Fuzzy Teeth Syndrome

Artwork Provided by Carie Alley, Age 27?

Ok, so I still owe you posts about the new dog, the crazy dead owl and Chilympics but for now I must share this piece of artwork by my dear friend Carie...It certainly made my day.

It's 4:50 pm on Friday and I have been at work since 8:30 am on Thursday morning. It has been a crazy, busy day(s). I knew I was going to have to work really late last night but was certainly not planning on an all nighter. So here I am sitting in the same clothes I was wearing yesterday, un-showered, sleepy and with fuzzy teeth. I almost walked to the Walgreens to get a toothbrush but that would have required energy that I did not have. I told Carie I needed to brush my teeth b/c they are wearing a sweater...I was drinking sweet tea to keep me awake and eating chocolate (diet of champions...I know) so my teeth feel gross. She in return sent this funny picture. I think with her artistic skills she should have been up here helping me do my drawings and then I wouldn't have been in this fuzzy predicament.

Other news...I decided against going backpacking this weekend b/c I just don't feel like it. SO!! Sally found a cheap plane ticket yesterday and is coming to visit me for a mother - daughter weekend. I will be picking her up tomorrow morning. Jacob will be backpacking with his pops and bro-in-law. Can't wait to see you Silly Sally who Sits on the Seashore Sipping Sweet Tea Sweetened with Splenda.

Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend Jacob went backpacking with Siler dog while I stayed home. Since I have had such a crazy few weeks at work, all I wanted to do was be lazy and. It was a nice weekend but Monday did quickly come.

Friday night I met Carie at UABC to help with their annual fall festival. I was assigned this big, inflatable slide to manage. There were several teenage boys that just loved this slide and kept jumping and doing somersaults on it. I really didn't have any control over them... After it ended at 8:30 Carie and I went to High Point Coffee where I had a something or other mocha. I'm not a coffee drinker but whatever I had was quite yummy. I think it was mostly sugar. We stayed up talking until 11 (way past old Carie's bedtime) and then I went home to my quiet house. I slept in the guest bedroom because it has a warm down comforter and I was cold without my snuggle friend.

Saturday I woke up at 10 and I am quite proud of that. I needed it. After I woke up and got showered and shaved my hairy legs, I met Carie at her house before heading to Costa Vida. A YUMMY place. We then went shopping and I bought a shirt, blue jeans and two picture frames for my pictures on my shelf (as previously posted). I always get frustrated when I go shopping for jeans. It doesn't happen very often and I only had 2 pair that I wear (one pair was my dad's from the 70's). I realized again that it is hard to find pants for short, stout women like me...so you know what I did?? I bought myself a pair of men's blue jeans and I love them. They fit perfect. After our shopping trip we went to Carie's house to pick up Chris so we could meet Tonya and Jason at the Fox and Hound to watch the Clemson game and grab a bite. The Tigers rocked against Georgia Tech, putting them in the Top 10!! After we ate and watched the game we went to Tonya and Jason's for a little while and just talked. We don't have much time left with them before they move :( .

Sunday I woke up and went to church. After the service Pastor Mike announced that he may be resigning because he feels God calling him to another church in Arkansas. It was shocking and sad news for everybody. We have only been visiting UABC for a little while but we really enjoy his preaching. Plus, after all we just went through at GBC we are ready for some consistency and to "settle" in at church. I have to keep reminding myself that you don't join a church because of the Pastor or Staff but rather for the biblical teaching and the way God is using the church to spread the Gospel. I know if God called Mike to another church, he will have called somebody else to come to UABC. Please pray for that situation. Mike will tell us on Sunday what the decision is.

After church I cleaned the house a bit until Jacob got home with TWO dogs in tow. We then went to Sam's to do our monthly grocery shopping. We returned home and watched the Amazing Race and did some other things around the house.

In the next post I'll tell you about the new (temporary) dog we have, the strange owl we found in the backyard and about the Chilympics that were held yesterday at work. Until then, I have to return to work...lunch is over.

In Memory

I wish I could have posted this last Thursday but I have had little time. Its meaning is still the same today…wow, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years!! And I still miss her like crazy. For those of you who don’t know (which I think everybody does) my mother died 10 years ago after a 2 year battle with ovarian cancer. She was the strongest and godliest woman who has ever impacted my life. In memory of her, enjoy these beautiful photos and this poem I wrote when I was a wee 14 years old.

My Mother, My Hero

As I look through our memories I can’t help but cry,
I don’t understand why you had to die.

You were so brave and always strong,
Even though it lasted so long.

You pointed me in the right direction,
With love, care and all your affection.

Never once did you complain,
Through all the needles, hurt and pain.

Even though you are not here,
I’ll always feel that you are near.

I know that God is taking good care of you,
And one day I’ll be there with my body so new.

And though you are gone,
My love for you will always live on…

Because you are my mother, my hero.

Linda Johns Toy
August 31, 1954 – October 19, 1996

Senior Portrait - Cambria High School - Class of 1972

Is that a yak?? – Date Unknown

Little Trinket’s First Birthday – April 17, 1983

This picture exemplifies my parents’ marriage…See how he looked at her after 19 years of marriage. So sweet. – July 1996 (3 months prior to her death)

I'm Burned Out!

Ok...so could you guys please pray for me? I'm totally burned out at work. I have been working 10+ hour days on a regular basis and I am exhausted. I currently am not working on one particular project but rather "floating" and helping around where needed. Some of these needs require immediate attention and fast deadlines. Pray that I don't have a rest-deprived break down soon. Thanks!!

Fortunately this weekend I was able to relax and take a break unlike the weekend before. Friday night I did work a little late and when I got home Jacob and I went to Moe's for dinner. After Moe's I don't even remember what we did.

Saturday I slept in a little while Jacob got up to work on our new fence he is building. I can't wait for it. So far it looks really good. I worked around the house a little bit until I headed to the St. Jude Showcase of Dogs Show with Carie at the Agricenter. I sure did see some FUNNY stuff. My favorite was the lady pushing her 3 toy poodles in a vintage stroller. I also enjoyed seeing the chinese crested dogs (the ugly hairless ones). Then there were the dancing greyhounds. Unfortunatly we missed the dance but I did see them in their red sequined outfits. The best part of the show though was seeing Tonya and Jason and their agility trial. We missed Tonya run with Chase but we did see Jason run with Taylor.

After the dog show I got cleaned up and we went downtown to meet some new friends John and Jen for dinner and headed to the Grizzlies game where Carie and Chris also met us. This was my first NBA game. Our seats were WAY up but we had a good time none the less...especially eating the blue raspberry cotton candy. YUM! After the game we stood on a corner and people watched all of the interesting people on Beale Street before heading home.

Sunday we went to church and then came home and I cooked. I spent the afternoon cleaning the house and preparing for our other new friends Mitch and Hillary to come over. We had a good time eating burgers and dogs and brownies and beans and then playing Mexican Train and Scattergories. Then it was time for washing dishes and practicing my chili recipe. I've been too busy to post about it but the big Chilympics is coming up at work and I am our chef. I wanted to do a trial run before the competition next week. My team is slowly pulling together our theme and I should have something to post about that in a week.

Well, I wanna go home and see my hubby and eat some grub so I am going to go now. Talk to you later!!

An A+ for Jacob and a 19 Hour Day for Me

Well, not too much to post about. Jacob met me downtown friday and we ate dinner and then he hung out with me while I worked. Saturday Jacob tore down brush and stuff in the backyard with his new chainsaw while I worked. Sunday we went to church and then Pei Wei and then Jacob played frisbee golf while I worked. Monday night Jacob slept while I worked. Are you finding a pattern here? I'm exhausted and I think I am going to go home now (seeing as I did work a 19 hour day yesterday and 55 hours since Thursday). On a happier note... Jacob made a 100 on his first test. Way to go buddy.



Also...I wanted to share some nice words I read in the Bible last night while I was a little discouraged at work:

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins." Isaiah 40:1-2

I like the rest of the chapter too...you should read the rest of 40 as well.

C-L-E-M-S-OOOOOO-N

Way to go Clemson Tigers who fought their way to a win after being down 14 points in the fourth quarter. Take that Demon Decons. 27-17. I miss football Saturdays, tailgating by our dorm and wearing lots of orange. Now the only orange you see in this state is the other orange.

P.S. If you are curious as to why I am actually updating on a weekend, unfortunately I am at work. Blah.

Memphis Fire

Lincoln American Tower - Fortunately vacant due to renovations

Memphis' Oldest Church and 2nd Oldest Building

I imagine some of you may have seen this on your local news (my best friend Ryina said she saw it all the way in Charleston, SC). The pictures are quite horrific. Unfortunately I do not know many of the details other than the First United Methodist Church (Memphis' 2nd Oldest building) caught fire around 3 am. Two surrounding buildings caught fire later. My work is a few blocks away and we are fine...other than the smell of smoke has entered the ducts and our office has that fire smell to it. They do not know the cause yet. I really do not have much to say about it because I do not know much about it. For more images check out the Memphis Fire Department's photo gallery. This guy is so talented, too bad the subject matter is so grim.

Church on Fire

Lincoln American Tower on Fire

Lazy Weekend

L to R: my new candle chandelier and my new shelf (as mentioned in last week's blog) and my new chalkboad.

Woa..what's up with this formatting? Oh well.

This weekend was another relaxing weekend. Friday I worked a little later finishing up some drawings for Chris & Carie’s smelly bathroom (ok, it’s not smelly, just wanted to see if she was reading this). They had to gut their bath because of a leak-a-rama that ruined the floors and everything. The joy of old houses! Anyway, I was drawing some plans for their new and improved bathroom-to-be.

Saturday Jacob and I were lazy and slept in until 10:30. Yep, that’s right I said 10:30. When we got up I painted a coat on my chalkboard for my kitchen. Then we went shopping. First we went to Lowe’s where KIX106 was airing live. I won a Carrie Underwood cd. After Lowe’s we went to Home Depot and ordered our kitchen sink. It should arrive in a day or so. We are making kitchen progress!!! After Home Depot we went to Hancock’s and I bought some stuff just because they were having a sale. I didn’t need anything. I did buy a few patterns because they are normally $15 and all Simplicity patterns were 99 cents. You could only get 5 per person though. Needless to say, Jacob does not like Hancock’s so I was rushed to pick out my patterns so I only got 3. I think I am prepared for the day that I have kids throwing temper tantrums in the store because my husband already does it :). Ok, I’m exaggerating a wee bit but he really did not enjoy being in there. After Hancock’s we went to Best Buy because I had a gift card for there. I bought Jacob a Ricky Skaggs cd. I wasn’t too excited about this purchase because I do not like bluegrass music but I have to admit there are some funny songs on the cd…especially one line that says, “Slap your momma’s behind”. After Best Buy we went to Hobby Lobby to get a frame for my chalk board and some candles for my chandelier. Then we went to pick up my car at Goodyear because I was getting the tires rotated. That evening we cooked steaks and then had a rollerblading date. We rollerbladed for a while and it was fun.

Sunday we woke up late (we were struggling to get up…again) so we did not make it to Sunday School. We went to church though and it was very good. After church we tried a new restaurant called Costa Vida that was delicious. After lunch we went home and changed for the park. We spent about 4 hours at Shelby Farms watching Siler play with his friends. Jacob studied for a test and I read a book. Carie and Chris met us at the park after a while. When we got home from the park I ate cereal for dinner (Cinnamon Toast Crunch to be exact) and then watch the Amazing Race while I ironed my clothes for the week and dusted the furniture.

Monday was nothing special at work. Jacob cooked for dinner because he was ready to eat and he did a great job on the “Cheesy Chicken”. After dinner I vacuumed and we played Scrabble. Jacob won but I get the play of the game with my 63 point word…”Quey” (a young calf). Yesterday was Carie’s birthday and I didn’t even wish her a happy birthday on my blog. You can read her blog though, she wishes herself a happy birthday :).

That’s all for today. More later.