My 28th on the 28th of 2008

I'm another year older now and have little to show for it except for a huge headache today and a lot of pictures from our back-to-college party last night. It was so much fun, and I'm pretty sure almost everybody there tried hard to relive the glory days of college. The next day just hurts a little more now than it did when we were all 21. Pretty much everybody followed the college t-shirt rule, and the beer pong tournament and 99 Jell-o shots we made were huge hits.

We started our shindig about 4 yesterday afternoon when our spend-the-night guests arrived ready to kick off the party. I couldn't have asked for better weather, and it felt so good outside that it just made the night that much more enjoyable. I'll post a few of the better pics and try to give you the play-by-play. Here is the start of the beer pong tournament. I tried to get an action shot, but this was as good as I could do.

Here are the winners of the first bracket, Ben and Allison. We didn't really keep up with the bracket thing past the first game, but it was a good idea...

Here's me with other DG alums, Ashley, Jessica, Keever and Allison. I guess we'll never be too old to jump right into the letter pose. We should be pros after all the party pics in college.

Here's a pic of the whole group minus about six or seven who left earlier or came later. It was a fun crowd. We even had several neighbors come over. I'm pretty sure the neighbors who didn't come might not be too happy with us today, but maybe not. Although I do know the music outside was on maximum volume all night, and the louder the music was, the louder everybody else was. Yep, the neighbors might not be too pleased. Hopefully they'll forgive us.

This picture just cracks me up, so I thought I'd share. Here's Keever breaking it down on the deck. There's no telling what song she was dancing to, but this pretty much sums up the night right here...
The party ended about 3:30 in the morning, which wasn't too bad considering some of our guests didn't even come until after midnight. Here's a pic of us with Josh and Lauren, the latest arrivals of the night who drove in from Monroe and got to the house about 12:30. Notice the look on Derek's face... priceless.
I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate turning 28. It was a great birthday weekend, and today has been spent on the couch and was topped off with take-out for dinner and leftover birthday cake. What more could a girl want? :)

Mullets and Margaritas

Happy Birthday, Drewski! Yesterday was our friend Drew's 27th birthday, and his wife Kristin planned a surprise party at Cinco de Mayo to celebrate. As you probably know from earlier posts, Drew is a fan of mullet wigs. I don't really know why, but to each his own. It's his party trick. You know you have one, too, you just may not want to admit it. Ha! He recently bought a new mullet that he sported at the party last night. This one looks more like an 80's hair band wig, though. Nevertheless, he rocked it proudly, especially once they put the sombrero on him for his birthday tequila shot.

I represented the Greys at the party since Derek was flying somewhere over Louisiana en route home last night. It was a good way to pass a couple of hours before I headed to the airport. Derek got in about 9:30, so once we got home, we unpacked and got our to-do list together for the next couple of days. September has shaped up to be a really busy birthday month. We're having a party tomorrow night to celebrate mine. It was just a good excuse to have people over and enjoy sitting on the deck and having a few birthday drinks in this nice, cool weather. I'm excited! And Bentley doesn't really know it yet, but he gets to celebrate my birthday by spending a night in one of the suites at the new PetSmart Hotel. He'll get a nice lambskin bed and a TV in his room that plays Animal Planet nonstop. We figured it would be a nice treat for him so he won't miss sniffing all the strangers at his house and trying to convince them to throw the ball.

While having margarita number two last night I missed a call from Cassidy in Japan, but she left me a sweet voicemail wishing me a happy birthday a couple of days early. I think she thought my birthday was today, but in her defense, there is a 14-hour time difference and her planner is somewhere out in the ocean right now slowly being shipped to her along with just about everything else except for one suitcase she brought when she moved over there in August. She's called me EVERY single year on my birthday if I don't see her, so I knew she wouldn't let being across the globe change that.

So Happy Friday and have a great weekend! I'm certainly going to make the most of it because you only turn 28 once, right? Now 29 might be a different story... that could be a birthday that repeats itself for a few years. We'll see... :)

All By Myself

Derek's in Scottsdale this week for work, and while I always think a few days apart is good for any couple, I'm already ready for him to come home. He just left yesterday morning, isn't that sad?

Last night was GREAT - I actually got the couch to myself and watched some cheesy TV (Jon and Kate Plus Eight, The Hills, AND Dr. 90210 - good Monday lineup, don't you think?) and I even got the whole bed to myself. I think I slept across it with pillows everywhere. It was a great night's sleep. But today is a different story... I'm bored.

I've gotten a break from cooking since I've just really been eating Lean Cuisines, but I'm done with all my usual nightly duties by 6:30 and there's just nothing more to do. I've got a little work I can do at home tonight, but once that's done, I guess I'll just paint my nails and maybe take a bubble bath. Pitiful, I know.

Only two more days until he comes home. Then I'll gladly hand over the remote as well as the trash I've had to take out and the plants I've had to water. That's usually his thing. In the meantime, I'll just keep the animals company and reminisce about the couple years I spent living by myself in Vicksburg before he moved home from Oxford. What in the world did I do every night? :)

Catching Up

This weekend was a nice few days spent at home, catching up with friends and family and catching up on things around the house. Friday night we went to our friends Drew and Kristin's house for dinner. I started this blog the week after they got married, so I thought since I missed actually blogging about their wedding, I'd post a pic from it just a few months later. Here's the happy couple at the reception. No, that's not Drew's real hair... he just really likes his mullet wig.

It was good to catch up. Even though we live a lot closer now than we did a few years ago, it seems like we never see each other, so it was a nice visit. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Saturday we spent at home, just doing a few things around the house and cleaning. Saturday night was spent on the couch. It was a nice lazy evening which I think we both needed, especially considering we actually went out Thursday night and still hadn't caught up on our sleep by Saturday. Normal bedtime for me these days just keeps getting earlier and earlier. Pretty soon I'll be headed for the early bird special for dinner. Geez, getting older is no fun...

Today my parents came up for brunch in honor of my birthday next weekend and my mom's birthday a few weeks ago. It was a great day to sit outside and drink a few mimosas. We had a nice visit, and my mom and I opened a couple of birthday presents, which makes any Sunday even better!

Now we're getting Derek packed for his week in Arizona for work and will soon retreat back to the couch for what's left of our weekend. They just go by way too fast. Only seven more days to enjoy being 27, so guess I better enjoy them. :)

Forget counting sheep...

Last night I had a hard time falling asleep. For some reason my brain wouldn’t quit churning, and somehow I started thinking about weddings. The past three years have been full, and I mean F-U-L-L, of weddings.

Since the summer of 2005 when we got engaged, there has not been a period of time when someone close to us has not been sharing the excitement of getting engaged, planning a wedding or returning from their honeymoon. It started when our friends Jennifer and Matt got engaged around Memorial Day that summer. That’s when the “circle of love” began. Ha! No, but seriously, I really could draw a timeline of it all, but I won’t bore you with details.

All in all, not counting us, FIFTEEN couple friends of ours have tied the knot or are now engaged. Some were family, some were friends. That may not be a lot, but they have all overlapped timing-wise, so maybe that's why it seems like so many. Our "circle" almost ended in July when Keever and Bobby got married, but Cassidy and John got engaged two days before, and Jennifer Lynne and Stephen got engaged the week after that, and so it continues.

Out of those 15, we have been in six of those weddings, will be in one this summer and have so far attended all but two. Pretty pointless statistics, I know, but I couldn't help doing the math. This was what I counted instead of sheep to fall asleep last night.

My point is, if this trend continues, once the baby fever hits all of us, we’ll have another few very busy but happy years ahead of us. :)

Happy Birthday, Gary!

Today is my father-in-law's birthday, so I wanted to wish him a happy one! This pic above is from our Dauphin Island trip in August. He had a blast building sand castles with his favorite grandchild, Ryan Hadley. :)

We're actually headed to Vicksburg tonight to eat birthday dinner at Katie's house, so we'll be hitting the road shortly. My stomach is already growling!

So, to Gary, we love you and hope you have a great birthday today! And here's to many, many, many more!

Another weekend gone already

I can't believe tomorrow is Monday already. The good news is that we had a pretty productive weekend at home. Saturday Derek fixed the door frame in our bedroom (we had to break it back in January when we locked the dog in there one night when people were over - definitely an I-told-you-so moment, but it's fixed now, which is all that matters), I did some touch-up painting in the hallway and the bathrooms and some shopping at Hobby Lobby. We planted a few new flowers, too. It always feels good to check everything off your to-do list. Sounds like a pretty wild and crazy weekend, I know.

Today I have literally spent the entire day in bed with the exception of doing a few loads of laundry and making a quick trip to the grocery store and to Subway for lunch. I feel a cold coming on, and I really can't miss work, so a little cold medicine and plenty rest is my answer. Hopefully it will help because I have too much to do these next few weeks to be bogged down with a cold.

So for now I'll sneeze my way straight to bed for a good night's sleep with the help of my friend, Benadryl. :)

Beth Bice's Birthday!

Try saying that five times fast...

Happy Birthday, Mom! You may feel your age some days but you certainly don't look it!

Have a great birthday weekend and we'll see you next Sunday. I love you!

Slow this train down!

Mid-September through late December is my absolute favorite time of year. It starts with my birthday and ends with Christmas. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Really, it is. The only problem is that it always goes by soooo fast.

We’ve been busy the past couple of weekends getting stuff done around our house in preparation for my birthday. I’m having some people stay with us for the weekend who have yet to see our house in Jackson . We’ve just been busy little bees… It’s a fun excuse!

And then these past few days it seems like I’ve filled up almost every single weekend with plans from now through Thanksgiving. And of course December is always busy with holiday parties and birthdays, so that, too, will soon be full. Before I know it, I’ll wake up one day and it will already be 2009. Geez…

Of course as if the next few months aren’t enough, I got an e-mail yesterday announcing the date of our 10-year high school reunion in May. Please don’t tell me it’s already been 10 years since high school. I’m fully aware that I’m turning 28 in just a few weeks, which is enough to absorb on its own. The fact that it’s been a decade since I graduated high school is a little depressing to say the least. Where in the world has all this time gone?

Well, since there’s no such thing as a real-life time-traveling machine or a way to slow down the clock, I guess I’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride. Let’s just hope I don’t fall off! :)

September 11th, 2001

Seven years ago today I had decided to skip my Political Science 201 class and sleep in for the morning. I was a junior in college, and I needed my beauty sleep, or at least as much beauty sleep as you could get in a loud sorority dorm. It was a few minutes before 8 a.m. when my neighbor, Kelly Logan, knocked first then walked right in.

“A plane just hit the World Trade Center,” she said. Well, at the time, a terrorist attack was the furthest thing from everyone’s mind. I just thought it was an accident – a horrible accident, of course, but still an accident. I groggily crawled out of bed and walked next door to her room to see what The Today Show was saying about the crash. About 10 minutes later, we watched in horror as a second plane hit the towers. We knew then it was more than an accident.

I decided I would throw some clothes on and head to class to see what everyone was saying about this. We were in class for about five minutes discussing what had just happened when we got word that classes had been cancelled for the day. This was serious. No one really knew what was happening next. Was the world ending? Was there going to be a nuclear bomb? It was terrifying.

I remember not being able to pull myself away from the TV as the continuous coverage of the rescue attempts at Ground Zero played on. I would just sit on my bed and cry. It wasn’t like I had anyone close to me directly affected by it, but I think it was just the overall empathy I felt as an American. Things would never be the same again.

Several years later I was working at the newspaper and I interviewed someone who was living in NYC during 9/11. She said for a few days following the attack, the traditionally cold nature of native New Yorkers disappeared. She said strangers passed each other on the sidewalks and actually made eye contact. Everyone had experienced the same emotions. Everyone felt vulnerable.

I took the photo of Ground Zero above when Derek and I spent a week in New York in 2005. Almost four years after the attacks, it was still so somber. St. Paul’s Chapel across from the twin towers had been turned into a memorial for 9/11. You could see where the firefighters had scratched all the pews with their equipment as they sought refuge there for a few hours of rest during the rescue efforts. There were photos, cards and letters on display in memory of those who lost their lives that day. It was impossible not to feel a surge of raw emotions as you just took it all in.

As I mentioned in my Hurricane Katrina blog a few weeks ago, there are very few vivid memories we all have of where we were when history was made. This was a biggie. Whether you were 20 years old or 80, you’ll never forget it. I’ll end with a quote that I read this morning from NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day our world was broken. It lives forever in our hearts and our history, a tragedy that unites us in a common memory and a common story ... the day that began like any other and ended as none ever has."

Ain’t that the truth.

We may not be the champions, but...

I think we ended the season in fourth place! Not too bad for our little softball team. I don’t think we had all of the same people on the team from one game to the next, but we still did pretty well in the end. Above I’ve posted our “team photo” from last night - just ignore my cheerleader pose.

Last night was the championship play-offs. We played in the first game at 6:30 and lost like 7-2 or something close to that. It wasn’t a horrible game, though, and given that it’s been a month since our last game because of the rain, we came out of the woodwork just fine, I think.

Katherine and I both were lucky enough to make it through the whole season without gloves of our own, and actually during only one game did we have to borrow the other team's gloves while they were at bat. But I have a feeling I may get a glove for Christmas if Derek has anything to do with it. I think he was embarrassed for me.

Again, we were so happy to have the opportunity to play with Katherine’s law firm. We had so much fun, and hopefully we’ll be able to do it again next year. My husband the perpetual coach will be sure to make me practice before then, I’m sure. :)

A little bit of normalcy

Pardon my absence, but this past week has been absolutely crazy at work with Hurricane Gustav. We were working 12-hour days almost all week, and it has totally worn me out. I was lucky enough to take off yesterday and enjoy a long weekend, which has been so nice. I feel like I'm morphing back into a normal person. The bad news is that it seems to be somewhat short-lived with Ike heading our way towards the end of next week. Ugh...

I hate hurricanes. I don't know anybody who enjoys them, but with my job now, a pending storm means emergency operations at work so that we can make sure people know where to go for shelter, what to do if they lose power (food and water-wise) and what health issues to take into consideration when it's time to clean up after the storm. It's really the same messages over and over again, but emergency operation days mean LONG hours, which no one looks forward to.

Fingers crossed Ike will wear itself out before it gets into the Gulf, at least that's what I'm hoping. We'll just have to wait and see, but I sincerely hope the storms that are on the radar right now are the only ones we'll have to deal with this season. It makes for a long September, that's for sure.

Because of Gustav, our Destin family vacay was cancelled. It wasn't looking too good for the weather down there, and I wasn't even able to get off work until yesterday. I'm a little sad about it considering I could be sitting on the beach right now with a cold beer soaking up some sun, but I guess there's always next year.

We're enjoying our long weekend at home for now, just doing some things around the house and getting some rest. Although it would be a lot more enjoyable if the sun would come out! It's been so long that I've forgotten what the sun even looks like.

So here's hoping we all have a not-too-worrisome next few days on hurricane watch and that Big Bad Ike doesn't beat us up too bad down here. I'm just focusing on the power of positive thinking! :)