Mushy Mushy

Katie was just sitting on Tom being mushy....as usual. She was telling him. I love your face....so handsome. She touched his goatee on his chin and said "I love your mustache." He said "That's a goatee." She said "Ugh! Is that Spanish for mustache?" He laughed and said No! She said "I love your lipstick lips. He said "I don't wear lipstick!" She said "I love your red eyes. I could stare at them all day!" LOL He worked all day and is tired and she loves his tired blood shot eyes. hahahaha She's so mushy and crazy!!

That was a stark contrast to just 10 minutes before when Tom poked the bruise on her arm. He does that to all of us if he sees a bruise. She got mad at me for telling him about the bruise and told me she wished she could hit me for telling him. There was no love flowing then. LOL

Weekend update

We had a good weekend. It was very relaxing. Brittanie drove to Fort Gordon and picked up Jonathan and he spent the weekend with us. He and Brittanie went to see a movie yesterday and he replaced the battery in his car so he can use it while he is down here.

I was able to talk to him alot and I'm just so proud of him. I know he is all grown up. He is 27. But he will always be my little boy that I fell in love with when he was born. But this weekend I realized how mature he is, especially as we talked about his career and financial planning. I know character comes from within and he was born compassionate and just plain wonderful. But the Army has made a responsible and mature man out of him. I'm just glad we will get to see him every weekend.

After Brittanie and Jonathan got back from their movie, she went to see "Get Smart" and have dinner with her friend, Chris. He is leaving today to go to college. I am assuming he is taking summer classes?? But she said goodbye to Aaron last week and Chris this week. Reality is setting in that things won't ever be the same again. But as old friends leave, new friends appear. She is really loving her job. She said her coworkers are great. Her managment at Bi-Lo is wonderful. It isn't a very stressful job.....yet. I told her wait until Thanksgiving time comes around and you will see stressful. LOL I am glad she has a job she looks forward to going to.

I have a funny story about Katie from this weekend. We have talked to her about strangers and how she should run to us if someone approaches her that she doesn't know because they could take her and we would never see her again. Well Saturday Jessica came over and Katie knows her but didn't recognize her truck. Well Katie came flying in the house crying and shrieking, "They're gonna take me! They're gonna take me!" and jumping behind Tom's recliner. She was having a total meltdown! Tom jumped up and picked her up and held her and I told her that is probably Jessica. I was expecting her. Well Jessica came in and tried to reassure her that it was only her. But Katie was too freaked out. She adores Jessica but she just wanted daddy to hold her until she calmed down. I have never seen her like that before. Poor baby. We told her she did the right thing by screaming and coming to us. But it took awhile for her to get back to normal. LOL

Jonathan is back in the states!!

My wonderful godson, Jonathan, is back in the states (at Fort Gordon) till September for training. I am thrilled!! He got in Wednesday night and since his class doesn't start till today, he had the day free yesterday. So he came over around 3 and had dinner with us last night. I just love him. I miss him so much. It is great having him here!!

Missing Grandma and Grandpa

Katie told me last week that she wants to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house cuz they are "so cool." Well just a minute ago she asked me when someone is going to get sick so she can go to Grandma and Grandpa's. I didn't understand what she was talking about at first and then she explained to me that Tom got sick last time and I sent her to Grandma and Grandpa's house so she wouldn't catch it. So she is wanting someone to get sick again so she can go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She has so much fun with them. She wants some spoiling and if someone has to get sick for her to get it then sobeit! LOL

Straight from Brittanie herself

Brittanie has been asked numerous times why she wants to join the Army. So she blogged about it on myspace. I'm going to copy and paste it in its entirety. It is a calling for her:

This blog is for the the people who have contacted me recently either by myspace, yearbook, or text message asking me why...why do I want to join the military. What makes a person want to throw themselves into such a hostile environment when they have the means to make a perfectly safe and sturdy career without the military. Now, no matter what I say, you will not fully understand if you are not one of the chosen ones as well. But I am going to do my best to let you get a glimpse of why I, and others like me, do what we do.

First of all let me tell you a story I once heard told by a recruiter at an Army seminar. When the recruiter asked for any questions at the end of his presentation, a girl in the back raised her hand and asked him with a bit of a snarky attitude, "How hard is your job? I mean, I can imagine it would be hard to sleep at night knowing that you job is to try to convince young men and women to sign over there lives and volunteer to get themselves killed." I was a little taken aback when she asked this but the former Drill Sgt was not shaken at all. He politely said, "Young lady, let me tell you a story."

He proceeded to tell a story that will stick with me forever...He said that he was talking to a young lady one day who was interested in joining the Army. He met with her quite a few times, giving her information and helping her in making her decision. She was a beautiful 17 year old senior in high school with a 3.7 GPA and had everything going for her. He grew kinda fond of the girl (in a professional way). He said she was a very sweet girl and he knew she would make a good soldier. She finally decided that joining the Army was what she wanted to do with her life so she requested him to meet with her mom because although she was sure, her mom needed some convincing. Despite anything the recruiter said during the meeting the mom refused to sign the papers. She said as long as her daughter was living with her, she was not going to allow her to sign up for an early grave. That mom was so sure that if her daughter were to join the Army, she was signing her death papers. So the girl let her dream go. Over the next few months she saw her recruiter in halls of her school and she would stop to chat and say "Man I wish my mom would let me join." He would shrug his shoulders and concur with the young girl but it was out of his hands. The girl graduated and over the summer she was out with her boyfriend on the back of his motorcycle. The brakes on his bike malfunctioned and they ended up running head first into a tree. The young girl died at 17. The irony was that if her mom would have let her join the Army, she would have been at basic that day. Safe and sound.

The bottom line is, when your time is up, it's up. There is no putting it off. And frankly, I can not think of any other way I would rather die than serving my country. I can not die with any higher honor than knowing that I did what I could for my fellow Americans. Our American soldiers are not anxious to die, they are anxious to make a difference.

Now like I said in the beginning, if you have never been called, you will never fully understand. I was hand picked by God to be a soldier. Its deep in my heart and it runs through my veins. I know this is what I was born to do. Some people are called to be doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. They cannot explain why any better than I can. It's a calling. And I was lucky enough to be chosen.

I love Circuit City!

Our vacuum cleaner died the week of Brittanie's graduation. It was a Bissell bagless. We have decided bagless is WAY over rated and we hate it. Tom did some research and I reminded him of the little Dirt Devil we had when we lived in Gramercy, LA. It had major suction and lasted a long time. So we found a bagged Dirt Devil with excellent ratings. It wasn't available in stores so we ordered it from the Dirt Devil website. They claimed they had it in stock when we ordered it. A week later, we noticed our order status was now back ordered. So I called and asked how long it would be back ordered. I was told that they just got a shipment in and they would be shipping it out to me in 2 days. The very next day, Tom received an email from Dirt Devil telling them that our order had been canceled because that vacuum cleaner was now only sold through Target. WHY didn't they tell me that the day before when I called????? So I found it on Circuit City for $6 more than the Dirt Devil site but they offered free shipping. Plus we had bought my mom a phone for Christmas through Circuit City and when I went to pick it up, it wasn't ready and waiting for me so they gave me a $24 gift card to make up for the fact that it wasn't ready. So I bought our vacuum cleaner through Circuit City and used the gift card, which paid 1/3 of it. So out of pocket, we came out better getting it through Circuit City.

According to the tracking number, it should arrive tomorrow. I know I'm old because I'm actually excited about a new vacuum cleaner! lol

We have always bought stuff from Circuit City, especially at Christmas. They are great and customer service is excellent. I highly recommend them!

She's excited!!

I was telling Brittanie about the commercial I saw for Steve Spurrier's Ladies Football Clinic and she got all excited and wanted to do it. She called the number we found on the website and it was Steve Spurrier's office. That was a big deal to her too. lol (She laughs at me for being easily impressed but she is just like me!) She has officially signed up for the clinic. She asked me if I would pay for it because we always paid for her summer camps. I told her "Yep but you have graduated now. So things are different now." She gave me that puppy dog face that I can't resist so I told her to ask her daddy. She called him at work but he didn't answer and she didn't leave a message. We talked about it when he got home. He was happy that she wanted to go to that clinic and told me we would pay for it but not until right before the clinic. He wants her to think he isn't paying for it so she doesn't blow her money.

I have to admit that I have done a bad job of teaching her to budget herself. Tom is trying to teach her now so she doesn't struggle through college or have to eat Ramen noodles at every meal. (I would never let that happen.) But she can burn through money like you wouldn't believe. It has slowed down alot since she started dating Joe because he won't allow her to pay for anything when they go places. He is very much old school. He firmly believes that the guy always pays. Hopefully she will learn before she gets in financial trouble how to budget herself.

weekend update

What a weekend! Tom worked ALL day...till 11:30pm Saturday changing the water pump on his truck. Tom has changed a water pump on the side of the interstate in Louisiana in the big tank we owned back then and he did it in an hour. Modern vehicles are much harder to work on and it seemed like he had to dismantle the whole engine just to get to the water pump. If he weren't so cheap, he would have taken it to a mechanic. lol But he got it done for probably 1/3 of what a mechanic would have charged, especially considering how much stuff he had to take off to get to the water pump.

Brittanie worked on her thank you cards and finally got all of them done. She will be mailing those today. She went to the post office Saturday morning and came home with a packet from USC ROTC and I've been her secretary for years so naturally she handed it to me. I actually like filling out paperwork. I'm a nerd that way. So I was filling out the forms and on the last page was filling out her personal data and it asked for next of kin. That's when reality hit once again. I honestly believe I could handle her going to college much better if she weren't doing the Army thing. I'm proud of her that she loves her country and wants to serve her country but it scares me to death that she is training for a job that could one day cost her her life. As a mother, that is extremely hard to deal with. Brittanie's response to this is true but definitely didn't make me feel better. She told me that she could get killed in a car accident going to her civilian job and it wouldn't be an honorable death like laying down her life for her country. Oy vey! What do you say to that??? I'm going to support her because I want her to fulfill her dreams and accomplish the goals she has set for her life but it is a scary thing. Her friend, Aaron, left yesterday for the Marines basic training. He is staying in South Carolina but it was still sad to see him go. He has requested to be stationed in Florida when he finishes AIT. He has been friends with Brittanie for 3 years. He hugged me and Brittanie before he left yesterday. Brittanie is struggling with all of her friends going all over the place and not knowing if she will ever see them again. I told her that is how high school is and she will go through it again with college. That's part of life.

Last night, Brittanie and Tom went to see Ironman. This is the 4th time Brittanie has seen this movie. It isn't that she loves it that much. It is just that her friends and Tom all wanted to take her to see it at different times. She loves spending time with her daddy so I knew she would see it again. I'm pretty sure she is the one who suggested going to a movie because Tom is just not a movie person. He's such a good daddy!

Zune versus Ipod

It is no secret that I have been frustrated beyond belief with Vista. I absolutely hate it and Windows updates to it have now screwed up my Microsoft Word in regards to the screen refresh. It probably does it with other applications but it is extremely noticeable and annoying in Word because I use it to do my job. I am just tired of Microsoft period. Well one of my friends from Canada had a Microsoft moment and blogged about it. I thought it was funny and would be helpful to my readers. Here is the blog entry:

The background: I have a desktop and a laptop, running XP and Vista respectively. Also a 30g iPod which certainly doesn't reflect my needs. My daughter's Zen was biting the dust and I figured I should give her my iPod and upgrade to a bigger one. But I really loathe iTunes, so I looked into various hard drive portable media players. Most were over-priced or didn't have large enough hds so I decided to check out the Zune 80g, since I AM running Windows anyway.
The Zune was just released last week in Canada. I read reviews and was seduced by the lovely red one, and it was virtually the same price as the 80g iPod classic. And with an FM radio and a sweeter video screen and impressive scrolling thingy.
Anyhoo, so I bought it yesterday afternoon and charged it (took 2 hours) and installed the Zune software and ATTEMPTED to sync the sucker. Well. Let's just say, I am NOT computer/electronic illiterate and this little ******* froze repeatedly, as well as the Zune software. REPEATEDLY.
You'd think that Windows **** would be COMPATIBLE with other Windows ****. After over four hours of responding to the error messages, the plugging and unplugging advice and various other useless attempts, I called the store and asked them if they had any 80g iPods in.
Yeppers.
I promptly returned the little red piece of garbage and came home with the new iPod.
Re-installed iTunes, imported 3/4 of my digital music collection, charged and synced it WITHOUT INCIDENT.
And it works. Very well. With very few upgrades to the 30g but hey...if Apple can make a product that works with my Windows pcs and do it right, I will tolerate iTunes. It is far and away better than the buggy Zune stuff.

I do wish, however, that Apple products weren't so minimal in their appearance. I still wish my iPod was Apple red. :(

So, if you are in Canada and wonder about the Zune and actually purchase one - GOOD LUCK.

*****************
Ipods aren't perfect (they have a brain freeze intermittently) but for the most part, Brittanie loves hers. Her Ipod and her Iphone are her prized possessions.

I'm so proud of Brittanie

The Red Cross is having a blood drive at their Columbia headquarters on Bull Street today. Brittanie had signed up to donate blood when the Red Cross went to her high school but ended up out sick that day. Well today they were having the blood drive and having a drawing for two $750 gas cards. So she thought this would be a good time to do it. She called her friend, Chris, to go up there with her. He told her he would go to keep her company but he was too scared to do it himself. Well after picking at him being in both the National Guard and Army ROTC but scared of a needle, he decided to man up and donate blood too. His donation took 8 minutes and went just fine. Brittanie's wasn't as smooth. She, unfortunately, has my veins, which roll, but after sticking her twice and digging around the last time, they found her vein. She filled up the pint and the tubes that they test in only 3 minutes! They had trouble getting her to clot but they did eventually accomplish it.

She said the people at the Red Cross were very professional and very nice and made it a very good experience and she said she wants to donate on a regular basis. I'm so proud of her. She is so mature for her age. She is an organ donor and now a blood donor. She had actually planned on going to Lexington to register to vote after donating blood but she didn't have time because she has to work tonight.

We are truly blessed to have Brittanie!

Bad start but good end

It's been a rough day but in the end everything turned out fine. Tom came home and realized the only place he hasn't looked was the trash can. That's where he found his keys. We can't figure out how they got there but that's where they were. We are just happy he found them because Tom is obsessive compulsive with some things and this definitely triggered his OCD and he worried about it all day long. He is much more relaxed now.

Brittanie made it to USC Sumter and got her ID done and her immunization form turned in and was able to register for her ROTC class in Columbia. Now all she has to do is get ready for that PT test. I scanned her ID but whited out the bar code under her name and there were 3 numbers under her name that I whited out too. I don't know if any of that could be used but I wasn't taking any chances. But check it out....my baby is a college student!

It is definitely a Monday!

It isn't even noon yet and it has definitely been a Monday! It started off with Tom not being able to find his truck keys. He ALWAYS keeps them on the bookcase when he takes them out of his pocket. But it wasn't there this morning. He looked everywhere and couldn't find them. We are still on the hunt for them but he had to go to work with his spare key.

Then I called Blue Cross to find out if her meningitis shot was covered under our insurance because if not, I was going to have her go to the Health Department to get it. Well getting to talk to someone when you call Blue Cross using their phone system is like wading through a pool of manure. I finally got through and got what I needed but just in the nick of time because Brittanie's appointment was at 9 and Blue Cross' phone lines didn't open till 8:30 and it was 8:50 by the time I actually spoke to someone!

So Brittanie went to the doctor's office to get her tetanus booster shot and her meningitis shot and the USC form filled out by her doctor's office. When she got there, they gave her her shots and then told her that they can't fill out the form where it asks when she had her MMR shots done because they don't have a copy of her shot record from when she was a baby. I was stunned by that! When we moved to South Carolina in 1996, I went to the Health Department and had her Louisiana shot record transferred to South Carolina and took that South Carolina form to her doctor. That was the one and only time I have ever been to the Health Department. Her doctor's office gave me a copy of that record to give to Grace when she started there in 1st grade. Then South Carolina passed the law that kids had to get the Hepatitis B series by 7th grade. So Grace asked for an updated shot record. I took her to get her Hepatitis B series and once again, her doctor's office gave me a full copy of ALL of her shots to give to Grace. Then when she started at Swansea, they required her shot record and once again her doctor's office gave me a full copy of her shots. But now that she is starting college they say they don't have it. They claim all they have a record of are her hepatitis B series because we got those shots from them. So I called Swansea High and Ms. Porter (who is always so wonderful to everyone) said she would be happy to make a copy and leave at the front desk. So Brittanie had to leave her doctor's office in West Columbia and go to Swansea to pick up her shot record, then take it back to her doctor's office in West Columbia (and I told her to make sure she points out the practice name on the bottom of the form!), and then take it to Sumter. Thank goodness her car gets 35mpg. But that is so annoying! How do you lose a shot record? That is the part of a medical chart that is never to be purged!

Happy Father's Day!!

We had a pretty good day today. The girls gave Tom what he wanted...socks. Brittanie baked him a penguin cake that says "We love Dad." And we took him to O'Charley's in Lexington for lunch. After lunch we drove around looking for a neighborhood we would like to live in. It is no secret to anyone that knows us that we want to leave Gaston. Brittanie asked us to please not move until she graduates from college because she LOVES her room...even though she will be living in an apartment in Columbia, she still wants the option to come back to her room when she wants. That will give us time to update the house and get it ready to put on the market anyway. He surprised me by wanting a house by the lake. But I understand his thinking. Properties around the lake are very expensive and will keep out the undesireables. I'm thrilled. I love the lake. He said one weekend we will go back and go all around the lake. I love Chapin so that's my vote. But I will be happy just to leave Gaston.

I do have a funny story to share! On the way to O'Charley's, Tom, Brittanie, and I were talking about one of her friends who hates his mom because his mom has told him numerous times that she doesn't like him and can't wait till he moves out. I was surprised by this because I have talked to his mom when she helped work the canteen for JROTC with me. If she really didn't like him, why go to his JROTC competition and work in the canteen even?? But I did remember that she talked ALOT about her daughter and not at all about her sons. I made the comment that sometimes parents who have a daughter first, who is calm and sweet, and then have a kid, who is more rambunctious than your first child, you can develop a resentment for the amount of trouble that child is in comparison to the first child. But you have to separate the behavior from the child. When I said that, Katie immediately asked me "Are you accusing me of something???" I told her no. But I couldn't believe she was reading into that that I was speaking from experience on that one. She is 5 years old and so perceptive!! She amazes me. I hope she uses her intellect for good and not bad when she gets older or we are all in trouble. LOL

Brittanie didn't want to take a picture because she was messy from doing the cake. But Katie jumped right up there to take a picture with daddy. First the normal smile. Then she wanted a picture with a goofy smile. I tried to get him to look at the picture before I blogged it but he told me it was ok. So this picture was posted with his permission....sight unseen. lolTonight after Katie got her bath, she tried to give Tom one of her toys as a Father's Day present. I told her that she and Brittanie gave Daddy socks for Father's Day. She said "Well that isn't a very good present." Tom told her that is exactly what he wanted though. She said "Well good luck because socks aren't very fun." She's a hoot!!

Love this song!

Brad Paisley has a song called "I'm still a guy" that reminds me so much of Tom. Tom obviously isn't as country with the hunting and fishing (although he used to fish growing up and when we lived in Louisiana) but he has talked about men feminizing themselves and how sickening that is. So everytime I hear this song, I think of Tom. Brittanie actually called my attention to it because she thought it was so Tom! Here are the lyrics:

When you see a deer
You see Bambi
And I see antlers up on the wall
When you see a lake
You think picnics
And I see a large mouth up under that log
You’re probably thinkin' that you’re gonna change me
In some ways well, maybe you might
Scrub me down, dress me up
Oh, but no matter what
Remember, I’m still a guy

You think that ridin' a wild bull sounds crazy
And I’d like to give it a whirl
Well, love makes a man do some things he ain’t proud of
And in a weak moment I might
Walk your sissy dog
Hold your purse at the mall
But remember, I’m still a guy

And I’ll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around
Knock some jerk to the ground
‘Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

I can hear you now talkin' to your friends
Sayin' yeah girls he’s come a long way
From draggin' his knuckles and carryin' a club
And buildin' a fire in a cave
Well now what can I say at the end of the day
Honey, I’m still a guy

These days there’s dudes gettin' facials
Manicured, waxed, and botoxed
But with deep spray on tans and creamy lotioney hands
You can’t grip a tackle box
Yeah, with all of these men linin' up to get neutered
It’s hip now to be feminized
But, I don’t highlight my hair
I’ve still got a pair
Yeah, honey I’m still a guy

Oh, my eyebrows ain’t plucked
There's a gun in my truck
Oh Thank God, I’m still a guy

Brad Paisley performed this song at the CMT awards and half way through made the song infinitely better by inviting Hank Williams Jr. to perform it with him. I LOVE Hank Jr. and always have. If you want to see it, just check out the CMT website.

It is so true that opposites attract because though the words of this song are so Tom, he hates country music. He was listening to rock when I met him and he still prefers rock. I guess that's where Brittanie gets it from. But no matter what, I'm thankful he's still a guy!

Brittanie's college orientation

Brittanie had orientation at USC Sumter today. She enjoyed it. She had taken a tour of the campus before but it was an abbreviated version of what they took today. She actually was able to see the classrooms and library, gym, etc. She has registered for all of her classes except ROTC because ROTC is at the Columbia campus and they require an immunization record on file before you register for any class there. So when she got home, I called her doctor to find out if she was up to date and they told me she is due for a tetanus booster and USC Columbia requires a meningitis injection. So she is going Monday and get those two shots and a copy of her updated record and take it to USC Sumter. Even though the class is for USC Columbia, she has to do everything through USC Sumter since that is her main campus. Their system was down today so she wasn't able to get her ID done. So she will get that done Monday as well.

She will be taking English, Math, Music (In her words, they make you take something "artsy fartsy" and her choices were art, music, or theatre.), University study (She was mad that USC Sumter required this but it is an elective in Columbia. Basically it is to help you get acclimated to college life and study habits. I took it at Louisiana College. It is gay.), and of course ROTC. She has 16 credit hours and no classes on Friday....but she will have PT on Friday. Pretty sweet schedule! That means she will be able to get more hours at work than we originally thought.

She was pretty excited that USC Sumter has intramural slow pitch softball and flag football. She is looking forward to having some fun!

After Monday, all that will be left to do is pass her ROTC PT test and she is good to go! Her foot that was bothering her last week is feeling better this week but she is still scared to do much on it. Frank and Lynn are going to loan her a bike so she can get her cardio up so when she is ready to run, she will be able to endure it from a cardio standpoint. Joe is working with her on her push ups and sit ups. Hopefully she will have it all done before school starts!

New pictures!!

Brittanie would never pose for a picture in her Bi-Lo uniform but she took one herself and I stole it from her myspace page. She looks good in that Bi-Lo blue! By the way, this picture was taken in her bathroom. See all the posters of Hilary Duff? A couple of years ago our friends, Mike and Denise came for a visit and the bathrooms downstairs were occupied so we told Mike he could go up and use Brittanie's bathroom. He said he didn't like using Brittanie's bathroom because there was a teenaged girl staring at him all over the bathroom. LOL We love Mike and Denise. They have a great sense of humor!

Today, Brittanie and Jessica went to Edisto Beach for the day. They had a blast but came back dark and exhausted. Both of them tan regularly so they didn't burn but they are rather dark! I stole a few pictures of them from Jessica's myspace page.Osama Bin Brittanie....South Carolina Towel Head. LOL

Tonight, I got an email from Melissa with more pictures of Leah. I LOVE getting pictures of Leah. These were so precious that I had to share them.Styling in her Ralph Lauren outfit!

Look at the smile! She's just too precious!!

Leah and Lolly.

Not happy with Gov Sanford

I have supported Governor Sanford and am even on his mailing list but I am not at all happy that he has endorsed Jake Knott's opponent (not going to advertise for her by mentioning her name). In my opinion, that shows poor judgement on his part. Jake has served us well and deserves more respect than he is receiving from our governor.

All I can do is hope that McCain shows good judgement and doesn't chose Governor Sanford as his running mate for the presidential election.

Look how big she is getting!!

Our beautiful niece, Leah, is now 2 months old and she is growing so fast! She is 12 pounds 4 ounces and 23 3/4 inches long! She is in the 90th percentile. She had her 2 month old shots yesterday. I felt so bad for her seeing the little Band-Aids on her sweet little legs. I know I am biased because she is Jesse and Melissa's baby and we love all 3 of them, but I swear she gets more and more beautiful everyday!

She will learn

Brittanie was told that if there are days that she isn't scheduled to work but she is available and willing to work, she should write "Brittanie can work" and the times she is available. Well she did that for the rest of this week, except Friday. She didn't actually think they would call her because she is new so she and Joe caught a late movie last night and stayed up playing Rock Band in our living room all night. She got in bed at 5:15am! Well Bi-Lo called her at 11am and asked her to come in to work at 1. She was taught not to call in and to always work when asked unless you absolutely cannot. So of course she said yes. She looks like walking death today. LOL I told her you can't stay up all night when you are on call. But she is happy they called her because she wants those hours. She has 4 hours from yesterday and will be working 6 today. We aren't counting Sunday because basically that all went towards her shirts. She wants to put all of her Bi-Lo money into her savings account and just have fun off the money she makes doing her jobs at home. She wants to have $1500 to spend on clothes and stuff for her apartment. That $1500 doesn't include the hotel, gas, and food she will spend the weekend she goes on this shopping spree at Concord Mills in Charlotte. So she needs as many hours as possible to meet that goal. But I had to laugh at her when she got up and looked like a zombie. She is in the shower right now. Hopefully that will wake her up.

Don't forget to go out and vote tomorrow!!

In case you are unsure who to vote for, I can help ya out!

Joe Wilson for US Congress and Lindsey Graham for US Senate are the best of the best! I always vote for them.

My local choice is Jake Knotts for the SC Senate. He is the kind of man you either love him or you hate him. I love him. I met him when I worked for the town of Gaston and with the Collard Festival. He is there when you need him, which is unusual for politicians. (By the way, the same can be said for Joe Wilson and Lindsey Graham!)

All three of these men served their country in the military. Joe Wilson was in the Army Reserves and National Guard and was selected for membership on the Armed Services Committee. Lindsey Graham served in the Air Force. Jake Knotts served in the Navy. These are men of courage and honor who have served our state well through the years. I hope you will consider casting your vote for them tomorrow!

Brittanie update

Friday Brittanie went for a run to start training again for ROTC. Friday night Brittanie and Tom played tennis and she came home with her left foot hurting again. The tendonitis is back! She was mad and put on the brace again and started icing it and taking her antiinflammatory again. She is scared she won't be able to get her run up in time for school but she is going to work on her push-ups and sit-ups and get her cardiovascular exercises up so she will at least be in shape when she can start running again. But she is really frustrated right now.She started her job Sunday watching training videos for 3 1/2 hours. She doesn't think she will have any problem doing this job at all. After all, she was a cashier at Sonic. She didn't like that she had to pay for her uniform shirts...two of them....and they didn't have a medium so she had to buy two shirts that were too big for her. She told us last night that she made $24.50 working yesterday but spent $28 on big shirts. lol Welcome to life! Nothing ever really goes smoothly. But she is glad the training videos are out of the way and looking forward to doing the real job today. She is only scheduled to work today. The schedule was already made for this week so they were only able to squeeze her in today. Hopefully she and Jessica can schedule that trip to Edisto Beach one day this week since she won't be working.

One orientation down....one to go!

Brittanie had her Army ROTC orientation at USC this morning. She loved it. She didn't realize that all branches of ROTC are in that one building. She was in heaven with all those future officers all around. She loves the Army and that is her chosen branch but she loves the way those Marines look. lol She can't wait to start in the fall. She wasn't able to do the PT test because she hasn't been released by her physical therapist yet. Even though her feet are no longer hurting, her physical therapist doesn't want her to start running like she was before because she wants to train her to run differently so it won't happen again. She is deconditioned anyway from not being able to train for so long. She is going to have to get back in shape to get ready for that PT test. Hopefully she will be ready before school starts because she won't get that scholarship money until she passes.

Her next orientation is next Friday at USC Sumter. That's when she will schedule her classes. She has to schedule them around her ROTC classes in Columbia, which is going to be tricky but doable.

Brittanie has a new job!!!

Brittanie is now working for Bi-Lo!! She is starting off as a Courtesy Clerk (bagger) while she trains to be a cashier. When she turns 18, she will be moved to the Deli/Bakery so she can use her cake decorating talents! She was offered 85 cents more an hour than she asked for! So she is very happy! She starts Sunday. When she starts college, she will be able to work there on the weekends and during Christmas and summer breaks. She is trying to save as much money as she can for the big shopping spree that she and Jessica are going on to Concord Mills in North Carolina in August!

Almost forgot!

Brittanie has been saving up her graduation money to buy an IPhone. The one she wanted was $500. Well my mom got here Wednesday and handed her an envelope with five 100 dollar bills in it. She was so excited, she started crying. lol She couldn't wait for Tom to get home from work so he could go with her to get it. It has been a permanent fixture in her hand ever since! She also bought something to clip it to her belt and Jonathan and Sarah gave her a red (she LOVES red) cover for it. I'm glad she has it because she is very directionally challenged and now she can use it to figure out where she is and where she needs to go.

Now she is saving her money to buy college clothes. The wonderful people Tom work with gave her a $100 Bed Bath and Beyond gift card so she and Courtney will be going there soon and picking out comforter sets.

She is still in the process of sending out Thank You cards. But Tom and I want to thank everyone who gave her something for graduation. It is very much appreciated!! We have wonderful friends and family. I was pleasantly surprised by the response we got from my family in Louisiana. We have been in South Carolina since she was 6. So most of my family haven't seen her since then but they still sent her money. We are so blessed.

It's all over!!

Brittanie is officially a high school graduate! It was quite a busy week. My mom, my 2 sisters, and my goddaughter, Lyndsie, drove in from Louisiana Wednesday afternoon. My godson, Jonathan, and his wife and 2 girls flew in from Germany Wednesday night. We all went to Yamato's Thursday night. Graduation was Friday. Her party/cook-out was Saturday. The Louisiana crew went home Sunday morning. Jonathan and his family flew to Orlando this morning to continue their vacation at Disney.

Brittanie and daddyBrittanie and Katie

Brittanie and Jessica (my beautiful cousin...ok technically Tom's cousin but I claim her!)Eryka, Brittanie, and Courtney (Triple Trouble hehehe) Brittanie and my beautiful goddaughter, LyndsieSarah, Brittanie, and my uber handsome godson, Jonathan. Brittanie with my biological sisters, Aimee on the left and Jeannette on the right.Brittanie and Jacob

Brittanie and Grandpa (Tom's dad)Brittanie and her grandmothers...Tom's mom on the left and my mom on the right.It's all over!!

My camera was acting up graduation night and not wanting to focus so all the pictures are blurry! GRRRRRR I kept getting Error 99 on the screen. But we did get a video of her getting her diploma. After she got her diploma, she walked across the stage and you will see a woman in a white suit come up and hug her. That's Paula O. She is on our school board and was sitting by the rest of the school board members. She loves Brittanie. Brittanie and her son, Hank, were talking for awhile but nothing ever came of it. But Paula and her husband love Brittanie and would love to see Brittanie and Hank together. She's so sweet!! Also, when Brittanie walked off stage and moved her tassel over to the other side, she waved to the side. She was waving at her second daddy, First Sgt Cannon. She hugged him after the ceremony was over. He is awesome and she is really going to miss him.

The party was great! It wouldn't have been a success without Tom and Jonathan manning the grill, Frank and Will doing the music, Lynn organizing everything (she is so wonderful!!) and Sarah taking the kids to the playground so that they could have fun and not drive us nuts because they were bored. It was really hot out there and we really appreciate everyone who helped!! Katie played hard that day. She was so hot! Posing for the camera. She is such a ham! lolBrittanie cheering after her team scored. The guy in green is Jessica's brother, Allan. Brittanie had a blast at her party. She was the only girl playing football out there with the guys. But when you are friends with mainly guys, you have to expect them to do things that girls just wouldn't do. Like when girls say goodbye, they hug and walk away. This is how a guy says goodbye after playing football in 92 degree heat for hours. LOLJacob saying a sweaty goodbye. (above)

William showing the love with his sweaty armpit!

For those who are wondering...yes I did cry at graduation. I cried as the graduates marched in, when they called Brittanie's name to give her the diploma, when they marched out, outside in the parking lot watching her take pictures with everyone, and again as we were leaving the restaurant after graduation. I love her and I'm just so proud of her!! If you think that was bad, wait till August 16th when she moves into her apartment. I know that won't be pretty! But Tom and I did a good job with her. One down....one to go!