High Cotton

While I was home Mom, Oscar, and I took some time to go look at daddy's cotton field. This is the first year he has grown cotton in probably a decade, so I think he is happy to be "farming" again. I love cotton when it is in full bloom. It is so very pretty.

Oscar and I ended up having an impromptu photo shoot to capture a few pictures together. He really didn't want to cooperate and I should mention that it was 199.99 degrees outside. It was so hot!!

On the walk back to the house (and to the glorious a/c I might add) we stopped and let Oscar check out the cows.

There are several calves right now and they are so cute running around. These cows spotted us from a mile away and came running. I think they thought we were going to feed them. Oscar could sit and stare at them all day. Not to mention roll around in a few cow patties, if mommy would let him.... I can't wait until the end of next month or so, when the cotton bolls open up and me and the boys can have our Christmas photos taken in the South's version of "snow." I am so thankful that Oscar is feeling better and that we got to get a few photos in together. He is something else!

Poor Brutus...

The dog drama continued this past weekend, only this time it wasn't Oscar, it was Brutus. Poor little guy got stung. All we can figure is that a yellow jacket stung him. At first, we thought he had possibly gotten on a ground rattler or something. But he seemed to recover fairly quickly from the incident, so it had to be a wasp or hornet of some sort.  This guy was pitiful for a bit. Thank goodness for benadryl is all I can say! Brutus is not usually one that likes to be held, he is usually too busy on patrol to be a lap dog. However, when he got stung, all he wanted was to be held and loved on. Oh--and to rest his face on some ice. Poor little man!

These pictures were taken several hours (like 8 hours) after he first got stung. The swelling was still pretty bad and he was sporting quite the double chin for a bit. He had his collar on when all this happened. Mom said he started swelling immediately and if she hadn't gotten his collar off, he would have probably choked to death. Pretty scary. Maybe I need to get an epi-pen for this little guy in case it happens again! By the next morning, he was completely back to normal. Hopefully this will be the end of the dog drama for a while!

School Days

This post will be in honor of the first day of school in my hometown.I have to admit that I am grasping at straws here, but I thought this new little "friend" of mine deserved at least a small shout out and because every day that I use it, I am reminded of school days gone by. Since leaving the Museum (tear) and commuting to Tallahassee every day, I have started bringing my lunch to work every day now that I can't run home for lunch. On my first day, I made the "smart" decision to run right up the road to Chick-fil-a. Biggest.Mistake.Ever! I should have known better than to try and go there, even if it was already 1:30. Cars wrapped around and lined up all the way on Capital Circle. So I decided to go to the next restaurant up the road, Zaxby's. Same thing. Packed. Next on the list Taco Bell. Same thing. So I just gave up. I decided to just run in the gas station where I grabbed a pack of crackers and a candy bar. So not worth the hassle unless I am meeting a friend for lunch to get out in that rat race. So enter this lovely lady:   

Images from www.verabradley.com

This is my new lunch box. It might not be as awesome as some of my previous lunchboxes that i had growing up starting with the lunch box I took to kindergarten:

Or first grade:

That's right I rocked the Care Bears and then She-Ra until my tastes got a little more refined and I switched to just a basic colored zip up lunch box and then finally to a boring paper bag! I still remember my mother being sweet and would take a cookie cutter and cut out special shapes in my pb&j sandwich or write me little special notes. Guess she was ahead of her time. Check out the new Pottery Barn stuff.

 

 Those sandwich cutters are really cool and a step up from the old and trusty cookie cutters!

images from www.potterybarnkids.com

But as you can see my lunch box now is a Vera Bradley. I have been a little out of the Vera Bradley loop these days, so I was unaware that they made lunchboxes until History Camp when the teenage counselors all showed up with their different patterned lunchboxes. Thanks for the heads up kids! I really enjoy packing my lunch every day or going grocery shopping for what I want to take for lunch that day. I realize that probably makes me the biggest dork in the world, but I really don't care. It doesn't take much to make me happy. The lunch box is great. It is a nice size, has pockets on the inside if you wanted to insert an ice pack, has a name card holder, and plus its just cute. I went with the black one as pictured above. When I pack it each day, I still feel like I am in elementary school or something. Although I didn't put coffee in my thermos back in those days :-)

So this is my {random} post about school today. I can almost smell the new school supplies now. And see the pictures of the first day of school of kids wearing their SUPER bright, white tennis shoes. I wish all the students and teachers good luck this year and hope everyone has a wonderful school year!

Twelve Saturdays

Well guys, it's August...and you know what that means. Football season is almost here. I love college football, namely the SEC and the good ole Florida Gators. I found the cutest website that specializes in cute game day dresses for girls. I love, love, love all of their stuff. It would be perfect to wear for games.

http://www.twelvesaturdays.com/

Don't these girls look cute on the website all decked out for game day. Here is one of my favorite picks for UF:

How freaking adorable is that? I could see me tailgating in that for sure! And this cute dress is screaming for me to take it home.

And I couldn't not look at the Auburn dresses. I loved this one and might have to purchase it for any Auburn games that Stacey and I go to this year. We are already planning on the Auburn/Florida game at Auburn. Which dress to wear? Decisions, decisions.

And I guess now that I am no longer married to a Georgia fan, I won't have to worry about getting some dresses to wear to a UGA game...unless I find a nice gentlemen down the road that happens to be a crazy Bulldog. I do live in Georgia now, so that is probably a possibility. But these dresses are really cute.

So go check out Twelve Saturdays and grab a cute dress to show your school spirit!

And here are a few cute Etsy finds that would be perfect to complete your game day ensemble

Image from here



Image from here 

This cute flower pin would be the perfect pop for a sweater or jacket on cold game days. Or this scarf

Image from here

Or a cute necklace that would be perfect with a plain t-shirt or a white button up shirt

Image from here

And because your house needs to be decked out too, and these ribbon wreaths are all the rage these days.

Image from here

Ok...I'm gonna go and day dream about tailgating, football games, food, and friends. Go Gators! (and I guess I can throw in a Weagle, weagle War Damn Eagle in there...for you Stacey)

Archi-Camp 2011

I just realized that I never posted about my other experience with day camp in Thomasville this summer. If you never heard of History Camp, I can believe you probably have never heard of Architecture Camp either! But it does exist. Thomasville Landmarks partnered with the Thomasville Resource Center to put on a three day camp teaching some kids about the unique architecture in Thomasville. Granted, I worked for the Historical Society at the Museum of History, but I still got recruited to help with Landmarks' "Archi-Camp" nonetheless. Monday, the kids came to the Museum where I gave them a tour of the 1860 log-house and to take measurements of the 1910 Flowers' Playhouse. After snacks, I took the kids across the street to the 1885 Lapham-Patterson House. Here I gave them a brief tour of this whimsical Queen Anne home, pointing out all the unique architectural details. The kids then went out front to the sidewalk and made sidewalk art with chalk. They picked out their favorite architectural detail of the house and then drew it on the sidewalk. I wish I had pictures on my camera-phone, but I do not, so I can't share them with you. Sorry because the kids did a really bang up job with that project.

1885 Lapham-Patterson House

I did such a fabulous job helping out with camp on Monday, I was recruited to help give a downtown tour to the kids the next day. So off we went in 100+ degree heat roaming the streets of Thomasville, doing a scavenger hunt for things like "dental moldings" and "keystones".

The kids looking for items on their scavenger hunt

After returning from downtown came my favorite part of the day....snack time! We had the kids build and "design" their own cupcake houses. Here are a few pictures of them hard at work.

And here was my creation that I made. I thought I did a cute job. But it was really nice to be able to enjoy my handiwork--you know by eating it.

One of the highlights of participating in Archi Camp, besides getting to be around some really awesome children, was being able to tour the Episcopal Church. I had never been to this particular church in town and it was absolutely gorgeous. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I had a kid on each arm wanting to hold my hand the whole time, so I didn't get too many pictures!

One cool thing was this swiveling door.

I had no idea it was a door. It just looked like a big wooden panel. But it is a secret little door. Super cool. But the best part was seeing the stained glass windows. And I apologize because I don't have close ups of the windows. The church was established in 1868 and I believe the church building was built either in the mid 1880s or early 1890s (i can't remember) But the stained glass windows are phenomenal. They were made by Louis Comfort Tiffany himself. It was neat to really learn what makes Tiffany stained glass so unique.

So that was my experience with the 1st annual Archi Camp. If you {care} want to see more pictures or learn more about Thomasville Landmarks, you can visit their website at www.thomasvillelandmarks.org. There is a great picture of me and all the kids on the porch of the Lapham-Patterson House on the front page of the website.

Can't Keep a Good Man Down

This post is about my very precious Oscar. Just when I think that he is down for the count, he perks up and surprises me. I have had Oscar since I was 20 years old. He has been by my side for a decade. I drove through the pouring rain a cold night in February down to Crawfordville, FL to go pick up this special dog. It seems like ages ago that I welcomed Oscar into my life and it is hard to imagine my life without him in it. He has been in bad shape this past week due to his issues with his degenerative disc disorder. Whenever this flares up, his slipped disc swells and presses on his nerves, therefore rendering his left side of his body basically paralyzed . He is pitiful when he is having an episode. It got so bad that I was at the point of putting him down.




Oscar at the vet's office

So on Saturday, I took him to the vet to see what they recommended. It is either spend $2,500 (which I don't have) to have back surgery, crate and sedate him and pump him with lots of steroids, or put him down. So I talked it over with my vet and asked her if she could make him comfortable for at least a week so that I could spend some time with him and say goodbye. So she prescribed him some Predinsone and some more pain medication and sent us home. And would you believe it? The Predinsone is working like a charm. He is back to being Oscar. It is truly a miracle. I think Oscar and the good Lord knew that I couldn't say goodbye to him just yet.

So this week, Oscar has come with me to work every day. He makes a wonderful office mascot. He pretty much just sleeps in his bed all day beside my desk in my office. The only time he gets up is if someone comes in with lunch. Then he sneaks off while I'm busy and harasses the people eating to give him some of their food. He is such a mess!

I love this picture. The whole drive home yesterday, he just looked at me with his big brown eyes. I could tell he was just happy to have me all to himself without having to compete with attention from Brutus and JR. So for now, I will just keep his medication going if he starts getting down. I can't keep him on the steroids forever, due to the damage it will do to his liver. But as long as I give it to him whenever he has a flare up, I think that we may just be able to keep him around a little bit longer. Like I said, you can't keep a good man {dog} down! I am just thankful to the Lord for blessing me with this time with him. Every time I look at Oscar, I am just reminded of God's love for us. A dog loves you unconditionally. They don't care what you look like, how much money you make, what kind of car you drive, what clothes you wear, what house you live in. They don't care. All they care about is loving you. The same with the good Lord. And its just a good reminder of that love.

I had to come back and add something to this post that just happened. For the past two hours Oscar has been passed out in his bed behind me. A few minutes ago, I was sitting here eating my lunch, not really paying attention to him. I didn't notice he had gotten up until I heard his talons hit the tile right outside my office door. He was standing in my doorway, sniffing the air and then started to walk off. I of course called to him and politely told him to get his butt back in my office. He reluctantly obliged my request. But my curiosity was peaked. I went down to the back of the building to Randy's office. Sure enough, there Randy was grubbing on some Popeye's. Oscar did not hesitate to take advantage of me getting up and walking to the back. He came trotting out of my office, down the hall, and the next thing I know he has zipped past me and procedes to get in his begging position and waits for Randy to feed him. So needless to say, he has a new office nickname. He is now known as Mooch Pooch. That's because he only likes other people here when they feed him. Then he goes back to his anti-social antics. I swear this dog is such a mess!!

HELP!

Who else is excited about the movie coming out this weekend?!?!?!? I absolutely adored this book. I guess I didn't technically "read" it, but I had it downloaded onto my iPod and listened to it many, many moons ago. I was floored when I heard that they were turning it into a movie. I am always leery when they make movies out of my favorite books, so hopefully this one won't disappoint me. I thought the take on Water for Elephants was good and stayed pretty much in line with the novel . Hopefully this one will too. Stacey said that Abeliene reminded her of me...maybe its time for a prayer notebook!

On another note, it looks like our rag-tag book club is working on getting started again. We had to stop because some people decided that having babies and/or getting married and moving was more important than book club. Hahaha! But now that all the babies have been born and are grown up a bit, I think we may be able to start up this group again. I am excited about that. I love, love, love to read. Always have. Guess it was my love of the Babysitters Club books that really got me going on the reading. (I know I just majorly dated myself!) I especially love to read a good book and then be able to discuss it with my friends. Even better!! Actually I think we end up just laughing and talking more than deep discussion on the book at hand - but that's the fun of book club!