White Christmas

Until 2010, Atlanta hadn't had a white Christmas since record keeping began in 1896. Naturally, Justin and I weren't here to witness it. We spent Christmas in South Georgia with our families, which, in my opinion, was better than a white Christmas. As we drove back to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon, we ran into snow around Forsyth. It was very different. I can't say that I've ever driven in that much snow before. It wasn't sticking to the road, which was wonderful, but it was definitely coming down quickly. We should have known to expect lots of snow on objects at the house when we saw a car in Macon Sunday afternoon with a Dekalb County license plate that was covered in snow.

This was the front yard when we arrived home:

A little snow was still in the courtyard when we got home. Pete and Annabelle didn't seem to mind it. Doesn't the yard look dreary and sad?

You can see the snowflakes falling in this photo.

We didn't get as much snow last weekend as we did in February of this year. There was still snow on the ground Wednesday morning. It's all gone now.

My New Job

A couple of weeks ago, I started a new job. I'm enjoying it and look forward to learning new things each day. I get more comfortable with my work each day and I think I am beginning to get the hang of it.

This is my view as I pull into the parking lot each morning. It's definitely a big change from the view at my last job in South Georgia.

This is my current work station. I'm slowly personalizing it with photos and decor. It still looks pretty generic, but it's a work in progress. I'll eventually move to a different part of the office, but I'm expecting to be here for a few more weeks.

Isn't this uber exciting? I knew you'd agree.

The Honda's Key

Recently, I've noticed that the battery in my car key seems to be nearing the end of it's life. Justin noticed the same thing about his key about that time, too. We both made sure our spare keys worked in the event something went wrong with the battery replacement. Justin carefully opened his key and found out the battery type. He attempted to open mine. After working for a while, all he managed to accomplish was stripping the tiny screw that held the key together.

He researched the Honda keys online and found out that Honda sometimes uses thread stripping glue to keep you from opening the key on your own. Whenever you need to have the battery replaced, you are encouraged to take the key to a Honda dealership where they break the cover off the key and replace the battery and cover when they're finished. I have no idea why they do this. It doesn't make a bit of sense.

Justin found a company online that sells uncut replacement keys for my car. He ordered one and it arrived yesterday.

My current key on the left and the uncut replacement on the right:

Justin is prying into the cover:

This is what the guts of a Honda key fob look like. The center piece (with the buttons) is the working mechanism and everything else is the cover. When he reassembled the key, Justin had to use the existing half of the cover that contained the actual key to the car (the piece on the left side of the photo below) since the key was attached to that piece of the cover.

Finished. We still need to get a replacement battery for the key fob but at least we can get into the cover to easily replace it now. We're also hoping to have the new key cut so the entire key and key fob will be new.

Happy birthday, Olivia!

Justin's niece, Olivia, turned one yesterday! I cannot believe she's one. I remember visiting her in the hospital a few hours after she was born. It seems like that was yesterday.

Isn't she beautiful? Her daddy, Justin's brother, is holding her in this photo.

She's checking out her toys. She's walking now so the push/ride car looks like it will be lots of fun.

I wonder if she enjoyed her cake.

Happy first birthday, Olivia!

Fancy Bows

I cannot believe how fast December is zooming by. Christmas will be here in just over a week! I think Justin and I are pretty much finished with our Christmas shopping. We're still waiting for a couple of gifts to arrive, but I think most everything has been ordered.

This is how our tree currently looks:

Justin found the floral wire one night recently so I was able to make a new bow for the top of the tree. I printed some simple gift tags and used pinking shears to cut them. They're kind of cute.

My mother always puts fancy bows that she makes on her presents. She simply does not allow stick on bows under her tree. I've used the stick on bows on presents before and she removed them and put fancy bows on the presents. It didn't bother me because her bows really do look better, but that takes time and a little effort. The stick on bows were a step up from what I used to do. I used to didn't even put bows on presents. I bought some inexpensive ribbon and put fancy bows on my presents this year. They don't look as good as Mama's, but they're acceptable. She also uses nicer ribbon than I used. What can I say, I'm cheap.

Johann Sebastian Bach

I am a huge fan of JS Bach. I think he is my favorite composer (I really like Tchaikovsky, too.). One of his pieces, Cantata No. 28, Sheep May Safely Graze, BVW 208, is probably my second favorite Bach piece. My favorite is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. I once read that Bach was a very religious man who wrote his music to please God. I'm sure He was pleased.

The link below is a YouTube video of Sheep May Safely Graze.

Happy Birthday, Annabelle!

Today is Annabelle's sixth birthday!

Happy birthday, Annabelle!

Cafe Lily

A couple of years ago, Justin and I were wandering around Decatur one Sunday evening before I left for South Georgia. We were trying to decide what to eat for supper when we came across Cafe Lily. The outside didn't appear to be anything incredibly fancy so we walked inside. I should mention that we looked like crap. I can't remember if we had bathed earlier that day (I know, we're gross and disgusting) but I was definitely not wearing make-up and I seriously doubt my hair was styled. Anyway, we walked inside and looked at a menu. We quickly decided we needed to come back when we didn't look so bad.

Friday evening was the day we didn't look so bad. After raking the yard, we showered and headed to Decatur for supper.

Justin made a reservation, but we arrived about fifteen minutes early and were immediately seated. I started the meal with a yummy cosmopolitan and Justin had a glass of wine. We also shared a bowl of fonduta piemontese. The fondue was very yummy.

Justin had a marinated pork special for his entree. I tried it and it was ok, but not something that I would order. I think he enjoyed it, but not as much as the man at the table beside us. When our server was telling us about the specials for the evening, this man turned around and raved about how wonderful the pork was. I had the half order of seafood vol-au-vent. It was fantastic! So rich and creamy. We were full after our entrees so we skipped dessert, but I'll definitely save room next time because the desserts all sounded very tasty.

I really want to go back because I saw several things on the menu that I cannot wait to try (risotto con cappesante e asparago and pescado relleno). The service was great and the atmosphere was good, too. The kitchen seemed to have their act together because as we finished one course, the next was out within a couple of minutes.

Leaves are evil

Our yard has trees. Most of the time, this isn't a problem. Throughout the autumn season, the trees shed their leaves and pine needles (pine straw). The first autumn we were in this house, we raked the yard a couple of times, but grew frustrated that more leaves would fall shortly after we raked. Last year, we just didn't rake. A man came through the neighborhood and asked if we would pay him to rake our yard. We happily obliged. He earned his money that day. The house literally looked abandoned. It was horrible.

This year, we kept up with the raking. We raked it three times before raking it yesterday. Sometimes, I would stop working and stare up at the leaves still attached to the trees and think about how they would fall and need to be raked. It was also lovely to be raking and see a steady parade of leaves falling to the ground in an already raked area. In my opinion, the worst part about raking is the bagging. In order for the yard trash to be picked up by the county, we have to bag it.

Prior to today, we raked the yard manually using rakes. Today, we tried using the leaf blower. That worked fairly well for the leaves, but I still had to go behind Justin and rake the pine needles. The pine needles were a snap once those pesky leaves were gone.

I took these photos this afternoon at about 5:30 p.m. They're kind of dark since the sun was quickly setting. The bare driveway is the biggest change. The leaves had covered the driveway to the point that you literally couldn't tell if you were driving on driveway or yard. Parking on the parking pad was loads of fun, too. I can't count the number of times I had to re-park my car after getting out and realizing I was either on the grass or in the middle of the pad and crooked to the point that it was embarrassing.
We weren't able to completely finish the front yard since that darned sun decided to set. The nerve.

When my sister was here last week, she commented that she thought her yard had a lot of leaves. You can see a distinct line where we stopped raking for the evening. The entire yard and driveway looked like this unraked portion of yard. I promise I'm not exaggerating.

This portion still needs to be raked and bagged. This area is near the road and has smaller leaves. Those little leave are not fun to rake or bag.

I started working in the courtyard since the dogs spend a lot of time out there and I wanted to make sure I had enough time to clean it. Once again, this whole area was covered in leaves.

When we finished for the evening, there were eighteen bags of leaves and pine needles (sixteen from the front yard and two from the courtyard in the back).

I hope we can get the rest of the front yard raked before this cold front comes through tomorrow. The highs for next week are supposed to be in the low to mid 40s. I'm a strong girl, but I do have my limits. I don't work outside in temperatures below fifty.

Edited to add: We did get the yard finished before it got too cold. We did brave some rain sprinkles, but nothing terrible. When we finally finished, we had thirty-eight bags of yard stuff.

Dog Training: Week 8

We had our eighth and final training class tonight. We were to teach our dogs a trick to demonstrate in class. Annabelle learned to crawl, stand on her hind legs, and roll over. She actually demonstrated all of them in class and everyone seemed very impressed, especially Robert. Buckley shook hands with Robert with a little coaxing. Pablo and Pete just watched Annabelle and Buckley show off.

Everyone got a small pouch of treats, a frisbee, and a certificate. After taking a few photos, we played a little game where we practiced sit, down, and stay. Everyone did really well with sit and down, with the exception of Pete - she just stood and watched. Annabelle and Buckley were in a staying contest when we were practicing the stay command. They both excelled in this class.

Robert was very impressed with Annabelle's progress and thinks she would make a great therapy dog. He really wants her to take the intermediate training class. We're kind of thinking about waiting a little while before we enroll in another class. We really enjoyed this one, but we'd like to practice with her a little more. The intermediate class is at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning in a few weeks and I'm not sure that Justin or I would be able to leave work to get her to class on time. He said Pete was more than welcome to join, but that he didn't think it would be completely beneficial to her. Robert was proud that Pete actually walked some in class.

I took this photo just after getting the carrier ready to go to class tonight. I put a clean rug (I use small rugs in the bottom of the crates and carriers - they don't seem to slip around like blankets and towels) in the bottom and left it on top of the crate. Since they couldn't get inside the carrier, they got into the crate. They wanted to make sure I didn't forget them.

Pete graduates! She did not like that cap.

Here's her certificate:

Annabelle graduates!

Robert, Pete, Annabelle, and Justin. Robert is such a great instructor. He seems to really enjoy working with dogs.

Pablo is on the left and Buckley is on the right. Buckley loved the frisbee!

This is Robert's dog, Sky. She is such a well-behaved dog.

Thanksgiving Vacation

Justin and I headed to South Georgia Thursday morning to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We decided to leave Thursday morning instead of Wednesday evening because of anticipated traffic. I think we made the right decision because traffic was fairly light.

Since Justin and I are from the same town and our parents still live there, we are able to easily spend time with both families. I eat lunch at my mother's house and Justin eats lunch at his parents' house. After lunch, I head over to celebrate Justin's and his mother's birthday. We usually eat supper with my mother and then we head back to Justin's parents' house for some visiting.

We even took Pete and Annabelle with us and they had a ball. They travel really well and seemed to enjoy exploring their old yard at my mother's house. We also took them to visit their other grandparents. They enjoyed exploring Brad and Janice's newly renovated house. I think they approved.

My sister and her family decided to take a mini vacation in Atlanta over the Thanksgiving holiday. Since Justin and I headed back to Atlanta on Saturday night, we were able to visit with them that evening and Sunday morning before they headed home. We had lunch at Flip Burger Boutique on Sunday. I figured it would be easy to get in and out of there and not spend an hour waiting for a table. We went at noon and were able to immediately be seated since they weren't super busy.

I ordered my usual po boyger and shared an order of fries with Justin. He ordered the philly burger. It's kind of neat because they use cheese foam on it. My sister and niece each ordered the bacon + cheese burger, but my niece ordered hers with only the burger, bacon, and cheese. They shared an order of fries. Paul ordered the gyro and said it was a typical gyro. He also ordered parmesan zucchini fries. I thought they were very tasty. Justin and I shared a turtle milkshake. My niece ordered one for herself, although I did drink some of it. Carrie and Paul shared a nutella and burnt marshmallow shake and seemed to enjoy it. A milkshake is such a nice ending to a yummy meal. Everyone was full and satisfied when we left.

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love Christmas, but I like how you don't have the stress of providing the perfect gift at Thanksgiving. It's about spending time with family and eating, two of my favorite things to do.

Dog Training: Week 7

Warning: the first paragraph might be gross to some people since it contains vomit talk.

Last night was our next to last training class. I left the house at the usual time, but traffic was awful, so Pete, Annabelle, and I were ten minutes late to class. I was embarrassed, but there was nothing I could do. Justin was on time. Robert, the instructor, was super nice and waited for us. When I was pulling in the parking lot, I heard what I thought sounded like one of the dogs throwing up (I guess my driving really is bad). Soon after, my suspicions were confirmed by the odor coming from the backseat. I called Justin before we arrived so he could come out to the car to help me. As I was getting the dogs out and trying to avoid the vomit, I managed to drag Pete through it and some of the vomit ended up in my seat. It was on Pete's paws, so as I was carrying her inside, I got it on me, too. It was great.

We mainly talked about grooming and first-aid. Someone also asked how often to bathe the dogs. Most people in class said they bathe when the dog smells, which is usually every five to six weeks. He said that's a good schedule. I asked if weekly was too often and he said yes and that frequent bathing can dry out the dog's skin. I bathe them frequently because they smell and because of Annabelle's skin allergies.

Robert told us that when a dog is in extreme pain, like after being hit by a car, you should always muzzle a dog to prevent bites. He said even though you are trying to help the dog, they are very likely to bite you due to the pain. He told a couple of stories that made me nearly cry.

After the discussion, we practiced walking around the store. Pete actually walked quite a bit last night. She didn't want to walk in line with the rest of the class so I kind of let her do her own thing for a little bit. She seems to like to sniff out potty accidents in the store, but she was walking and that's a big change. When I tried to direct her walking, she would sit down and refuse to move.

When we got back in the classroom, we practiced our sit-stay-come command. Everyone did really well, except for Pete. She sat, but wouldn't come. I've started taking her off the leash when we're in the classroom and practicing commands. She seems to do better without the leash, but she's got to learn to do stuff on the leash.

Next week is our final week!

Justin's last night as a 29 year old

I decided to give Justin his birthday presents from me a day early.

The presents came in the mail and I wanted to get them before Justin saw the packages, but danged if he didn't retrieve the mail on both days presents arrived. I smiled and took the presents to another room to hide. I wrapped them yesterday while he was at work.
I asked him to smile for his last photo before he hits thirty.

Justin loves the Broadway musical Rent. He's seen it live three times. He asked for the recording of the final Broadway performance. The show closed last year and I think Justin secretly mourned.

Unwrapping the second present. What is in that box?

Headphones! I joked that the cord is long enough for him to walk all over the house while the headphones are plugged in.

Miss Pete enjoys hanging out in the living room with us. Annabelle likes to stay outside in the evening and we usually have to chase her inside the house because she refuses to come in.

Later, Justin and I were watching television and I pulled out my blanket. Everytime I would try to put my legs under it, Justin would growl like Pete does when you're doing something she doesn't like. I told him to stop or the photos would end up on the blog.

Happy birthday, Justin!

Justin is thirty

My sweet Justin turns thirty years old today! We are getting old.


Happy birthday, Justin! I hope you have a great day. I love you!

Justin gets married and I get to hold a baby

Justin and I headed to South Georgia last weekend for a wedding. My former co-worker, Marissa, married her fiancee, Justin. Whenever Marissa and I would talk about our Justin, we would always say "my Justin" to keep things straight. Their wedding was beautiful and she was a gorgeous bride! The weather was great (not too hot or too cold) and the sun wasn't horribly bright. I know the photos are going to be wonderful. They served ham, turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans, rolls, and cranberry sauce. It was yummy! I love cornbread dressing. The bride's cake was red velvet and tasted so fresh and looked very lovely, too. Marissa and Justin looked so happy together and I'm so excited for them.

I borrowed the photo below from someone's Facebook page. I really hope that was ok.

I felt just awful leaving before telling Marissa bye. When my Justin and I needed to leave, Marissa was dancing and I didn't want to interrupt her. I felt just awful, but we needed to go. Based on the other pictures, I don't think she stopped celebrating just because we left.

We did meet up with Justin's parents and brother and his brother's wife and daughter. The little cutie pie below let me hold her for a while and didn't even cry. Isn't Miss Olivia adorable?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I wanted to make sure I got our Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. I realize putting up our little tree doesn't take days, but in all honesty, I am kind of excited about the holidays this year. I don't know why.

This is the Christmas tree corner. I need some wall prints or something on the walls. This corner is pretty boring without the tree.

I'm not sure if this is how other people put up their tree, but I fluff the bottom layer and put the branches on the tree trunk. Then, I wrap lights around the individual branches. This takes a while and a lot of lights, but it's how my mother always did her tree, so it's how I do ours. Several years ago when I worked at Vivian's Gift Shoppe, it was my year to put up Christmas trees. We had a rule that you didn't have to take down trees if you put them up. When the other employees took down the trees that year, they said I wasn't allowed to put the lights on the trees ever again. My trees looked good, though.

That top section is all one piece and it is kind of hard to put lights on it.

Another thing my mother does is use coordinating ornaments. When my sister and I were younger, our mother would decorate the tree with juvenile ornaments and the painted macaroni ornaments we made at school. As we got older, she started using prettier and more fru-fru stuff. My tree is very bare compared to hers. I do use the four or five non-colored ball ornaments Justin and I have acquired since we've been married. I think these will always be on our tree.

The bow and streamers have been used for seven Christmases and passed their prime about five years ago. I bought a roll of nice ribbon last year after Christmas to use this year. I started searching for my floral wire last night and never found it. I was going to use an ornament hanger instead of wire but decided to just wait and get the proper wire. The old bow and streamers will make do until I hit the store.

I'll probably jinx myself by saying this, but the lights on our tree are all as old as the tree. Some of the bulbs have stopped working, but a blown bulb here and there isn't a problem for me. I just hide them with ornaments. The tree is the first Christmas tree Justin and I purchased after we got married in 2003. We paid full price ($16.88) at Wal-Mart that year. Yeah, we were big spenders.