Oh, The Horror!

I was my minding my own business, getting ready for bed, and talking to my dad on the phone. With all the pillows thrown in the corner, it all begins.

A small lizard has taken up residence on my wall, below the window. As "luck" would it have, right over my yet-to-be-unpacked suitcase. (I know I should have unpacked, but give a girl a break. I also figured if I played my cards right I could continue wearing things from it and would have less to unpack when I finally got around to it.)

I am not scared of lizards, but I sure don't want one in my room. Oh, I know there probably have been others, but I didn't know they were there. I saw this one. I decide that I would just catch it and let it go...Because I am a peaceful, don't kill it, kinda of girl...unless we are talking about a juicy steak and then I have no problem with killing things.

Before I can head to the kitchen to grab a cup, the small...most likely baby...lizard falls off the wall into, you guessed it, my suitcase. No problem, he/she is on top and I make a dash to the kitchen because there is no way I am touching this thing.

I return to scene of the crime to find the lizard gone. I am a smart girl and figure he/she is still in there. (Oh and did I mention that I am still on the phone with my dad who keeps talking about the football game he is at?) I begin removing articles of clothing when I spot him/her. I am ready with the cup and make my first attempt at catching him/her. I miss.

At this point I decide that I need both hands and dismiss my dad.

More articles of clothing come out of my bag. When I grab my khaki capris, the lizard flies across the room. He/She runs. I run. Now armed with a cup and a piece of mail, I am more determined than ever to capture and release.

The sneaky thing runs into a corner and behind my guitar. I manage to get him/her out, and then it darts into the bathroom. But ever the successful hunter, I am not far behind. Crawling on my knees, making attempt after attempt of catching this guy under the cup...Finally he/she hits the tile and with one swoop of the cup...he/she is trapped.

One moment of glory which is quickly followed by dismay and horror. I pick up one side to ensure that this little stow away is inside, when he/she makes another dash. Words can't even begin to describe what happened next. A picture can only tell the rest of the story.

There was no release...only a flush.

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.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

It's late so I'll only post a few pictures from tonight's celebration. This was the family party and Saturday he is having a swimming party over at my parent's with a few friends.

Michelle always makes his cake...this year it was a train!

Mr. Potato Head dressed as an Astros baseball player

Aunt Alisa gives the birthday boy some instruction on how to do a back bend.

Gigi helps Jacob put his new baseball card collection in his album

Happy Birthday, Jacob!!!

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!