High Five for Friday

This might have been the longest, craziest week I've had in a really long time.  It seemed to take forever to get through yet I am sitting here, wondering where all of the time went!

Im going to break this down into a Friday 5 list because it's Friday and I like lists.  =)

#1

Last Friday night did not go quite as we had planned.  The boys ended up losing 34-12.  Thew good news is they played as hard as they could.  It's just really hard to win when the other team has twice as many players who are all a good 6 inches taller and much bigger than our kids.  I hate to see the end of the season come, but at the same time I'm happy to have some more free time for the two of us.  Although I am really going to miss hanging out with all of the coaches wives on Friday nights.

#2

Part of the reason my week has been extra crazy is that I've been at a training for work most of the week and I am now a Certified Car Seat Installation Technician. I learned that there is way more than I ever dreamed possible involved in putting a car seat in a car and putting a kid in a car seat correctly.  According to my class instructors, as many as 90% of car seats are installed incorrectly.  I was shocked when I heard that. Out of my class, I would venture to say that I had the longest way to go from the beginning because when they brought out the dummies and the car seats and told us to put the kid in the seat I asked how I was supposed to take the seat off the base. I got some crazy looks, but then I explained that I had never put a kid in a car seat.  More looks of what the heck?! I explained that although I am the oldest child, I was only 5 when my brother was born.  I didn't grow up with any family with small children near by, and my first nephew was born just a month ago and I've met him a total of one time, so frankly the opportunity to put a kid in a car seat has never presented itself.  The good news is I caught on pretty quick and I passed with flying colors!

#3

I think I am almost ready to have Thanksgiving at the house.  I have my extensively detailed spreadsheet with menu items, their ingredients, and where I am going to purchase said items. What can I say, I am my father's daughter. If I don't have it all neatly written down in front of my face, there's a good chance I'll forget something and end up having to make a last minute run to Montgomery or just scrap it all together.  I've decided I am going to try to get all of my shopping done today before I head home because I really don't want to have to fight crowds at the grocery store this weekend or any time next week.  Plus if I do forget something I will at least have the opportunity to pick it up next week.

#4

I think missing coaching is actually starting to creep up on me.  I didn't think it would, and certainly not this early, but I guess with football ending I found myself ready for the next sport and games to watch.  That being said, there's a very good chance I will be catching my old team's home season opener this weekend.  I just can't help it!

#5

I can't think of anything else so I will leave you with 2 of my favorites.  It's been super cold here this week--Wednesday morning it was 18 when I left the house...same as my brother's AM temp in Wisconsin--and thankfully they have been extra snuggly this week.  This was our situation one evening.  Gotta love a built in bed warmer!


Happy Weekend!

High 5 for Friday

Boom! We made it to Friday. I could really get used to these 3 day weeks and 4 day weekends.  Who's with me?  Let's get right to my Friday 5, shall we?

#1

Unless you live in Hawaii, Southern CA, Southwestern AZ, or South Florida you are well aware of this crazy cold snap that is currently taking up residency outside.  My northern dwelling friends and family will laugh at me but highs in the 40s for Alabama is about as low as it goes in the winter time in February, so to have these temps in early November is CA-RAZY!  I am loving it though because it gives me an excuse to wear all of the boots, sweaters, and scarves I want!  And I am pretty sure we'll be eating soup and drinking hot chocolate all day everyday.

#2

The only hitch to this cold is that I will be weathering it tonight outside when our football team plays their 2nd round playoff game. It's supposed to be 36 degrees with a windchill of 31 degrees at kickoff.  I may end up looking like Randy in his snowsuit from A Christmas Story but I will be there! I'm actually thinking of going a different route after I found these online this morning.

They have several Marvel superheroes available. I am leaning toward Spiderman or The Hulk myself.

#3

I'm not sure whether to blame Eric or the cold temps but I am sure one of the two are the cause of the current situation in my head.  I'm having the rather unpleasant combo of congestion/runny nose and sinus pressure.  It's wonderful.  I have found the more active I am, the better I feel because during those times I can actually breathe through my nose.  The other night I made enchiladas for dinner and could not smell when they came out of the oven.  I was holding the pan right under my nose and could smell nothing.  That was the night Eric ran on the treadmill and came out like a new man.  I decided I needed to feel like that so I jumped on it for a couple of miles.  Miraculously my congestion went away and for about an hour afterward I could smell and taste those wonderful enchiladas.  But seriously, I'm ready for this crud to move on as soon as possible.

#4

It took me a few days but I am finally moved into and have unpacked my new office.  I am loving it so far.  It's quite roomy and feels more like home now that I have all of my pictures up.  And that window?  It's wonderful!

#5

We are now down to less than 2 weeks until Thanksgiving and turkeys have FINALLY gone on sale so that means it's time to get down to business.  I am really looking forward to it again this year, and I am starting to get really hungry for all things Thanksgiving Food-related. With Thanksgiving coming late this year we've lost an entire week between it and Christmas, which means that Christmas is a mere 6 weeks away.  6 weeks.  That's a grading period when I was in school...aka NOT long at ALL.  The good news is that I amazingly got a jump on my Christmas shopping this year and as I put my list together yesterday I realized I had nearly half of the items already purchased and ideas for almost everyone on my list.  Of course the year I am not coaching and have time to shop in December would be the year that I have everything purchased or picked out early.

Wish us luck tonight and think warm thoughts so we don't turn into icicles!

Fallish Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!  It is a happy one for me indeed.  With the Veteran's Day Holiday tomorrow and a few things to do this afternoon I opted to just make this weekend into a 4 day weekend so I feel like I started my weekend all over again this morning. This was one of the highlights.

We used to do this with our dogs when I was growing up.  They would tear the bag up....Hawk and Peanut would apparently rather pull the treat out without tearing the bag.

So things got a little crazy last week.  I found out on Wednesday afternoon that would be moving into my new office at work.  The kicker?  I was out of the office all day Thursday and half of the day on Friday for workshops. I still managed to get everything moved, but I am pretty sure it will take me the remainder of this week to get everything organized.

While I was at my meeting on Friday morning I had the pleasure of discovering I had picked up a nail (or so I thought) in my tire on the way in. Thankfully a very nice gentleman who was parked beside me and heard me on the phone trying to figure out who I knew downtown that could change my tire.  He offered to change it for me, and I found out he was some kind of rodeo guy.  Of course as soon as I saw my flat tire, all I could think was why didn't I pay closer attention when my dad showed me how to change a tire when I was 16.  I am pretty sure if it came down to it I could have figured it out but I was in business attire and really didn't want to have to try.  I am just glad to know there are still good people in the world who are willing to help out a stranger in need.  I am definitely going to pay that one forward.

Friday night we got to host the first round of the playoffs and got a win!!!  It was an exciting first half, but we pulled away (thankfully).  We get to host again this coming Friday which we are really hoping will work to our advantage.  The team we're playing is pretty good so we're going to have to have a great game, but it's the playoffs so anything can happen!

Saturday was of course full of football.  We changed things up a bit and went over to one of the coaches' houses.  It was a lot of fun and all of the Bama fans were relieved that they pulled out a win. But I did feel bad for all out our Auburn Fan friends.

Sunday was spent enjoying the fall scenery.  Our trees are finally starting to turn and the leaves are absolutely beautiful!

Can you spot the stubborn munchkin dog in this one?

This is my favorite tree in our neighborhood.  I can't get enough of it!

Weekend Recap

I guess I really dropped the ball this week.  It's already Wednesday and I am just now getting on le blog this week.  We had a bit of a drawn out weekend that is really just now sort of coming to a close which is why I am so far behind.

Let's start from the beginning though, shall we?  I was somewhat dreading the football game on Friday night because it was supposed to be super windy and quite chilly, but I am proud to say we made it through, with a win no less!  It was a rough one and I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew it was going to be a rough one.  It was when Eric walked by me on his way to the field house after their pregame warm ups and told me they were going to kill the other team that night....facepalm.  I didn't say it, but the superstitious former athlete in me began to panic.  I didn't have any wood on hand to knock on so I brushed it off hoping that maybe he didn't say it loud enough to jinx it.  But he did.  The game ended up being a pretty tight one but we won 20-14 putting us in 1st place in our region going into the playoffs! It also means we get to play our first round play off game at home this week!

Friday was also Senior Night at the game and THS has a neat tradition where student athletes select a coach or teacher to walk them out on the field to their parents when they are announced.  One of Eric's defensive linemen chose him to walk him out.  This kid has meant a lot to Eric over the past 4 years and it was neat to get to see Eric walk him out that night.  

I am proud to say I made it through the game with just 3 layers on. I am also 100% on board with wearing long johns to stay warm and will be sporting them again for sure this Friday. 

Because of the cold front that rolled in Friday night and stayed most of the weekend.  I spent most of Saturday curled up on the couch under a blanket watching football.  Eric braved the wind to hunt for a little while Saturday morning and watched some football outside that afternoon.  He finally came to his senses before the Auburn game started that night and came inside.

Space heater-check. Warm toboggan-check. Nap in your favorite outdoor recliner with a football game playing in the backgroud-priceless. 

I spent most of Sunday getting ready for our company because we finally got to meet our nephew this weekend!  My BIL and SIL came up for a few days so we got to spend some time with them.  Of course that also meant we've had a houseful of folks every night since them of people coming over to see them and le bebe.  But it was a lot of fun and we capped off their visit last night with an early birthday party for my BIL with all of Eric's family.

Between their visit and the time change I am still trying to get my days in order.  I realized yesterday and this time change is going to affect me a little more this year than it has in the past 3 years. Basketball has always been a nice distraction from the early darkness that's going to be the norm for a while. For some reason it doesn't bother me to get out of basketball practice and have it be dark outside, but let it get dark less than an hour after I get home from work and I start going crazy.  The time change was actually one of the main reasons I started working earlier hours after I moved out of Montgomery.  I could not handle leaving work after the sun went down and getting home to complete darkness.  It's now going to be a race to get home, get changed and take the boys on a walk before it gets too dark, and I told Eric we're going to have to start running at the football field because I no longer have time to walk the dogs and run before it gets dark.  =(  Stupid daylight savings time.  Can we vote to just forget about it from now on? Well after we switch back in the spring.  Please?!