Love or Infatuation?

We are going to a Bible study titled Love, Sex and Lasting Relationships (can you say that in church) After I weed through all the over the top things and get to the basics, I am really enjoying it. Marty and I are in 2 different classes to promote a more honest discussion, personally it wouldn’t bother me if he was in my class.
Last week was a discussion on the difference between love and infatuation.

Love: (1) strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (2) : attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests
Infatuation: (1) foolish and usually extravagant passion or love or admiration (2) puppy love (3) an object of extravagant short-lived passion

I hadn’t really given infatuation much thought until I took the class, but looking back, maybe I should have. I realized that I have had many infatuation relationships but only one love relationship (and yes it is with Marty in case you were wondering) It was like a light bulb went off, so that’s why none of the other relationships worked, thank goodness. There was a test per say that we took to determine if the current relationship we were in was infatuation or love. I knew I was in love but it did help shed some light on my past relationships. Here are a few of the ones that hit home.
TIME: Love grows with time, infatuation comes suddenly
I didn’t want to like Marty in the beginning, yes he knows this. It was something that just grew, even if I didn’t want it to and tried to make it stop.
SECURITY: An individual in love has a sense of security and a feeling of trust. An infatuated person tends to have a blind sense of security based upon wishful thinking rather than upon careful consideration, or he may have a sense of insecurity that is sometimes expressed as jealousy.
This one hit big time. I have never been jealous when it comes to Marty. It has bothered me in the past because I was jealous in my other relationships and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t now. It’s because I’m in LOVE. I don’t feel the fear that I felt in the past, wow it’s wonderful.
PROBLEM SOLVING: A couple in love faces problems frankly and attempts to solve them. In infatuation, problems tend to be glossed over.
No need to elaborate
DISTANCE: Love tends to be constant. Infatuation often varies with the distance.
Marty and I haven’t ever spent much time away from each other but I don’t worry if we were to ever have to.

Some of you are going, oh what a sappy post, but it was something of such significance this week that I just had to share. It was such a great feeling to realize that I have in fact found my one true love. Sappiness over.

Parenting Super Nanny style.

I never thought I would do it, but I have. I am using a Super Nanny method. Ok, I will admit it, Marty and I like to watch Super Nanny. I will also admit that we like to watch it because it makes us feel better. After watching the show, we can say either thank goodness our kids aren’t that bad or at least ours aren’t the only ones that act that way.
Since Abby is having problems with going to school/church I have made a pretty little chart with her name on that hangs on the refrigerator. I have also made little smilie face and crying face magnets. Abby gets to put the corresponding magnet on the chart when she gets home from school or church. For every 8 smilie faces, she gets to go to the store and buy something. I’m thinking something from the dollar section at Target. The 8 smilie faces can be achieved in two weeks since we are usually at school/church 4 times a week. Yesterday was the first time that the chart was used and she got to put a smilie face on her chart. YIPPEE! Marty said that as soon as she came home she wanted to put her smilie on, of course she wanted to put another smilie on since Andrew had a good day too (Andrew didn’t go to school yesterday)
I have always said, I am not above bribing.

Yummy!!

Well, the low country boil is usually reserved for New Year’s Eve, but we decided to dust off the fryer and pot and invite some friends over. After all you can’t have a low country boil alone. What could be better than chicken, shrimp, kielbasa, andouille, potatoes, onions, corn, garlic, lemons and Old Bay seasoning cooked together and then thrown on brown paper grocery bags on the table? Everyone gather around with some cocktail sauce and crusty bread and you’ve got dinner. I’m not sure what our friends though when they saw me making our “table cloth” out of grocery bags but they didn’t hesitate to eat.
The Falcons played the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome last night. The first game in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina. We had to celebrate Cajun style. The food was good, the company was good, the football was not so good. The Falcons got stomped. I wish the Falcons weren’t the lucky, or unlucky, ones to be playing the Saints at home for the first time, the Saints were psyched. I was rooting for Atlanta but it just seemed right for the Saints to win and they did.

Thank you Thank you

Well, today's Thursday which means school day for both of the kids. It went like this:
Marty takes Andrew, he cries.
Marty takes Abby, she doesn't cry! Did you hear that, she didn't cry this morning. Marty said she almost got teary but she didn't. Marty gave her a hug and a kiss and left, she was fine. YIPPEE!!
Marty forgot to sign Andrew in so he goes back and Andrew is no longer crying. What a great day.
For everyone who added Abby and Andrew to their prayer list, thank you. It worked!

School Days

Well, this post is weeks overdue but better late than never right?
Abby and Andrew have started school here and it’s not going as smooth as we would have hoped. Abby goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-2:00 and Andrew goes only on Thursdays.
The first day of school we hyped it up big time for Abby. We went to meet Ms. Gayle. You should hear Abby say Ms. Gayle; if we aren’t raising a southern girl then I don’t know what one is. Abby didn’t understand why she couldn’t be in Ms. Trina’s class again, her teacher from last year. Nevermind the fact that we no longer live in Georgia, but Ms. Trina isn’t teaching this year. Abby absolutely adored Ms. Trina and Ms. Gayle looks nothing like Ms. Trina, so in her mind she isn’t going to like Ms. Gayle. Ms. Gayle is as sweet as can be; Abby just needs to give her a chance. At first I wasn’t sure of the school; Abby went to an awesome school last year so I was comparing Two Rivers to North Metro. But, Abby’s class seems really well rounded; she even gets to take a cooking class and a computer class. The computer class cracks us up. What is she going to do, check her e-mail?
Andrew’s class seems really good also. This week he gets to finger paint with red paint. Mental note, dress him in nothing I care about. Wow, those must be some brave teachers, 8 one and a half year olds and red finger paint. I wouldn’t do it. It was too cute though, the first day of school he glued the letters of his name on a piece of paper. It took a bit, but I did see that it was supposed to be his name, then he colored all over it.
So the first Tuesday rolls around and Marty takes Abby to her class. She screams. Thursday rolls around and Marty takes Andrew first, he screams. Then on to Abby’s class, she screams. They both missed the next week of school because we were in GA. So, yesterday rolls around. Marty takes Abby to her class, she screams. Andrew walks out with a very satisfied look on his face, just wait until tomorrow little man. See a pattern here? I don’t get it. Abby loved school last year. She tells us that she had a great time at school when Marty picks her us. I asked her last night why she doesn’t want to go to school and she said she misses us. Mental note, tell Marty to not make it so much fun at home. I am at a loss here. Not only does she do this for school but also for church. On Sunday we dropped her off at her class and she screamed bloody murder. We waited outside her class, out of view, and she stopped crying in less than a minute. Then our Sunday school class happens to have a window looking out onto the playground and we saw her running around having a blast. I’m sure 90% of it is for show but it’s the other 10% that bothers me. I know we turned her world upside down when we moved here. I just never thought she would react this way to it. She never went through separation anxiety so this is new for us; Andrew on the other hand goes through separation anxiety if we walk out of the room. I feel like I am running out of patience.

Andrew says "No one told me I had to go too"

Abby the TV star

Last week Marty was in the garage with Andrew and Abby was inside. Marty went inside to check on her and she was in the living room crying. Not little tears, but full out crying. Marty looks around to see if she got hurt, nothing that he could see. He gets her calmed down and asks her what's wrong. She then tell him that she's sad because she wants to be on TV. What?!? Well honey, then why are you crying?
Because I want to be on TV.
Marty called me at work so Abby could tell me what she wanted. She tells me that she was crying because she wants to be on TV. I ask her how we should do that. She tells me to push her feet into the TV so she could be on TV. Why didn't I think about that? Isn't it wonderful how their little minds work, it's that simple, just push her feet into the TV. Well, since we couldn't push her feet into the TV, Marty did the next best thing and hooked up the video camera. Abby got to be on TV. She was the weather girl complete with her very own microphone, ok so it was a brush. She would give her forecast that went something like this:
Hi, I'm Abby Walters and it's 89 degrees in Nashville. Oh I think I feel an EARTHQUAKE.
She would then fall on the ground rolling all around pretending to be in an earthquake.
So the video camera made her happy this time, but I'm afraid of the future. She asked again last night if we could push her feet in so she could be on TV. She has always been quite the performer and I know it comes by naturally. She is her daddy's girl.
Watch out world, Abby Walters wants to be on TV.

Rocky Top you'll always be

Home sweet home to me, good ole Rocky Top, Rocky Top Tennessee.
Today's a big day in Tennessee, even here in Vandy country. The most dreaded game of the year, the UT-Florida game. For some reason even without Spurrier, the Gators are always tough. Ought to be a good game.
GO VOLS!!

September 11, 2001

September 11, 2001, where we’re you? I’m sure all of us remember exactly what we were doing that day 5 years ago.
I was at work. My boss called and told us to go turn on the TV in the conference room, one of the World Trade towers had been hit. What?!? How could such an accident happen?
We go into the conference room and begin watching the horrible truth unfold, it wasn’t an accident. At first we didn’t know that we were being attacked. Maybe it’s me being naïve, but how could someone purposely do that? I so wanted to believe that somehow, someway it was just a bad accident. Then a plane hit the second tower. No accident, we were being attacked. We all were crammed in our conference room eyes glued to the TV and saw the second tower get hit. Someone asked, what was that? I though, what was that, surely I didn’t just see a plane full of people fly into the other tower. How many more were there? It was such a scary though, how many more times is this going to happen. Then another plane crashes into the pentagon, our military headquarters. How, how how? I remember asking my boss what was going to happen to the burning towers? He said they were going to collapse, simply stated. Nothing had been mentioned about that on the TV, he was wrong. No, he wasn’t wrong. It collapsed. Then there is word that Flight 93 was hijacked, I was sick. How can this be? I remember wanting to see more, hear more, learn more.
It has been 5 years but I don’t ever forget. Remember and pray for the 2,973 that died and the 24 that still remain missing. Pray for the some 200 people that jumped from the burning towers to their death. Pray for the babies that will never meet their fathers, the littlest victims. Pray for the men and women fighting to keep our country safe. Pray for the terrorists that they see the wrong in what they are doing. Pray for our country.
Stand proud to be an American. We will always remember.

Quite comical. . .at least I think so.

So, yesterday I’m at work and see that my old office is calling (love caller ID) I answer the phone and it’s my old boss, Mike T. I chit chat for a bit and tell him that Mike M. is not in the office but he can be reached on his cell phone. He then tells me that he’s not looking for Mike; he needs to speak to me. Ok, I know this can’t be good.
He asks me the very loaded question “What’s your schedule like next week?” How am I supposed to answer that? Either way is a no win. Either I’m too busy for whatever he needs, which at the moment I’m pretty busy, or I make it sound like I’m sitting here doing nothing. Does blogging count as nothing? Anyway, I tell him that we have a deadline next week and we are pretty busy now. He then tells me that he would like me to come down next week from Tuesday to Thursday to train the new girl that took over my position.
A little background, my position was filled when I left; it was filled by the office manager’s sister in law. I really liked my job, it was interesting and it kept me pretty busy. I would have some down time; remember that I worked 38 hours, not a 40 hour work week. Well, it looks like they hired someone to take over part of my job. Yes, part of my job. Donna is going to continue doing payroll and various other things and the new girl is going to be handling the accounting. There is NO way it takes 2 girls working 40 hours a week to do my job. Someone is getting snowed. Another thing, how come I am having to come back to train the new girl? I specifically remember Toni telling Donna “pay no attention to what Robyn is telling you, I will train you to do things the way I want them done when she leaves” Why isn’t Toni training this new girl? Suddenly I feel appreciated.
Well, it looks like we will be down Tuesday to Thursday. Marty, the kids and the dog are coming too. Why not, they have nothing tying them down, and hey the company is paying for it!

Jeans Anyone?

I know if you are like me, buying jeans is a dreaded event. I can never find ones that fit right, always either too big in the waist or too small in the hips, yes I have child bearing hips. I found a really cool website, http://www.zafu.com/ (ok so I haven't figured out links yet)
Go to the right side and "Get my Jeans"
It's really cool, you can pick how you want your dream jeans to fit. I haven't actually gone to the store to try them on yet, but I have big hopes.
Enjoy!!
What a trivial, non thought provoking, non informative post today. Well, that's what you get.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Ok, so I know it’s Tuesday, but here’s our weekend in review.
First off, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day and an even better long weekend. I know we did.
Marty’s brother, Eddie came up on Friday for the National Clogging Championships at the Opryland Hotel. For anyone who doesn’t know, Marty and I were both competition cloggers and Marty’s brother still competes. We were so glad to have a visitor. We spent the majority of Saturday at the hotel watching the competition. At one point, Abby asked me why those little girls got to dance on the stage and she didn’t. Note to self; find Abby a clogging class to take and look on Ebay for clogging shoes. She was so excited to watch the “show” For us it brought back memories of extremely long days of wait, practice, dance and do it all over again. For Abby, it was a new adventure. I guess she doesn’t remember the many competitions that she has attended. It was really good to see everyone again. We did miss it a little bit because I did like Abby growing up in the clogging community and I wish Andrew would have been able to do the same, but we didn’t miss it enough to get back into it. At least not now. Clog’n FX (our old team) didn’t do so well overall. They are going through a huge rebuilding right now and I’m afraid it showed.
Well, after this weekend you might even dare to say that we have friends. We invited 2 couples and their kids over for a Labor Day cookout. We grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs and let the kids play outside. Have I told you that I absolutely love our fence? We could leave the door open so the kids could come in and out and we didn’t have to worry about them running off. It was a fun afternoon and evening even complete with an impromptu jam session, hey this is Nashville.

Friday's Fives

Last time I did the Friday’s Fours, well here’s Friday’s Fives

5 Things in my Refrigerator:

1. Lunchables- I know, but they are easy
2. Leftovers
3. Whole and 2% milk
4. Cookie dough
5. Minced garlic

Marty says our refrigerator looks like a bachelor’s refrigerator since we lost everything in the move it’s pretty bare.

5 Things in my Closet:

1. Hokie Pokie Elmo
2. Sewing Machine
3. About 10 pairs of jeans, probably only 5 of those fit
4. An old bridesmaid dress
5. Marty’s clothes- Ok so we share a closet so it is technically his too.

5 Things in my Purse:

1. 2 baby spoons and 1 spoon for Abby
2. A pair of Abby’s sunglasses
3. Trident Tropical Twist gum
4. 6 lipsticks
5. Scrunchie- yes I do still own them

5 Things in my Car:

1. Lots of CD’s
2. Various bits of trash. I am such a car slob.
3. Toys
4. FedEx boxes
5. 2 more lipsticks

Our trip to the doctor

Abby had her 4 year well check yesterday and it was devastating for us all. I did my research on the pediatricians around here and thought I had done a pretty good job. I think we were just spoiled by our old doctor. Our old doctor was a small practice in a small town. Everyone in the office knew not just your child’s name but also your name. The waiting room was quaint and the exam rooms were painted in children’s themes.
So here we walk into Children’s Clinic East. I had researched the doctors and knew that they were very qualified. The doctor that I picked was on the clinical faculty at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. We walk in to the building and get on the elevator to go to the 2nd floor. Open the door to the office and are greeted with 6 windows, 2 for check-in, 2 for check-out and 2 for appointments, a little overwhelming. At least they did have the waiting area split in to well and sick waiting. Thank goodness since we were in the waiting room for over an hour. We arrived at our appointment 15 minutes early and were not taken back until an hour after our appointment time. Once called we think, yippee we’re on our way now. NOT!! We then waited for another 30 minutes in the room, which are plain white walls no decoration no nothing. I was getting quite annoyed and longed for our old doctor. The nurses were pleasant and so was the doctor. Both were very professional, but again I longed for our old doctor. The one that would look for butterflies in Abby’s ears or walks around with a whoopee cushion just to make the kids laugh. We are going to give this office one more shot only because the doctor did apologize for being late and said that there were a few emergencies that morning that put them behind.
Abby is growing well. She weighs 30.5 pounds and was 37.5 inches tall. Her eyes were perfect and so was her cholesterol (had no idea they check cholesterol in children). Her blood pressure was a little low, I asked about it and they said it was nothing to be concerned about. I might call Dr. Thomson just to get his opinion. Her iron levels were also low. This has been on going, my little non meat eater, so it wasn’t really a surprise. We got her a vitamin with iron and she should be good.
Now the devastating part, she had to get 4 shots. I think I cried as much as she did. Oh it was awful. I’m fine when Andrew has to get shots; once you pick him up he’s fine. Abby on the other hand knew what was coming and knew that they hurt. Abby and I both got stickers, hers was Cinderella and mine was Snow White. Afterward she told me, “mom she got me good”. That was another thing I liked about our old doctor. They would have 2 nurses come in and give the shots 2 at a time. Much quicker that way. I know I have to move on from Dr. Thomson, but I really did like our doctor.
Needless to say, I stopped my Target on the way home and got Abby another Polly Pocket to add to her collection.

It's official!

Ok, so I know it’s a picture of Elvis’ driver’s license. The only two I could find were Elvis and Johnny Cash. I went with Elvis. Did you honesty think I would post my own, you know how horrible driver’s license pictures are, especially when you have 2 kids in tow.
It’s official, we are residents of Tennessee. We sadly gave up our Georgia driver’s license for our new Tennessee one. Wow, it looks weird in my wallet. When filling out the paper work, Marty accidentally put Gwinnett as the county. The clerk had to question him on it because it didn’t even realize it was wrong. I guess we will always be Gwenesians (I have no idea how to spell that).
We had to fill out all the typical information, hair color, eye color, height and weight. Now, why do women feel the need to lie about their weight on their driver’s license? Of course I did it, every women does it, right? But upon inspecting this strange thing in my wallet, I realized my weight isn’t even on it. A woman must have made that change.
Another strange thing is that mine expires in 3 years and Marty’s expires in 4. Now why is that? Both of our Georgia licenses expired in the same year. Marty made the chauvinistic comment that women need to be tested more often because of their driving ability. Who has totaled more cars? Enough said!
Sorry babe, I love you.

Pictures at the park

This is for all the aunts, uncles and grandparents that miss seeing these kiddos.

Sweaty panties. . .no not mine

Call it good hygiene, I don’t know. Abby changes her panties once they are the slightest bit wet. Well, seeing how it is 95 degrees up here with a heat index well over a hundred, we get a lot of "sweaty panties". We get "sweaty panties" in the car, riding the bike, playing outside, playing at the park. You get my point. One week I washed 19 pairs of Abby panties, so in 6 days she wore 19 pairs of panties. That’s an average of 3.166 pairs of panties a day. I can’t tell if she’s going to be a girly girl or just have good hygiene.
Just a little Abby funny for the day.

Go Abby Go!!

Every girl’s dream, a pink and purple Disney Princess bike. Marty and I got Abby a bike for her birthday and it was a huge hit. She immediately got on and off she went. Don’t worry, she does have a helmet and wears it every time she is on her bike now. At this particular time, the helmet was too big and kept falling over her eyes. I thought, much more dangerous with it than without it. I bought a 3+ age helmet but Abby has such a punkin head that it was too big. Thankfully, there were extra inserts to make it smaller.
She loves her bike and rides it every day. We are lucky that our neighborhood has sidewalks on both sides of the street and there are no hills to be seen. Abby can ride and ride. Every morning Marty, Abby and Andrew go out for their daily bike ride. Andrew either gets pulled in the wagon or gets to ride on the back of daddy’s bike. They were only going one time around but yesterday Abby wanted to go again so that they did. We clocked it on the car and one time around is ¾ of a mile so my little punky rode a mile and a half yesterday. Way to go!!

The Wilson County Fair

Rewind 8 years ago. Marty and I were both dancing on Clog’n FX in the prime of our competition career. Every year in mid August was a competition that we all hated going to, the Wilson County Fair. It’s in small town Lebanon, Tennessee and it is exactly what it’s called a “county fair”. Complete with the smell of barnyard animals mixed with the smell of grease from everything possible being fried. This wasn’t the worst of it though; it was always about 95 degrees with 100% humidity. There were no dressing rooms, we had to change in a tent outside, not fun when you are wearing pantyhose. You ask why in the world do you go then? $$$$ They gave away big $$$$. We would endure the heat and smell every year to bring home some cash. The competition eventually went under, but the fair hasn’t.
Ok, fast forward to August 18, 2006. Where do we end up on Friday night? You guessed it, the Wilson County Fair. This time by choice. Lebanon is about 25 miles from our house so we though it would be fun to take the kids to the fair (and to reminisce a little bit) Abby was set on riding the ferris wheel. I wasn’t sure how she would do but we tried it anyway. Me, Marty, Abby and Andrew pilled into the bucket and off we go. She almost got teary eyed when we would come down because it would make a loud clanking noise, but once we told her what it was she was fine. It was Momma that got scared. We stopped at the top to let some others on and I didn’t like it at all. This was not one of those dinky ferris wheels, it was huge. We all survived and it fact had a good time.
After the ferris wheel, we watched a parade and a 12 and under talent show. Abby was VERY upset because she didn’t understand why she couldn’t get on stage and sing “When Christmas Comes to Town” from the Polar Express. Had I known that, I would have entered her. She takes after her daddy and loves to be a performer. She also rode the swings the cars and the big slide twice (an adult had to go with her on the slide, hence the reason she rode it twice. Once for me and once for Marty)
We watched a cheesy 2 act circus (which she loved) and munched on funnel cake. Abby won her and Andrew each a little moon that probably cost about 10 cents a piece, but she was pretty proud of herself. (on a side note, she makes sure Andrew sleeps with his moon every night) We ended the night with fireworks.
We have come full circle and it way more fun doing it this way. Yes, it was still about 95 degrees with 100% humidity and yes there was still the smell of barnyard animals mixed with grease. But would I do it again, in a heartbeat!

All That! on America's Got Talent tonight

Tonight at 8/7 central on NBC is the Finals for America's Got Talent.
Ok, so I know it is a cheesy show, but we personally know these guys and would love for you help them win.
We have competed with and against these guys for many years and they deserve to win. Of course I'm biased since I am a clogger.
The show is a 2 hour finale (but you only have to watch the last 5 minutes to get the phone number) and the winner is decided based on the audience. I believe there is a 2 hour calling window and each number can only vote a total of 10 times. 10 free phone calls, not too much to ask.
The have done amazing things for the clogging world and put clogging in prime time TV. Thanks to them clogging is no longer thought of as just petticoats and country music.

"I have a friend again"

Look at Evan's face. His girlfriend is back.

This is what it is all about.

That’s what Abby told me when I took her to the bathroom on Sunday. It about broke my heart, but she was right. She hasn’t found a friend here yet and she had a friend again, Ella.
We surprised Abby with a trip to Chattanooga to meet Ella at the Children’s Museum. We told Abby that we were going to the museum but we didn’t tell her that Ella was going to be there. The look on their faces when they saw each other was priceless and well worth the 2 hour drive. The girls (and the boys) enjoyed being able to play with each other again. They ran from exhibit to exhibit wanting to show the others what they had found squealing and laughing the whole time. The girls played dress-up and even put on a clogging (ok so they were tap shoes) recital for us. The girls fell back into their friendship beautifully, not at all like 3 weeks had passed.
After the museum we strolled through downtown Chattanooga which was beautiful. I had never had the opportunity to enjoy Chattanooga but I was amazed at all the things to do.
We got to enjoy the museum together, but we also went out to eat, to the river walk and to get ice cream. Could you have asked for a better day?
Not only did the kids need this day but so did Marty and I. It was nice for us to “play” with Keri and Rusty also. Good times!!