win streak

I most definitely can’t say I’ve never won anything. Sometimes I get on a roll and win things left and right!

This spring I’ve won the following: pair of Dynamo tickets, a tree(!) to be planted in our yard in the fall, and a computer monitor.

I won the computer monitor at work a month ago and finally got it yesterday… we were starting to think I’d won an invisibile one…as soon as I was notified it was here I went to get it and K set it up today. I'm surprised the other winners haven’t been bugging the guy about when they’ll come in….

Too bad my winning streak didn't extend to powerball, nor did it secure me a parking spot at work while our garage is rebuilt -- I had a 1 in 3 chance of winning and didn't win :(    I'm looking forward to the long weekend ahead and hope all my readers (I know I have a few) have a great one too.   Update: Kevin's win this week was not getting on a jury.  He did have to stand in the hall outside the courtroom for over 2 hours (pleading out we think), but was done by late lunchtime....

Jury Duty day

Kevin has jury duty today....he's been dreading it and I know we both hope he doesn't get picked!  There is a part of me that has been looking forward to it since it means I have a carpool buddy today - the HOV lane is such an easy commute.

He did find a way to make the morning a little better.  A donut shop has been going in down the street from us for it seems like months and he saw a banner that it was opening TODAY, so of course we had to stop in and get a donut for him.   We also picked some up for my office to make everyone's Monday a little brighter.   I've never heard of the company before: Southern Maid.    I waited until I was in the office to eat one, so it wasn't piping hot anymore but still good..  It looks like they'll be busy.

I also got to point out someone that I see most mornings to K.  A guy has the school bus pick up his young son in the parking lot of the donut shop (also a gas station parking lot) -- everytime I see them I wonder WHY does he wait at the gas station and concoct stories to pass the time in the car.   We pull up and I see the car and I point it out to K and wouldn't you know it they are IN the donut shop -- I actually RECOGNIZE the dad.    They now have a new place to hang out in the morning.   K teased me that I should ask them, but no I am not brave/crazy enough to ask that of a complete stranger.....Anyone else make up stories about the people they see on their morning commute?

I wish I could take HOV every day, leaving the same time as usual and with the donut stop we got downtown earlier than usual.  Early enough I could do a post office errand I've been needing to do and still get to work on time!

a little funny thought for your day..

We were going to wash my car and the dog on Sunday and discovered the nozzle was full of leaves,  and even after lots of washing and work the nozzle still doesn't work.  we went ahead and washed the car, and Kevin has a great theory for where the leaves came from - Smokey did it to avoid a bath!     not true I know, but a funny theory....thanks sweetie for helping me wash my car!!   it was so dirty I'd nearly forgotten what color it should really be....

adventures in grocery shopping

May already?!?     I haven't forgotten about this little blog of mine, just haven't felt like getting on the computer at night after being on it at work all day and haven't felt like writing anything.  I did have something happen this weekend that I decided was blog-worthy :)

When I was in line at the grocery store I suddenly felt something wet splatter on me - seemed like it fell on me and I could not figure out where it came from.  It had gotten my checker and the person in the aisle next to me too.. turns out it was a beer can that got a hole in it in the checkout aisle next to me (learned a valuable lesson: don't pack the conveyer belt too tight, things get smashed when it funnels to the checker and that smashing is what caused the can to burst).   I fared better than my checker - she had to clean it out of her ear....it was truly terrible beer too, Old Milwaukee I think.  Poor checker was going to smell like it all day....I got to head home from there so it was just a funny story for me.

It was the oddest thing to happen to me at the store in a while but not the oddest thing ever.  I've actually had to have an incident report completed at a store before when I slipped and fell on spilled laundry detergent (looking at you Wal-Mart) .  I can laugh about it now - including the misspellings on the incident report, but that day it really hurt and left a mark on my leg, no good since I had a wedding to attend later that same day....

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you at the store?

Do you want to see something really funny?  The local weatherman got the hiccups on live tv.  Kevin saw it live, I didn't even think to look for it online (of COURSE its online), thanks to my brother for sending to me!

http://www.khou.com/entertainment/Meteorologist-David-Paul-gets-the-hiccups-on-air-205310971.html

K kept saying that other news sites would pick it up and sure enough, today he sent me a CNN link to the video. 

Poor David Paul.  He actually kept his composure and tried to get through his segment really well....I'm sure I wouldn't...I hate the hiccups.

Baby Shower success and recap

The shower that we've been planning was held last Sunday and was a great time.   Now that it has happened, I can post descriptions and some pictures.  I didn't want to post details before because we wanted to keep some surprises for our momma-to-be and as I said before, she is one of my loyal readers (hi D!)

The whole shower was a group effort -- the only way to throw a shower since you have ideas from multiple people and can draw on many skill sets. Its also fun to plot and bounce ideas off each other.  We also talked each other down, we're not full time party planners and while some ideas are great in theory we'd make ourselves crazy trying to pull them off!

I was finally able to actually make use of Pinterest - I've had an account for a while but mostly just pin recipes I'll probably never make.  I really liked the 'shared board' so we could more easily keep track of ideas and share them without having to dig through tons of emails and we could get ideas for items and use them as inspiration.

The general theme was Owls and woodland friends, to go along with the nursery theme the parents-to-be have picked out.   We went with earth tones and colors from the nursery bedding (greens, blues and little bit of red).   We took an approach of 'less is more' and made some things do double-duty, for example using door prizes and small gifts for D as decorations.   We also decorated with some large tissue balls and banners made with scrapbook paper and ribbon.     To go along with the woodland theme we scattered pine cones and stamped out leaves around the tables and also made a bouquet with branches (free in my yard!). A kind of silly touch that I loved was a feather boa for the guest of honor - feathers, to go with the owls.

Everyone wrote words of wisdom for the new mom and as take-away gifts my very crafty friend made scented sachets (home grown lavender!) stamped with owls.

The menu went with the theme as well, down to the eating utensils.

The food included a fruit tray and a veggie tray, crackers and cheese balls made to look like pine cones.  We also had deli spirals, nuts and caprese k-bobs.

For desserts we had two kinds of dessert -- owl cupcakes (chocolate) and the cutest mushroom cupcakes (vanilla) I've ever seen!

Serving dishes didn't really go with the theme, we had to pull out probably every dish I own -- we made good use of them all, we did have the plates and napkins coordinated - brown (like they were the ground or a tree).

We had clear cups for the drinks so you could see the birch straws that we'd found - guest of honor had actually found and showed them to us and they were TOO perfect not to use!  

For beverages we had mocktails - sangria and bellinis, and even had some champagne and wine in case a guest wanted a real cocktail (guest of honor insisted).

 We had a great time visiting, and played a few games (my favorite: celebrity baby names - where do they come up with those?).   She received many wonderful gifts, hope she can get them all home to Atlanta.

It was a wonderful day and I cannot wait to see baby girl M!

Kevin had a very important job that day too -- getting Smokey out of the house.  They spent the day with Smokey's grandparents (K's parents) and I know he had fun -- he had not one but TWO walks and was so tired that night, I know he had a great time.   He even got hold of a cupcake that night (my fault).