Picture of the Week - 4/20/2023

 Thursday before a long weekend with a roadtrip...  yes, please!

The last couple of weeks have been really "work-centric".  I guess this is understandable, given Bob and I both work full time.  Every now and then the paying gig requires real attention.  It's boring to talk about work.  No one wants to hear about it.  I bet there aren't 3 people out there (Bob doesn't count) who even know what I do.  Am I right?  

So I won't dwell on the boring job stuff...  but the fact that it's been there means I'm tapped of energy for other stuff.  I have pictures of the dogs (mostly sleeping while I sit at my desk) and well, that's it.  I took this picture of me at the office the other day.  I am amused by the fact that ADP (hey, there's a clue to what I do!) insists that we go to the office, but the spaces all pretty much still look like this 90% of the time.  I go, punch in my security card, and stay off the HR naughty lists.  I sit in this (relatively nice) spot with a headset on talking to the same people I talk to every day, none of whom are in this office with me.  It's ridiculous.  But then I get a paycheck every other week...

Wait - I'm dwelling...  moving on.

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Memphis for a wrestling tournament.  This is the first tournament since state - and the first time our high school coach will be coaching Zane and Beck in years.  We are taking a high school team and a middle school team.  Our boys are wrestling in both individuals and duals.  I'm hoping they each get 4-7 matches.  Also, I've never been to Memphis...  so that'll be cool.  No, we aren't taking the camper...  because the venue is in the downtown area and there really aren't a ton of downtown campgrounds, go figure.  

We wrap up this tournament and pretty much roll right into the end of school sprint - with a healthy dose of spring football thrown in for good measure.  Before we know it, it'll be mid-May and the summer will be upon us.  I can do it!  Even if I occasionally need to do it from a deserted cube farm in Alpharetta.  (Does ANYONE look good in office lighting?  Goodness....)

Picture of the Week - 4/14/2023

 It's been a long, challenging week.  (All work-stuff, everything at home is 100% fine and all boys are good!)

But I'm tired - maybe not as tired as these dogs though...

This weekend will be a good opportunity to regroup and refresh.  And maybe plant a pretty flower or two.

Picture of the Week - 4/7/2023

 I wish I could go back to this time last week...  We were on the verge of our first camping trip with the doggos last Friday.  It did not disappoint!

Happiest thing

Getting all of our boys together - even if it was just a short visit to see Grandpa Bob and Grandma Phyllis for dinner.  Having them all together is not something I ever take for granted anymore.  I even remembered to take some pictures this time!

Scariest thing

Easily the first 3 hours of the drive on Saturday morning.  There were storms forecast to hit our area early Saturday.  Our original plan was to wait out the worst of them and then hit the road.  When we woke up we learned that the cold front had slowed down and was going to throw off our whole schedule.  So we decided to get moving (quickly) and try to get in front of it.  We failed by about 30 minutes or so and ended up driving WITH the storm for a long time before we finally got out in front of/south of it.  It was white knuckle driving in heavy rain and winds.  First time in weather like that with Harvey.  Bob did great.  I sprouted a dozen more grey hairs.  We all made it out without damage, but it was stressful!

Most annoying thing

I'm not sure I was really annoyed by anything.  I'm far more annoyed by many many things on the regular than I was on this trip.  If I had to pick something, I guess I would say that with the dogs and kids and us in and out of the camper, it was impossible to keep the floor clean.  We tracked in a lot of dirt and grass (even with the outdoor rug we have).  We need to figure out a better solution for trying to capture the muck coming into the camper - or we just need to embrace the broom every evening.

Most interesting thing

Tough one.  We continue to learn SO MUCH about the whole camping experience.  I find every experience we've had to be really interesting.  On this particular trip I think the most interesting thing I learned was probably at the Statesboro campground.  This was a small little campground without any frills.  It had maybe 50 all-grass sites with full hook-ups.  The most interesting thing was probably how many of the sites were filled with full-timers.  We met one neighbor who was living there in a teeny little camper and working in Savannah - a good 45 min drive each way.  He was doing it to save money and simplify his life.  Campground people are pretty cool - and pretty interesting.

Most heart warming thing

There were a million little things that just made me love the whole experience - and my little family - so much!  Watching the boys play together.  Watching Bob throw the football with Zane.  Watching the dogs hang out together.  Watching the dogs hang out with the boys.  Everyone just got along - no fighting...  do you even know how rare it is for Zane and Beck to not bicker for 4 straight days???  Sigh...  I wanna go back.

Nicest thing

Downtime.  I haven't just SAT and done nothing as much as we did on this trip in a long time.  I think this is, honestly what I have looked forward to most about these camping trips.  There's no expectation of constant activity.  There's nothing that "needs" to be done around "the house" and the goal is really just to BE STILL.  That's the best!  I even pulled out quilting and finished a whole handful of Granny's Garden squares on this trip!

Easiest thing

I purposely picked campsites that were pull-through sites for this trip.  There was no backing up required!  #winning

Most surprising thing

Maybe how fast the dogs adjusted to the camper life - and how well they did in the car.  Gable loves car rides.  Brutus is more anxious about it, but is a super easy traveler - he just never really relaxes.  The first night the dogs were so exhausted from the trip and all the NEW things everywhere that they crashed really hard.  Gable fell asleep on the floor and never moved when we went to bed.  This is unusual because he always sleeps on our bed with us.  At some point in the middle of the night he woke up, was freaked out, and started crying.  When he realized we were all still there he ran around the camper wagging and kissing everyone and was just SO happy.  Then he crashed on the bed with us for the rest of the night.

Luckiest thing

I'm going to say the weather - even with the really bad storm we dealt with at the start of the trip.  The rest of the trip was basically amazing.  It rained a couple of times during the weekend, but never caused us to change plans or anything like that.  The rains came at night and really didn't cause us any grief.  And the temperature was basically perfect.  We were able to leave doors and windows open for much of the weekend!  Since it is still so early in the season, the bugs weren't bad.  The humidity wasn't bad.  It was just so pleasant!  I'm not 100% sure how the camper/kids/me/dogs will do when it's blazing hot, but I am now sure that we are REALLY big fans of spring camping!

Second scariest thing

So we decided that we much prefer driving on back roads than on the interstates.  Maybe this will change as we get more comfortable, but on this trip we were not in a hurry to get anywhere on any of the legs of our trip and we intentionally picked routes through quiet little towns and along picturesque roads.  It was a different pace for sure - and it was awesome!  Except when we realized we needed gas and there really aren't a lot of great options conducive to pulling a 34 ft camper through in the middle of Mayberry.  We got slightly panicky about running out of gas and even discussed needing to find a place to park, unhook, get gas, get hooked back up, etc.  The unhooking and re-hooking process is not insignificant...  We finally found a gas station that looked like it would work.  Filled up and then realized we were basically stuck.  It took some maneuvering (which we really still aren't very good at) and maybe relocating a cardboard sign a bit (oops) before we could get out of the parking lot.  Yikes!  Learned a lot of lessons through that experience! 

Tastiest thing

We cooked 4 meals on the new Blackstone grill.  We did smash burgers, pancakes and bacon, chicken fried rice, and steak hoagies.  All of the meals were delicious and fun to make!  2 thumbs up!  Also - we bought ice cream for a treat one night and it was not only delicious, we were pleasantly surprised that it stayed mostly frozen on the trip back in the freezer!  

Most exciting thing

We have more trips in Harvey planned to look forward to throughout the summer and fall!  This is just the start of something awesome!

I have added a bunch of pictures from the trip.  I hope you enjoy!  I can't wait until the next one!