what the hay bale??

well. it's in.

fertilized.

planted. 

staked.

stalked (that would be my "helpers").

and watered.
now we wait.

that crazy dog of mine… need to just leave her in when it's watering time. she goes absolutely crazy.

i've had to get after them for digging in my flower planter. grrrrr. for the life of me… they have an ENTIRE yard!! gah!
so far they haven't come back to it. maybe it was the linda-blair-360-venom-spewing i did. scared the hay bale right outta them! ;)

a must have… or not

i remember seeing the infomercial for the snuggie.
a snuggie? really? that's pretty lame.
and then about three million people promptly went out and bought one. or one for everyone in their household.

then there was the commercial for the hoodie-footie pajamas.
oh dear… are they serious?? $99 for pajamas?? and it comes with a little velour short set and a do not disturb sign.
uhhhh. awkward.
and those things flew off the shelf too.
clearly i'm no judge of must have items.
clearly.
that's why i'll probably be buying stock in the SlobStopper.
yes, you heard me.
SlopStopper.
or perhaps better know as the adult bib.
totally not kidding.

you might want to follow my blog now… you know, before i get so famous/rich. you can say you knew me when…
…or not.

just wait

so thankful for a DVR that records what would certainly be "appointment tv." much like my thursday nites used to be B.DVR and i was obsessed with ER. {ohhhh how i miss that show. thank goodness for grey's anatomy}

but i digress {surprise, right?}

the hubs is not a fan of "serial tv." he hates shows he has to show up for every week to know what's going on. this is why he loves hawaii five-o {wraps up, for the most part, each show, although there is a running sub-plot going on}. first of all, he doesn't have to show up every monday night at 10 to watch it, and secondly, it's our go-to show for dinner on tuesdays. yes… the cardinal sin of eating dinner in front of the tv. i'm sad to report that now that our kiddles are gone, we do this…when we manage to eat at home for dinner…which oftentimes is less than twice a week. i know. i know. bad us.

the other night, the hubs and i watched parenthood. it was the hub's second time, so he had a small inkling of what was going on… so he wasn't completely lost. the episode revolved around a 16 year old "good girl" deciding to have sex with her boyfriend. complete with a butt-dial to her parents during… ahem… "it."

awkwardest butt-dial ever.

watching it beside the hubs made me even more aware of the interchange between the dad and the daughter once the mom had made dad aware of their daughter's activity. it was absolutely gut-wrenching to watch the dad unable to make eye contact, avoid interacting in every way and literally being able to hear his heart break in two. i cried for his brokenness as he sat and watched his daughter's innocence wilt away.

i guess the parents handled it about as well as you would imagine a hollywood family would. they were open and conversational about it before, during and after. they weren't overly "judgey." the mom justified the daughter's behavior based on her own premarital sex activity and even praised the daughter for having a first time that was "better" than her first.

ugh.

it's not like i was expecting them to tell the daughter about God's plan for sex inside of marriage. i'm not that naive… and i guess from the world's perspective, talking openly, not judging and talking about protection is "responsible parenting."

ugh again.

i'm thankful that our kids have been given open discussions about sex since they were 7ish, much to the horror of the rest of the family. but we wanted our kids to always hear about sex from God's perspective, not from information gleaned on the playground,sleepovers, or God forbid… the media. we've had an open dialogue about guarding hearts, protecting future wives for their husbands, honor, restraint and how God mad sex to be wonderful… but within the confines of marriage. we've encouraged our kids not to date in middle/high school {both waited until college for their first serious relationships}. to not look at dating as acquiring some sort of trophy… but to look at it as an opportunity to be giving, serving, loving the other person.

it's far too early to wave the victory flag yet. the moment i smugly assume that our parenting has netted us two virgins on their wedding days is the minute i'll be sitting here with egg streaming down my face. let's just say i'm still having the sometimes awkward conversations with our kids about "it." it's a continuing dialog that i'll not stop having until they say I Do. those two words need to come before the word IT.

{and…let the record show that the pregnancy test in the previews for next week's finale will be assumed to be hattie's… i have a sneaking suspicion that it might be her mom's!}

a little pre-easter panic planning

easter is in two weeks. well, actually, less than two weeks… but who's counting {12 days}?
not only did i volunteer to have easter brunch at our house, but we also have bama girl's debutante ball the night before.
yeah. i think i need to get my head examined, too. ie what the heck was i thinking?
so in preparation for said event, and also while i continue to crank out the work/new menus/social media blitz/have endless meetings, i need to wedge in some cleaning {including the windows, blech}, easter decorating {which requires finding the land of easter in the attic… an expedition to be sure}, mani/pedi, hair for the girl, menu planning, pre-prepping as much as possible on saturday… not necessarily in that order. and i'm sure i left a bunch off the list.
we do have audience participation… MIL is bringing dessert {hopefully not something drenched in coconut which the kids abhor… all the kids… not just mine} and the SILs will bring a dish to share.
mind you, this is not me complaining. i love to have the family over. i'm really looking forward to the dogwood ball. it's going to be a wonderful weekend.
this is me having a small panic attack. me planning. me trying to be ready.
but if you know me even a tiny bit… you'll know that me + planning isn't found in the same sentence ever very often.
feel free to share any cute easter decor/table ideas. i think if the weather is nice we'll eat outside. probably several small tables since we have almost 20 in the fam. feel free to chime right on in. i'm all ears.

on a roll… or at least i was…

oh dear… i've been MIA for a week now. and after i was back on a good blogging roll, too.
no time to write, no time to blogstalk, no time to do much other than work work work!!
it's been a really crazy, yet enjoyable week. much of what i've been up to has taken me out of my office, and that's been a really good thing. it's spring!
i've had dinner with potential franchise clients, i've been out in the stores implementing a new menu… which for me means taking down the old panels and replacing the new panels which i've already priced {tedious work, for sure!}. i get to see our associates in the stores, talk with our guests and add to my never-ending list of more things i need to design for marketing. at times it gets overwhelming!
i also took a day "off" this past week to spend with jennifer mckinney. yes…that jennifer mckinney… mckmama herself.
she and her family are traveling RV-style across the southeast, stopping in various cities to offer up photo shoots for individuals and families. i literally squealed in delight when i learned she'd be coming to our little burg on her way to charlotte, and immediately emailed to ask her if i could hook up with her while she was here. {i also shamelessly wanted to hook her family up our little city's [and my family's business] culinary "invention" from 27 years ago and a fan-favorite ever since. imagine my surprise when i discovered that she not only fed her family petro's for breakfast, but also posted an awesome photo of said activity on her blog!}

not only did i get a chance to hook up with the mckphotographer, but she let me assist her for the day, which she told me she normally doesn't do. as a budding photographer myself, i wanted to watch and learn as much as possible.

i didn't ask too many questions {at least not about photography} but watched her work her photo-magic. her personality is as light as her footwork… she's never still for long.

it was a great day of learning, of spending time with a new friend who i felt like i've known forever, and a chance to meet her son, Stellan, the one whom i've prayed for over the past two years.

it's funny how life in blogdom is… you read about someone for so long, and when you meet, it's not awkward, but actually the most normal, natural thing you could imagine. while it sounds so sketchy to meet someone you met on the internet… i find that it's like embracing a friend you haven't seen in awhile.
it was a super rewarding day, and thanks to jennifer, i found a new treasure in my own little city. a beautiful botanical garden hiding in a corner i don't normally go. it's a beautiful oasis where i plan to practice my own budding mckphotography skills!

must i repeat myself?

 i was reading anna's blog, an inch of gray, yesterday and chuckling over how her husband gave her a waverly ivy patterned coupon holder as a gift upon her completion of her master's degree. she also shared some great stuff about being a thrifty decorator and how our tastes change over the years. case in point: ivy. mauve. geese.
what used to elicit sighs of contentment now trigger our gag reflexes. for reals.


i then left an incredibly long and witty comment {i'm hilarious in my own mind… i crack myself up. ask anyone. i'm the first to laugh at my own jokes. it's humilating.} and hit publish your comment and then smoke came out of my computer {slight exaggeration} and my comment was lost forever.
i'm sure that's never happened to you. i'm sure you've never navigated away from a page the second you realize there's a word verification to fill in juuuuuuust as the screen disappears.
if that has ever happened to you, you probably feel the same way. oh… i can't repeat that one. it was a once in a lifetime comment.
oh grrrrr. it's not like i was supposed to be working anyway and now i have to spend more time screwing the company out of my productivity?
so i left another comment. but all it had was the gnashing of teeth and wailing that comes from a comment falling off a cliff.
oh lawd, could i get any more dramatic?
anna's post, while informative about decorating, really made me think about husbands' lack of gift giving skills. not all the time, thank goodness, but sometimes i really wonder what they're thinking.

my sister got a can of pringles for her first mother's day. her husband thought it was the perfect gift because they are her favorite. i think her baby was all of four weeks old and he gives her flipping potato chips. i really think they must have compared ideas ahead of time because my husband gave me a pair of flip flops for my first mother's day. they were wedged into the baby swing with our five month old son. i think i remember crying. but it wasn't out of joy.
i would hear about husbands giving their wives jewelry or flowers after giving birth. i got a pat on the head and a ride home. at least he carried the baby.
but perhaps the best gift was the set of matching tires i got for my college graduation.
the boy is nothing if not practical.
i'll never forget it either.
i was celebrating with friends after work, and i left my car there in lieu of driving home in a far-too celebratory manner. i came back to retrieve my car the next day. i opened my car and noxious pent-up new tire rubber fumes belched out of my sun-warmed car and about knocked me over right there in the parking lot. yes. the boy had surprised me by putting them in the back seat of my car. {he's thoughtful that way}
i was so excited i puked right there in the parking lot. i'm sure the tequila i'd had the night before had nothing at all to do with that.
to this day, the smell of new tires makes me nauseous. seriously. and my kids? it's like the smell of fresh cut grass or something. they love it.
they probably love the color mauve, too.

my little "helper"

thankfully, it's been raining pretty regularly, which means i don't have to spend too much time watering my soon-to-be-garden.

we've been faithfully fertilizing our garden with an all purpose nitrogen {34-0-0} which also contains some sulfur and iron {for those of you taking notes}, and watering twice daily.
emma, our mini-dachshund, isn't as fond of the rain because that seriously cuts into her thrill of trying to attack the water.

she has water radar and no matter where she is in the house or outside, she just knows when the faucet has been turned on and makes a bee-line to the hay bales because she knows it's party time.

it cracks me up. she even jumped up on a hay bale to attack. that wasn't so funny. i'm particularly enamored with hay bale gardening because just maybe, it'll keep our varmints out of our business. they steal produce like no one's business.
we've ordered our plants from some company online {trying something different this year} and they'll arrive once the nursery thinks it's safe to plant. we've had some delightfully warm, almost summer-like weather, but upon the arrival of spring, it's as if mother nature remembered that spring is spring, and 75° is just too dang warm for march. we even had a bit of frost earlier this week.
i can't wait to start planting… but it'll still be awhile. we have a bit more fertilizing to do to prepare our "soil."