S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!

In case you ever wondered what forty-something-year-old moms like to do for fun on a Saturday night, here's a clue: it probably will involve eating out at a restaurant and going shopping. Both of those things are usually more fun without the people who call us "Mom" (although we love them dearly).

Tonight was a case-in-point. My friends and I made plans to go to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and then shop around in the Green Hills area, maybe even take a "field trip" to Trader Joe's (yes, we know that's a grocery store!). In spite of the tornado whistles that were going off in Williamson and Davidson Counties at the time we were leaving to go on our night out on the town, we headed to CPK and got seated right away (maybe it was the "early" hour, maybe it was the weather, either way, it worked in our favor). Neither of my friends had been to CPK before, so I suggested that we order a Thai Chicken pizza and a Field Greens salad to split between the three of us. It was delicious and the perfect amount of food.

Thankfully, the storm passed over while we were eating (and we didn't get blown to the Land of Oz), so we went on with the rest of our planned outing. First stop: Anthropology, the cool store where we couldn't really afford anything, but just enjoyed walking around and seeing all the stuff they have. After that, we went to Trader Joe's (another "first" for one of my friends). It was pretty hopping for a Saturday night and we helped ourselves to a free cup of coffee and a cookie and then proceeded to walk up and down every aisle, probably more than once (can you stand how exciting a life we lead????).

After we'd done our shopping, I had the idea that we needed a picture to document our night out on the town. Where better place to take it than in front of all the pretty flowers at the front of the store? (I would have also loved to go back to CPK and Anthropology and take pictures there, too, but don't think I would have had a following). So, there we stood by the flowers, all ready to pose, but nobody was really in close range to ask to take the picture (there was one lady, but she conveniently ignored me when I tried to ask). We were just about to try to get the one with the longest arm to hold the camera out in front of us when in walked two of our favorite friends! They were just coming in to get a few things and unknowingly were our next target to ask to take our picture. It was so funny when we recognized who they were and we all started laughing at the perfect timing of seeing these friends walk in the door. (I think they wondered about our sobriety levels.)

The sad end to the story is that just when the picture was being taken, the battery pack died on the camera. I had hoped that our picture was the last one on the memory card before the camera died, but we weren't so lucky. So this painting with words will have to suffice.

The evening had a happier ending though, involving Starbuck's and Cheesecake Factory! We moms like to "live it up" on our nights out on the town!

A perfect day!

In my opinion, Tuesday, March 17th, was pretty much a perfect day. For Daniel, it was a "lucky" day, because he caught his first fish ever (although his patience and skills came into play as much as luck).

Here's what contributed to it being a "perfect" day for me:

• I woke up early enough to go out for a walk on the beach very soon after sunrise
• Had some lazy hours to read while lounging in a beach chair
• Got to jump and ride the waves in a perfectly clear ocean (to those of you who are "Gulf Snobs", you really can see the bottom in the Atlantic Ocean sometimes!)
• Celebrated with Daniel on catching his first fish
• Found a bargain on a newly released Christian fiction book (only $5!)
• Enjoyed a picnic at the park for supper
• Ended the day with ice cream and a chick-flick

Spring Break Report

Hello from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida! We are having a great time . . . wish you were here (really!). Doug and Leanne are the wonderful hosts that they always are, opening their home to us and making us feel very welcomed and comfortable. They are as close as family to us, and Daniel even calls them PUD and PAL (Pseudo Uncle Doug and Pseudo Aunt Leanne, which goes back to when he was six years old.)

On Sunday, we hung around the condo and went to the pool. Daniel kind of had a stomach bug. It wasn't too bad, but enough to keep him indoors most of the day--or maybe it was the access to ESPN that he doesn't normally have at home! ;-) Daniel was celebrating his Louisville Cardinals winning the Big East Conference title and securing a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, Doug's team, UT-Knoxville, didn't pull out a win in the SEC tourney, but did get a spot in the NCAA brackets.

Today, we drove up to Jupiter, Florida (about an hour north), to go to a Spring Training baseball game. We saw the Washington Nationals vs. the Florida Marlins. It was a beautiful day, with a slight breeze, and we sat out in the bleacher seats right behind the Marlins' bull pen. We had great access to the players, although Daniel didn't ask for any autographs. One of the pitching coaches tossed Daniel a baseball that had been used to warm up pitchers, so Daniel got a souvenir from the game. After the game was over, we drove to a nearby mall to visit Leanne's niece, Laura, who works there, and then drove back to Ft. Lauderdale via Highway A1A, which goes along the coast. We got to see the sunset, sort of, and stopped at the Hillsboro Lighthouse for some photo ops (I'll have to post them later).

Tonight, Daniel got to have the pool to himself and had fun swimming the length of the pool and diving for diving sticks that Leanne and I took turns throwing into the pool. It was a nice, relaxing evening and a great ending to a fun day.

I'll try to post some more again soon, and definitely will share pics when I get a chance. Well, now I'm off to go shower and wash off the sunscreen so I can start again tomorrow!

A week from today . . .

. . . this is where I'll be!

Daniel and I are going to go visit our friends, Leanne and Doug, in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, for part of his Spring Break. I think I can make it through one more week of work, knowing I have THAT to look forward to on Saturday!

Look what we found in our yard this week!

I don't want to ruin anyone else's surprise, but just remember this: you never know where Gertrude will show up next! :-)