A New Phone...That I Can't Work

There are very few things in this life that I consider a necessity...one would be the Lord of course, next my hubby and family, and as far as material things goes, I only need a fishing pole and a shady spot at the river. My hubby on the other hand isn't a materialistic person AT ALL, but he does need lots of gadgets. That's why when my notice for an upgrade on my phone came like a year ago, he couldn't understand why I didn't rush out to get one. "Well, mine still works just fine," was my response. So here we are today....and my phone has been shutting off automatically here quite frequently and it wasn't due to a battery issue or anything...so I gave in, and decided to get a new phone. David went and picked me out one yesterday on his lunch break and we both went in today to get it. What was hilarious though was that the lady in there was telling me that I was a Verizon VIP customer, so they would transfer my numbers and stuff for free and that I have the friends and family plan that I am not using...David's response was, "They probably tell everybody that..." To which the little girl said, "Well let me check your account Mr. Higginbotham." Turns out, David is no VIP member....crushing I know! I just thought it was funny that between the two of us, the technology pro wasn't a VIP member and the "I don't give a crap as long as it calls people" one of us was. :)

Cougar Lane Cookout!

Have I told you that I love my neighbors...well most of them. :) Last year, we started an annual cookout on our street. We had the streets blocked off so all the kids could play in the streets, ride bikes, etc. Each family brought whatever kind of meat they wanted and one side dish. Of course, we had enough food to feed the entire South East section of Decatur, but man it was good! Getting together like this reminds me a little bit of Mayberry...we just all spent the day together until about 9:00 that night. It is good to have neighbors that are friendly and all get along because that is so rare these days. You always hear horror stories about people suing their neighbor for this or that, and that is not how it is on the ol' Cougar Lane. Sure, Scott's loud truck gets on our nerves (I only put that on here because he reads my blog), but we love him anyway!! I recommend getting together with your neighbors if not for a full blown cookout, but some other event. Football season is right around the corner and you never know...you could be missing out on new best friends!!

My Good Deed....Or So I Thought

Today, I headed off to the grocery store to pick up some items for our neighborhood cookout. I went to the Piggly Wiggly, and while I was in line, the cashier made an announcement several times that there credit/debit machine was down, so you had to pay with either cash or check. There was this little old man in front of me, who heard, or so I thought, the same announcement that I did. Well, obviously he did not because after she scanned all his groceries, he handed her a debit card. She told him that they couldn't accept debit cards, and he said he thought she said they could only take debit cards. So everyone is staring at each other and I thought to myself, you know, what is the big deal...pay for the little old man's groceries, he is probably on a fixed income. So, I told the cashier to just put his groceries with mine. He objected numerous times, but I insisted. He told me, "I am not trying to get fresh with you, but please give me your name and contact information so I can bring you the money." I told him not to worry about it. So, I am feeling pretty good about myself as I am walking out into the parking lot. You know, one of those moments when you walk a little taller because you have just served another human being. Well, as I was walking out, I notice him getting into a brand new LEXUS, like, one just driven off the lot. My jaw dropped...fixed income my butt!! :) So as I hoped into my jeep with one headlight and no keyless entry anymore, I kept trying to reassure myself that I had still done a good deed....maybe he should have paid for my groceries!!! :)

Let Me Tell Ya About My Morning....

So I have a new fitness goal on the horizon since the Triathlon is complete. My friend Cristi talked me into doing a half marathon, so keep your fingers crossed. I am not a good runner....I would actually describe myself as more of a yogger....anyways, I went running this morning before work and all was going well until I felt something on my forehead. I thought it was a rain drop falling from a tree or something, but alas, there was no rain nor dew this morning. I wiped my hand across it and looked at it....it was green...yep, bird diarrhea green. I almost died. It had started running down my forehead and thank goodness I didn't just keep assuming it was a water droplet or I would have had poop in my eye. Then, as I am continuing my run, I am thinking about all the germs and stuff we have learned about in class...okay, I could die from the avian bird flu...can you catch E. coli from bird poop....etc. Lots of thoughts are going through my mind. When I get finished though, I get back into the car and I had like smeared it up where part of it had dried in my bangs. Real cute....I texted David about what happened and he told me it was good luck. I hope he gets pooped on real soon...

Junior League New Member Social

So tonight we had a wonderful social at Cathorine's house in Old Decatur. It was kind of bad weather, but we had a great turn out and I got to meet and reconnect with a lot of people I haven't seen in forever! We have so much going on in League this year and we are already off to a great start. I am the chairman of the Horse Show in October, so my partner in crime Meg and I have been working hard already. One thing about Junior League that I enjoy so much is that we do a great deal of volunteer work in our community, but you are doing it with a group of your friends, so it doesn't seem like work at all. We always have a great time together and get a lot accomplished at the same time. If you are interested in joining Junior League, shoot me a message and I will get you the information!

Baby Showers Excitement

On Sunday afternoon, I went to Braswell's Hair and Body for a baby shower for my friend and hair stylist Stephanie. It was really cute and they had it decorated super nice in there! Stephanie has been doing my hair for about a year or so now and I absolutely love her! She is the only person in my entire life that after they did my hair, I could actually go out in public. Most people don't know what to do with all this hair and the curls just make it a hot mess if you don't have this kind of hair. The first time she did my hair I almost hugged her. Imagine having to go home every time you paid a bazillion dollars to have your hair done and immediately re-doing it. Sucks big time! Anyways, back to the baby shower. Stephanie is one of those people that everybody loves. She now does Davids hair too and he feels the same way. She marches to the beat of her own drum and I admire that about her. So when she told me her baby was going to be named Rowdy, I about fell in the floor. Rowdy?? The first thing that popped into my head was this girl I knew in college that her nickname was Rowdy, but it was for some not so good reasons...one involving a trip to the emergency room to have something removed from inside her...you get the picture....however, the name has now grown on me and I absolutely love it! I just hope he doesn't live up to his name too much!! :)

So What Did You Do On Saturday....

Mine started out at 5:00 a.m. with a warm up bike ride....





Next, I went for a swim....




Then, a little bike ride....and car dodging...


Then finished off with a little run..


Ahhh...a relaxing Saturday! Just kidding!! Well, it was finally here, and now finally over....I have been training for this triathlon for several months now and completed it on Saturday. There were over 500 participants in the event. This next picture sums up my feelings at the beginning of the race...


If you look up in the dictionary under ANXIETY, this will be the picture you see. I didn't know what to expect and they start you out in shifts, so I had to wait like 30 minutes after the race started before I actually got in the water. To say I was anxious was an understatement. David told me that he could tell I was freaking out a little when he took this picture. So we started off with a 400 meter swim, followed by a 9 mile bike ride and ended with a 3.1 mile run. It went rather well. The only regret I have is that I didn't push myself harder. While I was standing there on the bank, the rescue squad was pulling people out of the water left and right that had gotten into trouble or couldn't make it, so I kept telling myself to not take off too fast or I would be one of those people being pulled out of the water in front of God and everybody. My goal was to finish the race without stopping for anything and I did. I am extremely excited that I was able to participate in this and I can now check it off my bucket list. Next year, ya'll better watch out though...I will know what I am doing. The face of anxiety will be gone!!


**I would like to thank my lovely supporting husband for all of his help and his wonderful encouragement....my favorite line was when I got back from the bike ride and transitioned into the running part...he said, "I was beginning to think you weren't coming..." That will lift your spirits! :)

A Romantic Evening in Cullman....

On Friday after work, David and I jetted off to the big town of Cullman. We are looking at some real estate there, and afterwards, we decided to have dinner at the finest eating establishment there....the Allsteak. When I worked in Cullman, we use to eat there a good deal, but we haven't been in about a year or more and there are also new owners. (Oh, on a sidenote, this was right after David pulled a tick off my neck...that is a whole other story...) Anyways, we noticed the prices were quite a bit higher than they were the last time we ate there. I am always weird about spending a large amount of money on food, because after you eat it, you get just a brief enjoyment and then you have nothing to show for it. However, David convinced me to try the Bleu Cheese Filet Mignon after I mentioned it and boy am I glad I did. This was in the top 5 meals I have ever eaten in my life. It was like $24.00, but after tasting it I would have paid twice that!! David also had a wonderful meal as well and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore...then they brought out the famous orange rolls, and I managed to jam one of those down my throat as well! :) So, if you are in Cullman, or at least close, you need to try the Allsteak. Its awesome!

This was my steak, mid meal...if I would have known how delicious it was going to be, I would have taken a picture at the beginning when they brought it out all yummy looking!


This was David attempting to "make love" to his steak because it was so good. He asked me if I cared that he was having an affair with his steak....after tasting mine, I did not! :)

Las Vegas....Here I Come!

A couple of weeks ago, David was out of town on business. I had a little extra time on my hands so I decided to go shopping. Now, before you judge me....I will say, I use to be a HUGE shopper....it was my stress relief, my therapy, and my favorite past-time. However, I do not like shopping as much anymore. Its more of a hassle for me...I digress. Anyways, I decided to hit some stores and boy did I luck out. If I was a betting woman, I would have hopped a plane to Las Vegas because I was on fire that day. Everything I touched not only fit, but looked so cute which NEVER happens to me. I even bought a swimsuit...that is right...a swimsuit!! Haven't bought one of those in a couple of years. I have gotten so many complements on the clothes that I have worn so far, and there are several that I haven't worn out yet. To make things even better, most everything was on sale! What a day! The universe only lines up like that like once every 10 years or so, so I know it will be awhile before I hit the jackpot like that again!

Sub Deb Best!!!

On Tuesday night I had another sad realization of my old lady status. I had been in Rainbow City all day for work, got back in just enough time to meet David for a maternity photo shoot and then got home around 8:30. I was exhausted....well, my normal routine is to change out of my work clothes into my famous ugly blue bathrobe. (I have blogged about this bathrobe before) So, we were lounging around when someone starts beating on our front door. It was one of those knocks, like something is wrong, so I jumped up and ran to the door. To my surprise, when I opened it, there were 5 teenage girls in Sub Deb jerseys standing on my porch. They asked me if I would take a picture with them since I was a Sub Deb Alumni...well, sure I said. Now comes the old lady part....my exact words were, "Only if you will let me change out of my bathrobe first...." They graciously waited. Thanks ladies...

Orange Beach

On Thursday after work, and 30 minutes after my mom got off a plane from New Jersey, me, David and Vick headed to the beach. We stopped in Montgomery to have dinner with David's brother John at Moe's. I love Moe's...but never eat there. After multiple restroom stops, we finally made it down to the beach around 12:30. The next day we leisurely got up and went to the beach where David and I acted like 12 year olds and road boogie boards forever!








It was really fun though. I remember being little and riding those things until I rubbed the skin off my chest and stomach...good times! We then went out to eat at a place called Cosmo's. My cousin Eddie recommended it to us and told us to get the Firecracker Shrimp as an appetizer. Wow it was delicious....



We came back and did a little swimming in the pool which was nice as well.

Day two was a repeat of day one, going to the beach, riding boogie boards and then we went to Doc's Seafood Shack which was another recommendation of Eddie's and it was fantastic too!










I love these little short vacations. They are so much fun to me. After a week long vacation, you are so behind at work and I start worrying about day 3 into it about everything piling up and how much I will have to do when I am home. Plus I think you can stretch out your vacation days a whole lot longer doing it this way. Anyways, I hope everyone else had a great weekend!!

Welcome home....to a crime scene

On Thursday after work, David, Vick and I headed down to the beach for a little vaca....I was really excited and needed a break big time. So, we had a lovely weekend (more pictures to come on that soon) when on Saturday morning we get a phone call from our neighbor asking if we are having a good trip. David tells him yes and he says, "Well do you want me to ruin it?" We always freak out and think something is wrong with Wilson, but thank goodness it wasn't. However, David's car and 3 other cars got broken into on our street. Luckily the thugs didn't take anything, left 2 checkbooks in the front seat and two envelopes that said "payment enclosed" but just went through everything in David's car. It makes me so mad I could just whip the crap out of them. Who does that???? How about go out and get a job and quit stealing from other people!! We heard from other friends, that their cars and houses got broken into as well. I am going to start sitting on the front porch with a shotgun and pray those buttheads come back again. ARRRHH!!! What is the world coming to?

Happy Birthday Vick!

My mom celebrated her 59th birthday over the holiday weekend. We had a great time an had a nice party as well. Next year for her 60th, she wants us to all go on a cruise. WAHOO! Anyways, here are some pictures from the party....I don't think she looks a day over 30! Hope I age as well!

Part 3-The Finale....

For the first time, we took our boat out to watch the fireworks from the water at Point Mallard. Now, I am a super FREAK about the boat, and from going to Point Mallard growing up in my parents boat and other friends boats, I vowed I would not ever do that. It is like the biggest cluster in the world. Everyone is crammed into this tiny spot on the water and when the last firework explodes, its like Nascar with everyone trying to race and get out. A couple of years ago, the boat I was in actually got hit by some redneck who didn't know how to drive, and it was quite traumatic. Anyways, I didn't go back into the slew at Point Mallard, instead we stayed out in the main channel. It was really nice and quiet and we were all by ourselves. Me, David and my mom went and had a ball. Oh, on a side note, I almost threw David out of the boat when I hit a cruiser wave in the pitch black....it was hilarious after I realized he was still in the boat. Vick was facing backwards and didn't know what happened...oh the joys of driving at night!! Anyways, here are some shots of our evening.