finally a winner!

I rarely win a contest. When I worked at Regions, we participated in the United Way campaign, and if you were an Honor Roll donor you got put into a drawing for a bunch of different prizes. One year, I won a $500 gift certificate to Montgomery Mall. {Obviously that was back when there were actually stores worth shopping at there. } Other than that, I haven't won much. So, I was super excited to find out that I won a giveaway at Mod Podge Rocks for these super cute baby blocks from AllModern.com! Woo-hoo!! More baby stuff!! :)

marketing

So, the adoption agency has added our profile to the Adoptive Parents page on their website! Not to sound belittling, but hopefully this "marketing" will "drum up some business". :)

Earl had to die.

When the Dixie Chicks first became popular, I was a fan. "Goodbye Earl" was one of my faves because it just made me laugh. About the time that song came out, I was in college & my roommate & BFF, Jan, and I bought some decor for our new apartment. We bought this awesome corn plant & decided to name him Earl, because we left him in the car & it got hot and he wilted & we thought he died. Anyway, that was about 8 years ago and I still have Earl! However, over the past month or so, he has been fading fast. I have no idea what suddenly caused him to become ill, but it's not looking good. Maybe it's just old age. How long should a corn plant live? Who knows. I'm pretty sure 8 years is more than I could ask for, considering my lack of horticultural abilities. {Case in point: click here}

So, I think that soon, it will be time to bury Earl. It will be a very sad day when I finally go through with it. Right now he is hiding in my laundry room because I was embarassed to have him out in the open whilst hosting my sister's shower at the house last weekend. The next move may be to the trash can for old Earl. Sigh.

{that's Earl in the background last year at Christmas}

{This is Earl today. Note the greenery at his feet - that's the baby Earl he has grown. Perhaps I will use him to carry on the bloodline.}

Just Adopt!

This is a great article I came across today. Some of you may be able to relate to it but probably most will not. Either way, it's a small glimpse into the emotions of a mom's decision to adopt.

Click Here to read "Just Adopt" by Sarah Kelly

solo dining etiquette

Dear Fellow Solo McAlister's Diner:

We have some things in common, you & I. We both love to eat lunch at McAlister's. We both are comfortable dining solo. We are both...women. And that's about all we have in common. You see, we apparently do not share the same ideas about solo dining. Being the nonconfrontational, somewhat bashful person that I am, when I dine alone, I prefer to actually dine...alone. In other words, I chose this seat at this table because it is a comfortable distance from all other solo diners, because it faces the door {yes, I'm THAT person who needs to face the door}, and because it is not directly facing any other solo diners. You, however, have completely ruined my process of seat selection by sitting at the table directly in front of me. But wait - you didn't just sit at the table directly in front of me, but you oh-so-thoughtfully chose the seat directly in front of me, FACING ME. Thank you. Thank you for making me self-conscious the entire time I'm eating that I will drop chili cheese dip on my face & you will be right there to see it. I mean, would you like to just sit at my table? You may as well.

Perhaps you should have chosen the seat behind me, with Jason the over-zealous salesman who makes cold calls during his solo McAlister's lunch. You obviously enjoy working for your real estate business during lunch too, so maybe you & Jason would enjoy each other's company. Actually, you probably could dine with him and you two wouldn't even acknowledge each other's presence with all the work you're doing during lunch. It could be fun! He would make obnoxiously loud sales calls, and you would text and randomly look at your laptop. Then you could get married & ignore each other even more, much like the 70-something-year-old couple to my left. How precious. I digress.

So, Fellow Solo McAlister's Diner, might I suggest that next time we find each other dining alone, that you please choose a table that is NOT directly in front of the seat that I have obviously chosen from the sea of empty seats. And if you must choose the table in front of me, please choose one of the other FOUR chairs that is not directly facing me.

Thank you.