White Out

Whew! It's been a crazy week. After getting snowed in and finally making it home, I was stuck in bed all day fighting off a sinus infection. Thankfully I got lots of rest today and I think I'll be back to normal tomorrow.

I had such a fun time on Nebo this week. It was the most gorgeous snow I've ever seen. Enjoy all the pics from the big snow storm.

The Great Mount Nebo Blizzard of '10

I made it safely to Nebo and had a blast watching the Super Bowl. But now I'm snowed in. We just returned from sledding and are now awaiting Alisa's soup and cornbread for lunch.

Hey... if you gotta be stranded, I picked a great place. Plenty of food, beverages, and friends to last for days!

Funkytown

I'm not sure why I'm in such a funk today. It could be the allergies. It could be the three-day weekend. But I've been in a haze all day, not wanting to do anything. Couple that with a trip to the gynecologist this afternoon for my annual check-up, and you've got a fun-filled day.

Labor Day weekend was great. Got to hang out with the supremely cool Jen on Saturday night. Went to Nebo on Sunday and ate some amazing food (Scooter made some scrumptious crawfish po'boys Sunday night). Then I returned to NWA yesterday afternoon in time to dope up on Nyquil and lay around like a slug.

Hopefully tomorrow is better. My eyes itch. My throat hurts. Wish I could lay in bed for a few days. For now, I'm taking Nyquil and going to bed at 8 p.m.

Happy, happy day!

So excited about the start of football season! I had nearly given up on the 'Boys last night, but they managed to pull out the win. I'm afraid it's going to be another long season, Dallas fans.

In a few I'm headed south to pick up Chance and Hope (and maybe Taylor, if he's really, really bored) and go hang out with Jen, Lon, and Huey, Dewie and Louie. I'll spend tonight with Peep and Meem, and that's always interesting. Their house is like a zoo when we're all there. It's Beaver's birthday, so we're headed to his party at 2 p.m.

Tomorrow I'll be on Nebo with Scott, Alisa, and Grey. Not sure what we're doing since all our best laid plans got either rescheduled or are tentative due to weather. Nevertheless, I haven't seen them in months and can't wait to just chill and eat.

Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Late night gumbo

Wow... it seems like years since my last post. Probably not for all of you, but for me, because I've been all over the state since Tuesday.

I'm exhausted from staying up 'til at least midnight four nights in a row, but I've had a fabulous five days, hanging out with some great new friends and getting to see some great old friends as well.

I won't bore you with too many details about my trip to the state capitol since some of it was dull and some of it not fit to print, but it was memorable both personally and professionally. I got the chance to tour the Clinton library for the first time, and after witnessing my second legislative session ever, I have less confidence in my state government than before. Somebody with a clue please run for office.

Here are some pics of two of my favorite new friends, Terri and Tony (and yes, I have more chins than a Chinese phone book in that second pic... what's up with that?)





Thankfully Schluter was also in the Rock on Thursday, so we got to hang out at the Supreme Court for a bit and then got to visit because we skipped out on the committee meeting we were supposed to attend.

On Friday I got to see my good pals Alisa and Shauna at Tech, as well as my great love, Feltner's Whattaburger.

My friend Paige's husband Bryan made me french toast yesterday morning and we happily ate it while watching Paige do tae bo in the living room. I then had a very rough day of getting a massage, a pedicure, eating cheese dip from Stoby's, going to see Alisa, Grey and Scott at Mount Nebo, and then taking a nap.

Last night I emceed the Miss Lake Dardanelle pageant, after which we went back to Paige and Bryan's and stayed up talking until 3 a.m.

Now I need to be catching up on work because I was gone for three days, but I don't wanna.

Oh, and congratulations to the Hackett Hornets, who won their conference tournament last night 50-29. Taylor et al will be playing in the regional tournament in Danville next week.

Mountain party

Yesterday Scott and Alisa hosted a party on Nebo for Mike and Shauna, Thomas and Amy, and me (plus everyones' kids). Scooter made some fantastic gumbo and we sat out by the fire and talked. It was so much fun!

Isn't Madison precious?!?



Scott and Alisa



Preston, Madison and Joe

Under pressure

Well I suppose today was a bit better than yesterday considering nobody tried to put any body part in a vice, but it was still filled with a lot of pressure. The metaphoric kind, not the literal kind.

So I had a stinky morning and came home for lunch to feel sorry for myself. It was tough considering I'm on day two of my 48-hour fruit fast, but alas, I did not succumb to chocolate. I did, however, succumb to a long talk with God, during which He told me to get over myself. (That's just how God rolls, I'm convinced. I don't think He always talks to us in KJV lingo.)

My afternoon was much better. Less talking, more action. But also more meetings.

Tonight I'm doing laundry, ironing and packing to hit the road again. I'm relying on the hospitality of friends for the next four nights. Tomorrow I have LBC, then speaking at a board meeting, then back to LBC in the afternoon. Tomorrow night I'm driving to the Fort for a Chamber dinner with Ashley. I'll be crashing at Vance and Sorne's.

On Friday I'm driving to the Rock to have lunch with Ann, then Brent and I are going to Cold Stone to celebrate his natal anniversary. That night Joe's meeting Estella and I for dinner, and we'll be getting up early on Saturday to walk in the Race for the Cure in Little Rock. I've always wanted to do the Race and never have. I hear it's indescribable and I'm very excited.

Saturday afternoon/night I'll be driving to Nebo to stay with Scott and Alisa. On Sunday afternoon my ol' Tech friends are coming up for gumbo and good times. Then, late Sunday evening, I'll be driving to Rogers to stay with Kelly so that I can be at a 7 a.m. meeting on Monday.

Good grief. When did my life become so crazy? But I love it. And I'm grateful to have good friends (with spare bedrooms) to share it all with.

Perfect weather, perfect friends

It's been a very long day and I'm tired, so I don't have much to say tonight. I do want to report, however, that my weekend at Nebo was about as perfect as it could have been. I don't get to see my Tech friends as much as I'd like, but it's great to know that I've been gone for over eight years and we still hang out and visit and have a great time, no matter how much time has passed.

Scott and Alisa put out quite the spread all weekend, making homemade sushi for dinner on Saturday night, and hosting a shrimp boil for my birthday last night. Thomas and Amy and Mike and Shauna were able to join us with their families, and we had a fabulous time. The weather was perfect, the food amazing, and the company was flawless.

Everyone's kids are growing way too fast, and this is the first time I've ever seen Madison, who is one of the cutest little girls ever. I'll write more tomorrow about the weekend, but for now, please watch the video of the party.

Thanks for a great time!

Happy birthday to me

I am in official birthday countdown mode (it's a mere five hours for those of you who still need to overnight my presents).

I love any day when others realize that the world revolves around me. All kidding aside, I don't need presents. I just demand that everyone acknowledge my natal anniversary. I've already gotten five birthday cards (thank you Granny, Memaw Kat, Estella, Paige and Kelly), and that makes me so happy.

Tomorrow three guys from work are taking me to lunch. Granted, I dropped hints for about a week to get a lunch invite, but still... there will be frivolity and hopefully some singing. Then Dad and Vickie are meeting me in Fayetteville for dinner. This weekend I'm headed up to Mount Nebo to spend a couple of nights with Scott and Alisa, so I'm managing to stretch this birthday into several days.

Only 366 more days 'til the next one.

Tired, sore and sleepy

I'm officially pooped. For some reason I couldn't sleep last night, so I finally got up at 1:30 a.m. and started packing. I finally went back to sleep around 4 a.m., then got up again at 7:30. I made several fruitless attempts to nap this morning to no avail.

Joe picked me up and we ate lunch at Michelangelo's. It was amazing! I had bruschetta, some kind of pasta I couldn't pronounce and my favorite dessert, tiramasu. Unfortunately the waiter spilled iced tea down Joe's back and on the front of his jeans before the appetizers, but he was a good sport about it. And the poor guy felt very bad.

After a trip to Lowe's for about the fifth day in a row, I came home and napped during most of the Pats game. Then I spent the whole Packers/Giants game, including overtime, packing. I'm so sick of packing! The last day is the worst... that's when you get down to the stuff that won't fit in boxes or doesn't really fit into any category. That's when you start labeling boxes "bunch of crap." Thankfully I'm finally finished and ready for the movers to get here at 8 a.m. Ugh.

The good news is that they're delivering my furniture on Tuesday, which gives me the rest of the week to get settled before starting work on Monday. The bad news is that, should they schedule the delivery as early as the pick-up, I'll have a logistical nightmare. I was supposed to spend tomorrow night at Mount Nebo, but if I have to be in Siloam by 8 a.m. on Tuesday, that's just not happening. Of course, I hate to drop 80 bucks on a hotel room, but I don't think I can handle getting up at 5 a.m. and driving on Tuesday morning. Decisions, decisions.

I'm going to bed. No actually, I'm going to couch since the bed has been stripped and packed. Can't wait for a normal life again!

Speaking of, I haven't scheduled my cable/internet installation yet, so this may be my last post for a few days. Have a great week, everyone!

Oh, and can you believe the G-men are in the Super Bowl? Guess Eli's unstoppable after all. At least 'til he meets the Patriots.

Weekend Recap

After months of doing nada on the weekends, my November social calendar is quickly filling. Friday night I headed to Maumelle to meet Jen and the boys to watch Lonnie's last Ho'nets game. They got beat by Nashville, but when you consider the discrepancy in sheer numbers, it's impressive that they scored at all. Check out the difference in the sidelines (The Scrappers had 77 players!) and those corny matching jackets some random couple was wearing.

Yesterday I drove to Mount Nebo to spend some time with my good friend Alisa, her husband Scott, and their son, Grey. We watched "Spiderman 3" (good movie) and I walked four miles in the afternoon. Then Alisa and I watched a chick flick while the boys went to the drag races. This morning we got up, Scott and Alisa made a yummy breakfast, then we went to church. In the afternoon they had some friends over, and we sat out by the fire and visited. It was a great day.

Here's a pic of Alisa, Grey and Scott by the park sign after church today.

I was all about "fall back" this morning, but now I'm exhausted at 8 o'clock. I'm usually not this sleepy 'til 8:30 or so. :)