Leaving on a Jet Plane

It's 2:11 am...I'm at work in case you were wondering. All my patients are tucked aways in their beds and seem to be sleeping peacefully.

Tomorrow evening I'll head to the airport, completely sleep deprived (this is my fourth night in a row), to head to Texas. Today is Madeline 1st birthday. I can hardly believe she is one. Saturday is her birthday party and I am sure the rest of my week will be filled with various family activities. I will try to do a better job of blogging there.

How to Hold a Baby

First of all, I survived the open house at work. It was hot, but other than that a wonderful event. I am even all ready for tomorrow's training. I did most of my setting up after the open house. I even ran to the store on my way home and all I have to do tomorrow is pick up ice on the way to the office. (I don't have the freezer space at my apartment.) I mean, I have even ironed my clothes for the entire week. I did that last night. I am not sure what has come over me, but it is making things much smoother.

Now, to the point of the post.

Back several weeks ago when I was in Texas with the "fam", I found at the my younger brother, Uncle Roger, had yet to hold Miss Madeline. The night before I left Aunt Alisa, his wife, decided that it was time that he hold her. He protested, "I've never held a baby that small." Okay, I see his point. I remember my rotation through the NICU in nursing school. Those babies were so small. It can be intimidating, but she was a month old at this point. Alisa decided that was no excuse. I think her exact statement was something to the effect, "Well don't think I am going to hold our babies until they get big enough for you to hold." Before he knew what had hit him, Madeline was thrust into his arms. "How do I hold her?" My mom, Alisa, and I replied in unison, "Like a football!" As a football coach we thought this might help. Of course leave it to me to add, "But don't spike her!"

He thinks, "Like a football, like a football...I can do that."

Roger's face in this picture is priceless.

Relax, Brother...that's better.

"Maybe this isn't so bad after all."

"What is she doing?" Babies move, Roger. :)


Rog, watch Stuart. See. He is even man enough to sport the pink burp cloth. :)

Hijacked!!!

After I wrestled my camera back from his possession (I needed to get some pictures that were not taken from 44 inches off the ground!) he managed to commandeer Alisa's camera for a while. Here is what my grandparent's anniversary party looked like through the eyes of their 5 year-old great-grandson. Later when we scrolled through his photos on the camera he would say, "Oh, that's a bad one!" or "Oh, that's a good one!" Note that none of these pictures have been touched up.

This is my grandfather or Papaw Elton as Jacob calls him (my dad is also Papaw).

I don't have any idea what he was thinking, but I love all the wheels!


Poor lady, she didn't even know what she was getting herself into when she walked by the cute redhead.

Michelle and me or Mom and Aunt Jane...honestly, it isn't a bad picture except for the weird lighting...oh and the fact he cut off my head!

Not bad at all.

He also got a "good" one of my mom (Gigi), but I decided I wouldn't post it just in case she decided to check my blog!

I'll post more pictures later...Blogger is about to drive me crazy tonight!!!

Busted!!!

What happens when you put a 5 year-old in front of a cake?

Stay tuned for "what happens when the same 5 year-old hijacks your camera"? (Okay, hijacked is a strong word...I willingly gave it to him, but I have some "great" pictures that show a 65th anniversary party through the eyes of a child!)

Oh, and yes I made it back safe and sound. I also made it through having to wear heals for 8 hours and sifting through the 200 emails I found in my inbox this morning. I am not unpacked, but I do have food in the fridge!

Almost Over

It's been a very full week. I have lots of pictures from all the parties...there have been three! I have had a wonderful time with family and friends. I fly back to Tampa tomorrow afternoon.

I am currently procrastinating packing. However, I need to go ahead and finish...I'll post more later.

Drama, Watermelon, and Rain

I think the rain has stopped, but I can still hear the thunder in the distance. It's rained a lot since I have arrived. Not yesterday, but on Monday, Tuesday, and today. I guess I shouldn't complain since this area hasn't see rain in months.

Drama, drama, drama. That characterizes yesterday for my family. The phone rang at about 7:20 yesterday morning. It was my grandmother and she wasn't able to wake my grandfather. A long story short, my parents headed to the ER while I headed to babysit Madeline while Michelle and Jacob went to a rehearsal. To make a long story short, the doctors could not find a thing wrong with him. However, after some talking, we (as in my parents and I) have decided he was dehydrated. He perked up after an IV at the hospital and again yesterday afternoon when I had him drink some Gatorade. He seems to be having a good day today. We are hoping that tomorrow is also a good day since it is their 65th wedding anniversary and we are having quite the party.

Earlier this afternoon Alisa (my other sister-in-law) and I carved the watermelon into a basket. We took some pictures so I will post them later.

Until later....

Home

I made it "home" safely and without any obstacles yesterday evening. We did stop by Stuart and Michelle's house on the way into town, where I was greeted by favorite red head who informed he was turning 5 this week. I also got to feed Madeline the second half of her bottle. Then it was on to my parent's house and settling in. I think I finally turned off the late sometime after 1:00 am.

This morning I slept until about 8:30 and had a fairly leisure morning. We meet up with a crew for lunch (Michelle, Jacob, Madeline, Alisa, and Glenda) at McAlister's. Then Alisa and I took Jacob to get a haircut. Eventually we all ended up at my grandparent's where we handed out invitations to their anniversary party and a visit, of course. Several more errands finished out the day before dinner.

After dinner I changed into my running attire in hopes of getting in a couple of miles. While stretching the bottom fell out and the rain has been coming down for over an hour now. Thankfully my parents have a tread mill so I ran on it. However, I had an audience and more than a few comments made. I am so sorry that I sweat while running. I know they need the rain since its been about 2 months since they had any, but they have had almost three inches since I arrived.

I hope to get some pictures up this week, but I have to remember to get my camera out of my bag first.

I hope all my FL friends are fairing well...it sounds like Fay wasn't all everyone expected her to be...well, at least not for the Tampa area!

Well, I best be going. I think I am suppose to be watching a video on how to carve a watermelon into a basket. I am so multi-talented!

Change of Plans

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

I was originally scheduled to leave for Texas on Wednesday for a couple of days to spend with family and celebrate some special family events.

However, Fay has changed my plans. Tropical storms/depression/hurricanes are very unpredictable and because I cannot change when Jacob's birthday is and when my grandparents 65th anniversary is I am just leaving early before any drama has the opportunity to occur.

I managed to change my ticket from Wednesday to Monday, and I was only charged $2.50!!! It also gives me an extra day and a half with my family which will be nice. That is 2 whole days without an agenda or an appointment or a party or anything planned...at least that is what I am hoping!

So, the next time you hear from me I will be in Texas enjoying some family time, celebrating some special occasions, and loving on my niece and nephew.

By the way, this is my 200th post!!!

I Wish I Was There...

My dad just sent me this picture that he took when he and my mom went to Puerto Vallarta in July. I wish I was there right now.


I am ready for a vacation!

Trip Down Memory Lane

On the radio this morning they were talking about memorable family vacations. It only took me a moment for one to come spinning back to me.

It would have been the mid 90s...I would have been in high school, Stuart in college, and Roger in junior high. It was Spring Break and my parents decided we needed to spend it together on vacation. We, or I should say they, decided we would spend some time in Wimberley and San Antonio which were only a couple of hours away. To make the "forced family time" more bearable there were fun little activities planned...shopping at the outlet mall, tickets to see the Spurs play, etc. (I was a teenager and loved basketball and shopping equally, okay not equally, I loved basketball more!)

My dad was in charge of our accommodations and was extremely pleased with himself when he found a great deal on a cabin in Wimberley. We would be driving distances to all the attractions, but still able to enjoy the quiet.

I remember pulling up in the Suburban to our cabin and looking at my brothers. Cabin didn't quite describe it...double wide trailer is a better description. We also found out that my dad had forgone the extra $10.00, so there was no TV. When we stepped inside I discovered that I would be sleeping on the cot that was located on the enclosed patio. I think the icing on the cake was when my younger brother, the country music buff, looked at my mom and began to sing:

So I made her the queen of my double wide trailer
With the polyester curtains and the redwood deck...

I'll spare you of the rest of this Sammy Kershaw "classic", but I cannot hear without thinking of my mom and that trip! By the end of the week were all laughing about our vacation...wait, we are still laughing all the years later.

So, what's your most memorable vacation? Maybe next time I'll share about the time that Roger busted out in "Trashy Women" at Stuart and Michelle's rehearsal for their wedding!

The End of 2007

The last several days of my Christmas vacation were spent with family and doing a little shopping. Of course I made sure that I also had some Jacob time. I definitely received a good lesson on Thomas the Train. Jacob likes to use all his train tracks at once to build a big track.

It had been quite some time since I played with Lincoln Logs, but I picked that back up rather quickly. I must admit the pictures made it much easier to mimic what was on the box. Jacob really wanted to use the ladder.

After playing with Thomas and then Lincoln Logs, we headed to the back yard to play with the rocket Jacob received for Christmas.

We are currently in an "I want to wear my hood stage."

On Saturday my family headed to Hankamer, TX to visit my uncle, aunt, cousins, and their families. I hadn't seen my cousin Kayla in about 3 1/2 years. Her husband has been at a church in Alaska and they don't make it back very often. They have three precious little girls. My other cousin, Angie, and her husband also have a little girl. Little girls are definitely very different from little boys, but I was really proud of Jacob for jumping right in and playing.

Jacob and Grace who were in a tickle fight with Grace's dad, Matt.

Stuart and Abby, Kayla and Matt's youngest. I didn't get a picture of their oldest, Kathryn, but she is just as precious as their other two!

I had a great time while in Texas and will miss my family. At the same time it is good to be back "home."

Back in Florida

Just wanted to drop a quick post to say that I am back in Florida. I had an uneventful trip yesterday afternoon. I have some final pictures to post, but I don't have time. I am hosting my Sunday School's New Year's Eve party. People will start arriving in less than an hour. I have spent the day unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry, and making preparations to host a party. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to this, but it is too late now. I don't have any idea who is even coming. It could be just a couple of us. I have several things that I can throw in the oven, but I am going to wait until people actually start to arrive before doing so.

Happy New Year!

You've Got To Be Kidding!

My bags are just about packed, which I consider a great accomplishment. (Yes, I made sure my socks made it in!) My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow night, but I am working the majority of the day so I need to be ready when I leave for work. I mailed my Christmas presents about 2 weeks ago, so they are there and ready for me tie all my bows. (I didn't want them to get crushed during shipping.)

I have even checked in for my flight. I think online check-in is one of the greatest inventions. I have a Southwest flight and with their new boarding system, it is important to check in as early as possible so you can get a good seat. Well, this is important if you are picky about where you sit, which I am to a degree. I prefer to sit in the exit row because of the extra leg room. My flight is tomorrow at 6:40 so tonight at 6:40 I logged in to check-in. By the time I got all my information in the computer and hit enter it was 6:41. My boarding pass has A 46 on it. That means that I am in the first group which is good. However in that one minute 45 people managed to check-in before me. I couldn't believe it!

I also think I have started to come down with a cold...at least I am hoping that is all it is. Last night I realized I had a sore throat and it has continued throughout the day. Today at lunch I went and stocked up on medicine. One of the things I picked up was Zicam. I have never used it, but I know people who are believers in it. I'll let y'all know what I think. I think I am going to call it a night since I just took some medicine that "may cause drowsiness" which means I will be out in about 30 minutes!

Stowaways

Imagine my surprise, when going through security at the Nashville airport, to get in trouble for not having liquids in a plastic bag. I looked at the lady quite surprised, and tried to figure out what was in my backpack. Other than the verbal disapproval of the security agent, I was able to get to my gate with little drama.

Once I got back to my apartment, I began to unpack, and that is when I found them. Two stowaways.

The syrup bottle (yes, that is really what it is...when I uploaded the picture I realized that it wasn't quite as obvious as I thought it would be) explains the trouble I got in with the security agent. Now, it may seem odd that I had a bottle of syrup from Cracker Barrel in my bag, but I promise their is an explanation. Abbey and I ate there on Sunday night because we were both in the mood for pancakes. They brought each of us two bottles, but neither of us even used the whole first bottle. Abbey made a comment about the fact that they sold those small bottles in the country store and that they cost $2.00. Then we got laughing about the time that we ate at a Cracker Barrel in college and Abbey put some of their strawberry jelly in her purse. I kept having our waiter bring more and more to the table. Of course now, neither one of can remember why. So, in honor of memories I threw the unopened syrup bottle in my purse. It was funnier that night, trust me.

As for the pacifier...I can only admit that part of my responsibility during my time in Nashville was to make sure we had a pacifier at all times. Apparently one made it to the recesses of my purse. It is a good thing I will be back in Nashville next week. Since Jeff, Abbey, Reed, and I are planning to meet up for dinner, so I will give it back then. As you can see, a pacifier is very important in Reed's world.

Tomorrow is back to the normal routine, which means no more lounging all morning, but rather back to work.

(On a side note, I just realized that I left my camera cord in Nashville. Jeff and Abbey, if you find a white camera cord, can you hold on to it and give it to me next week? Thankfully, my printer also allows me to upload photos.)

Babysitting and I Figured it Out

Tonight I am babysitting Reed. His mommy and daddy are out on their first date since they came home from Taiwan. Everything has gone really well, minus the peaches on my face and in my hair. He is up in his crib fast asleep. If you would like to see some of the highlights from my day today, check out LandLife.

When you do you will notice that I finally figured out how to rotate the pictures with my Mac. It was an operator error. Apparently a vacation was necessary to realize that I had been doing it wrong.

Well, I will be heading back to Tampa in the morning, which means I should go upstairs and pack.

Things I Have Learned on Vacation

Feeding a baby with chopsticks is challenging, but fun for all!

When a baby misses his daddy, what does he do? Mommy can you help me dial this thing?

When no one helps a baby, he will eat the cell phone.



I am very good at setting up Reed's bowling pins.



He is very good at knocking them down.



This isn't a great picture, but the trees are beautiful!

Reporting from LandLife

I know that I said I would blog from Nashville, but that has proven to be more difficult than I thought. My lack of blogging has not been due to the fact that I am not having a great time. We are having a blast, but this has been different than any other time that Abbey and I have hung. That could be because we always have a baby in tow. Let me give you a brief synopsis of the trip thus far:

Still no luck on figuring out how to rotate pictures. I promise they look right everywhere else.

Thursday- Flew to Nashville, went shopping, dinner with Jeff, Abbey, Reed, and their friends the Spicklers

Friday- Reed got a haircut, lunch out, Reed's first modeling photo shoot (he will be on the cover of one of LifeWay's magazines this summer), attended my first stamping party

Reed was way more interested in the dinosaur than the haircut

Saturday- I made breakfast, trip to Wal-Mart to buy baby food and materials to make our costumes for a party, assembled costumes, made monster toes for party, attended said party

Look at my two teeth!

We went to the party as salt and pepper

WOW!!! That makes me tired just typing all that out. Now, Abbey is preparing to teach Sunday School. I guess I am not being very much help since I am sitting on the couch. I guess I will go help now.

I'm Back

In case you were worried, I am back. I arrived safely yesterday morning, but have been extremely busy ever since. I crashed yesterday once I got home. Finally, pulled my weary bones from the couch after a 3 hour nap. A quick shower and I was off to LifeWay. Then back home and back to bed. Today was work.

However, it was a great trip. The white water rafting was fun and I enjoyed getting to know some of the college students. I also managed to get a little sun. The trip was relatively uneventful if you don't take into account the 911 call and following search and rescue that the volunteer Polk County fire department had to perform. There were 171 people on this trip and on Saturday afternoon about a 100 of them hiked the mountain behind the camp were we stayed. A 700 pound boulder fell on a girls foot and caused several lacerations and compound fracture to her ankle. She had surgery and was discharged less than 24 hours later. She even made the trip back with us.

Benton, TN is a beautiful area and so was Camp Agape.

I am sorry I didn't get any more pictures. I figured it wasn't the brightest idea to take my camera on the river. I will share the fact that I did manage to stay in the raft the whole time. Many people got thrown our during the trip, but not our raft. The six of us managed to hang on.

On the Road Again

Tomorrow I am hitting the road...again! It is something that I should go ahead and get use to since I will be gone the next four weekends. I am beginning to think I should host a game on my blog called "Where in the World is Jane Masters?"

1. According to MapQuest, my destination is 9 hours and 6 minutes from here.
2. There is only one state between my destination and here.
3. I have never lived in this state, but have visited several times. Actually was there less than one year ago.
   
4. I have very good friends who live in this state, but I won't get to see them on this trip
5. The state's slogan is "the stage is set for you"...at least that is what I think it is
6. The town that I am going to is the home of the Ocoee River and the Cherokee National Forest.
   

Any guesses? If you said Tennessee then you are right, if you guessed Benton, TN you are the winner!

I am going white water rafting with a group from church. I am excited to get away and have a little fun. I am not sure about the bus ride there, but I have my new iPod charged and loaded with lots of music. I even bought a nifty wall charger to make sure I can get back without the battery dying.

I hope everyone else has a great Labor Day weekend. I will give you all an update with pictures next week!