Football Season Has Arrived!

Finally!  The best time of the year is here.  I live for football season! Last night was our opener and a victory, although barely, but still a W in the record books.  As usual, I had every intention of bringing my camera to the game and forgot, having to rely on my cell phone for these pictures, so not the best quality from our nosebleed section.  Our next home game, our SEC opener, is my BIRTHDAY!  What a great birthday present.  Let's hope it's a day game and not a night game like yesterday.  Because of our seats, close to the stadium lights let's just say it was like a horror movie with all of the bugs.  As most of you know, I am TERRIFIED of anything creepy, crawly, especially those that JUMP like the huge grasshoppers at the stadium.  Even Patrick, whose minor is in entomology, was grossed out--that's saying a lot.  As hard-back seats became available at half, we moved about 10 rows down hoping the bug situation would be better, but I think was actually worse.  A HUGE grasshopper, at least 9 inches long, was crawling up the concrete wall in front of us.  I'm telling you these were superbugs!  Needless to say I had nightmares last night...  I am looking forward to tomorrow off.  This is the first time I have ever taken Labor Day off!  Actually I will be seeing my home health patients so I guess I will not technically be off.  I am hoping to get in an early Jazzercise class in the morning and see my two patients and be home by noon where some much-needed work around the house will begin.  Patrick wants to go furniture shopping.  We have been saying for a year now that we are going to buy a king-sized bed.  With the two animals in the bed, we need the extra space!  Maybe we might hit a good sale, or more than likely I, being the frugal one in the family, will find an excuse to put it off another year...

Sad Week

Me and Dad, June '08
It's been a long and sad week for many of us around the state.  My dad's good friend of over 15 years was senselessly murdered last week in his office.  The shocking news reached my dad, who had just arrived for a Florida vacation, just minutes before it broke on the local news.   The funeral was Monday, and I drove home to support my dad and try to find some closure in this senseless mess.  My immediate concerns are for the victim's two daughters, who are close to my age.  I just can't imagine what they are feeling.  It is one thing to loose a parent while you are still young yourself, but to a tragic shooting adds a whole new element.  Years ago when it was revealed that the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, had our State Capitol, where my dad worked at the time, as a possible target on his "hit list" I have always feared that my dad or one of his friends could be a target for violence because of their government job.  But none of us really believed it would happen.  This past week has seemed like a dream to us all. But honestly the funeral on Monday was not only a beautiful tribute but a truly moving experience, one I will never forget.  The music was so comforting to my soul, and even though in times like these our human nature tends to doubt or question God, on Monday I could feel him ever closer to us. There was no doubt in my mind that God was present and was "raising us up on Eagle's wings." The minister so eloquently reminded us during the service that God did not cause this death, it was not planned, he was not sacrificed for a greater cause...he was killed by another human being because of our ability to have free choice in our lives.  God never wants bad things to happen to his children, but when they do he is here for us and the ones that are left behind.  May this experience touch your lives this week.  I love you, dad!  I know you miss your dear friend, and I am praying for you during this grieving process.  I am always here for you.

Entertaining

Well the past two weekends have been busy entertaining which means cooking, cleaning, cooking, and cleaning some more. We celebrated my mom's birthday on July 27th with her menu of choice: greek salad, steak on the grill, fresh corn on the cob, and a surprise coconut cake. This was my first attempt at coconut cake, and it turned out pretty good (as you can see). My mom was very impressed. And for all of you who have been so sweet to ask...she is feeling great and cancer free. She does NOT have to have any radiation or chemo after all, just an oral anti-estrogen drug. She is back at work and back to her favorite thing in the world, traveling. She is headed to Houston this weekend to visit some old friends.


This weekend we were honored to have our priest, Fr. John over for dinner. He literally has a six month waiting list for dinners so we've been planning this for awhile. We made a yummy salad with veggies from Patrick's garden, spinach stuffed chicken with mozzarella cheese, ambrosia, and another one of my dessert creations, tiramisu topped with fresh raspberries. (My co-workers get really excited when we have guests over for dinner because they get dessert leftovers the next day). We had a great dinner and even better conversation. Patrick likes to play "stump the priest" bombarding Fr. John with lots of moral questions. Fr. John is very patient and knowledgeable, of course. We thank him for all he does for our church of 17,000 members! What a flock he leads. We are lucky to call him a friend.

Laura's Baby

We had a GREAT visit with my dear sorority sister, Laura on Saturday and got to meet her new daughter, Emma Grace who was born last Monday. Laura was so generous and let me hold Emma for nearly two hours! She is SO cute. She is dark complected with lots of hair. Her big brother, Taylor, is not so sure of his sister (he was hoping for a brother). But he did tell me several times that his sister is "so pretty". Laura is a great mom and will be enjoying her long maternity leave. Her niece, Lucy, was born in the same hospital two days after Emma, so her family 

is on cloud nine right now. God bless you Emma. I can't wait to watch you grow. You are a lucky little girl who have lots of people who love you!

Farewell Becky

Congratulations, Becky!  You have finally made it to my blog!  

Becky, our physical therapist, has decided to move to Dallas and leave us :(  Her last day was this Wednesday.  We had a pizza party, and I made my famous dessert, strawberry pizza in her honor.  It is not a true pizza but resembles a pizza because it has a homemade crust made of powdered sugar, butter, and flour; a filling of cream cheese mixture, and topping of strawberries with homemade strawberry glaze.  It is SO good!  I meant to take a picture, but my anxious co-workers had eaten it before I had the chance!!  HA HA!  In all seriousness, I will miss Becky so much.  She calls me her mentor, but truly she is mine.  She has taught me so much, not only about therapy but about life.  She is so intelligent and has a rare talent to treat our patients as a whole.  She truly cares for them in a creative, fun manner.  She was constant entertainment, and I already miss her upbeat personality.  Take care, Becky!  Stay in touch. Wish you nothing but the best!

Anniversary Photos

Finally our internet is up and running so I am able to upload some pics from Sunday night. We had a great anniversary dinner. I had lobster tail with warm butter sauce, caesar salad, bread, and creme brule for dessert. Patrick chose the house salad, wolf fish, and key lime pie. We felt so full the rest of the night, but it was worth it. Also shown are our anniversary gifts to each other. The 6th Anniversary present is traditionally candy. Neither of us knew we were sticking with tradition, but I guess great minds think alike. I received a candy bouquet of Ghirardelli chocolates at work on Friday, and Patrick received blue and green personalized M & Ms.

Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary!!

Today is our 6th Wedding Anniversary! We have had a great weekend so far. Patrick has been in Houston for the past week and came home Friday. We had a great dinner at a new Chinese restaurant in town. We were so excited to actually sleep in Saturday morning (11:00 a.m.). It has literally been over a year I think. We are both big babies and hate to sleep apart so we had a lot of sleep to catch up on from the last week. Yesterday we did some shopping and worked around the house. We rented a movie, and after the movie was over decided to watch our wedding video. WOW! In some ways it seems like yesterday and in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago. We were so young (21 & 22)! We had a beautiful wedding, if I do say so myself. I dreamed of a big wedding since I was a little girl, my dad calls it the "Princess Diana Effect." I do think there is a lot of truth to that-watching her wedding as a little girl and seeing the big dress and long train. Anyway, we had a traditional Catholic wedding, over an hour long. I had a big A-line dress and veil. My bridesmaids wore sorbet (pink) and carried white roses. I carried pink roses. We had a nice reception at noon with lots of food, wine, champagne, cake, and dancing. It was a true celebration. There isn't anything I would change. To top it off, we had a great honeymoon cruise to Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Mexico.

Honestly, the marriage has been so much better than the wedding. We are so blessed to have known each other, nearly 10 years now. We built a strong friendship through God and church for months before we actually started "dating." Once dating, I knew within a few weeks we were meant to me. Things haven't always been easy. One of us has been in school for our entire marriage, me the first two years in graduate school and then Patrick with his non-traditional teaching certification and now graduate degree. We have some great memories together, but it is our daily life that we love. Patrick is such a caring man who truly is a romantic at heart. He never takes me for granted and compliments me often. Just today in church, an elderly man tripped and fell...Patrick was the first one there to help and the last one to leave, taking care of not only the man but his wife as well. He is so funny, intelligent, and sensitive. I know I am not easy to live with, especially now with all of my hormones out of wack, but Patrick never complains. Our souls are truly happy when we are with each other.

Well, I will update later in the week when our wireless internet is up and running (I am on dial-up right now). I will show more current pictures of our anniversary gifts and from dinner tonight--we have reservations at Bone Fish Grill. I am going to order lobster tail!