The Kathy Griffin Show in Atlanta

Okay, so I'm really behind on my blogs. So, I have a life okay. Anyway, in August Vance (the best husband ever) heard that Kathy Griffin was performing in Atlanta. He knows how much I absolutely love her so he suggested that I call the Atlanta crew and see if they wanted to go. Of course they did! Evidently, this was the gay event of the year in Atlanta and everybody who's anybody was going to be there. So, the Friday before I started school Vance and I drove up to Atlanta to hang out and go to the show. It was an absolute blast! Kathy Griffin was hilarious. She had some really juicy celebrity gossip. Love it! And, I love my Atlanta peeps. Jason, Nicole, Logan, Brian-you are all awesome. Can't wait to come up again soon. Some pics:

The kids

So, one of the highlights of our unexpected visit to BR last weekend was seeing the kids. Carson is getting so big it's unreal. He's talking up a storm and is just the cutest little booger. He still loves his Uncle Bubba (Vance) and Aunt Reesa. He likes to play pretend and get silly in Maranda and my high heels. A new thing he did though when it was time for us to leave was that he stood in front of the door and cried so that we couldn't get out. It made me sad. He told me that he wants to come to Reesa's house and go to the beach. We also got to see Layla, who is now 4 months old. She's beautiful. She's very alert and smiles a lot. Enjoy the pics.

A Midsummer Blog (yeah, I know it’s cheesy)

Well, summer is half over and what a summer it’s been so far. It was all kicked off with one heck of a Memorial Day weekend and we just kind of kept up the pace from there. We’ve had lots of house guests. I love being a hostess.

Thanks to everyone who has visited and enjoyed the beach with us—Maranda, Devaney, Leslie, Jason, Nicole, Brian, Logan, Laura, Barbara, Lisa, Carson, and Corey it was a blast. Special props to Devaney, who made her first solo road trip just to see me and Maranda and Leslie who made the 5 ½ hour drive after Maranda got off of work at Boutin’s and arrived at 3:30 in the morning ready for the beach. And, welcome in advance to everyone who has requested a complimentary reservation at Hotel Baldwin for other dates this summer.

I’ve been working my summer job at the day camp. I can’t complain about getting paid to take kids to the beach. Vance has taken up a new hobby of obsessing about our yard. In fact, I think we’re planting trees in the back yard this week.

Vance and I did manage to take a wonderful vacation to Orlando, San Francisco, and the Livermore Wine Valley. I’m in love with California. We had a great time visiting with Vance’s family in California. They were wonderful. They’ve been right down the road from us in Fort Walton on their vacation so we’ve had the chance of visiting them here too.

For the fourth we were invited to join the Palfreys in Sea Grove for a traditional family 4th of July. It was great. A perfect beach day, great food, great drinks, great friends, great fireworks.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds for us.

Gordon Walls

March 5, 1954-July 12, 2007

Anyone who was at our wedding knows who my Uncle Gordon is. You couldn’t miss him. Next to Jason Triplett, he was the one making the biggest spectacle of himself. He looks a lot like my dad and was dancing with anyone who would let him (or by himself). He passed away after his battle with cancer ended on Thursday. Vance and I managed to get into town Thursday night (someone was watching over us and we managed to make it in 5 hours without speeding that much) and the services began on Friday afternoon, with the funeral on Saturday. I don’t want to glorify Uncle Gordon. He didn’t always make the best decisions in life. He died with practically nothing to his name. But, I will say this. He had a huge heart. He was always my favorite out of my dad’s brothers. He could always make me laugh and he would do anything for anyone. He's the one who taught me how to drive a car with a manual transmission after my dad lost his patience and gave up. This is also the man who was so worried about me living on campus when I went to SLU that he gave me his custom made bike so that I wouldn’t have to walk to North Campus. He was just like that. You know that saying “He’d give you the shirt off his back.” Well, he actually would. He has two beautiful and wonderful children (my cousins Jacob and Hope) and ten grandchildren (who are the sweetest kids I’ve ever met). Uncle Gordon may not have had much money or success in life in the traditional sense but he has a lot of people who love him and who will miss him. Please pray for my family during this difficult time. Especially for my Maw Maw and Paw Paw who have just lost a child.

Memorial Weekend

What a blast! Devaney and Corey arrived Thursday night. We grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and Corey bonded with the dogs. Vance had to work the next day, so Corey, Dev and I headed out to Coyote Ugly for some laughs. We had a great time and met some interesting tourists. Friday was laid back and we just hung out at the beach. The Atlanta crew didn't arrive until late Friday night but that didn't stop us from going out (since the bars almost never close here). We went to Schooner's for drinks and dancing where we met up with Tony, his brother and his brother's girlfriend. When they started closing down we headed to Sweet Dreams for karaoke. Saturday we hung out on the beach by La Vila and Spinnaker, to see and be seen. There sure was some nice scenery too. Saturday night we ate at Boat Yard and went to Spinnaker to dance and see the band. We were tired though so it was a somewhat early night. Jason and the Atlanta crew spent Sunday in Pensacola while Devaney and Corey headed back to BR. They had so much fun in Pensacola that they rented a hotel room and spent the night. We had a late lunch with them on Monday and they headed back to Atlanta. I can't wait to do it again.

"New Dog" has a new home

New Dog now has a home. A lady who I work with decided to adopt her. She has two sweet little girls who have already named her Lily. I'm so happy she found a good home.

Update on Chi chi a.k.a. "new dog"

You may need to read yesterday's entry to catch up for this one. Chi chi is doing fine (see picture). Allee and Jesse are happy-go-lucky as always. Sissy is so jealous, but she plays with Chi-chi when the mood strikes her. The problem is, I CAN'T HAVE 3 DOGS AND A CAT!!! Vance and I have posted signs, called every vet on the beach, called the Humane Society and Animal Control, and I've posted a notice on petharbor.com. No one seems to be looking for this dog. She is so sweet. I don't want to take her to Animal Control because we all know what happens to dogs that don't get adopted there. If I take her to the Humane Society it's going to cost me $25 just to drop her off (but I'll do it if I need to because it's a no-kill shelter). No good deed goes unpunished. I'm going to give it a couple of days. Hopefully her owners will call. If not, maybe someone else I know will want her. BTW, thanks for your words of support Kate and Lauren. I love you girls and miss you lots.

What a day

So, today I had to take Sissy to the vet for surgery. She was spayed when we got her in March, but evidently her body rejected the suture. Anyway, on my way to bring her in, traffic was stopped on the street right outside of my neighborhood because an escaped chihauhua was weaving in and out of traffic. I decided to pick her up since I was on my way to the vet anyway. I was just terrrified she would be hit by a car. The vet kept her today and scanned her for a microchip (which she didn't have). So, anyway, the vet said that if I didn't take her home they would have to call Animal Control. It is obvious that the dog belongs to someone (probably near me) so I took her home. We're calling her Chi Chi and have hung signs up everywhere. We hope to find her home soon. In the meantime, she seems to be pretty comfy here. She's curled up on the couch with me right now and is getting along great with Allee, Jesse, and Sissy.

May Trip to Baton Rouge

Okay, so Vance and I were in BR last weekend. It was a quick trip so I'm sorry if we didn't get to see you. We did kind of sneak in. We drove in late Friday night, had family stuff on Saturday, a wedding Saturday night, and mother's day breakfast Sunday morning. Then, the 5 1/2 hour drive back home.

Our trip was fun and interesting. Bert and Stacy's wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Carson proved himself to be the perfect little ring bearer. We had a blast, especially after the wedding (see photos). At breakfast on Sunday, we were able to spend some quality time with our adorable nephew, Carson, and our beautiful niece, Layla, as well as Maw Maw, Paw Paw, my sisters, Shirley and Barb.

So now we're just getting ready for Memorial Day weekend. Tuesday is my last day of work at school. Then I will be getting the house ready for our guests. This weekend should be a blast. Lots of beach fun with friends. I'll post more pics next week. We hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!

First Blog

Okay, so I'm really bad at keeping everyone updated on what's going on. So here's our blog. Vance and I can keep you all updated and you can keep us updated on you if you'd like.

Tomorrow's my last day with my students. I still have some work days and I start my summer job the week after next. This summer I will be working with the little ones at a beach day camp. I did it last summer too and it was fun. It should be a good change of pace.

Vance is working hard to get ready for one of his licensing exams in June. We are going to Orlando for it. Cross your fingers, pray, or whatever you do. We need him to pass this. Anyway, when Vance is finished with his test we will fly out to San Fransisco where we will stay for 3 nights, then we will drive to Livermore (Vance has family there) where we will overlook a vineyard for 2 nights. Other than that our summer is going to be pretty laid back. We'd love to have some guests. We've already had a few people reserve a weekend at Chateau Baldwin so don't wait too long. Of course, you could always pull a Jason and Mike and call us when you're an hour and a half from the house. :)