She Would Have Been 44

My mom has been on my mind a lot these last couple of weeks. I mean honestly, there are days that go by that I don't think about her. But those days haven't been happening recently. I think it's because it's her birthday month.

She would have been 44 on Halloween.

Her and my grandpa (who are both cremated) are buried at the same cemetery about an hour away from here.

My grandma called and suggested we all go take some flowers to them this past Sunday.

So we did.

Mums for the fall.

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't really feel the need to go to the cemetery and "visit" lost loved ones.

It's hard to explain.

I guess I just feel like my mom (and grandpa) is (are) around me all the time. I don't feel like I need to go to the cemetery and visit her.

It was nice to take fresh flowers. She loved any and all flowers.

Anyway, so I told her "Hi, and happy early birthday."

Then as is our new tradition, we all went out to lunch at a BBQ place that's near the cemetery.

She would have liked this tradition.

:)

And I may have had wine out of a plastic cup.

That's so something my mom would have done.

Girls Night Every Night

Chris recently went back to working nights.

I hate it.

This is his busy time of year and he's a workaholic there's lots of overtime available. So he's working his butt off.

But the main crap thing is that he's working nights. Late ones.

I do not like sitting at home/cooking dinner/going to sleep by myself.

Wahhh!

And if I accidently see the preview for Paranormal Activity 3 while flipping channels one more time. I will freak.

Really.

I'm stuck working 8-5 on weekdays and he's working 2:30 pm-11:30pm on weekdays.

You figure it out.

That means I'm asleep when he gets home, and he's passed out when I get up to leave in the mornings.

We're really going to have to take advantage of our weekends.

On Monday, when I got home from work Jaycie was roaming the apartment looking for him. She's used to us coming home together.

Then when I plopped down on the couch, she proceeded to make herself comfy on me.

Soooo not like her.

So, while he's bringing in the big bucks, I'll continue to sit at home/make dinner/go to sleep by myself.

And avoid that stupid movie preview.

Meh.

Things I Learned At A Football Game

I scored tickets last minute to the UT vs OSU game for this past weekend. Chris had never been to a college football game, so I knew if I passed the tickets up again that I'd hear about it later if I told him.

So some things I learned at said game.

Don't forget the sunscreen. CHRIS! Just kidding, apparently I should have listened to my own advice. I assumed my makeup had enough sunscreen in it for me to be okay. Wrong. We both currently look like racoons. But only on the right side of our faces. Thank you sunglasses...

Don't wear crap shoes. Also known as flip flops. We had to walk a good half of a mile from where we parked, to the actual game, and back. My calves still hurt.

If you make plans to walk around downtown Austin after the game, be sure to watch your back. Really. After dinner, we were walking back to the parking garage to get our car and we were chased by a crazy dude wearing a kimono, waving paper guns in the air. Only in Austin? Maybe. Maybe that's why my calves really hurt. Now that I think about it, I was kind of run-walking.

Back to the game.

We had so much fun. We got there way to early, because that's how I roll. So, we had plenty of time to check the whole place out. We both came to the same conclusion.

We both want to go back to school. ASAP. We both knew this before we went to the game. Duh. But now it's really in our heads.

This post is all over the place, no?

Moving on.

If the awesome parents of a baby in your class offer you free tickets to a game again, take them. And run. The seats we had were AH-MAZING.

That picture is not zoomed in at all. It was awesome. Said parents have season tickets so the seats are always in the same place. Lucky them.

Which brings me to the next thing I learned...

Get rich really fast and buy season tickets to at least one college and NFL team.

Even though UT lost, we didn't care. It was all about the experience.

And? If I told you how much we spent all day (including dinner) you'd laugh. We seriously stayed on budget. That made the day even more enjoyable for Chris.

Our New Toy

I don't drink coffee. Honestly, I can't even stand the smell of it. Chris will drink it, but it's not something he needs every day.

We were grocery shopping the other night and I saw the K-cups. I knew that they came in a bazillion coffee varieties, but I didn't know that you could get K-cups that were hot chocolate, apple cider and CHAI TEA?!

What the wha?

I called my grandma the next day to see if she had been using her Keurig at all. Her and my grandpa got one for Christmas last year and my grandma always said the coffee was too strong for her. So I asked her if we could borrow it. 

Hello new toy on our kitchen counter.

Thanks, grandma!

I can't wait to get some chai tea running through this thing. The weather around here has been perfect for just that.

Anyone tried anything besides coffee in theirs? If so, what?

Last Wednesday

It was just after dinner, and I had just sent Chris to put gas in my car since I had to be at work at 6:45 the next morning. 


As soon as I sat down in front of the TV, they interrupted with a special announcement. That someone had passed away. I automatically thought of a previous president or something like that, so I continued on checking in on Twitter and whatnot.


Then they said Steve Jobs.


And I couldn't find my phone fast enough.


I had to be the one to tell Chris. I didn't want him to find out in the car on the radio, or via text or Twitter from someone else.


I called twice and he didn't answer either time. I also tweeted him and still no answer.


Lucky for me he, "Had the windows rolled down and no radio on."


So he walked in the door and I said, "OhmygoshSteveJobsjustdied." 


"Wait, what?"


"He died. Just now, it's on the news."


So he ran upstairs and we watched the coverage throughout the night.


Chris has worked for Apple for the last 2+ years. He and nearly everyone else he works with wore this shirt the next day.

There are a lot of people who had no idea who Steve Jobs was. I admit, I've known for years. But only because someone in my family has always worked for Apple nearly my whole life.


Chris posed a good question too, how many other CEO's can you name? What names pop into your mind when I say CEO? The only ones I could think of were Steve Jobs and Lance Armstrong. That's it. Maybe I'm sheltered or something but unless I thought about it for a while, I couldn't think of anyone else.


So maybe you didn't know who he was when all the buzz started on Wednesday night. I'm sure you know now.


And if you haven't heard clips of the commencement speech he gave at Stanford in 2005, here it is. Around 9 minutes in is when it hits you.

Typical?

It's a typical Sunday around here. 

Except it's kind of not.

Chris is planted in front of the TV watching football.

But it's also raining.

I've been in the kitchen baking this morning. Banana bread.

A loaf to give away, and a loaf to keep.

All of the windows are open and there's a breeze blowing.

It's only 66 degrees outside.

I gave myself a pedicure. Pink for breast cancer awareness month.

My right foot is hurting, all of a sudden there's a bruise on it.

I've vowed to drink no caffeine today, in hopes that maybe I'll sleep better tonight.

I'm thisclose to running in the bedroom and taking a nap. Right now.

Dinner is in the refrigerator marinating for the next few hours.

I've used the old iron skillet that my grandma gave me four times this weekend.

I need to get myself together to get ready for the work week ahead.

Except tomorrow is an in service day so I won't really be working.

Best Sunday ever.

My brother is celebrating his birthday today.

The Reception

Yesterday, I posted a few pictures from my aunt's wedding back in September.

Here are a few shots from the reception.

Remember, this is just me...practicing. And the lighting was bad. And...be nice.

I've never done this before!

Once all of the dancing was happening, the bride needed to cool off-quickly. How about in the fridge behind the bar? I'm sure there's another word for that but I can't think of it right now.

How much did grandma have to drink? Yes, she's wearing the veil...

And then pretty much right after I shot the above picture, the camera died (1200 pictures later)...So this is the only getaway shot I got...

Yes, that's bird seed on his face.

So yeah, I shot a wedding. It was overwhelming. Not something I want to do for a living, that's for sure. I still very much appreciate the practice that I got and I still really want my big camera.

But with that big camera I also want some editing software, and some classes so I can use the big camera.

Yep.

A Few Wedding Pictures

So originally, I didn't want to post any of these pictures on the old blog. Mostly because I didn't like the way 89% of them turned out. But, I've gotten a little feedback on a few of the pictures so I figure, why not throw them out to the blog world, eh?

I also haven't put any of these on my FB account.

And can you just remember that this is the first time I'd ever really played with a big fancy camera (Thanks V&B!) and I don't really have any editing software?

Be gentle.

Thanks.

Ok, I've talked enough...onto the pictures.

My aunt was married back on September 2, 2011.

I didn't get many pictures during the actual ceremony because the lighting was no good, but I do love this one of the groom, right when he saw the bride coming down the aisle...

The grub- It truly was a country wedding...

And maybe I'll post some of the reception tomorrow.

The Virus

You guys, I've been so sick since Friday morning. I know they think I'm faking it, trying to get out of work.

I haven't kept much down in the last four days. I think the last thing parents would want is for me to be carrying around their helpless little baby and fall flat on my ass from exhaustion/dehydration.

For real.

I've been living off of a diet (whatever happens to stay down) of crackers and Gatorade.

I was so hungry Saturday night that I just knew I'd be able to keep Chick-fil-A down. So, off Chris went to get me "supplies" and Chick-fil-A.

Can I just say, FAIL.

I'm so hungry but my body is like, "Oh hell no, you didn't just feed me two chicken strips and a Sprite!"

This Virus can suck it.

I'm hungry. Did I already say that?

Jaycie has been up my butt by my side the last few days too. Now I know how you guys with kids feel...can't even go to the bathroom by myself without a damn cat scratching at the door.

 

This is it though, this is my family taking care of me when I feel like death.

*Props to Chris for jumping in the car and grabbing whatever I want at any given moment.*