Jenni and our littlest elf

Christmas 2010 still more

I was soooo sick on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, but we all had a good time anyway. 

I managed to put up the Victoria Station from my Dicken's Vilage.

Eamon making cookies.

Nick and Jenni.

More Christmas 2010

Guess who got a new camera for Christmas? Guess all those hints paid off.

Seen here:  Eamon's feet and Ely's arms.  Eamon just attacked Ely.

Whoops. Where's Eamon?

Looks like the attack backfired. 

Christmas Decorating Update

Our Christmas tree is decorated, there are lights on the front porch and even some little caroling mice in the front yard.  Victoria Station and the train and some little trees and people are out in the living room.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Ely came in for the weekend and he and Amy made Christmas candy yesterday. Eamon helped by smashing the peppermint sticks for the pepperment almond bark.  Finally, something he can break and not get into trouble for. 

There are no pictures because my camera has finally died.  RIP camera.  Maybe Santa will bring me a new one. 

Still trying to decorate the Christmas tree

Amy and Ed had a party to go to last night, so they brought Eamon and Brady over for us to keep.  Eamon brought his sprinkles with him, so we had to make cookies first.  Eamon decided that Goldfish would be a good addition to the sugar cookies.

 As you can see, he is very serious about this project.

Goldfish and sprinkles, yum!  Do you think there are enough green spinkles on that cookie?

One ornament on the tree.  Then he lost interest.

He quickly decided he would like to fry some fake bologna in his kitchen.

Serving dinner to Papa.

A little wave of the spatula for the camera. 

Decorating For Christmas

I haven't really been in the mood for decorating the last few years, but this year I am. Knowing that Eamon will be so excited about the decorations this year is a  big incentive.  However, it's been a slow process. We got some things out of the basement last week and Lee went and bought us a tree at the Boy Scout Tree lot (where else?) He did a good job, it's a beautiful tree.

Tree without lights

Some of my little stuffed critters on the stairs

The stockings hung with care.  Yes, there is not one for Brady yet.  For sure by next year.  Amy bought a kit for him, but I decided it's not fancy enough.  I also think Eamon's is too small (smaller than the others) so I might make him a new one, too.  Asked Amy how many children she was planning to have so I could order several in the same style (see Amy and Ely's match), but she didn't have an answer for me.  She said I should call Ely and ask him how many he's planning to have so I can make matching ones for his kids, too.  I'm not going there!

Initial decorating attempt was Tuesday night, but most of the lights were dead.  Are those things disposable or what?  Seems like you should just throw them away every year and start over with new the next year.  Since Tuesday we've made a little more progress.

So, since Tuesday, we've made some progress:

Tree has some lights, but realized not enough so that's one of the things I went to Hobby Lobby for today. 

Notice new tree skirt, also curtesy of the 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby.  It's hard to see, but there are reindeer on the roof tops. 

Play Day

Today Amy and I took Eamon (and Brady) to see 'New Shoes For Christmas' at the Children's Theater.  It's part of the Wee Ones series, so perfect for little ones like Eamon.  We started the morning at Krispy Kreme.

Eamon and his chocolate sprinkled donut.

Brady and me

We met my friend, Pat and her sister Jane and her granddaughter, Sadie at the play.  Sadie is just one day older than Eamon.

How cute are they?  Someone asked us if they were brother and sister.  Eamon had to go to the potty and Sadie took his hand and led him there. 

We all enjoyed the play and later went to Chappy's for lunch.  Ended the outing with a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy some 50% off Christmas decorations.  Fun day.

Happy Holidays

Look, I figured out how to change my background.  I'm so proud.  No pictures to post lately, can't find my camera.  Hoping it will turn up soon. 

Thanksgiving Cooking Day

Ely is home and Amy and Jenni are coming over today for pre-Thanksgiving cooking.  Should be a great day.

Sunday, November 14

Today is Emily's christening after 11 a.m. mass.  Can't wait to see her in her dress. 

We had supper club last night and Ro and Ko's.  Fun time.  Unfortunately, Kathy joined us without Rick because he went to the Alabama game.  Some good friends of Ro's, Chip and Randy joined us.  I enjoyed meeting and visiting with them.  Ely came in from Huntsville so he can go to he UAB library so he stopped by and joined us for a while. 

OPD

OPD is a term I heard years ago on Designing Women.  It stands for Obnoxious Personality Disorder.  Do any of you have co-workers with that disorder?  Do you often wonder how/why they remain employed?  I keep telling myself what my grandma would say, 'what goes around, comes around',  meaning people who do rude or bad things will have something bad happen to them at some point.  I would really like some feedback here.

TGIF

Going to meet my friends, Pat and Donna for lunch today at Zea's.  Looking forward to that.

Ex-husband and family coming to stay at our house this weekend to attend Emily's christening (I made the dress, pictures will be posted later). 

Amy and 'the boys' coming over tomorrow to watch the Auburn game, our friend Jennie will also join us.  Should be a fun time. 

Tomorrow night is supper club at Ro's house, can't wait.  I know the food will be yummy and the company perfect.  Alabama fan, Rick, will be absent from supper club because he is going to the Al. game.  His loss. 

Emily's christening on Sunday. 

Busy weekend. 

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Just haven't been feeling the muse lately.  But here's what's going on in my world.  My brother, Newell, burned himself in his kitchen a few weeks ago and has had a pretty rough time of it.  He was already weak from chemo for his lymphoma and this really knocked him off his feet.  Luckily, my aunt, Lovie, has been able to go over everyday and sit with him.  She says he is getting better, but still very weak. 

Ely has been looking for a job in Huntsville since August.  He got a job offer this Monday from the City of Huntsville.  Although, I think he really wanted a job in accounting, this one will be IT work, but at least it's work.  He still has to wait for the police to do a background check, so he may not be able to start for a couple of weeks.  Needless to say, I am thrilled about this.

THIS IS NUTS!

Today at lunch there was a squirrel in our cafeteria.  Really!  There is a decorative ledge on the wall near the ceiling and he kept running back and forth, occassionally stopping to look down on us.  It caused quite a stir for a few minutes, then everyone went back to their conversations.  At one point, one of our maintenance guys showed up with about a 5 foot ladder and just looked around and left.  For one thing, the ceilings in the caf are about 15 or 20 feet high and for another thing, I don't think the squirrel was going to stand still and let the guy pick him up. 

BABY BRADY

Two weeks ago, I was priviledged to witness the miracle of birth.  Yeah, I know it's a cliche 'the miracle of birth', but sure seemed to be a miracle, a wonder, an amazing thing. 

Amy began having contractions on Sunday morning, October 24 at just 35 weeks and remained in denial all day.  She fnally agreed to go to the hospital to get checked out, but insisted they would send her home.  Well, she wasn't in what they call 'active labor'.  Apparently, you have to be dilated over 4 centimeters to be considered 'active', but the contractions were coming regularly so they admitted her to labor and delivery.  Although she was given something for the pain, she had a very miserable and restless night. 

Finally around 10 a.m. she began to progress and got an epidural around noon and was able to get some sleep.  For some reason, I was never really concerned about the safety or condition of the baby.  I knew we were in the best place we could possibly be to deliver a preemie. 

Amy's doctor suggested Amy try to deliver the baby vaginally because she was progressing so well and the baby would be small.  Amy was a little apprehensive but agreed because the doctor said if the labor stalled out, she would do a c-section.  Around 3:30 she was fully dilated, the doctor was called in and after about 30 minutes of pushing, little No-name Walsh was born.  Lee and I were able to be in the room during the entire birth.  Amy's nurse and doctor were amazing.  Her doctor was so excited and supportive, she was almost like a cheerleader.  She encouraged and praised Amy the whole time.  She was so relaxed and made us all feel that everything was under control, which it was. 

Right before the baby was born, a team of pediatricians and nurses were called in to attend to him.  They took him right after he was born and started working on him.  He was what they call 'floppy' and was breathing a litte funny (they called it 'grunting'), but they explained this was all very normal for a preemie.  Baby was whisked off pretty quickly to the NICU where he spent only one night.  We were able to visit him at any time and Aunt Jen actually spent most of the night with him. 

Next day he was moved to another place called the CNU where he had a private room with a bath.  Very classy.  By that afternoon, he was in the room with him mommy.  On Wednesday afternoon, he was named Brady Edward Lee Walsh.  And, on Wednesday afternoon was both mommy and baby were sent home. 

Oh, Eamon was allowed to visit Brady shorly after he was born and has been in love with his Baby Brudder ever since.

Babysitting

Last night, Lee and I kept Brady while Amy went to class.  Ed and Eamon were having some one on one time together.  Around 6 p.m. I got a phone call from Eamon:

Marie, you got my baby brudder?
Yes, I'm watching him while your mommy is in school.
Marie, bring my baby brudder to my house.
Mommy will pick up baby brudder after school and bring him home.
No, you bring baby brudder home to my house, Mommy house, Daddy house, baby brudder house.

I guess he likes his baby brudder.

Visit to Uncle Ely

A few weeks ago, I took Eamon to visit Uncle Ely at his new house in Huntsville.  We had a nice ride up there (Eamon occupied himself by trying to take apart his DVD player).  He was a little reluctant to get near Ely when we first got there, but I later realized he had never seen Ely with a hair cut and no facial hair.  He soon warmed up to him and we went to a nearby playground to play.  This lasted about 30 minutes because it was SOOOOO hot.

After our outing to the playground, Ely took us to an old section in Madison across from a railroad track where we ate in a Mexican restaurant.  There was a freight train parked on the track, so Eamon was in heaven.  (Trains and fire engines are on the top if his favorites list.) 

Eamon had been singing Happy Birthday to himself all morning.  During lunch, he looked at me and said, 'Hey, Marie, you got my present?'  What a funny boy.  (Most of you know his birthday is in January.)

Old Madison - across from restaurant.

Mexican restaurant where we ate is on the left.  Check out the old time hair dryers in the window of the salon on the right!

Mexican restaurant actually takes up two store fronts. 

After lunch, Eamon fell asleep, so we dropped Uncle Ely off at home and we made the trip back to Birrmingham.  It was a wonderful day.

MOVING DAY

Ok, so Ely moved to Huntsville last week and because Lee had to go to Atlanta for work at the last minute, I was called into action.  Here is a recap of our day.

We finished packing up the Uhaul trailer, the Expedition and the Vibe by around 9:30 and took off with Ely driving the Expedition pulling the trailer and me driving Ely's Vibe.  I thought we would caravan there, but I caught a red light and lost Ely and assumed he was way ahead of me.  After a while, he called to let me know he has stopped to get gas, so it turned out I was way ahead of him. The drive to Hunstville was uneventful and smooth.

Ely caught up with me in Hunstville and I followed him to his new house where we dropped off the Expedition and the trailer. 

Next we go to meet Carl (Ely's friend and new roommate) to follow him to the rental office so they can sign the lease. Things started to go downhill at this point.  On our way to the rental office, Carl realizes he need to go to his office to pick up his pay check, but he left his office keys at his apartment and had to go back to get them.  Ely and I decide to go eat lunch while we wait. 

Finally, Carl meets us at the office, where they find out that the carpet has not yet been replaced in the house.  This means, that Ely will have to put his stuff in the garage until the carpet is installed.  We get the keys and head to the house.  Keys won't open any of the doors.  No problem, she also gave us the combination to the lock box, which has a key in it.  Carl uses the combination and gets the lock box off the door, but ......the lock box won't open.  Can this get any better?  Did I mention it was 105 degrees in the shade????  Carl calls the lady and she tells him to make sure his turning the combination to 7's and not 2's.  Well, they've been to college, they can tell the difference between a 7 and a 2.  She says she's send the locksmith out to meet us.  I suggested that we go sit somewhere cool, which we did.

We went to an ice cream parlor and sat for a while and waited for a call from the locksmith.  Finally, after about 45 minutes, Carl just drives to the real estate office to get the new keys.  Meanwhile, Ely and I went grocery shopping at Kroger's.  I'm not a big Kroger's fan.  It was sort of dirty.  I told Ely he should shop at Publix from now on.

Carl calls to say he has the key, so we head back to the house.  So, I think the day is getting better.  But, oh no.  We get in the house and it is filthy.  It was supposedly cleaned beforehand, but not so much.  There are also quite a few things broken. For example, the oven door won't close all the way.  Carl called the realtor and she agreed to meet him there the next day to look over the problems.

We move Ely's stuff into the garage and put a few things in the kitchen.  Strangely enough, the refrigerator was clean.  And, more good news, the electricity was on and the AC was working. 

After we got the trailer emptied it was time for me to drive the Expedition and trailer back to Birmingham.  Didn't really want to do it, but had no choice.  It was a white knuckle drive allthe way back.  I was afraid to go to fast, so I stayed in the slow lane behind a tanker truck all the way back. 

The Uhaul place in Pelham was going to close at 7 p.m. and I pulled in their lot at 6:58, finally something went right!  Got home, and took a long soaky bath.

How I spent my weekend

HOW CUTE IS THIS????

I made this cute little froggie outfit for Two (Eamon's name for his baby brother).  It's made from a new pattern I found that I think is the greatest. 

Also did some reading, finished Janet Evanovich's latest.  Read 'Murder List' by Julie Garwood and one other, but I can't remember the name.  Went to water aerobics Saturday and then got my nails done.  Lee and I went to see 'Salt' on Sunday.  Lots of action and violence, but pretty good.

SUPERHERO

 I found this in my front yard yesterday.

If this doesn't make you smile, nothing will.

EEEK!

This morning when I was walking through my garden to get to my car, I saw the tail of a small, grey snake under the rhododendrum.  Of course, it would be a morning when I had my hands full and the dog by her leash because I was taking her to the groomer.  So, I didn't get to take a picture.  I stood still for a moment and then he slithered away.  Since I am not a snake expert (or lover), I don't know what kind he was, all I know is he was grey.  I looked for a picture of a similar looking snake that I could post, but decided that if I put a picture of a real snake I would freak myself (and others) out everytime I saw it.  So, here is a picture of a fun snake, just for illustration puposes.  Blogs are much more fun with pictures, don't you think?

Getting Ely to the Appalachian Trail

Lee and I drove Ely to Blood Mountain, GA, so he could continue his trek on the AT. We drove up Saturday afternoon and stayed in a neat little cabin. It had a living room, kitchen, bath, bedroom and another loft bedroom. Nice deck off the back with a breathtaking view.

How cute is he?

We got in late and had to drive to Blairsville to find dinner. Luckily, we found a cool place called FATZ. People were friendly, service was good and so was the food. After dinner we went to a grocery store so Ely could get food for the next 6 days.

Lee and Ely on the front deck of our cabin Sunday morning before we dropped him off on the trail.

Ely had a problem with one of his walking poles, so he had to spend some time trying to fix it.

And he's off! What a remarkable guy. Today he plans to walk about 12 miles to the next shelter where he will spend the night.

WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

After we left saw Ely off, we went back to the cabin to pack up. Lee found one bag of Ely's food on the table and was quite upset thinking about Ely stopping for a meal later on only to discover he was missing half of his food. I tried to make him feel better by saying we knew he had some food with him and he would just have to get to a town and get some more sooner than he planned. As we were checking out, I mentioned it to the owner and he said that after Ely hiked 5 1/2 miles, he would come to a highway and that we could drive there and wait for him. So, we did. Ely was so surprised to see us. We he saw us, he yelled from the trail 'Ya'll get lost?' He didn't know he had forgotten his food until we told him and he was so glad we had brought it to him. He plans to hike for 6 days before stopping in a town, and he would not have been able to make it without this stuff.

Ely taking a break after he got his food.

Me and Ely on the AT before he takes off for the second time. See, I was actually on the Appalachian Trail

Lee and Ely on the trail.

Bye, Ely. Again. Hope he has a great trip.

Lee and I went to Helen, GA after we left Ely and wondered around a bit in the little shops. That place was packed with people. Lots of people tubing. On the way out of town we found an antique shop and a winery. We got some free samples of wine and bought a bottle for our next supper club. Next we went to Dahlonega, and looked around a bit. It was a neat little town, we walked around some and bought some candy. There was some gold mining museum that Lee was interested in but it was almost closing time, so we didn't go in. Our next stop was the outlet mall, but we were pretty disappointed in the prices. All we bought was some tongs to use for grilling. All in all it was a great weekend, that area of Georgia is beautiful.

CHATTANOOGA

Several weeks ago, Lee and I took Eamon to Chattanooga for the weekend while Amy and Ed went to Georgia for a wedding. We went to the Tennessee Aquarium and rode the Missionary Ridge train. I think Eamon's favorite event was riding the luggage cart at the hotel.








Eamon pointing to the sting rays.

Lee and Eamon (Eamon sampling the sea water).

Mousse for Dessert

So, I saw a headline today about 'Mousse Patties' washing up on the beaches. I got a little excited until I realized they they were referring oil blobs and not chocolate. Guess I won't be making vacation plans!

THIS WEEK

We had a great supper club gathering last Saturday night. I fixed Pastalaya (using Emeril's recipe) and everyone said it was great. Lee baked his Sour Cream Pound Cake and we ate that for dessert with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream.

Sunday was our church picnic. Of course, our version of a picnic is you get your food, go in the gym and eat it and then play bingo. Amy spent some time outside with Eamon as they had some bouncy things and a train for the kids to play on.

This week has been pretty uneventful. We're heading to New Orleans this afternoon so we can go to Katie's dance recital tomorrow night. I'm hoping my gall bladder takes the weekend off, or else I will be miserable.

HEY!

Yesterday evening, my anniversary, Lee went to the ballpark to sell beer for Jesus. What can I say, I don't want to come between my husband and his religion. So, on my way home from work, I called Amy and we met near Eamon's day care at Jim and Nicks for dinner. While the waiter was trying to take our order, Eamon kept trying to get his attention. He said "Hey,....Hey....Hey....Hey'. The guy kept ignoring him. Finally, Eamon starting tapping him on his arm saying 'Hey'. The guy looks down at Eamon who then says 'Daddy drive fire truck'. I guess he felt like the guy really needed to know.

FROM THE WOODS

News from the woods is that they are both fine. Nick will be done with his part of the trip on Sunday in Boiling Springs, PA. His aunt will pick him up and he will fly home on Tuesday. Ely will continue on. I've spoken to him a couple of times and he sounds great. I'm thinking maybe he should just live in the woods, he seems so happy there.

In the mail

So, yesterday in the mail we got an invitation to a high school graduation. So nice of the family to think of us, unfortunately, I have no idea who the child is. I swear! I just can't figure it out. Then I wondered if I should just send a check in case it's somebody I really should know and am just having a senior moment. Then I wondered if this might be a money making scheme by some senior. Just think, you order a couple hundred extra graduation invitations. You pull up some random list of names from some random place from the internet, it's easy enough. Mail them out and chances are about 25% of them will send you a card and some money, just in case they know your parents and don't want to hurt their feelings. Think about it. This could be true. Meanwhile, if anybody knows Chelsea from Kenner, let me know.

Is it the middle of May already?

Time seems to be flying by so fast. Seems it took months (or was it years) for Ely's graduation to get here and now it's history. Ely and Nick are out on the trail. They crossed into Pennsylvania on Sunday. Today they should get the first package I've ever sent to 'General Delivery'. Ely needed his sleeping pad and his long underwear pants.

We had Kim and Alan's baby shower Saturday night. I cooked red beans and rice and pastalaya and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Amy made a diaper cake that was very cute, she decorated it with receiving blankets. Kim and Alan are so sweet, I'm so glad we could do this for them. Harry and Debbie and Kelly and Alan's Aunt Kim all came in from Louisiana for the event. Kim's mom, Sandra, drove in from Mobile. Wehad brownies and eclairs (E. Claire's) for dessert. The eclairs were in honor of baby Emily Claire (aka E. Claire).

My New Car

Have you seen my new car? I got it a few months ago and just love it. The other day I took it to the car wash and was a wreck the whole while afraid that they were going to damage it. When I left I found some smears by the radio and turned around and went back and made them buff them out.

Report on the Sister's Lunch

Ok, so they gave us a little chicken breast (maybe from a sparrow), a little rice and a bunch of salad greens that might have been in the vicinity of some salad dressing at some point, but not very close. Water to drink, no tea. After we finished lunch, one of the ladies at my table asked about dessert was told that the two pieces of candy in the little box at each place was our dessert. Well, then what was the damn spoon for? We didn't even get coffee. I left there hungry and had to stop at McDonald's to get a McFlurry (really could have eaten a burger and fries, but I didn't.)

Ok, in case you are inclined to remind me it was for a good cause, I do know that, but I would have been $40 instead of $30 for some extra food.

Got back to campus and spent 10 minutes and a gallon of gas trying to find a parking place. There was one right next to the building but our campus mail guy had it blocked. I drove around and came back, he still had it blocked. Parked a block and a half away, trudged up hill in the heat to find, yes, you know it, the place was now open!!!!!

Ok, I must go now and put together a grocery list for Ely's party.

Sister's Luncheon

I'm headed to the Sister's Luncheon for breast cancer in a little while. Meeting my friends, Pat ( a cancer survivor) and Donna there. In previous years it's been at They Club and the Wynfrey, but this year is at B&A Warehouse in town. Not looking foward to parking and catching a shuttle bus to the place, but that's the plan.

YES, I KNOW IT'S BEEN MONTHS

I haven't had much inclination to write since Johanna passed away in early March. So much sorrow. Didn't know I could hurt that much. I guess we've been lucky or blessed or whatever you believe in that we haven't had much tragedy in our lives. This was truly the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my adult life.

However, life does go on. Spring has been beautiful in Hoover, the flowers made a great show this year. Wish I could keep them all year long, but alas, my azaleas have seen better days.

Most of you know that Amy is expecting again, this little one will join us around Thanksgiving. We've asked Eamon several time if Mommy has a baby in her tummy and he just laughs and says, 'nooooooo' and shakes his head. He's just too cute. Poor Amy has been sick again with the pregnancy and I'm hoping it doesn't last much longer. If she loses any more weight she'll be buying smaller clothes instead of maternity clothes.

Ely will graduate this weekend and then he and Nick will take off for Harper's Ferry, WV to begin the AT hike. Nick plans only to do two weeks and then come home. Ely will hike until he has to get back to start grad school in Huntsville in August or until he breaks something, whichever comes first.

Party at our house Saturday night after graduation. Come if you can.

Jenni has picked up some extra work at a place called the Puzzle Piece, she'll be working with autistic children and is very excited about this. She certainly has a special gift.

I'm sewing again, another thing I just wasn't able to make myself do for months. It sure feels good. I'm working on a special gift for someone's baby but I won't say what it is because she might be reading this.

I'll try to be better with posts in the future.

Happy Birthday, Eamon

We had Eamon's birthday party at our house on Saturday. It was a very cold day, so we had to do everything inside. Jenni donned her Party Fairy tutu and organized all the games and entertained the little kids. They all seemed to have a good time. They especially liked the big bouncy thing full of balls that was in the great room.

Eamon seemed to know it was all about him and was delightful. He was so funny when he opened his present from his Grandma Kathy. He opened the box and it was three large white cushions. They were the inside to a little arm chair that had to be assembled and then covered with the cover. He had no idea what is was all about but climbed on the cushions and loved them. He was perfectly happy with them in that form. We had to forcibly take the cushions away in order to assemble the chair. Once it was put together, he liked that, too.

We had lots of great food and a delicious cake from Edgar's. Yum.

Finally, a job.

As of last Wednesday, I have a permanent job at Samford. I've been doing the job since July as a temp. It feels good to know it's for good now. It's basically the same job I used to have, but with less responsibilities. How great is that?