Hiding on Halloween

Jeff and I are currently sitting in a dark living room on our respective computers hiding from the trick or treaters. We're not even turning on the TV because it puts out too much light. We have no candy, but are prepared to hand out granola bars if someone dares to hike up our long, steep driveway, approach a completely dark front door and ring the bell. We're hoping no kid in the neighborhood is that desperate.

We even had a bit of a scare as we were coming home from dinner. The kids were already walking the streets. Our handyman had left our front light on and they saw us come home!! We sped up the drive. Ran in the house and turned off all the lights.

It's not that we're total Halloween scrooges. Our front stoop is currently missing it's guard rail. We don't want some kid falling off and sueing our pants off. Our handyman tried to help us with that by taping a huge red "X" over the space, but it really just looks like Halloween decorations.

The only bad part of not participating is we have no Halloween candy anywhere in the house. I was going to pick up a bag at Wal-mart earlier today, but they were completely out!!! (Okay, they did still have some Halloween Peeps, but that's all.) And they were already filling the candy ailse with Christmas candy. Peppermint sticks and those huge round tins of popcorn. Seems a bit early, huh?

I'm off to go watch TV in my bedroom.

So much for the Spanish Rumor Queen.

So...today's rumors make it sound more like it will be 9 weeks rather than 5. Oh, well. 9 is still a lovely number. Moving on....

I think I found just the race to make up for missing the last one. It's a 5K right here in my home town. It's one month from now and Sweet Tomatoes is sponsoring it. There should be yummy after-snacks. And get this.....Jeff is going to to it with me! His first 5K!! If there are any locals out there who would like to come along, let me know!!!

They even have a stroller division, so next year.....

Either 5 or 9

Happy Monday! The start of another week.

I can now say our referral is either 5 or 9 weeks away!!

Hooray for single digits!!!

A very expensive T-shirt

Long story short....we didn't do the half marathon on Saturday.

It was up in the air for the longest time. Do we tough it out and go unprepared and sick, or just call it quits? In the end, Pam had a family emergency that would have prevented her going anyway. There's no way I was going alone, so the decision was essentially made for us. No big deal, right? Probably for the best.

I promised I would go down on race day to pick up the T-shirts. On one hand, I don't feel like should get to wear it since I didn't earn it by actually running the race, but on the other hand, I paid something like 40 bucks to do the race and get the shirt. $40!!! I'm getting my t-shirt, dangit.

Jeff was kind enough to go down there with me that morning. We pull up to the finish area about 2 and a half hours after the race start. Tons of people are crossing the finish line and tons more are milling around after having already finished. I love the after-race atmosphere. Bright eyed, sweaty people who just accomplished something. They have all the goodies out. Everyones wearing their medals and eating bagels or oranges. Getting massages. It's very exciting. Very Motivating.

And although I feel like a GIANT LOSER!! for not participating, I'm motivated to sign up for another one. Not a half marathon. A shorter one. A 5K, I think. Something close, something flat.

Self portrait

Who still does bunny ears?

Happy

Today there is this awesome rumor that the next cut off will get past the 10th of December. Possibly to the 12th. The next batch is only about a week away, so now is about the time the real rumors start showing up. THIS IS AWESOME!! If its true, it opens up the possiblity of a December referral for us. THAT IS ONLY 6 WEEKS AWAY!! I was uncontrollably giddy all day. It's like a kind of crack-happy.

I know I might be setting myself up for a big fall, but it can't be helped. I'm happy and hopeful.

Even if we don't make December, we will make January, which is only 10 weeks. Holy cow! I'm counting down in weeks now!!! Yeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaawwwww

Is it wrong to hope your friend is sick?

I signed up to do this half marathon many months ago when I was all gung-ho about running. Recently, however, I'm not so gung-ho. I haven't really exercised in weeks. I'm pretty sure a jog to the other side of the room would leave me winded.

I asked my exercise buddy, Pam, if we were really going to do this, since she's almost as bad as I am. She said I don't have to, but she's going regardless. Well, that's almost like a double dog dare. I have to go. Even though we are certain to walk the whole thing. We may not even finish in the time limit. They will certainly have run out of the freebies by the time we get there.

But then today at work, Pam starts coughing. What????? Sore throat? Ear ache? Feverish, you say? Oh Dear, that's just horrible. Such a shame. Knowing Pam, she would rather drag her sick ass 13 miles to cross the finish than say "Uncle",but maybe....just maybe, she'll come to her senses and realize we shouldn't be doing this. I'll let you know.

The only picture of all our babies.

Nikki is the lonely black kitty in the corner.
Eddie is the gray monster in the front.
Bonnie is the cocker.
and the cuddly ones in the back from left to right: Poe, Chloe, and Sydney

Daily Blogging

I decided to start daily blogging. Even if I have nothing to say, (which is most of the time) I'll dig through the iphoto and come up with something to throw up there. Everyone prefers pictures anyway, and we've got some doozies. Jeff is not camera shy. In fact, he's taken to acting goofy whenever the camera comes out. Not sure why, but it makes for some funny photos.

Here's something to start with. Jeff's high school graduation. I think he's really proud of his "Flock of Seagulls" look. I told him I was doing this, so please don't think I'm being mean. He actually likes this picture. And I like laughing at it.

Welcome to the Back Side of October!!

My plan to stay busy in order to make the time go by quicker is working!! No doubt about it, time is flying. Tomorrow is our 22 month LID anniversary. TWENTY-TWO months!!! With several more to go. I'm thinking of having a 2 year LID anniversary party in December. Everyone would come over and say, "Poor, poor Georgia." :-) and bring me cake.

I'm getting weepy again, too. I almost started crying as we picked out paint today, because we are almost finally done with our house. Soon....finally. Also, the other day at work, we got this catalog that I love called Heifer, Int. In it you can order a cow for poor farms in Romania who will then provide food for a local orphange. You can buy Llamas for people in Peru, or a water buffalo for a village in Thailand. I flipped thru (er...I mean, one fell open) and I saw where you can buy geese for people in China. And that made me cry. In short, the wait is getting to me again.

It'll be another week or so before rumors about the next batch get cranked up and another 2 weeks or so until they actually arrive. If anyone would like to wager, I think the next cut-off will be December 9, 2005.

Until then, staying busy is the key. How are we staying busy? .... Well, home improvements are back underway. We're not doing the work ourselves anymore. We're busy and we want everything done before Christmas. We will have a handyman in the house for the next month or so. He's already replaced our front door from this mauve monstrosity... To this much lovelier glass door.


He's also started on this room. Don't be scared! It can't hurt you. It has been the house dumping grounds for the past 2 years. I'll post the "after" picture later. You better tell me you like it, too, because picking the color almost made me cry today.

Today we also had a Hardscape guy come over to talk about fixing our drainage issue (which is hysterical because we're having a severe drought here in Georgia.) We thought the guys would be hurting for work, and cut us a deal. No such luck. And tomorrow we have the cabinet guy coming to tell us what he can do with our 80's kitchen nightmare. See?.....lot's going on here.

No time to think about adoption or babies.

See...I'm not a lazy slug all the time!

I have a half marathon coming up. Have I been running? Um....no. The realization of my commitment hit me recently and my exercise buddy and I decided we needed to do something about it. She has found a substitute for her Sunday School class and we have committed the next couple Sunday mornings to the long run (still using the word "run" loosely)

We knew we weren't even up to a light jog yet so last weekend we decided to go hiking instead. We took a trail I thought was 5 miles, but...oopsie...it was really 8. Here's some pictures. If you're ever in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend trying out Kennesaw Mtn. But be warned...the trail around and then up and over the Mtn is 8 miles....not 5.

Beautiful view


Look...a picture of me on my blog!


Sweet Pam carried the pack up hill. I did the straight-aways and downhills.


Pretty trails


Top of the Mountain. It's a Civil War Battlefield.

Poor Jetta

Yesterday morning, on my way out the door, Jeff says to me me, "Hey, be careful backing up. Don't forget I parked behind you."

10 minutes later....SMACK!!!

There's a nice big dent in the bumper....of his car. My car is fine. I could tell he was really mad. He wouldn't look me in the eye. I forced him to tell me he loved me and forgave me, but still his "I love you" was whiny and his eyes were rolling. Jeff estimates a new bumper will be at least several hundred dollars. We have to fix it because, it's pretty gross. See?

Then this afternoon, Jeff calls to tell me he's been in a fender bender. He was rear-ended. Its close to our house, so I drive over and guess what got hit??? The other side of the bumper!! Also, the wheel on that side will have to be replaced, but I only care about the bumper! It really wasn't the other guys fault. There was a third car truly at fault who drove away, but the other guy did hit Jeff, he got ticketed, and he has insurance, so Yippy!!!


Jeff is much nicer now that we don't have to pay for my blunder.

And Jeff is fine, by the way. A little shook up from the jolt, but fine. Now he's saying he might want a safer car for his commute. I would buy it, but he's trying to tell me how safe Corvettes are. Yeah, sure.

The Funniest Movie Ever!!!

Jeff is flipping through the channels and my absolute favorite "if-you're-stuck-on-an-island-and-can-only-watch-one-movie-forever" movie is on. Drop Dead Gorgeous. Have you even heard of it. It didn't get much play, but it's been on the low-end premium channels for years. It has Kirstie Alley, Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Ellen Barkin, Brittany Murphy, and the lady who played Frau Farbisina (sp?) from Austin Powers.

No kidding. It is the funniest thing I've ever seen. If you've never seen it, run out now....NOW! And go rent it. On second thought, don't even rent it...BUY it! You won't regret it. I swear.