akrss family reunion 2008

so reunion time again. i haven't been to a family reunion in....probably 7 years? maybe less, but it has been awhile. this year it was held in memphis, tn. so the whole family (and by whole family, i mean me, travis, the kids, AND my parents) all piled into the "ban" and headed out. now in theory, 6 hours should not be that long, but in actuality when traveling with a 6 y.o. with a small bladder, 3 y.o. that chose this weekend to try potty-training, a at-times cranky 3 month old, and an adult on lasix.......6 hours quickly turns to 11 and it becomes the ride from HELL! but there were moments........

aidan slept for awhile

mia and noah played, fought, played again.....

upon arriving at the hotel, it was time to quickly (and i mean quickly) get everyone changed into their banquet attire. once noah and mia were changed, they were ready to go and conquer the world, er banquet.

(they believe themselves to be superheroes...don't tell them they're not)

they were one of the highlights of the banquet. chicken was slightly on the rubbery side, but the potatoes and vegetables made up for it. there was a great candlelight, memorial service for those family members that died since we were last together. also a family history that i enjoyed....i didn't realized before (or i probably did and just didn't give it much thought) how intermixed our family was. ashfords marrying knoxs, and knoxs marrying smiths, and smiths marrying ashfords, etc....you get the picture. i guess it's a wonder no one ever got too close in the gene pool.

after the long day and festivities on friday, we were all exhausted and headed to bed. but saturday came quickly.......

once we got everyone up and out, it was off to ihop for family breakfast. this is my favorite part of any family vacation....we will usually find an ihop, bob evans, some really good breakfast establishment and have pancakes, eggs, and really greasy bacon. just sitting and eating with the kids and not having to think about anything more pressing than if i want cheese on my hashbrowns is wonderful! (and yes, i did get cheese on them and they were wonderful.) everyone enjoyed their breakfast and we all ate so much we were ready for naps as soon as we finished. but instead it was off to the family picnic.

due to the heat, the picnic was actually held inside a school (love air conditioning!). nothing but food, games and family togetherness. just a few of my favorite things.

i will have to post more later....pictures and commentary. for now, i must go. until next time.....

time

so i've been thinking a lot lately (shock, i know).......i realized, travis and i have been together for 10, yes 10, years! i don't know where the time has gone. we started out here (weren't we nice and thin)

and now, 10 years later.............................

a little heavier

and 3 kids......................

it just seems unreal!

and next my 10 year high school reunion......then 30 years old.........it never stops!

unexpected interruptions

i just finished reading unexpected interruptions by trice hickman and i loved it! i like to read lots of different things......normally i don't like interracial romances as much (i know that is probably shocking). but usually they are all the same....the bw is usually really extreme, stereotypical, strong black woman and the wm is usually extreme conservative with waspy family. they whole plot is centered around their races and will they be accepted, etc.

unexpected interruptions is the story of victoria small, an smart, independent a.a. executive who is getting ready to begin dating again after being terribly hurt by her fiance a year ago. she asks God to send her a man and finds herself with two.....be careful what you wish for. anyway, the first is her boss: the white ted thurston. the second is mr. gorgeous: black surgeon parker brightwood. the story is her journey as she figures out who she is and who she should be with as she is in love with both of these men.

unexpected interruptions, yes race was an issue (lets face it, it has to be on some level) but not the entire plot of the book.

i found myself identifying with victoria and i love that because i like to be able to identify somewhat with the characters i'm reading about or it's just not believeable for me.

i found myself laughing out loud in the very first chapter which is usually a positive sign for the book as a whole.

i loved the fact that ms. hickman dealt with the skin "color" issue. as a lighter-skined black woman i have always had issues (now whether they were always real or sometimes imagined is another story) to deal with. and you don't always read a story that confronts that so it was refreshing.

i was happy to get to know parker brightwood. you don't always read a story where the black male lead is so........perfect. he was smart, caring, charming and hey, mr. gorgeous.

in other reviews i read about the book, many said they weren't sure who victoria would choose in the end. while reading, i knew she would pick ted, especially toward the end because imo parker became too much of an ass. :-( did ms. hickman write him that way because he was too good and needed victoria to choose ted? i don't know. but i had issues with ted too. i almost thought him to be controlling and manipulative. did he really love victoria or just want her. i like to think it was love.

i have many wonderful things to say about this book and as you can see my thoughts are scattered and jumbled which is another good sign for this book. if i can write a polished review that meant i didn't have enough good things to say about it. with this review all these things keep just "popping up" as i sit here reflecting on the story.

i usually try to read reviews before i get a book because i can kind of determine if i am wasting my time by reading it that way. every review i read was good! i don't think i have ever encountered that. usually as i read reviews on amazon, you will usually have one or two bad reviews thrown in there too, but for this story not one bad review.

so if this is you sort of book, go out and read it.....you'll love it!

until the next time..................................

blogger sucks!

let me just say......Blogger SUCKS!
i am finding myself hugely frustrated. for a week i have been trying to upload images to a post. fails everytime. i have tried all their "helps", deleting cookies, changing browsers, etc. nothing fixes the problem. i think it's related to whatever "fix" they did earlier in the week because i didn't have problems before then, so i think it is an issue on their end. but can i report that.....NO. please tell me someone how to actually contact support because i can't seem to get there. i get to another help group, or support group. most of the image uploading issues they have are dated from october 2007. i did find a few current ones, but they all seemed to be like me......looking for help but with no answers.
i started my blog as an enjoyable way to keep friends and family updated about my family and as kind of a family journal, but they have made that process so frustrating that i am ready to give up on blogger and discourage all my friends too!

Kids

WELL I HAVE DECIDED TO POST THIS EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE ABOUT 4 MORE PICTURES THAT I WANTED TO ADD, BUT I AM SO FRUSTRATED.......I GIVE UP. SO HERE IS MY LATEST POSTING NOT IN ITS ENTIRETY (SP?)!

noah had his first t-ball game monday night. am i a bad mom if i didn't go? honestly, after working 10 hours in an office without air conditioning, i just wanted to go home and go to bed. but travis took pictures for me and they both related all the tales of the game.

before heading to the game, i told noah to have fun. his reply was that he would and he just knew he was going to make a lot of friends. i love that that is his only concern: making lots of friends. and noah usually makes tons of friends where ever he goes because he will talk to anyone (we do have to work on that because it is a little scary sometimes).

overall, much fun was had at t-ball and he's ready to go back next week.

INSERT PICTURES FROM GAME HERE!!!!!!

mia has decided what sport she would like to play.........................jumprope! she says because she likes to jump. i'm sure she will be awesome at it.

well, travis worked tuesday night, so the kids and i had to entertain ourselves. noah would rather watch tv then hang out with the rest of us (but when it's time for bed then he will beg for "family fun time"). so mia and i decided aidan needed to have his picture taken, and she was more then willing to take a few with him. (if she does not become a model/actress/some sort of entertainer as an adult, then all of her vanity now will be wasted! you will never meet a kid who loves to have their picture taken more and pose too!)

then we gave aidan his bath

INSERT PICTURES OF BATHTIME HERE!!!!!!!!

which then put him to sleep

INSERT SLEEPING AIDAN PICTURE HERE!!!!! (YOU GET THE IDEA!)

by 8:30 they were all asleep and life was grand!

till next time............................................

just another day at the park

only one child wanted to be photographed. noah was too busy playing with the other kids and aidan was too busy sunning himself in the stroller (aahh, the life of a newborn). yep, she's destined to be a fashion model.

back to work

it's my second day back at work and it's like i never left.

the first day was crazy busy.....mainly because it was the only day to register for summer classes that start today.....so everyone wanted their health restrictions taken care of. has no one ever heard of being prepared and taking care of those things BEFORE the day it needs to be done?

then it was on to take care of the things that piled up while i was gone...updating med reports, filing case reports with the state, etc. today i can actually start to see my desk, but now i have new projects to work on (can someone tell me how to download web pages i've designed onto a jump drive? isn't it just ctrl+s?......i'll figure it out eventually).

now to add to all the things i love to worry/obsess over......i may need to start looking for a new job as mine may be going away soon. unless the clinic finds a new doctor(s) by june 30th, then we are out of work. so now i say all my little prayers because i really don't want to have to find a different job. as much as i complain about this one at times, it really is a great job to have, especially for me with small kids.....very accomadating (sp?) and good holidays and benefits.

oh well.....back to work