Tigers Basketball and locker room. A wonderful lake weekend with beautiful weather. Dinner with a long lost pal.

Last Wednesday, I was able to score some tickets from Cyp for the Tigers basketball game. K, J and I met Heather and her crew and April W. and her daddy and Madonna and her gang at the FedEx Forum for a match up with University of Central Florida. Cyp got us good seats and then took us to the locker room after the game so the boys could meet the players and get autographs. The adults had fun with it too!

Picture from our seats at the game.

J and Shane testing out the Tigers bench.

Headed back to the locker room.

The girls getting loud in the locker room.

The boys with Coach Pastner.

Will Coleman was one of the players that came out and said hi after the guys had already met him in the locker room.
Thursday was a bit of a rough one. We wound up staying at the Forum in the locker room until well after 10 and didn't get to bed until around 11:30. How lame is that? I can barely function now getting to bed at 11:30 without drinking a drop of alcohol.....my, my how times have changed. I really am an old fart! I had a hair appointment after work so I put the makings for white bean chicken chili in the crockpot before I left for work and it was perfect.
Friday after work, J, K and I headed east to the lakehouse. We got there in time to relax, watch some basketball and order pizzas. We got up Saturday morning and headed to the hunting lease. The weather was amazing and we were ready to get outside and have some fun. We went with the intention of doing a little squirrel hunting and wound up doing everything but killing squirrels.

J is packing his goodies and his backpack and ready to go.

J and K ready to get whatever we can find.

The sky was the prettiest I had seen it in quite a long time.

Checking one of the ponds for ducks.

J searching for tadpoles.

Taking a little nap break!
We spent the whole day at the farm and headed back to the lake right before it got dark. It was super, super nice getting outside after all of the bullshit weather we have been having lately. On the way back to the lake, we stopped at the Rib Cage and picked up some ribs for dinner later on. We threw them in the oven to keep warm and headed to the yard to build a fire and that's where we stayed the rest of the night. J and I got up Sunday morning and went to the Clubhouse for brunch and then we all headed home. There were a few chores we had to do when we got home but there was still enough time to slip in a nap before dinner. We met Eve at Swanky's for dinner and then called it a night. I got up this morning and got a work out in before work. I went to the Y and joined at lunch so that's where I will be spending a lot of my mid days from now on.....hopefully it will pay off when bathing suit season gets here!

Snow. Lots of Birthday celebrating. Cancelled birthday celebrations. Sick as a dog. More snow.

We had plans to go to dinner at Pete and Sam's last Thursday but more snow thwarted our plans. The snow started around midday and J was dismissed from school early so we grabbed stuff to make spaghetti and hunkered down in the warmth for the night. Friday was my birthday and I woke up to lots of snow and ice on the ground but I also had J and K giving me flowers and gifts, which was perfect!

J's dad came and picked him up early since he was out of school and that left K and I to lounge around all day doing nothing. I joined Netflix the day before so we did a lot of movie watching until that night. We had reszies at Restaurant Iris for my birthday. It is probably one of my favorite restaurants ever. The food is amazing but the service is great also and Chef Kelly seems like he really cares about giving everyone that walks through the door. This is the menu that we got:

We got there early to have a drink at the bar but they sat us immediately, they probably had some cancellations because of the weather. K and I ordered some drinks and just hung out for a little bit. When we finally got down to business, we started with the Boudin Bon Bons and for dinner, I had the surf and turf and K had the lamb shank. The lamb was new on the menu and it was fantastic. It was fork tender and had the best taste, served over something that looked like cous cous but tasted like cornbread dressing and it was all in a delicious roux. No room for dessert but needless to say, we were extra pleased. We called it an early night and went home and watched another movie.
I got up Saturday and went to visit Weezer and Mel at the hospital then went to Gould's for a massage. Later that afternoon, K and I met Mom, Roy, Sissy and John at the movies and saw True Grit. It was a pretty good movie, even though it was a western. The little girl that played in it did a great job. After the movie, we went to The Grove Grill for dinner.

K had the filet and I had a grouper special they were serving for the nightly special and then had a creme brulee birthday treat.

Everything tasted really, really good but it must have been really, really bad because I woke up around 4am Sunday morning as sick as a dog with diarrhea and vomiting and K woke up about an hour later with the same. It was miserable, so miserable that I cried a few times during the day. Late Sunday afternoon, we became concerned that we may be getting dehydrated but there was no way to leave the house to get anything with some electrolytes so Sissy saved the day and brought us over 2 gallons of Gatorade. Right before bedtime, I was able to eat a few saltine crackers. We woke up Monday morning in pretty much the same predicament. Around lunch, we were able to finally move from the bed to the couch so we got to watch some movies. Mom picked J up from school and took him birthday shopping and then brought him home. K and I were starving by this point and decided we had to eat something so we ordered some plain turkey sandwiches and finally got a real amount of food on our bellies. We woke up yesterday feeling a whole lot better but were still very weak and had a rumbling stomach. I swear, I think that may have been one of the sickest times I have ever had. AND I had to cancel my birthday brunch with the girls at Boscos on Sunday. No Bueno!

Mr. Yuck needs to be on the Grove's menu. We will never dine there again! We had the leftovers from our turkey sandwiches for lunch and then I took a nap, when I woke up, I felt great. The weather forecast was calling for more snow so I picked J up from school and ran to the grocery store. It felt so good to be out and it felt so good to actually be wanting food again. I got all the fixings for a Mexican feast.

We had beef and onion enchiladas....well turkey and onion actually since I used ground turkey instead of beef, salad and black bean and corn salsa. It was really, really, really good and I'm pretty sure I could have eaten the whole pan of enchiladas but was scared of what that much food would do to my stomach so I used some self control and just had the one.
I woke up before the alarm this morning and saw that the snow blizzard did not stick! I was able to get in an elliptical and stair climber workout before getting ready for work. I made it back to work and it felt wonderful to be out of the house! I took a 2.5 mile walk at lunch and stopped by the YMCA to take a tour and decide if I want to join. I'm pretty sure I will. I can go over on my lunch break and get some good workouts in. Lunch was another enchilada and now I'm waiting on 4:30 :)

Snow and Cold, Tooth Ache from Hell, Another Successful Hunt, Tiger Basketball, My Artistic Debut

Well, I wasn't off Tuesday and J was suppose to go to school but the roads were still pretty bad Monday night so I let him stay at his dad's and go duck hunting again instead of going to school. He was able to get his first greenhead and he was really excited.

He has turned into a hunting machine. I hope he stays interested in it. It's a very expensive hobby but just like Chuck said, I'd rather be buying him equipment for a hobby that keeps him busy and off the streets instead of black trenchcoats and skateboards and bailing him out of juvie. I picked him up Tuesday on my way home from work. I could not get home to bar the doors shut, turn up the heat and put on warm clothes quick enough. The lows had been in the teens with wind chills in the single digits. This weather blows so bad. Wednesday was the same story. Mid week church began again but I could not make myself go out in the weather plus I had a pretty bad tooth ache. I went to the dentist Thursday to get my permanent crown put on and told him about the pain I had been having. He decided to put the crown on with temporary cement in case there was a problem besides the temporary having a leak. I did ok with it Thursday night and Friday until late afternoon. I met K at Holiday Ham for some lunch before he picked up J for Youth Hunt weekend and left town. I ate a sandwich and some chips with zero problem but when I headed home that afternoon, the tooth started hurting pretty good. By the time it was dark outside, I felt like I could cry and die so I took all I could and then took an Oxycontin around 7:30 and went to bed for the night since I had an early morning coming up anyways.
K and J were at it very early Saturday morning and J dropped a doe before I even left the house.

Marcy met me at the house around 8:45 and we headed to pick up Heather and Kim and then headed to Madonna's to go to the Tigers basketball game against Marshall. My tooth was still messing with me pretty bad so I couldn't even enjoy the huge breakfast buffet at the Commander's Club that Madonna took us to at the Forum but I made sure to enjoy some of the bloody marys. We made it down to the game and had pretty great seats. Here are a few of the views we had:

Not too shabby??? Thanks to Madonna :) After the game, Marcy, Heather and I made our way back to my house and just hung out for a while until Marcy had to leave to get ready for a birthday party. Heather and I decided on a change of scenery and made our way over to Dan McGuiness. We hung out there watching the Pittsburgh/Baltimore game, drinking a little Blue Moon and watching Heather eat....still no good on my tooth. As a matter of fact, it was horrific pain. That is probably why I didn't object to starting the night off so early. That and the fact that it was so damn cold there was nothing else to do. Madonna called us after a little bit and was wondering if we would meet her at River Oaks for a glass of wine so we booked over there. River Oaks is one of my favorite restaurants in the city, too bad I had to watch everyone else eat the wonderful food and all I could do was smell it and take a sip of wine. Val, April and April's mom came and met us too and we hung out there until they closed. By that time, my mouth hurt so bad, all I could think about was getting home and getting a pain pill and crawling into bed to hopefully go into a coma where I could feel none of what was happening in my mouth. Heather was suppose to spend the night but she was drunk and her and April and Val were ready to party so I sent them on their way WITHOUT me. You can tell by this pic that I was not into it.

I made it through the night but by Sunday was ready to call it quits. I had not been able to eat any food and was taking pain pills and popping antibiotics like it was candy so now in addition to the throbbing tooth, I had a very, very, very upset stomach. I stayed in bed all day. J and K got home that afternoon and tried to take care of me but there was nothing to really be done without a dental drill. I got vomick sick early that evening and decided I would eat even if it killed me so when K ordered pizza for him and J, I had him get me some cheesy bread. I was able to get down 2 strips of it and then 1 more before I went to bed so my stomach was acting a little better. I got up Monday morning and called Dr. Rutledge the second they opened and got an appointment. J went to Jackson's birthday party at a paintball park while I had some major fixage going on. Rutledge had to take out the nerve in my tooth and do a root canal. As soon as I could get out of there, I drove my butt back to the house and couldn't get in the bed quick enough. By then, the stuff that made my mouth numb was wearing off and it was hurting pretty bad. I took a pain pill and went almost immediately to sleep. It hurt so bad that I was really scared if I stayed up and felt that pain I would have a mental breakdown thinking that it wasn't over. If I had to see this sight one more time in the near future, I was scared I would need to be admitted to Lakeside.

I slept about 2 1/2 hours and when I woke up, just had a dull pain. The throbbing part was gone and I was overjoyed. I was about to starve to death and told K I was eating a cheeseburger for dinner, even if it killed me. He grabbed us some takeout from Huey's and I gnawed almost all of the burger. Damn it was good to have a belly full of solid food! I woke up Tuesday morning almost as good as I was a week ago. I got to work and stayed for a bit but left early to go hang with Melanie. Weezer had been diagnosed with lung cancer and had pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital Friday morning. Mel had been at the hospital non-stop so I went to entertain her now that I could think about something or anything besides my pain. After that, I picked up J from school got him to the house and headed out to Mom's. Me and her and Sissy had a dinner and Go Paint Party date. The weather was pretty bad, rain and fog, and we weren't going to be done until late and I didn't want her driving back home in those conditions so I snagged her up and we met Sis and Pei Wei. After dinner, we went to Buckley's Lunchbox to start our art painting session. We were doing Memphis Music and had a blast. There were about 35 women there and everyone's turned out differently but so cute. Here is a pic of the 3 of ours:

I was really kinda stressing about it for some reason before we got started. I was scared mine was going to suck and I did not want that but it turned out pretty cute! The night was really fun and I can't wait to do some more :)

Here is my painting at the beginning, midway through and the finished project:

I got home and to bed later that I would have liked to on a school night, especially a school night when I am not all the way recovered from an illness but it was worth it. I love spending time with my momma and my sister and this was a great way to spend it! I made it to work on time so no harm and no foul. I had leftovers from last night's dinner for lunch and went out and did me a 5.3 mile walk to revive myself so nothing bad came from it.

Another Bday Celebration for J, Relaxing Weekend and Winter Storm 2011

Friday was nice and easy at work. I took a mid-day walk and things were very beautiful downtown and not too terribly cold. I slept through my morning workout so I definitely had to get out and do a little at lunch. I made my way down Main Street and then through South Bluffs and on to the riverwalk. I got back to the office and was pretty hungry so I had my leftover Pho from Thursday and it hit the spot. After work, I had to get J to basketball practice and then we made it home to pick up K and went to Exline's Pizza to have another birthday celebration for him. Sis and Taylor and the Mays clan, the Feathers clan and Leegan and Jackson met us for dinner.

We ate pizza, played video games and watched LSU in the Cotton Bowl. After dinner, we headed over to Bartlett Lanes and bowled a few games.

The boys had almost as much fun as the adults. K and I dominated our lane as you can see in the next picture.

K got up and left for Selmer the next morning around 4am since it is the last weekend of deer season except for youth weekend next week. J had a basketball game Saturday morning and then we ran errands and met Mom, Sissy, Taylor, Benny and Sean at Bogie's for lunch. J went over to his dad's to spend the night so they could get up and go hunting Sunday morning. K decided to come home and spend some time with me. We had a date night at Houston's. The entertainment was out full force and we had a great time people watching. We decided early on to have plenty of fun since the weathermen were calling for a winter storm coming in Sunday night. We lounged in bed all day long Sunday with our computers, the TV and my kindle waiting on the snow. We finally rallied around 5:00 and K went to the grocery store to get ingredients for gumbo.

Here are the beginning stages of the gumbo. Notice my awesome beer koozie that K got for me to keep things close while doing the important stuff! We spent Sunday night watching the winter wonderland as I cooked and we watched the 1st season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We finally had dinner around midnight and made it to bed at 1:00. I woke up this morning ready to roll after having such a lazy day on Sunday. We couldn't really go anywhere because the streets were covered with about 5 inches of snow so I got busy in the house, trying to get ready to put it back on the market. I rearranged the bedroom and living room and now they seem more open and like they have a little more room. I also did a ton of cleaning and laundry. I finally slowed down around 4:30 and got some catching up that I needed to do on computer files and picture maintenance. I'm heating up some of the leftover gumbo and watching the BCS National Championship (Auburn v. Oregon) now. Hoping to be off tomorrow too...although I don't know what I will do if I am snowed in and have already done everything around the house that needs to be done.

New Years, 2011 goals, J's birthday, back to work and back to healthy decisions

New Years Day was a total recovery day. K and I lounged at the house, watched football and snacked. It was the last day of hunting for Ryan and his friend, Chad, so they headed to the house that afternoon. Ryan requested a Cajun meatloaf for dinner so we all hung out Saturday night while I cooked and we stuffed our faces and had a little bit of the hair of the dog. We got up Sunday morning and I made a bunch of boudin and biscuits for the boys before they hit the road. I started on 1 of my goals for 2011. I am going to try again to read the bible in a year. I am using a different reading plan this time. It goes chronologically through the bible instead of doing and old and new testament, a psalm and a proverb reading everyday. I am sure I will like this better because jumping all around the bible confused me, even though I liked how a lot of times the new testament reading be the old testament lesson coming to life. I am also using my favorite study bible for it too. This can be the year I do it! K and I went shopping for J's birthday present  later that afternoon. We scored him a bicycle, a metal target with 3 plates for his .22 and a huge camo duffel bag. After all of our errands, we went to church and then met Sis and John for dinner at Carabba's. We hung out there forever, watching the gypsies that overtook the restaurant while we were there. Sissy and I entertained K with nightmare stories about them from our days in the restaurant business. He had never been around them or heard anything about them and was amazed and annoyed. We made it home and I couldn't get in the bed fast enough. After all of the food and spirits I had consumed over the last few days, I felt poisoned! Was so looking forward to a "cleanse" to begin on Monday. I slept in Monday because my stomach was still a little ill from the weekend but made it to work. After work, I picked up J and K and I took him to Cooky Canuck for his birthday dinner. He loved all of his presents and said he'd had the best Christmas and birthday ever.

I woke up Tuesday morning and did my new dancing with the stars workout dvd. It was all dance moves and tho I looked like a complete fool, I worked up a really good sweat! It was pretty fun :) It really made me think I might want to take some dance lessons. I would love to be able to get out on the dance floor at DI's and cut a rug like those old Cajuns do. Maybe I will ask K to get me dance lessons for my birthday and go with me! At lunch, I started on another little goal I have for 2011. I have decided to start bringing my lunch to work more often so that I will have time to put in extra walking sessions that are in addition to my regular workouts. I have decided to walk at least 471.3 miles during my lunches this year. Why 471.3???? That is the distance from my work to the Cowboys stadium. Silly? Maybe! But definitely good for me. I read about a woman last year that walked 1200 something miles because that was the distance from where she lives now to where she was born. Those were her "real" workouts though so I am not being a pansy by doing 471 since I will still be doing my regular workouts! Dinner was one of the guys' deer. I put a roast in the crock pot before leaving home. Wednesday I woke up and did 45 minutes of the P90X yoga. Did some more of my goal walking at lunch even though it was dreary and cold and ugly. I hope this ambition stays with me!

During my walk, I went over to Harbortown and found a lovely little trail that I never knew existed. It was called the Cedar Grove and went along a little creek that ran between ponds behind some of the houses. I love the houses and the whole community at Harbortown. It reminds me of Seaside without the beach. I would LOVE to be able to afford to live there. I would have me a little cruiser bike and ride it all over the island and take it grocery shopping  and to the hair salon and down by the river :)

After my little "hike" I came back to the office and ate another awesomely healthy lunch I brought from home! It's amazing how much better I feel when I eat right and don't drink like there's a mandatory jug a day rule. I am totally detoxing from alcohol until my birthday, when I plan to drink SENSIBLY!!! It's so damn hard to just have one or two glasses of wine though because it is so tasty to me. K tried to get me to have a glass or two with him last night while he had some bourbon. He gave up dipping for New Years and he's not a happy camper so he has been substituting with whiskey the last few nights. I hope he is able to keep up with it....the not dipping part, not the drinking whiskey every night. He's been a little short tempered too but it's ok as long as it's all temporary. It's for a greater good!!! We hung out at the house last night. I broiled some steaks we had in the freezer and snuggled up on the couch with my kindle! I slept in this morning so got no workout. Will hopefully make up for it this afternoon.

Sushi, Usher, The Fockers and NYE

Tuesday night was girls night at Rain. Heather, Aimee and I met for dinner, a couple of glasses of wine and to finally exchange Christmas presents. Heather gave me an awesome picture book of me and all my friends. Dinner was great and the company was even better.

Wednesday night was the Usher concert!!! Heather, Val, Laura, Brennan and I met Amber and some others at Bluefin for dinner before the concert and then headed over to the FedEx Forum. We had a suite for the concert and had so much fun. The show was amazing, his dancing and singing were great and I didn't stop dancing the whole time.

Thank goodness I took off work Thursday. I nursed myself back to health on the couch all day and then Sis and I went to dinner at Swanky's and to see Little Fockers. It was pretty good but no where near as funny as the first one.
I went to work for a few hours Friday to get some stuff done that had to be done this year. Kennon came home from the deer camp and we napped before getting ready for our big night. Last night was the Sheriff's NYE gala at the Raquet Club. There were lots of people there and it was a really good time. I didn't take any pictures and can't remember who did take some. Will post later if I get them.