Not ME Monday!

I think today is as good a day as any to complete a ‘Not me Monday’ post like MckMama! Mondays are just so perfect for a list such as this one. I wish Mondays could be eradicated from all our lives. It really is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life!

I did not spend a good portion of the last week trying to think of ways to get out of my upcoming jury duty. Since I did not do that, I haven’t been able to come up with any good ones… I’m open to suggestions!

I did not spend an embarrassing amount of time on Farmtown last week. I will not do it again. I totally will! It’s addicting!

I did not bribe my husband into doing laundry by saying I would pick him up a ‘surprise’ when I went grocery shopping. (surprise = candy bar) Lucky for me it did not work! ;)

I did not work 9 hours of overtime last week to pay for a Coach purse I most certainly did not buy while on our trip to Gatlinburg. It was outlet prices people! Give me a break!

I did not stray from my diet once again while at a family get together. Oh forget it, YES I did and it was gooood!

Based on the diet straying, I did not only lose 1 measly pound this week! Hey, one is better than none, right? My goal for the week is to start running or using the elliptical. We’ll see. Ha

My brother did not start his first day of college today, and my youngest sister does not turn 11 this Friday! I’m really in denial about both of these things.

I did not spend a good chunk of time this morning day dreaming about lounging on the beach! I love my job, remember? And I probably will not continue the day dreaming after lunch!

Smoky Mountain getaway

This past weekend, the hubby and I took a little trip to Gatlinburg, TN with Crystal and Jordon. I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all!

Billy and I picked up Crystal and Jordon around 2:00 on Thursday and we got on the road. We got to Gatlinburg, went to the grocery and made the 20 minute trek up the mountain to our cabin! They should really tell you how long it takes to get to the cabin before you book! ...I digress.Here it is, our lovely cabin home for the weekend! The views were amazing. I wish we could come back to this cabin in the fall when the leaves are changing.

Thursday night we just decided to hang out at the cabin and get the gaming started! The boys played a few games of pool and then we played games until way past mine and Crystal's bed times. Friday we got up and walked around Gatlinburg. Crystal had never been, so this was really fun for her! We went into a bunch of neat little shops. On Friday we also went to the Ripley's Aquarium and the Ripley's Believe it Or Not Museum. Billy and I had never been to either, so it was quite an experience. The aquarium was amazing! The museum.. not so much.Here's Billy and myself and the Aquarium. There was a tunnel through the big aquarium with a moving sidewalk. There were sharks EVERYWHERE during this part. At the end we got to pet a sting ray. I'll be honest, I tried to do it (not too hard) and never got to touch one. We had a lot of fun at the aquarium!
We found Captain Jack Sparrow in Gatlinburg! What a hottie!Billy and me at the fountain in Gatlinburg...

...and in the huge chair!

Saturday Crystal and I made the boys take us to the Tanger Outlets. We had fun, but I'm not so sure they did! We also ate at Applebarn and played two rounds of putt-putt. Billy won both games. The first game Crystal, Jordon and I all tied for 2nd! It was CRAZY! Also, the first game Crystal got a hole-in-one on the last hole to win a free game!

This picture was before the free game winning hole-in-one, but she still looks pretty excited!

Friday and Saturday nights we played games in the cabin. Turns out we're all pretty competitive! Sunday we just got up and drove home. Of course it took 6 hours instead of 4 due to traffic. It always seems to work that way coming home from anywhere! Jordon sleeping like a baby. :) We were all pretty tired on the way home! We were all sad to come back home and face reality, but all good things must come to an end! We can't wait to go back!!

I was looking for Noah's Arc

As many of you have probably heard by now, Louisville got a little rain today. By little, we're talking 6 inches in 1.5 hours. Yeah, we got some rain! I'm pretty sure I left my house about 30 minutes into this mess. My drive to work was stressful to say the least!


At about 8:15 I was getting ready to walk out of the house to head to work. About that time the weather man said downtown was getting ready to get hit with a severe storm carrying hail. I decided I would wait out the hail part of the storm in the safety and comfort of my living room! Little did I know, the hail would be the least of my problems today.


I decided to leave my house at 9:00 thinking I had surely missed the worst. On the interstate about half way to downtown, it started raining much harder. The right lane was even beginning to get covered with water. At this point I went from stressed to a little scared! If the interstate is getting covered, who knows what is going on downtown. At this point I called my husband, who was already downtown, only to find that he was stuck in a car at a road blocked with water. That didn't make me feel great! Then I called a co-worker who I was sure could give me a run-down of the roads around my office. He tells me he is stuck in the parking lot of the U of L football stadium. While we were on the phone he had to move his car because even the parking lot was getting flooded! When I got off the phone with him, I didn't feel any more confident about the situation. The radio was saying all kinds of roads were blocked by high water all over downtown. I couldn't really turn around to head back home, as much as I wanted to, so I just kept trucking.


When I got off the interstate, the roads I had to take were probably covered with 3-4 inches of water in the deepest places. Luckily, I never ran into very high water. I made it to my parking garage in one piece, only to find that it was pretty much under water! The water level on the ground floor was probably very near the bottom of my car, but I didn't really have any choice except to keep driving. That part was only a few feet and then it was up, up, up. I had to park on the top of the garage (uncovered). I was sitting in my car, relieved that I made it in one piece. THEN I had to make the trek into the office during pouring rain. Now, faithful blog stalkers, I am one smart cookie, so I thought 'I'll roll up my pants legs to keep them dry!' Seemed like a great idea. When I opened my door and stepped out, I stepped into 5 inches of water! OMG. My rolled up pants got soaking wet in my first step. I got back in and moved my car to a different spot, and then resumed my soggy trip inside. It was pretty uneventful, if you consider walking 2 blocks in 2 inches of rain uneventful.

Eventually the rain stopped and the roads around my office drained very well. I was one of the lucky ones who did not suffer injuries or even damage to my house or car. I will post some pictures I found on WLKY.com. These are not my pictures, but they are all from Louisville during today's storm.YIKES!This is outside the main branch of the public library. I've heard the library had flooding inside and lost a lot of books :(Thank goodness the buses were still running! Louisville bus drivers are brave souls....and this is me walking to work. Kidding! I don't know who this is. The water I walked through was not that deep. I bet they had to throw those soggy shoes away!

PS. The hubby made it safely to his destination this morning and my co-worker waited out the storm in the parking lot. He eventually made it to work safely, too. I just realized I left that out!

Puppy tales

This week we are doggy-sitting for one of our favorite pooches! Her name is Harley and she is my mother-in-law's dog. We always dog-sit for my MIL when she's away and she does the same for us. While we love doing her a favor, we also love having Harley here! Laney and Harley play very well together and I feel like Laney could use some social interaction.Meet Harley, the spunky, wild, crazy, attention hogging Boston Terrier! This picture is from a while ago, but she still looks the same. I remember taking this picture and Billy and I joking about how ugly she was! I guess she grows on you because I don't think that anymore. Now I believe that she is so ugly she's cute! Her favorite things to do are lick your face, arm, feet (as she is now to me until I wiggle them) or her all time favorite, Laney's ears! GROSS! I know. Billy and I try to make her stop but she is fast! She's also a champion cuddler and will just crawl under the covers with you. She cries every morning when we have to put her in her cage to leave for work. She's such a drama queen! She has more energy than any dog I've ever seen. This is my favorite picture of Laney. I think she has such a cute face and this just captures it! Her floppy ears also make this a cute picture. She is a very laid back dog. By laid back, I mean when we first got her Billy said "If I would have wanted a dead dog, I would have gotten one." LOL She basically lounges on the couch with us, eats, sleeps and goes outside for short intervals. During that lounging she likes to snuggle up next to us and she LOVES to be petted non-stop. I think she may be a little spoiled, but I'm not sure who is to blame. Most definitely not me! She loves to go on walks and that is the only time you'll see her excited for more than 5 minutes. We actually took both girls on a walk tonight and it was a disaster! They kept getting tangled, barked at other dogs, and were just generally wild and crazy. I'm sure they had fun though and that's all that matters!

So if you're wondering what I'm doing this week, I'm probably feeding, letting out or loving on some doggies!