That's right folks...The Top End Perimeter!
I am in training for three days this week. The training is located in the King Building by 400 and 285. So that right there tells you...OH HELL NO! Then we get the hours: 9-5. Are they TRYING to mess with my mind? And of course this is going to be the week that we have hurricanes and tornadoes spawning everywhere. Naturally, the second it rains in Atlanta, no one can drive and yet every car seems like they are on the road trying to drive. Today was the worst. It took me two hours to get to the King Bldg and two hours to get home. I decided on the last leg of my drive, that the two hour commute warranted a stop at the liquor store for some rum. I haven't had any liquor in the house for months because we just keep forgetting to buy it. Today, as I passed an ABC Beverage...it was time to stop. Lord knows, the stop wasn't going to drag my commute any more. ha ha! Then I get home and realize that Christian is stuck at work too so I am hanging with the kids. So no drinkie for me yet. Sigh... Oh well.

Yes, I know what you're thinking...and so...maybe you are right. Everyone knows I cannot swallow a stupid pill to save my life. In my desperate attempt to find more energy, I went to the real vitamin store and bought some women's vitamins. Wonderful, right? Right up until I opened the bottle and saw they are freakin' horse pills! Not to mention they are not candy-coated (as I like to so fondly call my Excedrin or Advil) and they are not a capsule. Just one huge chalky mass of nutrients. SIGH! I have choked on the stupid thing countless days in a row. So finally I came up with a brilliant idea of cutting into THIRDS...yes, thirds. 1/2 of the pill is still enormous. So as I take a gulp of water and attempt to swallow the middle third, it lodges ever-so-perfectly into the left side of my throat. Not only is it completely stuck but the corner feels like it is slicing my throat open. Every gulp of water just puts more pressure on the stupid pill to where I think my throat may be damaged. After panicking for a few minutes, it finally started dissolving enough to go down. Dear Lord...who knew that could happen? So as my coworkers have said, I should just go buy the generic woman one-a-day from Target...much easier and cheaper.

And no comments from the peanut gallery...I only have this gag reflex with pills for some reason. Uh huh....I know what you're thinking.

Finally...more steps to independence! Emily dropped her morning nap a few weeks ago so she only takes an afternoon nap. Both her and Seth sleep in the afternoon at the same time. Sweet Relief!!! :) But this weekend, we switched her over from the high chair to a booster seat at the table. Now, this is not normally a hugely coveted step for most people. However, as everyone knows...I HATE CLUTTER. And the huge high chair in our kitchen always felt like it took up half the kitchen. So now, it is gone. :) Oh and Emily is loving sitting across from Seth at the table. So win win, all around.

Saturday, we took the kids to Stone Mountain to play. Here are some random pics from that:

We had a date night last night with Josh and Frannie. Just the four of us with no kids. It has been awhile since we have done that and we had a ball. We had tickets to go see Rodigo y Gabriela whom Christian and I have fallen in love with. Their music is amazing, but watching them live brought a whole new meaning to admiration. Josh and Frannie found this great clip of them on the internet so you can have a taste. They play so fast you can barely see their fingers. And Gabriela makes every part of her guitar an instrument. She is amazing!

Seth had his first dentist appointment yesterday. I took him to our dentist since I have been going to these same dentists since I was a kid. I love them. Luckily, Dora The Explorer has gone to the dentist...this saved me some explaining. I told him that we were going to have the dentist check his teeth and that a dentist was a doctor for teeth. Fast forward a day to when we get to the dentist. Seth came back to the room with me so he could watch as I got my teeth cleaned. He was very curious about everything and asking questions left and right (well, that's normal for him anyway. ha). The hygienist was VERY accommodating to him. In the middle of the cleaning, he leans over my mouth to see what she is doing and says "Is Mommy's teeth sick? You check mommy's teeth?" I couldn't help but laugh. I thought he would be scared of the water vacuum thingee but he thought it was hilarious. He couldn't wait for his turn to try it. He kept asking when I would be done and when it would be his turn. OH...and he equated the napkin they over you to a bib. I can see that.
So then it was Seth's turn. He hopped in the chair and was very excited the chair went up and down like "Mom's chair"...my grandmother, Mom Thomas, has a recliner that moves to a button to help her stand up easily. All in all, his visit was a total success. They gave him teeny sunglasses to wear so the big light wouldn't bother his eyes. I don't get to do that! He let them do everything from the scrapper to brushing to the floss. I was thoroughly impressed that he sat calmly while they scraped. They did find that two of his teeth are fused together. ha! What are the odds? You can't tell by looking at them but the floss cannot move past them. They just said that it is no big deal, they will just fall out together. He got to pick out a toothbrush and a toy. He was very pleased with himself at the end. He kept saying "I get teeth clean like you, mommy"

We got Emily's one year pictures back from Helmuth Photography. Jennie always takes gorgeous pictures. She is a natural with children. I have put a few of my favorite on here:

After years of talking about it, I finally did it. I went for a real bra fitting at Intimacy. Intimacy is the lingerie place that was featured on Oprah regarding bra fitting. I have been wanting to have myself properly measured since Seth was born and never did. I am so glad I went. I was waaaaayyyy off. I will say that I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that I was a cup size larger than I thought and my "circumference" was 4 inches smaller than I thought. Yep...no wonder I felt saggy, old, and fat before. They did a great job of fitting and they do not use measuring tapes. They use their bras to fit your exact size. Loved it and made much more sense. Dang Victoria Secret! I was measured there once a few years back and they were way off and their bras never felt great. sigh. I couldn't believe how much more comfortable ALL the bras felt after having myself fitted. Then came sticker shock when I found out how much all the different bras were. But I just didn't care, I only bought one for now...they were seriously WAY more than I expected. But I wrote down the ones that I loved and I will go back and buy more.

We FINALLY got new patio furniture!!! It's about time. Melissa found this set on clearance at Home Depot and we loved it. Christian and my dad got it home and put together. LOVE IT!! Christian laughs that I putting this on the blog, but it excites me. Yep, you know you're old when patio furniture is a thrill.

I promised I would put some video up of Emmy walking. So here is some of her playing with Seth and their sandtable this afternoon. And yep, that is our outdoor speakers that are finally hooked up and working. :) LOVE THEM!!!

Seth finished his two week swim class with Pop yesterday. He only did 8 short classes and improved so much. Knowing at 3 years old that he won't take off swimming on his own, the classes made a huge improvement. We can go swimming with him now and he doesn't hold on to us at all. In fact, he can paddle and kick and swims on his own. He has a noodle that ties around him for flotation. He jumps off the edge of the pool and goes under and doesn't mind at all. He has done a complete 180 in the pool. LOVE IT!!! Pop did really well to build his confidence the last two weeks. So here are a few pictures from his 'graduation' class yesterday morning. The lifeguard let them play in the waterpark area as a treat.

Last night was Cathy's Retirement Party at Cowtipper's! It was horrible weather but a great turnout. I tried to get some of the roast by Sherrie and Joe on video but my memory ran out half-way through so Joe got lucky! I got most of Sherrie's speech though. I have worked with Cathy for six years as a teammate and will miss talking to her every day. Lord knows we have similar family issues, so she will have to hear about that via email. ha ha! Here are some pics: