said approval as they are both quite entertaining. 

I don't even have to use pseudonymns with them because they ::GASP:: use their REAL names on their pages!  

I've only recently had the pleasure of getting to know these ladies and if you live anywhere near here, you should do yourself a favor and get to know them as well.  Incidentally, they're both single and searching...I'm happy to act as mediator should anyone be interested.

Onward with what has now become a quarterly update although I'm really really gonna try harder.  Sure I am.

February started off with a bang.  My little nephew was born on February 8th around 1:00pm weighing in at 8lbs and some change.  He is super super cute and makes me want one of my own. 

So I am.  Yes friends.  I'm preggers.  Pregnant.  Got a bun in the oven.  Knocked up.   Expecting. 

I shouldn't even post it here because it is indeed so early and anything could certainly happen but at this point, we are thrilled.   Our little one should arrive in the fall but we don't even have a due date yet because our doctor's appointment isn't until next week. 

I couldn't imagine a year ago that I would be pregnant.  I go back and read my entries from around that time and I'm just stressed out about my wedding and worried that everything would turn out ok.  Well, it seems as if it has, doesn't it?

It's been three months since my last entry which makes sense.  The end of October is a time for us to get ready for the upcoming holiday season which starts promptly on November 1st.  After that, we eat, sleep, breathe & drink pottery until December 31st.    We visited over 40 classrooms this year and hosted scores of others in our studio.  We were busy busy busy!  The times when I would get home from a 17 hour shift, I would just remind myself of the deposit in my purse waiting to be taken to the bank the next day.  Frankly, it's the only thing that kept my tired bones moving!  :-)

Now it's January and things are practically at a stand-still with few exceptions.  I'm thankful for the break though.  It gives me a chance to come up with new ideas, clean the store and clear my head.  I've been able to create an online store on my website and update lots of other stuff.  Here's a shameless plug for the website: 

PAINTED BY U  A Paint-It-Yourself Pottery Studio

Enough about me.  Just kidding.  Here's more about me.  It is MY blog, right?

October:  Clark and I went to our friend Summer's house for her annual Halloween party.  Our friend Summer, incidentally, is about to get married to a guy named Garrett.  Garrett & Summer have been dating since September.  Friends, that means, that they have only been dating for 5 months.  I can't relate sice Clark and I knew each other for 6 YEARS before we got married.  Anyway...congrats to them and we wish them the very best!  ....but I digress. 

We went to the party in costume:  torn and dirty sweatpants & shirts, wind-blown hair, mardi-gras beads (can you see where I'm headed?) and the piece de resistance:  our accesories were a VCR and a box of Nikes.  :-)  I know, I know.  It's bad but so dang funny!

November:  I turned the big 3-4.  I'm getting rackin' frackin' old!!  My clock is ticking, ticking ticking! 

December:  I could barely breathe and did not enjoy the holiday at all because of all the work I had at the studio.  Finally, the painting deadline came and I could relax a bit...just in time to get all my Christmas presents bought and/or painted. 

My family came down for Christmas Eve and the next day we visited with Clark's family.  I got a couple of unusual gifts from my hubby.  He gave me a 21" flat screen monitor for my computer.  When I opened it up, I didn't quite know what to say.  It's not a terribly romantic gift, yet it was something I really really liked that I had not asked for.  Once I got it opened and set-up though, I don't know what I did without it!  :-) 

I did get quite a surprise from him though.  We had been talking about going to see "Wicked" on stage at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta but any seat worth being in was sold out or $400 a pop so I knew there would be no chance that we'd be seeing "Wicked".   Well folks....my wonderful husband did indeed, find tickets for "Wicked" and they're great seats!!  The catch is:  it's in CHICAGO!  We're going as part of our anniversary weekend in April!!  I am so excited!!

Enough about me.  Really.  

One of my favorite party games is called "Never Have I Ever".  Another variation on it is "Do You Love Your Neighbor?".  Basically, it's a Truth or Dare game with only the Truth and your secrets will get exposed if you're not careful! 

My cousin Millie called me on Sunday.  She said her state Republican party wants her to run for a House position.  She's articulate, attractive, highly intelligent and represents the American dream.  She'll be perfect.  ....but even the greatest of politicians needs a little direction.  ...and friends, that is why my cousin Millie has called upon two of the greatest political minds of our times:  Clark & Lilllian. 

Although this State House business is somewhat small-time, we're willing to take on the task.  It's not like we have the Governor calling on us to help him for the next election cycle.  (And God knows he'll need it since he's running against Roy Moore, savior of Alabama.  I'll address that in a future entry. It's not as negative as it sounds.  I digress.)

We will be sitting down with her in a the near future to talk about anything that might come up during this campaign.  The state party has promised to raise money and get her campaign going in full swing.  I'm so excited for her, I can't stand it!

You GO Millie!

Confidential to BEN:  I'm sure you're dying to comment here but please...be kind.
Confidential to JB:  Thanks for the tag and I promise to respond soon!  I hope all is well!

 

My heart grieves for the people of the Gulf coast.  At the same time, my heart is angry at the people of New Orleans.  I wonder how I would react if one day my home was in the middle of a historic city with plenty of available water, food & shelter...and the next day, it was under 14 feet of water. 

My emotions are going in two directions.  On the one hand,  I don't understand why there is rape, plundering and theft.  It is utterly inexcusable.  So what if it is hot?  So what if you have had to wait for a bus?  Is that a reason to get you a new television?  Is that a reason to go rape a young woman?  Is that a reason to actually shoot at someone who is attempting to bring you medical aid or get you on that bus so you can evacuate?
 
On the other hand, I'm broken by the images I see each day.  Mothers with babies.  Senior adults in wheelchairs.  Disabled victims left and right.  ....with nothing to go back to.  It is devastating.

I'm contributing to the Red Cross through my store.  We will donate a portion of our Queen For A Night event revenue.  It won't be much but it's a little something and can hopefully buy a little food for some of the refugees that have taken shelter in this part of the state. 

Our church is hosting a potluck dinner on Sunday night for some of the refugees who are here.  I'm hoping to take some pottery for kids to paint.  Maybe it will bring them a little joy.

I'm praying for the citizens of the hardest hit areas.  It's tragic.

Halloween is only two short months away. My friend Summer has a costume party at her home and last year, Clark and I went as dust bunnies. We wore a gray sweatsuit covered with cotton balls that I had spray painted to look dirty. To go along with that, we wore bunny ears and bunny slippers....get it? So now I'm trying to come up with soemthing for this year. Any ideas?

Greetings all! I thought I'd post a quick couple of wedding pics. I was reading through some old entries where I said I would do this but then I didn't. Sooo...without further adieu, ado, adew, or adoo...here they are!



Many of you (and when I say "many", I mean two or three people) have asked me when I'm going to make a return to the blogging world. It seems to me that I've returned, doesn't it?

I had neck surgery to correct a herniated cervical disc.  It's called Anterior Discectomy with fuse.  How much does that suck?  Let me tell you...it sucks more than anything other than the myelogram I had to have done the day before.

Greetings friends!  It's been a long time since we've visited, hasn't it!?  I'm going to blame my absence on being a newlywed and milk it for all it's worth.  How long do I qualify as a newlywed, by the way? 

I have a recurring dream.  Maybe some of you have it too.  It happens when I feel stressed out or have many things on my mind and a lot of things left to do.  It goes like this:  I'm in college but in a current day setting.   I go to class on the first day of school and then I find myself not going to all of them on a regular basis.   Then, I find myself at the end of the term not even remembering which classes I haven't been to and trying to figure out a way to get out of taking the final exam.  This last time, I came up with a brilliant solution.  Talk to the professors and have them give me "incompletes" and have them let me finish up all the work the following semester.  It would've been a perfect plan except I wasn't quite sure which classes I had not gone attended.  It's such a stressful dream and I'm always so happy to wake up and realize that I'm not in that predicament!

I had the dream a two nights ago.  It seems that all of the pressures of my life have taken its toll and manifested itself into my dreams.  You might ask "What pressures?".   Well, the merging of two adult lives appears to look a lot like a tsunami.  My husband joked that we even found a little Sri-Lankan boy underneath one of the boxes.  We've thrown out so much STUFF and stored so much furniture that I think we've reached our landfill quota for the year.  County waste officials are sure to come to our door very soon with lots of questions.