Days Fly By...

This is my desk calendar for the year so far.

I was super interested in using my co-worker's name stamp and decorated the entire right side of my calendar with her name. Over and over and over. I also notice lots of snow days. I hope we don't have that happen again. I hate the stress of snow.

 February I was obviously happy about Valentine's Day, although I had no valentine. Two elections and two birthdays livened up the look with some color.



 Not sure why these items deserved the color they received (calls to ADT, my bank, insurance, etc) The Sun Drop bottle label made things more interesting at the bottom...

 Wow. April. What can I say besides BUSY!  Two elections, four birthdays, lots of playdates with friends and the first "movie night" with Gary. - He's also the Lake Lure in the bottom right corner.

May brought a WONDERFUL visit to my friend, Sherry! She deserves lots of color!

Oh thank heavens for the beach! A wonderful trip with the family! You probably can't see the pencil marks, but immediately after that trip, I went into teaching mode for two weeks.

Again, I left color behind for the two weeks of classes I was teaching, but July was actually pretty busy. At least Independence Day received some patriotic colors. And my state outline.

Do you see how boring August looks! Very little color, just blah pen and pencil. Seems that I need to pull out the markers and highlighters for September and liven life up a little bit!  Sheesh, I can't believe it's September already. Where did the time go?

I've never really used a desk calendar before this year. It just wasn't efficient in my previous employment. Here, however, it's kinda cool to look back at life and see all the details - the movies and dinner dates with friends, the work schedule, the doctor's appointments and random numbers involved in everyday life. :)

I should go ahead and color the next three days, when I'll be home working in my house to reorganize and get ready for FALL! I seriously considered just going ahead and decorating for Christmas, but I think I can hold off on that for at least one more month. But no bets on waiting until Halloween.

Ya'll don't miss me too much this week, my imaginary friends, and I'll catch up with you at least in time for Muffin Monday! :)

Muffin Monday.

What do we have here? Two Muffins for this special Monday?! That's right - you get two Muffins for the price of one! What a bargain.

The first Muffin is in her favorite chair in my living room, which I have used to store this picture of the Chapel at the Citadel until I can replace the glass and find a place to hang it.  I'm not sure she appreciates the art, but she tolerates it.  Dad found the print at a yard sale and knowing how much I love Charleston, picked it up for me. Mom used a frame of my grandmother's to display it, so it has very special meaning for me.

The second Muffin, after much sniffing and exploring, has decided to make my old nightstand her new happy place. This was made by someone in my family - uncle, dad, brother, I'm not sure who - and I just brought it over from my sister's house.  Of course, in typical kitten fashion, she had to sniff it from every angle before deciding it was worthy of her. 

Thankfully, it has been accepted into the household.  Enough so that it has become the bathing place, judging by the picture.

Here's to hoping your August was a great but that your September will be even better! :)  Since it's my birth month, I plan on enjoying celebrations ALL month long. I figure anything that happens in September is in celebration of my being born. I hope you'll celebrate along with me!

PS - I had this scheduled to post early this morning... not sure why it didn't, so TA DA! You have Muffin a little later than expected. :)

Blue Skies and Fluffy Clouds

I really don't mind driving into work when the weather is pretty - I have a nice drive where I'm apt to start taking pictures along the way.

These puffy white clouds obviously caught my eye one day a few weeks ago - must have been on the way home judging by the sun placement. 

I love it when the sun lights up the clouds, giving them a glowing energy.  It's just neat to me. (I know, I'm easily amused. But it makes life so much more interesting!)

These just may be my favorite clouds... pink tinted from the sun, fluffy and cotton-ish looking. Yes, I know the picture is crazy crooked, Gary and I were driving to somewhere (I can't even remember where now!) But the pink clouds just tickled me pink! :)  Don't you want to just run and jump into these clouds like the biggest, fluffiest bed you've ever dove into? Or maybe like a gigantic bubble bath minus the water? Or... I suppose they are clouds so they could be storing water. Hmm... something to think about. ...

PS - oops. I posted one of these pictures a few weeks ago! That's what I get for having the attention span of a rabid squirrel. Sorry! :) Enjoy it again like it was the first time! ha ha ha!

Yes, I felt it.

So yesterday was the first confirmed earthquake I've felt.  A little shakey shakey while sitting at my desk at work. My coworker and I looked at each other, looked outside at the fact there was NO wind, and hesitantly asked, is this an earthquake?

Nothing bad enough to freak out about, but kinda interesting all the same.  Twitter lit up with all kinds of comments which confirmed our theory.  (If I ever want to know what's going on, I hit Twitter really quick to see what the buzz is... and usually I'll find my answer!)

I do feel bad for those folks closer to the center.  Seems some of the older buildings are damaged, which makes me sad.  Such history, workmanship, pride, artistry - damaged in just 30 seconds of shaking. I hope they are able to repair things quickly.

Any interesting "I survived the great earthquake" stories out there, my imaginary friends? Let me know!

Cooler Days...

Gary and I decided to take a day adventure on his one Saturday off and head for the NC Mountains. OH THANK HEAVENS! Finally we got a break from the oppresive heat that South Carolina has been under for the past 1,204,743 days.  Whew! The day was positively perfect, down to the nap that I was able to take while he drove us around the mountain.

I just love the NC mountains - love seeing the beautiful blue color in the distance, humps and humps of shades of blue. There is just something about it that causes my shoulders to drop and my back to relax and I can just breathe in serenity.

Gary loves the mountains more than I do and knows all the lookout spots that have the beautiful views. So we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at several overlooks on the way.  Each one provides a different view of the beauty God has given to us.  It's just so nice to dedicate a day to enjoying it!

This family was coming across the hills as we were taking pictures of the mountains and the cows... it was very "Sound of Music"-esque with mom, dad and about six youngins.  When these two scampered to the top of the rock, I had to take a quick picture - they were just too cute!

The rock, sans kids.

And the two adventurers - posing for a self portrait! :) 

Muffin Monday!

What do we have here? A not happy Muffin? You don't say...

She normally likes to be held like a baby but here, that is clearly not the case. Lol!

Hope your week is wonderful with at least a few fun surprises!

Yummies

Here are the shoes I turned the house semi-upside down searching for yesterday. I was wearing brown capris...something I rarely do. And I only have one pair of brown/gold flip flops. So, since these were in plain sight beside my bed and I sill couldn't find them, I ended up wearing bright blue with black bottoms. Oh well. I've never claimed to be a fashion diva.

Do you see these incredibly yummy coconut pies?  Look at those golden tops just waiting to the sliced into...so yummy. My coworker, knowing I had a large family function this weekend, made them this morning for me to take. Can you believe that! I've been smelling them all day, it's torture!

She claimed she didn't want the buttermilk to spoil. Heaven help, I'll always be glad to help you out with that! Incredibly nice of her. And she's the baking queen so I know they are going to be awesome! Can't wait!

Ya'll have a great weekend!