Wide Open Spaces

 We went out to Texas at the end of the summer right after Allie graduated from Officer Training School. It was the first time I had been back since our move to Chattanooga almost two years ago. I was anxious to see in-laws, nieces and nephews, dear friends in Abilene {Tiff, I'm still mourning the fact you aren't there} and to have some fun downtime. What I didn't anticipate was how I would instantly fall back in love with the Texas landscape.

It's not until you're west of Fort Worth that the land truly begins to spread out. By the time we hit that point it was past twilight and impossible to see anything but an infinite navy sky. Even so, Jason and I both found ourselves breathing deeply as if our bodies instinctively knew that there was more room to move. But the next morning...

There it was in all its glory. I've never been happier to climb in a pickup truck and watch a Texas sunrise. It's hard to find a decent spot to watch the sunrise in the valley that is Chattanooga, but here it was spread before me. A gold, pink and cerulean gift.

By the time I was another mile down the road, the sky was the most breathtaking blue I had ever seen. I told Jason later that day, "I had forgotten how absolutely gorgeous Texas skies can be!" If you've never been to West Texas, just look...

One hundred and eighty degrees of sheer gorgeousness. The kind of sky that makes you want to stop, wander into the middle of a field and spin around a la Julie Andrews. It's the kind of sky that requires you to roll down the windows, turn up the volume and sing at the top of your lungs. This kind of sky spreads a grin across your face before you even know it's happened.

Or maybe that's just what happens when you haven't been back to Texas in a couple of years. Either way, I'll take it.

We interrupt this beach vacation for some sassiness

One of my dear friends back in Abilene, Texas, Tiffany, is seriously talented when it comes to fun and sassy things for your home. Tiffany’s creative blog has been incognito for a while but it looks like she’s diving head first into the crafty waters these days and, trust me, you want in.

Among her wares are some darling name signs, jewelry and absolutely darling appliquéd tees for kids and adults. But my favorite? These lap desks…

I think we all know a kiddo or two in our life who would benefit from one of these.

Tiffany’s got a couple of giveaways going on over at her creative blog. You can also get a closer look at thing over in her etsy shop. Go take a peek!

Just Call Me Pigpen

This whole moving thing is whoopin' my tail. You would think it wouldn't. You would think that I am a pro at this, especially after I stated as much earlier this week.

Apparently, pride goes before a fall. Because, y'all? I am T.I.R.E.D.

Our house being in constant packing chaos has mentally thrown me for a loop this time around. I'm going to take it as a sign of my maturation that the mess is really bothering me.

As in, I am longing for the days of yore when the house had to be nice and neat for potential house buyers.

See? Clearly, the moving has thrown me into a tailspin.

With a few tears, some nachos and one Margarita Swirl, I wrapped up my last day of work at the Cancer Center.

I've consolidated the five boxes of pictures and memorabilia into one giant box.

I have even packed up the majority of my clothes. See? More evidence of wisdom coming with age because I am not leaving things until the last minute.

Seriously. What is going on with me?

Tomorrow, we'll take a break to attend the Mercy Me concert, with special guest...BEBO NORMAN! Oh Bebo, you're still so dreamy...even married and with a baby. But my husband is dreamier. So there.

And in honor of growing so wise and mature, I sprung for the more expensive tickets in the "Artist's Circle." Because that's just how we roll at The Country House.

I Hate Fire!

That's what his text message said to me this afternoon. I had gone into town this morning at 8:30 to have one last breakfast with a friend. Afterwards, I ended up running some errands for Mrs. Whirly. I then decided to take care of some stuff in town so that next week, during the crunch time before Moving Day, I could stay at home.

Except that I forgot to communicate some of that to my husband. Ok, all of it except the part about breakfast. So you can imagine why he was expecting me to be home around 10 a.m.

After I left the house Jason (under the advisement of his dad) decided to start a "controlled" burn to get rid of waste, shrub, branches, etc. they had cleared from the yard months ago when working on the house. The wind seemed fairly calm and so Jason heeded his father's advice, fully expecting to have everything done and the fire out by the time I got home.

Except the wind shifted.

And the fire spread.

And at 1:12 p.m., I received the following text message from My Love,

"I don't like fire! As a matter of fact, I hate fire! When the fire department comes to your house to put out a "control burn" after the wind shifts, it sucks!"

Awesome. It really wasn't his fault. The wind is quite unpredictable out here. He didn't even really want to start the fire in the first place. But usually his dad has the right idea. Just not this time.

So I as I pulled up to the house, I wasn't prepared for what I saw. What used to be a fifty by hundred yard stretch of tall grass was now completely black and barren. Thankfully, the fire was contained and no permanent damage was done to our property or the neighbors.

But I do have a very tired husband covered in soot. And a certain freckle faced dog covered in soot as well.

We've Got This Thing Down To A Science

When you are moving for the fourth time in two years there are several things that you should be sure you have. They are...

• A workplace, a former workplace and several liquor stores that will stock you with moving boxes. Because nothing strikes up a conversation with your new neighbors like vast amounts of vodka and tequila boxes.
  
  
• A mutually agreed upon and perfected moving system whereupon: the husband packs the majority of worldly goods and the moving truck; the wife packs her personal belongings and cleans the old house; the husband unpacks the moving truck while the wife cleans the new house; and they both nest in order to set-up the new house in two days flat.
  
  
• A husband who views packing the moving truck as a giant game of Tetris.
  
  
• A dog who shamelessly lies in the middle of it all and begs for his belly to be rubbed. Which you gladly do because that freckle-faced nose is impossible to resist.
  
  
• Good friends who take you out for dinner so that you don't have to cook in the kitchen that is being packed up. It also helps if they encourage you to drink the restaurant's last two glasses of Chianti in order to ease your moving stress.

If you have these things, then you're all set. Move on!

Ghoulish Goodies

We celebrated Halloween early at the Cancer Center. Thursdays are when the kids from the children's clinic come to us for their labs and chemo treatments. So, we all dressed up a day early and had a Halloween Cooking Contest as well.

I'll admit that for the last few years I haven't really done much in the way of Halloween costumes. After four years of celebrating on Franklin Street and one glorious Halloween with the E-Ranch, it's hard to rise to that standard again and again.

Still, when the office email popped up announcing a costume contest with movie tickets as the winning prize I thought I'd give it a go. Throw together a retro dress, some pearls and red hair spray and you have...

Please tell me you know who I am.

Because so many of the patients didn't seem to know and then I just felt like a freak with big poofy red bangs. All day. I have never been so grateful for hot water and shampoo.

Sadly, I didn't win the contest. I'm not sure who did but I hear I got lumped together with the clinic nurses who dressed in pajamas (can you say lame?) and called themselves, "Desperate Housewives."

Um, hello? Lucy wasn't a desperate houswife. She had Rickey to bail her out of everything. Jeez.

Thankfully, the cooking contest gave me a place to seek solace. Behold the offerings...

Gravestone Pudding Cups

Kitty Litter Cake (tasted better than it looked)

Mummies

Fingers & Toes

Deviled Eyes

Scrambled Brains

All of sudden, finding a costume for a toddler looks so much more appealing...

Announcement: National Blog Posting Month began yesterday and I'm in for the challenge. Thirty days, thirty posts. Last year, this event truly transformed my blogging habits. If you're interested, click the button in my sidebar to get more details. In the meantime, stay tuned...

Unexpected

Jason called me at work today and asked if the Cancer Center had boxes lying around. You know, did we get deliveries and keep the boxes? "Yes," I replied, "Why?" His answer was not news I was expecting to get today. We need the boxes because...

Our house is sold!!!!

As in contract signed, we have to be out by November 15th, SOLD.

I wasn't much good to anyone for the rest of the workday. When I broke the news to Mrs. Whirly she said (with a smile on her face), "Well, that just won't work! You just tell Jason that you'll see him on the weekends because we're not going to let you go!" It is kind of nice to know that she'll miss me...

The best word to describe this news is bittersweet. Bitter because we will be leaving some precious things and relationships. Bitter because it's Jason who will be further away from his family now. Sweet because it is something about which we have prayed long and hard. Sweet because we know that this is a big step towards healing and towards planting some deep, deep roots.

So there you have it. Now we have less than four weeks to find a place to live, find Jason a job, and pack up our house.

Good thing my hubs likes to make lists.

Exhausted Stream of Consciousness

It began on Wednesday, this intense push to the Fashions For The Cure-Style Show on Thursday night and the Fashions For The Cure-5k Run, Walk or Waddle on Saturday morning. There were multiple errands to be run, 300+ chairs to cover with these gorgeous black covers and hot pink sashes, trays of food to pick up and deliver to the Civic Center, 200 5k goody bags to stuff, sort, alphabetize, not to mention the general set-up and break-down for both events.

One event in high heels, the other in running shoes.

And now we're finished. Crossed the finish line, quite literally. The last time I remember being tired like this was almost exactly a year ago, after completing my one and only marathon. That was more tiring, but this is close.

Legs are sore (I managed to run a mile and a half of the 5k), brain is fried, eyes barely open.

I have lots of pictures of both events. Two hundred and three, to be exact. However, I'm fairly certain that our lame internet service out here at The Country House will revolt if I try to upload them all. So here are some highlights for me...

From the Style Show

We had an Art Bra Exhibition and there were some really creative entries. This was one of my favorites, based on the wind turbines that dot the West Texas horizon, "Wind TurBra."

Truly, a room full of chairs covered like this was stunning.

Seriously sassy clothes from Village Boutique, not to mention the fabulous shoes!

Yeah, this would be our state representative. STATE REPRESENTATIVE. In the Texas Legislature. Trust me, I have more pics and this will be a post all of its own.

I want these shoes. I need these shoes. So perfect for casual autumn/winter days.

From the 5k Run, Walk or Waddle

Our youngest volunteer...be still my beating ovaries...

A beautiful crisp Autumn morning, just perfect for a run, walk or waddle.

Peaceful triumph.

Cancer survivors, crossing the finish line. Look at that joy!

This father and his daughters caught my eye because of their t-shirts. Angie and Alice were his sisters that died of cancer and "a little wren" is the girls' sister, Jen, who is a cancer survivor. But what I really loved was the back...

"the tears don't hurt like the ache does"...And really, Anne Shirley always did say it best...

Up, up and away...

...in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon! ~ The Fifth Dimension















{Pictures taken at The Big Country Balloon Festival - Abilene, Texas}

Like Ants Marching

I haven't written about this yet, but since it's about to hit another part of the internet I probably should...

I am going to be starring in a major motion picture with Tom Cruise, I've converted to Scientology and I will only wear pegged jeans from now on.

Oh y'all, as if I would give in to this fashion horror ever again!

No, no Hollywood career for me. But our house is officially on the market and it will soon be listed on the realtor's website. This is the first step towards a bigger decision that has been months in the making. Sometime in the next months, we will be moving out of Texas to (most likely) Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The short version of "Why?" is that Abilene hasn't worked out for us in a number of ways. Careers for either one of us, church...and while we have a few key friends that have been a delight and an encouragement, after two years we still do not have a firm sense of community. Not enough to sustain us, anyway. Additionally, there is a fair amount of emotional baggage left from the way Jason was pushed out of his job last winter. So, after much counseling, prayer and deliberating, we have decided to leave.

Jason and I are generally neat folks (I think all my former roomates just choked upon reading that), so keeping the house looking good for potential buyers isn't a major concern. And I knew that sometime this morning, all the realtors from the company we are listed with would be dropping by for a tour. They do this every Wednesday in order to see all the newest listings. But I was also expecting a phone call from our realtor, letting me know that they were on the way.

So I'm sitting on the couch, esentially still in my pj's, watching another episode of America's Next Top Model, when the cars start rolling up. Oh. Crap. I now have about twenty seconds to put Knox in his crate, turn off the TV (a multiple step procedure), turn off and store my laptop, and throw on a bra and t-shirt. Seriously, it was the quickest I've ever moved since that giant flying cockroach attacked me, Carlye and Anna in our bathroom.

I managed to get everything done in time to greet the realtors at the door fully dressed if not a bit...rumpled. What followed was something unlike anything I had ever seen before. Twenty-odd realtors streamed into our house, spreading out in every direction to take it all in. Our realtor stood in the center of the house calling out things like, "All new appliances! New air and heating! Two car garage or shop out back!", as the others marched around the house mentally taking notes on selling points for potential buyers.

In just under five minutes, they were back in their cars and on their way to the next new listing.

You know what? I'm not sure they would have noticed if I hadn't put a bra on after all.

Nine Days?!? I am such a loser.

Allison called me yesterday and was all, "Um, I need you to update your blog."

Yeah, I need me to do it too.

The truth is that I really I have no excuse for not updating. The terribly ugly reality is that I have sat in my house watching soaps, playing ridiculous amounts of Solitaire and staying in my pajamas until shamefully late in the afternoon. Depressed? No, just telling myself that come August I'll have a teaching job and soon these days of laziness will be loooooooong gone.

Let's rename this blog "Diary of a Southern Rationalization Queen."

Today will be more fruitful. I've got to find a birthday present for my sweet niece, Scout. She's a fellow drama queen and her parents are turning part of her bedroom into a stage with a chalkboard wall so she can create her own sets. Jason and I are getting her a (used) microphone and mic stand. She is going to be so excited, I can't stand it!

Do you know what I have done with my own personal microphone at the age of eight? Join my cousin Audrey in front of the mirror and sing "Let's Get Physical" at the top of our lungs. And have no freaking idea what we were singing about. Precious naivety.

After the birthday shopping, I'll head downtown to the extraordinarily lovely Paramount Theatre for a matinee showing of "Gone With The Wind," the most wonderful southern movie of all time. I've watched old movies there before, but I am truly beyond words thrilled about the chance to see this epic movie on the big screen.
And if you don't think that I will audibly ooh and ahh and cry when Rhett leaves Scarlett at the end...well, then you just don't know me at all.

Vast Amounts

Time. Space. Land.

I have vast amounts of all of these at the moment.

Temporarily unemployed once again, I have vast amounts of time on my hands. This is a blessing and a curse. I love free time, I just don't always use it in the wisest ways. I'm trying to assert some self-discipline for once. I'd like to use the free time to clean, to write, to read, to pray, to play with the dogs, to teach the puppy some obedience, to enjoy what's around me. That last one? I don't do that enough.

And yet, I have too much time on my hands. I keenly feel the burden of this. I'm not being paid for this time. That is the curse. Once again, I am not contributing to the financial state of the Petrees. Nope, I'm sucking it dry. Boy, do I ever feel the weight of this. I do have some part-time stuff lined up for the summer, but it's not enough. So I'm trying to make the most of my time and contribute to us in other tangible ways.

This new house has afforded us so much space. Lots of space to put everything in it's place. And after visiting Audrey's place in NC, I returned home with a newfound desire to simplify. Exhibit A of putting this desire into action was not covering the front of our fridge in various magnets, pictures, invites, odds and ends. I stood in the kitchen and realized that I liked the vast amount of blank, clean space that looked back at me. So that's the new goal: make our home comfy, make it us and leave lots of space.

Along with space in the house, we have lots of land. Eight acres to be exact. Once upon a time, wide, open spaces made me nervous. They made me feel exposed and as if there was no protection around me. I had to get over this pretty daggum quick once I married a Texan and moved out here. Now, I heart wide, open spaces like never before. In fact, during my trip back to NC, I found myself feeling seriously claustrophobic because of all the trees. I spent a week in Durham/Chapel Hill wondering, "Have the trees gotten bigger and closer to the road? Why do I feel like the trees are hunting me down? Um, trees? Can I get some space?"

But as Allie and I drove around Abilene last week, I fell in love with wide, open spaces all over again. They speak of freedom and boundless possibility. That seems like something I could really get on board with.

TMAOE

So last you heard, I wrapped things up at my job on Friday after a pretty eventful Thursday which included The Most Amazing Opportunity Ever. I am here, at McDonalds, paying $1.50 an hour for internet service, to fill you in. But my husband did just send me the following text message:

"Internet guy will be here Tuesday morning to install."

Which pretty much made me want to drive home and cover his face with kisses. I don't even want to think about how much money this is going to cost us. On Friday, I had more than one local internet salesperson literally laugh at me when I asked them if they offered coverage at our address. One guy even said, "Yeah, that's just the price you pay for living in the country." Oh country living, you are lucky you're so cute.

But I digress. And may I beg for your patience? Because to get to TMAOE, I need to bring you up to speed on my latest career goals and plans. Here we go...

I was accepted to graduate school (hooray!), but as I started to think about the logistics of it more and more I began to wonder if it was the wisest thing for me to do right now. I mean, if I really want to be back in the classroom and teaching, I should do the thing that will get me there quickly. And that's not grad school right now. So, grad school is moving to the back burner but not gone completely. What I am going to do is enroll in an online certification program that will have me certified in less than a year AND will allow a school to hire me upon my enrollment. Which means that I could be teaching in a classroom THIS FALL. In fact, I know of three open positions at a school that I really admire and will be turning in my full application tomorrow. In the meantime, for the summer I have some part-time work lined up.

If you're not a faithful reader, I just spent the last six months working at the best Cancer Center here in Abilene. The doctor who runs the oncology practice and his wife (hereafter known as Dr. and Mrs. Whirly, because they are human tornadoes of goodness) are amazingly generous folk and have their hands in pretty much everything philanthropic here in Abilene. Mrs. Whirly is especially busy and many of us who know and love her have wanted her to have a personal assistant for quite some time now. Guess who she asked to fill the position for the summer? Yup, yours truly. I've had the chance to work with her during my time at the Cancer Center and am really excited about working for her and being able to help her this summer. If nothing else, I know that it will not be boring!

Mrs. Whirly is involved in a number of artistic organizations here in Abilene, including The National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature. On Thursday afternoon, she mentioned that one of the many items in her crowded schedule that night was an exhibit opening at The NCCIL. When I asked what the new exhibit was, she told me it was for David Macaulay's newest book, The Way We Work.

And I promptly freaked out. One of the core curriculum books that we used for Trinity's 4th grade Ancient Egypt unit was David Macaulay's Pyramid. It's just one in a gorgeous series he did concerning the architecture of famous structures.

This book is fabulous and my kids always enjoyed his incredible ink and pen drawings. After I finished freaking out Mrs. Whirly said, with a grin, "Well, I need one more person for our table so, Leslie, you just come on!"

This was a somewhat formal, somewhat exclusive, members only event and I had front row seats. Literally. The Whirly's table was smack dab up front. And as Mrs. Whirly led us to our table and figured out the seating she indicated where I should sit, where she and Dr. Whirly would sit and then uttered the words that made the evening officially TMAOE for me, "And then the author can sit there." And she pointed to the seat next to me. Oh. My. Lands. I would be sitting next to David Macaulay for the duration of dinner and whatever else was to come. All I wanted to do was pull out my phone, call Rita, and scream the news to her. But I didn't. I simply took a deep breath, smiled broadly and managed to utter to Mrs. Whirly, "Wonderful, what a treat!"

Y'all, it was fabulous. Mr. Macaulay is a brilliant, funny, and humble man. I managed to not spill anything on me, dropped my knife only once, and orchestrated what I hope was an intelligent and witty dinner conversation. I asked him all about Pyramid, inquired as to what inspired Motel of Mysteries, and he told me about the six year process of writing this latest book. It's not coming out until October, but this exhibition does an incredible job of outlining what it takes to bring a book like this to life. Mr. Macaulay's sketches cover the walls alongside finished pages of the book that came directly from the publisher. It's pretty great to live in a town that has access to something like this. I'm only sad that I can't organize a field trip for my beloved Trinity Lions...

Good Times

As I type (and this is difficult, mind you), I am consuming a FRESH Krispy Kreme donut. Yes, fresh my friends. As in, made this morning just for my hungry little belly. My wonderful co-worker, Melisa, surprised me with fresh Krispy Kremes and a hilarious banner on this, my last day of work. I have actually had TWO days of going away celebrations, which is pretty amazing considering I only worked here for six months. But that's just the kind of folks they are. I definitely consider them more than co-workers, they've become friends and part of my support community.

[Sidenote: Shut. Up. Even better, "Grease 2" is on Bravo right now. Cool Rider. That's all I'm saying.]

Yesterday was lunch at the Country Club and a wonderful gift from Starr that will fit perfectly in the blank spot on our living room wall (pictures to come.) In the afternoon, the staff of the Oncology Practice threw a little cake and snack party for me, complete with a signed card by everyone including the mail room guys. Even Grumpy Mailroom Man gave me a hug. So sweet.

Then, I had The Most Amazing Opportunity Ever last night. It was a Trinity School fourth grade teacher's dream come true. But it deserves a post all to itself, so you'll have to wait. Sorry!

After TMAOE, I came home to two calm, happy dogs and a husband who wanted to go hot tubbing. Bonus! So, cute hubby, cold beer, hot tub- perfect way to end a long, full day.

It is bittersweet to leave this position. I have enjoyed many parts of it and have loved working with everyone in this office, but I am so excited at the thought of getting back in the classroom sooner rather than later. Thankfully, my part-time work this summer will enable me to still see them from time to time. But an explanation of that will have to wait until the next post...

I promise, it all ties together.

So much to say. Too tired to type.

Thankfully, I have lots of pictures. However, both of these happenings really do deserve some prose. Hence, I will suck up what little energy I have left after staying home all day, catching up on my shows, surfing the net, and feeling sorry for my poor little tummy that wasn't feeling well. And no, I'm not pregnant. We've apparently hit the point in the longevity of our marriage and our ages that I have to preface the statements, "I have an announcement" or "I'm feeling nauseous" with the afore mentioned NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT. But I digress.

We have decided to buy Jason's grandmother's home, the one that he and his dad have been renovating for almost a year. Jason has loved it from day one. After all, he spent a huge chunk of his childhood there trailing his Granddad, learning everything he had to teach. He, Shawn, and Angela spent the night every Friday with Memom and Grandad. There are a ton of good memories in that house and the acerage surrounding it for my hubby. Now, me? It took a little more time for me to fall in love with the house. Inititally, I loved the idea but the house needed some fairly major overhauls seeing as one part was built in 1898 and the other part added on in the 1940's. It has been a true labor of love for Dad and Jason and the whole Petree family. I've got a whole other post in mind about my thoughts, joys and fears about moving to the country. But for now, click below to see a whole bunch of pictures of our new home!

"Our New House!"

We celebrated Jason's 31st birthday this weekend. I think my favorite part was when Scout, Will and Austin performed several different "scenes" for all of us. Austin has a plethora of costumes and they all have a flair for the dramatic. Can't imagine why I love them so...It also reminded me of when my cousins and I would do the very same thing. We'd traipse down to Grandmother and Grandaddy's basement, I'd boss everyone around for about an hour, and then we'd head upstairs to perform something for which the aunts and uncles would madly applaud. But I'm sure now that they were also all glancing at each other and muttering, "Huh?" It was a low-key, no fuss kind of celebration. Just the way my man likes it. Click below for all the birthday pics.

"Jason's 31st Birthday"

Rita and Dave are still judging the previous caption contest. Stay tuned for the winning results...

Overheard: Day After V-Day

"My husband actually bought me some lingerie for Valentine's Day!"

"Really? Wow...."

"I know, I told him that just the fact that he would go shopping for the stuff spoke volumes of his love for me."

"That's actually where I'm headed after this, to go buy some new underwear. Although... I don't think I will find anything particularly sexy in my size. In fact, at my age, the more it covers, the sexier it is!"

No, Seriously.

A skunk sprayed our entire office building.

I thought about working up to that, letting it be the punchline of this post. But then I decided, no, much more fun that I just let you savor that right up front. Kind of like how I'm savoring the smell of skunk permeating my clothes right now.

Living out here in TX, I have (unfortunately) become much more familiar with the smell of skunk. Apparently there's just more here than in NC. Or maybe not, maybe there's just more woods for them to hide in in NC. Here, they run across the plains and get hit by cars. And then they release that odorous spray. It is not uncommon on a drive from Abilene to Lubbock to drive through a patch of dead skunk. That smell sure can linger...

So I knew almost immediately as I came through the back door that a skunk had been nearby. Maybe rambling through the bushes last night, left a little stink. But then as the smell continued further inside, I thought that surely it couldn't be a skunk. We've been having problems with our heating system so I thought it could be a chemical smell from something they fixed. But as I walked from the back, past X-ray, past billing and into our Learning Center which is closed off from the rest of the Cancer Center, it just got stronger.

My officemate, Melisa, and I discussed the odor. Smells like skunk, yes. But surely not?...Strong coffee, chemicals from the heating system, cleaning supplies...

Nope. Skunk. Our office manager confirmed it.

If I make it through the day without puking, it will be a major accomplishment.

And I may have to burn my outfit when I get home. Or bathe in tomato juice. Faaaaaaaabulous.

UPDATE: Oh, this just gets better and better. We just found out from our security officer that early this morning, the skunk was actually trapped between the two sets of sliding doors that lead into our building. It sprayed at least three times, maybe more. When they tried to get it out, it ran right at our security officer. Animal Control had to sedate it in order to get it out. (Looney tunes, Pepe Le Peu and tranquilizer darts are now flashing through my head.) They said that due to the fact it ran right at our security officer, it was probably rabid.

So, bottom line: A RABID SKUNK SPRAYED OUR BUILDING.

Folks, I swear, you can not make this kind of stuff up.

Our Own State of the Union

Jason can still fall asleep anywhere. Especially these days. He's full force into the next career phase as a master builder, and working on privacy fences and remodeling a bathroom. I should add that what he's done in this bathroom is nothing short of amazing. Jason has completely redone the tub/shower and turned it into a tiled haven. It's nice to know what I can rope him into doing for our house someday. He's usually completely wiped at the end of his workday and more than just a little sore. And sleep comes quickly...I like to call this pose "The Thinker."


I have a new desk! I decided to use my Christmas money (thanks Dad, Cammie, and Memom!) to find an old desk and fix it up. I have a gorgeous little desk that my parents gave me when I graduated from Carolina but it's too small to do any substantial writing or organizing. There are some fabulous antique stores in Abilene, my favorite being Elmwood Antique Center. The ladies there were so helpful and sweet, they truly wanted me to find the perfect desk and chair. And I did. Next came the most creative thing I've ever done with furniture. Behold....






The green is really much prettier in person. Our camera is just dumb. As soon as it is all set up in our yellow guest room, I'll post some more pictures.

And Knox? Well, Knox is busy making out with his new bone. And he could not be any happier.