Well we are here! A seven hour trip in only 12, it's a record.
It took 3 hours to get From home through Athens. This weekend is the GA-GA Southern game and Jon said they are revealing a new UGA dog, because the old one died. Supposedly it is a very exact science. The breeder is from Savannah and he breeds the UGA to a female each year (whose name has been changed to protect the innocent) and one dog is picked just in case UGA dies suddenly. I guess everyone in the state of Goergia came to see him, as well as GA Southern's alumni dating back to 1963. Awful. Then 30 minutes for a gas/bathroom stop and traffic on the other side of Atlanta. Someone was towing a pop-up and slammed on their brakes, causing the camper to come off and slam into the back of their Expedition. I do hope no one was hurt. After poor Finn cried for 2 hours on and off (he has been slightly sick) we decided to do the Cracker Barrel thing. Bad idea, it took them over an hour to bring out pancakes and a salad. This is part of the reason it is hard to enjoy eating out. In an hour and a half, I could have a gourmet meal on the table for almost free.
Thanks for ruining me Dave Ramsey.
At 10:00 P.M. we finally crossed into...Alabama. I left home at 2:30. We are here though and have enjoyed Belgian waffles and coffee this morning, and are off to the pool and then the beach. Aaaahhhh the place of my birth. I remember the first time I saw the Atlantic ocean, Jon's parents had rented a place at Tybee Island. I was 21, and was absolutely horrified to see that not all beaches were pristine white sand and aqua blue water. It was brown rocks and brackish water, lo and behold people were actually playing in it! I politely refused. I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Be safe.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
All for the love of books
For my first act as a newly married woman, I took all three children to the library.
We always have tons of books, and something crazy always happens, so I planned ahead and took precautions. The baby was nursed and changed and I packed all of the books into two canvas bags with handles. Usually I try to hold the baby in one arm and the books in the other, which works about as well as the mental picture I just gave you implies. I knew that some of the books were a few days late so I told Brennah and Maggie to go and quietly pick out just four books a piece. Brennah turned around and looked at me confused, "a piece?" "Each hon, I meant each one gets four." I unloaded all of the books onto the counter while holding Finn and tried to hold a converstion with the male librarian. Isn't there a law that says you have to be female to be a librarian? I guess he missed that one, but he did follow the rules when it came to personality.
I smiled brightly and told him that some of them could be a little late, so I needed to know how much I owed. He looked long and hard at the computer and glanced at me a little surprised, "eight dollars and ten cents." Well at the library that is a veritable fortune, since each time is only like ten cents when it is late. I politely asked that he find out what the fee was for. That is when it all started downhill. He starts printing out this list on a little printer kind of like a grocery store receipt thingy. It is loud and keeps going and going and going until it falls off of the counter and down the back. While this is going on, Maggie runs up to me, grabs her crotch and whispers (you know the kid library whisper that sounds like they are screaming?) I have to go to the bathroom! I glanced at the ticker tape thing still happily humming and told Mags that she would have to get Brennah to take her. She runs back in 10 seconds. "She says she won't take me!" So I left the printer for a minute and went to talk with Bren, where I gently suggested she take Maggie. Then I went back to where the thing was still going. At this point the man- librarian or mabrarian starts to kind of smirk a little. Which is no little thing because I had been cracking one liners to no avail since arriving. Anyway, it turns out that although I had nothing outstanding now, I had late fees that had slowly piled up since moving back last year. I had him go ahead and check Jon's card which was $3.40 and my own which was a modest .30 cents (the eight dollars was on Bren's card-awful I know). I handed him my visa check card. The look of horror that I was given I cannot even describe to you. "We don't take PLASTIC!" This said in the library whisper. I offered to bring back the $11.80 in cash at a later date which he accepted. Since wonder of wonders these people still allowed me to pick out some books (I guess they knew a library moneymaker when the saw one) I went off to peruse the shelves. I suddenly realized that the girls weren't back and a moment of mommy panic ensued, so off I went toward the bathroom, and heard them WAY before I got there. I walked in to see Brennah crawling on the nasty floor out from under the stall door. "Mommy, Maggie went into the out of order one!!!!!" I looked at the 3 other empty stalls. Of course my child would pick the one. The door opened and Maggie cheerfully popped out, as I start envisioning telling the mabrarian that my little girl has stopped up the toilet and would he please grab a plunger? Brennah told me solemnly that the sign was on the back of the door. I looked around and there it was, a large printed paper that said, "PLEASE DO NOT FLUSH SANITARY NAPKINS." Well thank goodness for that anyway, "Bren it's fine," as I held the baby and reached my flip-flopped foot up to flush as I clenched my toes so that my shoe would stay on. We all trooped back into the library to pick out books. Findlay decided that he needed to get into the action so he started making the loud baby playing with his lips noise. Definitely not on the okay library list. By the time we left, I was so exhausted that I forewent the grocery store and we had leftovers.
P.S. Tiffany Flamm is my hero.
We always have tons of books, and something crazy always happens, so I planned ahead and took precautions. The baby was nursed and changed and I packed all of the books into two canvas bags with handles. Usually I try to hold the baby in one arm and the books in the other, which works about as well as the mental picture I just gave you implies. I knew that some of the books were a few days late so I told Brennah and Maggie to go and quietly pick out just four books a piece. Brennah turned around and looked at me confused, "a piece?" "Each hon, I meant each one gets four." I unloaded all of the books onto the counter while holding Finn and tried to hold a converstion with the male librarian. Isn't there a law that says you have to be female to be a librarian? I guess he missed that one, but he did follow the rules when it came to personality.
I smiled brightly and told him that some of them could be a little late, so I needed to know how much I owed. He looked long and hard at the computer and glanced at me a little surprised, "eight dollars and ten cents." Well at the library that is a veritable fortune, since each time is only like ten cents when it is late. I politely asked that he find out what the fee was for. That is when it all started downhill. He starts printing out this list on a little printer kind of like a grocery store receipt thingy. It is loud and keeps going and going and going until it falls off of the counter and down the back. While this is going on, Maggie runs up to me, grabs her crotch and whispers (you know the kid library whisper that sounds like they are screaming?) I have to go to the bathroom! I glanced at the ticker tape thing still happily humming and told Mags that she would have to get Brennah to take her. She runs back in 10 seconds. "She says she won't take me!" So I left the printer for a minute and went to talk with Bren, where I gently suggested she take Maggie. Then I went back to where the thing was still going. At this point the man- librarian or mabrarian starts to kind of smirk a little. Which is no little thing because I had been cracking one liners to no avail since arriving. Anyway, it turns out that although I had nothing outstanding now, I had late fees that had slowly piled up since moving back last year. I had him go ahead and check Jon's card which was $3.40 and my own which was a modest .30 cents (the eight dollars was on Bren's card-awful I know). I handed him my visa check card. The look of horror that I was given I cannot even describe to you. "We don't take PLASTIC!" This said in the library whisper. I offered to bring back the $11.80 in cash at a later date which he accepted. Since wonder of wonders these people still allowed me to pick out some books (I guess they knew a library moneymaker when the saw one) I went off to peruse the shelves. I suddenly realized that the girls weren't back and a moment of mommy panic ensued, so off I went toward the bathroom, and heard them WAY before I got there. I walked in to see Brennah crawling on the nasty floor out from under the stall door. "Mommy, Maggie went into the out of order one!!!!!" I looked at the 3 other empty stalls. Of course my child would pick the one. The door opened and Maggie cheerfully popped out, as I start envisioning telling the mabrarian that my little girl has stopped up the toilet and would he please grab a plunger? Brennah told me solemnly that the sign was on the back of the door. I looked around and there it was, a large printed paper that said, "PLEASE DO NOT FLUSH SANITARY NAPKINS." Well thank goodness for that anyway, "Bren it's fine," as I held the baby and reached my flip-flopped foot up to flush as I clenched my toes so that my shoe would stay on. We all trooped back into the library to pick out books. Findlay decided that he needed to get into the action so he started making the loud baby playing with his lips noise. Definitely not on the okay library list. By the time we left, I was so exhausted that I forewent the grocery store and we had leftovers.
P.S. Tiffany Flamm is my hero.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Talking with the judge...
I just spoke with Judge Burton on the phone, traumatic.
At least here the judge calls you at home when something like this happens. Actually, I don't think it has happened here before, because he informed me that they were trying to, and I
quote, "We are trying to figure out a way to solidify the legal aspects of your marriage." I have never been spoken to thus before. I guess the whole office is trying to figure this thing out. They will have to backdate our marriage license, hopefully to make me a little less of a fallen woman. "We were married!" I exclaimed to the judge. "I believe you," he replied. He then further explained, "I was speaking to someone last night who was a guest at your wedding." So it only took five hours to begin the circulation. The news will now be all over Washington way before Hurricane Gustav makes landfall.
At least here the judge calls you at home when something like this happens. Actually, I don't think it has happened here before, because he informed me that they were trying to, and I
quote, "We are trying to figure out a way to solidify the legal aspects of your marriage." I have never been spoken to thus before. I guess the whole office is trying to figure this thing out. They will have to backdate our marriage license, hopefully to make me a little less of a fallen woman. "We were married!" I exclaimed to the judge. "I believe you," he replied. He then further explained, "I was speaking to someone last night who was a guest at your wedding." So it only took five hours to begin the circulation. The news will now be all over Washington way before Hurricane Gustav makes landfall.
Monday, August 25, 2008
'Til death do us part...or until we look for the marriage certificate.
I have been officially "living in sin" for the last eight and a half years.
It started with what I thought was a joke, an offhand "funny" comment that I made to my husband when he told me we needed our marriage certificate, for health insurance purposes.
I replied that I had no idea where it could possibly be, so he decided to go the probate court to get a copy. I laughed and said, "haha what if we aren't even married!"
The joke is on me.
Jon called a little while later from the courthouse. "Noelle, we aren't married." "Whatever hon." "No, seriously Noelle, we aren't married. Judge Burton said that there is no record of any Griggs-Sutton union from 1998-2002." My whole world suddenly shifted. Then I started laughing and couldn't stop.
I have no idea how I even got my new license and social security card. After telling his parents, I made the observation that at least we were common-law, but Jim quickly informed me that Georgia is not a common-law state. Jay asked that since we weren't married could Amy please move in (he was joking by the way). I invited my mother to be my matron of honor. We will be getting married somehow tomorrow and I will post wedding pictures. Doug says that he will be the best man and Morgan may drive from Athens for the event. These are some observations I have made about the situation.
#1 It is funny.
#2 If this had never been realized, my descendants would have been confused on ancestry.com
#3 If something had happened to Jon, I would not have received my life insurance.
#4 I told Jon, that I might have done this on purpose to keep my options open-I have one night of freedom left...any proposals?
#5 This is not a joke.
#6 My children are illegitimate.
#7 I have had pre-marital relations with my husband for almost a decade.
#8 My sister Jenyfer and my sister Natalie were both married after me, before me.
#9 I could give great pre-marital counseling. I have been pre-married longer than anyone else.
#10 Jon has been wonderful and supportive boyfriend-thank you love.
P.S. I will be accepting wedding presents. I am registered at REI. Thank you.
It started with what I thought was a joke, an offhand "funny" comment that I made to my husband when he told me we needed our marriage certificate, for health insurance purposes.
I replied that I had no idea where it could possibly be, so he decided to go the probate court to get a copy. I laughed and said, "haha what if we aren't even married!"
The joke is on me.
Jon called a little while later from the courthouse. "Noelle, we aren't married." "Whatever hon." "No, seriously Noelle, we aren't married. Judge Burton said that there is no record of any Griggs-Sutton union from 1998-2002." My whole world suddenly shifted. Then I started laughing and couldn't stop.
I have no idea how I even got my new license and social security card. After telling his parents, I made the observation that at least we were common-law, but Jim quickly informed me that Georgia is not a common-law state. Jay asked that since we weren't married could Amy please move in (he was joking by the way). I invited my mother to be my matron of honor. We will be getting married somehow tomorrow and I will post wedding pictures. Doug says that he will be the best man and Morgan may drive from Athens for the event. These are some observations I have made about the situation.
#1 It is funny.
#2 If this had never been realized, my descendants would have been confused on ancestry.com
#3 If something had happened to Jon, I would not have received my life insurance.
#4 I told Jon, that I might have done this on purpose to keep my options open-I have one night of freedom left...any proposals?
#5 This is not a joke.
#6 My children are illegitimate.
#7 I have had pre-marital relations with my husband for almost a decade.
#8 My sister Jenyfer and my sister Natalie were both married after me, before me.
#9 I could give great pre-marital counseling. I have been pre-married longer than anyone else.
#10 Jon has been wonderful and supportive boyfriend-thank you love.
P.S. I will be accepting wedding presents. I am registered at REI. Thank you.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Baby blues
So, Finn is almost a year old, which means that I will finally start to lose all of my baby weight. I have about 15 pounds to go, and no matter what I do it never goes until they are 1. Fortunately, after that is always does! I have been waiting to see the scale go under 150, because when that happens, it normally starts to fall off.
I am an obsessive scale watcher, and last night when I stepped on it said 151.2. Well I was extremely excited let me tell you! I know, from previous experience that you always lose at least a pound during the night, so I went to bed HAPPY! The first thing I did this morning was pee and then step on the scale. 150.6. So I did what anyone would do, stripped naked and took off my glasses. I weighed and then had to bend close so I could see the numbers. The scale said one fifty point zero. POINT ZERO? What is point zero? What does that even mean? So I wrapped a towel around myself so Jon's brother Jay wouldn't see me and ran back to the bathroom. All I needed to do was to pee another ounce. I got like maybe three drops, and ran back to the scale. 150.0.
Whatever.
I hopped in the shower and got ready for church. I was actually still a little cheery, at least until I noticed the bright red cardinal flying gently through the air...and right in front of my car. I braked and squeezed my eyes halfway shut and peered in the rearview mirror. No bird on the ground! And then I noticed the floating feathers. You have got to be kidding me.
The next three hours were uneventful and church was great, until we started looking for the car keys. We thought they might be in the car, so Jon started trying to break in the 4runner. Meanwhile I started trying to call Nat, because she Summer and Morgan went to meet Douglas and David at the lake for Summer's birthday. I had a sinking feeling that she might somehow have picked them up. Nobody answered their cell phones and the lake was an hour away. I finally reached Doug and he had Natalie call when she arrived. She definitely had our car keys. Nat had to drive an hour back and we finally left church at 3:00 this afternoon. I am trying to glean what I need to learn from this day, but word to the wise-homemade ice cream goes a long way to put all wrongs to right.
I am an obsessive scale watcher, and last night when I stepped on it said 151.2. Well I was extremely excited let me tell you! I know, from previous experience that you always lose at least a pound during the night, so I went to bed HAPPY! The first thing I did this morning was pee and then step on the scale. 150.6. So I did what anyone would do, stripped naked and took off my glasses. I weighed and then had to bend close so I could see the numbers. The scale said one fifty point zero. POINT ZERO? What is point zero? What does that even mean? So I wrapped a towel around myself so Jon's brother Jay wouldn't see me and ran back to the bathroom. All I needed to do was to pee another ounce. I got like maybe three drops, and ran back to the scale. 150.0.
Whatever.
I hopped in the shower and got ready for church. I was actually still a little cheery, at least until I noticed the bright red cardinal flying gently through the air...and right in front of my car. I braked and squeezed my eyes halfway shut and peered in the rearview mirror. No bird on the ground! And then I noticed the floating feathers. You have got to be kidding me.
The next three hours were uneventful and church was great, until we started looking for the car keys. We thought they might be in the car, so Jon started trying to break in the 4runner. Meanwhile I started trying to call Nat, because she Summer and Morgan went to meet Douglas and David at the lake for Summer's birthday. I had a sinking feeling that she might somehow have picked them up. Nobody answered their cell phones and the lake was an hour away. I finally reached Doug and he had Natalie call when she arrived. She definitely had our car keys. Nat had to drive an hour back and we finally left church at 3:00 this afternoon. I am trying to glean what I need to learn from this day, but word to the wise-homemade ice cream goes a long way to put all wrongs to right.
sandy pictures
Findlay became tired of the hoopla
The sasquatch theory has been proven.
Ahhh soft squishy mud!!!!!!
It makes the skin soft and supple.
Little sasquatch's
He had an absolute blast.
He would climb to the top of a dune
and run down as fast as he possibly could.
Trying to create a sandslide.
The sand finally became too hot to handle.
Maggie olympics
Sweet little toes
This picture actually should have been first.
All done!
The sasquatch theory has been proven.
We could have stayed all day. We almost did actually.
Ahhh soft squishy mud!!!!!!
I made Jon take a picture of the buddhist monks.
It made my day.
It makes the skin soft and supple.
Little sasquatch's
Hot Hot Hot!
He had an absolute blast.
He would climb to the top of a dune
and run down as fast as he possibly could.
Trying to create a sandslide. 
The sand finally became too hot to handle.
Maggie olympics
Sweet little toes
Who, me?
This picture actually should have been first.
When we first arrived the girls bent down in
the parking lot yelling, "sand, sand!" Right
behind them were the dunes.
All done! 
Playing in the sand
I thought I would add some pics from our Sand dunes trip. We were on the way to Texas from Colorado and Jon REALLY wanted to stop at the Great Sand Dune National park, so I being the humble submissive wife roused myself from sleep at 4 in the morning, to leave from Tiff's house in Denver, so we would still get to Ft. Worth relatively early. I was gently lulled in to sleep again as we approached the turnoff to get to the park. When I awoke again the sun was high in the sky, and as I blinked the dryness from my contacts (some of you know exactly the feeling) I realized that I did not see any sand dunes...or hills...or small sandy bumps.
"How long have we been off the highway hon?" I asked sweetly of course.
"Oh, um, I don't know exactly, maybe about, uh...an hour?"
I smiled gently, "how much longer do you think it will be?"
"Oh I think I saw a sign for it back a little, let me think, it might have said around, sort of close to, could be another 35 miles?" At this point I was white knuckling the arm rests and trying valiantly to control myself as I realized that our already seriously long trip was about to double in length. In a car with a ten month old, a 4 year old and our oldest who is now 7.
I failed. After a little peaceful conversing with hubby, I did not speak very much after that.
All that to say, that if I had known how long it would take I never would have gone, but it was incredible and I'm glad I was roped into it.
We arrived in Ft. Worth at about 2 in the morning. The next morning.
"How long have we been off the highway hon?" I asked sweetly of course.
"Oh, um, I don't know exactly, maybe about, uh...an hour?"
I smiled gently, "how much longer do you think it will be?"
"Oh I think I saw a sign for it back a little, let me think, it might have said around, sort of close to, could be another 35 miles?" At this point I was white knuckling the arm rests and trying valiantly to control myself as I realized that our already seriously long trip was about to double in length. In a car with a ten month old, a 4 year old and our oldest who is now 7.
I failed. After a little peaceful conversing with hubby, I did not speak very much after that.
All that to say, that if I had known how long it would take I never would have gone, but it was incredible and I'm glad I was roped into it.
We arrived in Ft. Worth at about 2 in the morning. The next morning.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Little conversations...
So I was listening to Bren and Mags today-
Maggie-"I have seen a REAL cacao bean, at vacation bible school."
Bren-"Really?"
Maggie-"Yeah, NOT on TV and NOT plastic!"
Later, at dinner...
Maggie-"Daddy can't cook at all."
Bren-"That's not true, he can make breakfast!"
Maggie"Yeah, he can cook one recipe, peanut butter and jelly."
Maggie-"I have seen a REAL cacao bean, at vacation bible school."
Bren-"Really?"
Maggie-"Yeah, NOT on TV and NOT plastic!"
Later, at dinner...
Maggie-"Daddy can't cook at all."
Bren-"That's not true, he can make breakfast!"
Maggie"Yeah, he can cook one recipe, peanut butter and jelly."
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Pre-camping pictures!
Maggie gave free tattoo's before we left on
vacation!
Doug was quite pleased with his...
Douglas is refreshing his phonics skills
with Brennah's school book.
vacation!
Doug was quite pleased with his...
At this point she was practically an expert.
Douglas is refreshing his phonics skills
with Brennah's school book.
The focus and attention to detail is startling.
Camping- Saturday,the first day.
So it will take several posts to cover the camping trip, but I wanted to post a few pictures and at least start on the blogging. It was supposed to only take us 4 1/2 hours to get there but you know how that goes... I had Jon pull into the farmer's market here (we got some laughs because we were pulling a pop-up camper, Doug was behind us pulling a pop-up and Jimmy was driving his car behind Doug (as he was leaving from the campground to go back to Texas). I bought okra, meat and local honey and we headed onward.
The river itself was 45 degrees so of course the first thing Jimmy and Doug did was get in the kayak and explore upriver, at the base of the dam-planning to map out the time the water was let out daily so they could ride the wave...but does that surprise anyone really?
We set up camp and went to bed early. That was Saturday.
We next stopped in Athens to eat and go to Old Navy for some camping tank tops for me! Didn't find them so off we went again. Then there was the gas stops, the bathroom stops, the Findlay wants to nurse and has pooped out both legs stop, and lastly, the grocery store for the whole week stop. It took us 9 hours.
As we rounded the last corner to the campground, we sighed as we gazed at the beautiful river on the left of us and the tall tree covered ridge to the right...and at the 400 ft. high dam right at the top of our camp. We were informed soon after, that it was built on a fault line-comforting.The river itself was 45 degrees so of course the first thing Jimmy and Doug did was get in the kayak and explore upriver, at the base of the dam-planning to map out the time the water was let out daily so they could ride the wave...but does that surprise anyone really?
We set up camp and went to bed early. That was Saturday.
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