Scrabble.

We love scrabble. When we built our first home in Florida, Gary and I would play it at the kitchen island all the time.

I could never win.

Fast forward about 7 years and I find out that the reason that I could never win against him is that he was counting words over if he added to existing word. All the triple words, double letters….you get the picture. (he didn’t know that that was not the correct way to play…he wasn’t cheating;-)

Anyway, this week we got out the old scrabble game again.

This is how Caden and I felt the whole time.

Because we live with this railroader whose whole entire job is planning things out.

Let me just say, he takes a long time. I can see his mind working in this photo. He plots and strategizes the whole time.

This is what WE do the whole time!

My other winning hand. NOT!

In the end, the railroader came in first, Caden came in second, and since I had such winning hands, I came in last:(

It was still fun and it went faster than I thought it would.

I am just thankful that it wasn’t Chutes & Ladders:)

Melanie

Getting To Know You.

I missed last Sunday’s GTKY because I don’t have the internet right now so I am at Barnes & Nobles drinking a Starbucks and using their WIFI:)

So here are this weeks questions.

1. If you accidently knick a car in a parking lot..Do you leave a note or do you get the heck out of there? I would definitely leave a note. Karma is a b****;-)

2. Love your body or plastic surgery? I try to love it but an eye lift would be great right about now!

3. What about your favorite blog(s) continues to drive you back? I just love the girls that blog. I have made some great friendships and that is what keeps me going back. Even if they don’t know that I exist, I still visit. I am missing all of my blog friends right now. I haven’t visited a blog in over a week.

4. What percent of your blog is BS just to make your life seem more interesting than it really is? Zero!

5. If you had to give up one type of meat for the rest of your life, what would it be? Liver. I hate it anyway and would never miss it.

6. How often do you eat out? We don’t eat out a lot but with the move, we have eaten out a lot. Not good for the waistline.

7. Skinny jeans or boot cut jeans? Both

8. If you caught your spouse cheating would you forgive, divorce, or plan your kill? Well, my first husband cheated and I am no longer married to him so I will let you guess the answer to that:)

Happy Sunday. Head over to Keely's and check out the other girl’s answers.

Melanie

MIA

Yes, I am missing in action. Between getting Gary moved and Caden in school, I also had to get the house ready to put up for sale. I have not had time to blog or visit any of you. I feel so out of the loop and I miss all of you. I have no internet access and I have been doing nothing but looking at houses.

This is proving to be harder than I thought it would be. I have so much to tell all of you and I hope to be back to blogging soon.

Please don't forget about me while I am away. When I get back, I will have much to blog about. Our vacation this past July, our move, and our new home. Lots in store if you will hang with me and give me a moment to get caught up.

I miss y'all and will be back soon.

Melanie

Finally...vacation will begin:)

Okay, so maybe vacation was a month ago but a lot has happened since we got back on July 26th. First, my Dell PC decided that it wanted to quit working on me and then we found out we were moving.

So between those two things, there hasn't been a whole lot of time to blog. I have been wanting to tell y'all about our vacation but I am going to have to do it in stages. I haven't even looked at all of the vacation photos yet and they still have to be edited too.

That leads me to start with our flight to San Francisco. We left out of the Indianapolis Airport as I talked about here. The first thing that Caden did was look to see what there was to eat.

They then decided what we were going to eat and off they went.

We were flying out at 3:30 so we had some time to kill after we ate, so Caden broke out the IPod and played poker of all things:)

We had a short layover in Phoenix Arizona and flying over the mountains was beautiful.

Those are different looking mountains than what we see on the east coast and so beautiful. But for those who have never been to San Francisco, the flight into the city is very cool. It looks at though you are going to land on the water.

It was a bumpy flight at times but all in all, it went by fast. We stayed at the Marriott at Union Square which was a nice hotel. I don't think I would stay in Union Square again because it is downtown and we have always stayed closer to the bridge.

As you can see, I didn't get a picture before we messed the bed up but it was a great room. It had great beds which, besides being clean, is top priority for us. I have so much to share with y'all about our vacation that it is going to take me a while to get it all down.

It was a wonderful trip and we loved everything that we did. Hopefully I can do a post or two a week so that I can show you all the great places we went.

Have any of y'all gone on a great vacation this summer?

Melanie

I wish!

I would love to buy this house. It just screams 'southern!' It would be a low country house in low country territory;-)

Doesn't it remind you of Paula Deen's house? Um, maybe not on her scale but it does look like something she would live in.

Can y'all tell that Gary has been looking at houses? I am getting hives just thinking about it. I love houses and love to decorate them BUT two in one year is a bit much for even me. He has been down there for two weeks now and has seen about 20 or so houses. He has lived with me for over 19 years, so he knows what I will like and don't like. He narrowed down his list and emailed it to me. I crossed off around four of those and added a few more.

I like expensive:-)

Who would have guessed that? LOL! We have a good realtor down there, so when I get to head south, we will go house hunting together. I am very decisive when it comes to houses. It won't be very hard to narrow them down. The problem is going to be finding one that doesn't require us to sell our son to be able to buy.

Which leads me to this house.

I wish Gary wouldn't have found it because I have fallen in love with it and I haven't even stepped foot in it. I love old houses but Gary doesn't. This would be the perfect combination for us. Looks old but is new. I don't understand why it has been sitting for 3 years empty. No one has bought it, so it hasn't been lived in. It is completely finished now and really there is nothing not to like. The back is as pretty as the front. When Caden got there on Saturday, Gary drove him by some of the houses that he had found and what was Caden't favorite? You guessed it, the most expensive one. I guess he is my son afterall;-)

I am overwhelmed by all of this but I am taking it a day at a time and and one appointment at a time. The railroad has a great moving package and yes, they do come and pack the house for me but that doesn't take care of all the doctors, car tags, insurance, etc. You get the picture. It is just a lot to deal with.

But to make myself feel better, I can always go back and tour this lovely house again and again. It sure beats what I have been doing....stuffing my face. Now I have 5 pounds to lose instead of 3:( ugh! Hello treadmill and goodbye sweet tea & coke!

I do hope that y'all take the tour yourself and enjoy it.

Have a good Monday,

Melanie

ps. I am using Blogger to blog this morning so who knows what it is going to look like. Still trying to learn the other program that is compatible with Mac.

pss. How do I make the photo larger in Blogger? I can't figure that out.

ETA: I took down the link. Someone text me about crazies out there and posting the address.

Getting To Know You

I am a little behind in posting our GTKY this week. I didn’t get an email earlier in the week so I kinda forgot about it.

Here’s this weeks questions:

1. What kind of athlete has the hottest body? I love football players but tennis players also have a great body:)

2. Are you a planner or a procrastinator? Oh, planner all the way. I love to make list and check things off.

3. Diet or regular (soda)? Regular coke but I am trying to quit drinking them.

4.What's your one "must have" for Fall? I guess a great purse. I love purses but I don’t like to shop for clothes very much so I can’t think of anything.

5. What's your favorite fast food restaurant? Chick Fil A

6. What do you think is the sexiest profession for a guy? I kinda like my guy’s profession:) It lets me be a stay home wife and mother. (he works for the railroad)

7. Did you wear braces? No

8. Would you rather have a guy that's super sexy or kind? Kind for sure. Looks go away as time goes by and there is nothing like a gentleman.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday. I hope to be back this week with some post about our vacation.

Melanie

Flipping Out!

Yesterday I was doing some things around the house and I turned on Bravo TV. Now, I love the Bravo channel. I watched Project Runway when it was on there, I watch Top Chef, the Housewives, and now I have a new one.

I love this show. He is so funny and has such OCD that you can't help but laugh at him. I fell in love when Zoila opened the refrigerator and I saw that everything was lined up perfectly. It looks just like mine:)

I had seen the previews of the show before but for some reason, I didn't watch it. Now I am sad that I didn't see the other seasons. I caught the last 4 or 5 episodes of last season and watched the new season last night.

It is total much see TV for me now. I can't wait for next weeks show.

Melanie

Just testing....

A new blogging program. Since I switched over to a Mac, I can't use my favorite blogging program Windows Live Writer.

I am testing a new one and I hope to like it and learn it. Quickly!

I have a lot of vacation photos to edit and show you. I have a lot of blogging to do but it might be a slow go while I am learning something new.

Melanie

Guess What?

Yep, we’re moving!

AGAIN!

Every one pick your mouth up off the floor because I know that’s where they’re at;-)

I know, I know. We just got here 9 months ago. So is life with the railroad.

When we built our home in Florida, we knew that we would be moving to Cincinnati but we didn’t know when. We lived every day for three years waiting on the call. When it came, we were glad that we just knew when we were leaving.

Try living every day wondering when you are moving 800 miles from home.

I told Gary that when we got to Cincy, we had to stay put for at least 2 1/2 years so that Caden could stay in one high school and graduate.

Then we moved.

We got here on November 7th and by the end of January we heard rumblings that Gary could get a promotion that would require yet another move.

I would not hear of it.

Then in April, we heard more rumblings. By then I had made it through my first big winter and was missing the south terribly. I had not adjusted to the north like I thought I would and come to find out, neither had Caden.

Gary and I had to really discuss what we would do if we got the call. I didn’t want to discuss it. I wanted Caden to be settled in his school and in our house.

But then my head took over and I let my heart go. I had to quit thinking about it from a mom’s point of view and think about it as something that was happening for me and Gary. We couldn’t pass up a promotion no matter what. (Okay, I lied. We could pass it up if it were to New York or Maryland. I couldn’t go anywhere colder!)

The only thing was telling Caden.

Another move. Another school. Another half year of living unsettled.

But come to find out, Caden was all for it. Maybe not the unsettled part but the south part. We had decided that if we got the call, we would have to take it. Now, the only thing was telling Caden. I told Gary that he would have to do it this time:)

It ended up that I told him and he was fine with it. He missed the south as much as I did and he wanted to move back.

We got the call last Friday.

Gary left Tuesday.

It all happened very quickly.

So now we are South Carolinians.

Y’all get to watch me decorate another house and go through the process all over again. Needless to say, I am a little overwhelmed. This is why I have been a little absent from the internet. Between vacation, Caden’s mouth surgery, a broken laptop, trying to find a school over the internet, and the transfer, it has been a busy month.

Now the question is what am I going to call my blog? Keep it the same name or rename it something else?

Priorities people, priorities;-)

Melanie

PS. I have added a lot of my blog friends to my blog roll. Please check them all out. If you see your name and would rather it not be there, let me know and I will take it off. I didn’t email everyone to ask if they minded that I put their blog on my roll. Thanks.

Our back entry.

I haven’t been doing much to the house of late. I kinda got burnt out (or is it burned out?) trying to get everything done pretty quickly.

I wanted to show y’all the back entry. It was really hard to photography because it is a tiny area. The back door leads outside and there is a half bath off to the side.

This is the view from the laundry room. I have the same red fabric on the door as is in the dining room and on the chair in the office.

I have had this fabric for a long time but I do not tire of it. This has hung on 3 doors in 3 different houses. In the state of Georgia, Florida, & Kentucky.

I love my calendar but I couldn’t find anywhere to put it in the kitchen so I hung it at the back door. Not my first choice but it has grown on me.

This angel tin is from Southern Living At Home. I had a friend in Florida add some pretties to it. I had some stuff in it and she just added a little more.

One last photo from the laundry room looking into the kitchen and back entry. Maybe showing you this little nook in our home will spark my creative juices.

You never know.

Melanie

Linking to Met Mondays Just a Girl.

Getting To Know You.

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope y’all have stayed cool this weekend and enjoyed the AC. Here in Northern Kentucky they are all melting. They aren’t use to these warm temps;-)

It’s Sunday so that means it’s GTKY time. Be sure and stop by Keely's and see everyone’s answers.

1. Do you think mustaches are sexy? That depends on the guy.

2. What's the last concert you've been to? Michael Buble and it was fabulous!

3 What was your favorite 80's sitcom? I honestly don’t remember. I did love Dallas though.

4. Were you named after anyone? No

5. When you buy new clothes, do you wash before wearing? Yes, most definitely!

6. If you didn't blog, what would you do with your spare time? Read blogs, read all the books I have, along with all the magazines too.

7. What is your favorite department store? I like Kohl’s. I am not a big clothes shopper. My thing is gadgets. I love technology.

8. If you were to get Laser Hair Removal..where would you get it? When I start growing hair above my lip from menopause, I will be geting it there.

LOL! I don’t look forward to that day.

Melanie

My love of airports.

I love airports. I love to see how different each one is and I don’t mind sitting and people watching.

We drove a couple of hours and flew out of the Indianapolis Airport when we went on vacation. I {heart} this airport. Everything about it was great. Caden loved it and so did Gary.

Now, they don’t have quite the affection for them as I do but they do like a nice one.

This one has leaves hanging from the ceiling and in the decor.

I don’t really know what these were but they were cool looking.

Then we came around the corner and found this cute shop.

Just Pop In! How adorable is that. It is all about flavored popcorn.

They had tee shirts that read Indianapolis and Just Popped Out. I forgot to take a picture of the board with all the flavors that the popcorn came in but you can see some of it in this picture.

They have so many flavors. I tried the orange because I love anything orange and it wasn’t so bad. We didn’t buy any but I sure did love the idea of a popcorn shop. And the name didn’t hurt either.

I just thought it was the greatest store. So here is my little tour of the Indy Airport. It’s a good one. It’s at the top right along with the Charlotte Airport, the Denver Airport, & Sacramento. Can you tell that I like airports? :-)

I have had computer problems since the weekend so I haven’t been online. As soon as all of that is fixed, I will be visiting all of y’all. I have some news to share and I can’t wait! Hope you are having a good week.

Melanie