I'm back from my trip. It was great getting away for a few days and this trip was much better than most because I wasn't in charge! Yippee!! Don't get me wrong, I still had to work, but it wasn't like the entire conference was MY responsibility, so it was a bit more relaxing. You know the only thing that sucks when your away for a few days is when you get back and you have like 2 million emails and 500 voice mails to catch up on. I was planning on returning from the trip, working a full day on Thursday and then taking Friday off as comp time. Well that ended up not happening. But at least I will get an extra day off later.

So things went really well at the conference. It was in Wilmington. I had never been to Wilmington before, so it was something new for me. We got there Sunday night and had a nice dinner at a place where the name escapes me at the moment, but it was right on the riverwalk. So we had dinner with the mosquitos on the river. It would have been nice if we hadn't of been eaten alive by the mosquitos. I went back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening. I don't get to do that very often with two little ones in the house. It was cool because the hotel had those Tempur-Pedic mattress and they were heaven! My back always hurts when I get up in the morning and after sleeping on that mattress my back was fine in the morning. I came home and immediately went to the Tempur-Pedic website to find out how much they cost. I had every intention of purchasing us one until I saw a king size was like $2,800. Jesus H. Christ! So much for that!

Monday was a very busy day because it was the first day of the conference. We had about 192 people registered from 5 states: North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia & Alabama. Everyone but 1 person showed up, so it was really well attended. It wasn't like our yearly convention where we have about 1500 people. This was just a small meeting. So after we had everyone checked in, things ran pretty smoothly the rest of the day.

Monday evening the entire group took a dinner cruise on the Henrietta III down the Cape Fear River. It was pretty cool, but the dinner took forever. The cruise was 3/4 of the way over before we were even served our dinner. The food was decent considering they were serving about 200 people at once. But I definately was not impressed with the service. After our dinner cruise about 10 of us went to Kilwin's for some ice cream. Kilwin's has the best ice cream, in my opinion, second only to Cold Stone Creamery, of course.

Tuesday was pretty relaxing because we only had to work the conference until 2:00. So after that my friend Sam and I (Sam is short for Samantha) went on a "road trip." Sam used to live in Wilmington and various other towns around the area. So we decided to head to Carolina Beach to see some old houses she used to live in and let her take a "trip down memory lane" so to speak. We drove by a few houses they used to live in, but most of them had been torn down. After visiting Carolina Beach we headed on down to Kure Beach and Fort Fisher. Fort Fisher was apparently the last major strong hold of the confederacy during the Civil War.

After our visits to the beaches, we then decided to get even more adventurous and took a road trip all the way down to Myrtle Beach, SC. Now I've been to Myrtle Beach many times in my life, but the last few times I have been there it has been with conventions for work, so I don't even get to set one little toe out on the beach because I am so damn busy. So it was nice to spend a few hours there and not actually having to work!

We decided we would go eat at Broadway at the Beach. For those of you who have never been there (including myself), it is totally awesome! I can't even begin to describe it. You'll just have to look at their website for yourself. The only problem was it was over 100 degrees and the heat index was about 115. So we didn't feel like walking around and ate at Senor Frogs. I've actually ate at the Senor Frogs in Cancun, Mexico before. There were dozens of restaurants and shops and it was just a really cool place, but it was too damn hot to enjoy anything. I definately want to go back again and look around more.

By the time we finished dinner and did a bit of shopping at some of the outlets, it was going on 9:00 p.m., so we headed back to Wilmington. Now if I was a partying girl, that would have been the place to party. But alas, Sam and I are just boring old hags. Which is a good thing since I'm married and a mom, I guess. he he he

The next day was the last day we were in Wilmington and the conference was over at 1:00 p.m. So after we wrapped everything up we headed back home. And we absolutely, positively can't pass through Durham without stopping at PF Chang's. We made it back home around 7:00 and I headed home, exhausted. It was great to see the kids again, but I had to go back to work the next day. Since I was so pooped from the trip, I ended up going in on Thursday and Friday a bit late. I guess I'm just getting old and can't handle as much anymore. he he he

So that was basically my week. It's Saturday right now and both the kids are taking a nap. I actually hear Chase. He just woke up and is upstairs in his bed banging on a toy. It is 4:00 p.m. and I am still in my gown. Now that's pretty sorry isn't it? Sometimes on weekends we stay in our night clothes the whole weekend and don't even leave the house. It doesn't happen often, but this might be one of those weekends. I actually tried to get Skyler dressed, but she wouldn't have none of it. She wanted to stay in her jammies.

Jonathan had to go in to work today. He is trying to beat an all times sales record at work this month and tomorrow is the last day of the month. I hope he makes it. He won't get a bonus or anything, but he will get a bit of recognition.

I'm actually cooking today. My parents canned some beans this summer and they brought a couple of jars to us. So I put some green beans with some potatoes and a bit of fat back on the stove and cooked them really slow all day. When Jonathan gets home he will grill us some lemon pepper chicken and we'll also have corn on the cob. That's a grand meal for us because most of the time we eat sandwiches or eat out. We usually don't end up getting home until around 7:30 during the week and it's just too damn late to cook during the week. Weekends usually are a bit slower paced and I cook some. Since the weather has been bad this weekend we probably won't get to go out on the boat or go to the water park. That really sucks because summer is almost over. I can't believe Skyler will be going back to school in about three weeks.

Speaking of school, hopefully we will hear real soon if she got into the county's K-4 or not. If she didn't it's another year at the Christian school. I'm hoping she did get in so I won't have to pay that private school tuition.

Well I guess I better run for now and go tame Little Man. He is tearing down Skyler's blocks and she is getting pissed off. She just said to him, "Stop! I don't like you, I want a new baby! Y our not my friend anymore!" He he he Oh the years of sibiling fighting I have to look forward to.....

You know your a redneck when you go to a child's birthday party and you think it's fun to hook up the riding lawnmower and a couple of little wagons to make a "Choo Choo Train."

We went to one of Jonathan's co-worker's little boy's birthday party today. They had their backyard set up really cute with lots of stuff for the kids to play with, including this little "train." Skyler had a great time. Jonathan's friend is married to a girl from Mexico. According to his friend, they are notoriously late. He told them the party started at 10:00 a.m. so they would be on time. The party actually started at 2:00 p.m. So we showed up fashionably late around 2:30 and there was only one other family there. By 4:00 p.m. I was feeling pretty sorry for the little boy that no one other than his grandmother and grandpa and a friend or two was going to show up. Then finally around 5:30 all of the family and friends showed up. Three and a half hours late no less!

She had a great time though. He had set up a little kitty pool and put the slide from the swingset with a water hose on it. The kids did lots of sliding. He had also set up a soccer field for the little kids to play on. When everyone finally showed up around 5:30, it was a mad house. We were all exhausted by then and finally headed out about 6:30 or so. I am too pooped to party. I'm glad we got Skyler down for an early nap before we left. Otherwise there would have been hell to pay.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the lake with the boat. I'm looking forward to it. We had a great time last weekend when we took it out. Skyler is getting braver in the water, but we still can't get her to stick her face in the water. I guess it will all come in time. At least she isn't screaming and hanging around your neck without letting go anymore. Girlfriend would practically strangle you and not let loose, just two weeks ago. So she's come a long way already.

Little man ate his first cupcake today. Unfortunately, I had left the camera outside in the stroller and didn't get a pic of it. He took one little lick, his eyes got really big and then he went in head first. He was loving him some cupcake that's for sure. I think Skyler had enough sweets to kill a cow. She'll probably be bouncing off the walls tonight.

Next weekend I leave for a work trip to Wilmington. I'm really looking forward to it. As I've mentioned before, it's not a really big meeting, only about 180 people from 5 different states. It's nice to get away sometimes, even if it's for work. At least my parents are coming over to help Jonathan with the kids.

We are thinking about canceling our cruise in November. With two kids now and two daycares and all the medical bills.... Money has just become pretty tight. I mean we make really good money, but it just seems the more you make, the more you spend. $800 a month going out in daycare doesn't help either. I'm hoping and praying that Skyler gets into headstart this year. That way I won't have to pay for the private school. The way headstart works around her is they take the kids that need the most help first. I.e., the ones who can't say their ABC's, know their colors, can't count, etc. Then if they have any spaces left, they draw a lottery. So I'm not sure what her chances of getting in are. I don't think she would get in during the first round. Girlfriend has been saying her ABC's since she was 15 months old. She can count to 50 and can recognize letters. So I don't think she would fall into the category or needing extra help. Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll get in with the lottery. Let's keep our fingers crossed. That would be approximately $350 a month of daycare off of us. Of course we will still have to pay for after school care, but that's better than private school tuition AND after school care.

Has anyone been watching the new show Rock Star - Inxs. I have to say it's a pretty good show. Much better than American Idol because the singers a much better. I just think it's pretty weird that Inxs is doing a show to find a new lead singer. Apparently the previous lead singer, Michael Hutchence supposedly committed suicide in 1997. Geeze, it doesn't seem that long ago, but it's been almost 10 years. I'm definitely getting old. Anyway, so now the aging rock group is looking for a new lead singer. I've been watching it and it's decent.

Skyler and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night. I have just one word for the movie.... weird. I mean this movie was freaky. Of course, I didn't enjoy the first one, so I knew I probably wouldn't like this one. That is just one freaky book, let me tell you. Johnny Depp was good as always, the whole movie was just, well weird. Skyler enjoyed it though, so that's all that matters. She really likes going to the movies now and it's a time she and I can do something together without Little Man and daddy around. Our "girl's night out" as we like to call it.

Well I hate to cut it short today, but Chase is sitting at my feet boo-hooing because he is ready to go night night. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm outta here!

Borrowed from CootieHog

You Are 77% American

You're as American as red meat and shooting ranges. Tough and independent, you think big. You love everything about the US, wrong or right. And anyone who criticizes your home better not do it in front of you!

If any of you read Allison at Allison's Wonderland, she had her baby this week. So congratulations to Aaron and Allison! She is still in the hospital and wanted to update her readers herself, so we don't know what he weighed or what they finally named him. hopefully she will update over the weekend.

How hard do you think it will be to break this habit?

"Strike a Pose"