elation

This weekend has been one of my gushy, mushy, all is right with the world kind of weekends. I am so very happy with my life just as it is, right here in this moment. My girls are happy and in love. Rick seems pretty content, not stressed. He's happy his house is in order. My parents are in good health. My friends seem happy and are attentive. ( I require lots of attention) My job is good. I don't have to work much. I love my coworkers. I often times lately feel like Snoopy when he dances around with his nose up in the air, in utter, sweet euphoria. Nice. So, I am just enjoying this while it lasts and I am expressing my gratitude everyday.

My mom is coming in on Tuesday. Then we are headed to Michigan to visit family. I have some apprehension about how its going to go, but I'm trying to have a good attitude about it. Its an adventure and I am always up for a good adventure. So, I'll let you know how it goes and I will try to blog again when I get home.

Have a happy day tomorrow!

Weird Al

We had a great night last night. Weird Al is funny. He is one of those people where either you get him or you don't. He has a sense of humor that many people don't get, but let me tell you, last night the Tennessee Theater was full of people who get him. I liked him. I thought he was funny but at one point when I went to the bathroom, there were a couple of girls in there who were saying they were laughing so hard they were crying and I was like "really?" I want that. I want to laugh so hard that I cry. It didn't happen. I don't really keep up with Weird Al and I don't really know very many of his songs and the sound was so loud I couldn't understand what he was saying. So maybe, if I could have, it would have been better.

It didn't help that there was a guy who was at least 250# sitting next to me and he had horrible body odor and he was sweating and every time he would wave his hands in the air or rub against my arm I felt like barfing. Bleh! I just got more and more nauseated as the night went on. I guess if those circumstances had been different I would have laughed until I cried. There was one point where Weird Al came down into the audience and we were pretty close to the front and on the end and I was sure he was going to come up toward us and I was praying, "Please don't let him come here, I would be so embarrassed if I puked all over his nice red sportcoat. " I was very relieved when he went back up on stage. :)

But we spent time with friends and that is always fun. Rick loved the concert, he said that I must have been absorbing all of the BO because he didn't smell anything. I'm glad he had a good time.

Have a great Monday!

Happy Campers

Well Chanel has been home for 4 days now and it seems like she never left. I have really enjoyed having her home. This weekend, for Sienna's birthday, they all went camping . Rick and I went out to visit them this morning and it was so obvious that none of them are campers. It was about 85 degrees out there when we were there and of course, there was no air conditioning but Chanel and Sienna felt so gross after swimming in the lake, that they both had to go and take showers. It is going to be a long hot day and, personally, I would have forgone the shower but whatever. While we were there, they both got hot and sweaty again. Sienna says she didn't sleep much at all last night and she was just a little grouchy. Chanel didn't even pack a pillow or a towel, so neither she nor Steve had either. They only had about 4 pieces of firewood, and one pan, no spatula. Their cooler had no ice in it, it had all melted. And the only thing they had to drink was beer, which is illegal in the park, and 2 small bottles of fruit juice which had been in Chanel's car since before she left in January. lol. I was so tempted to go to the grocery store and get everything they needed, like I usually do, but decided in the end I would just leave the cupcakes I brought and let them work all the rest out on their own.

They were visited by a park ranger this morning because they had left beer cans out on the picnic table. He threatened to take Sienna to jail because she is under age...though, she says she wasn't the one who was drinking. And Sienna, being kind of grouchy from no sleep, smarted off to the ranger which made him mad. Not too smart. He let them off with a warning.

Steve is here to visit Chanel and it was pretty funny, as I was talking to him, he kept commenting on how hot it was. He is not a camper either. :) He is very charming and I can see why Chanel loves him so much. He seems to be a stabilizing factor in her life, like Rick is in mine. He seems happy to be with Chanel, but not so happy about sweating, bees, the hard ground and the lack of water. I have forewarned him about the randomness in our family but he is very aware of how Chanel is and seems fine with it.

Tonight, We are going with Don and Shara to see Weird Al. I have never been a big fan of Weird Al but the guys really like him and I'm sure we will have a lot of much needed laughter.

Have a great Saturday!

Finally home

We picked up Chanel from the airport last night. I insisted on getting there early. I wanted to be there in case her plane came in early. You never know and planes come in early so often these days, right? I just didn't want her to get there early and not have us there to meet her. We had forgotten to pick up the flowers I intended on getting so since we were waiting so long, Sienna decided to do a Welcome Home banner on her Macbook. It turned out very nice and Chanel loved having a non traditional Welcome sign.

So, her flight was delayed by 27 minutes. And when it did come in, we went up closer to wait and all the people got off and no Chanel. We waited 10 extra minutes, and no Chanel. I started getting very anxious then, pacing around, almost crying and then finally, she comes wandering out the gate. I ran to her and hugged her and started crying with relief. She had stopped to use the rest room. It was so typical Chanel to leave us waiting, but it had me a nervous wreck all the same.

She looks good considering it was 4 a.m. Belgium time when she got here. She had left at 6 am our time and arrived in Knoxville at 9:27 pm. Long day. She had gotten used to speaking in clear succinct verbage. I guess because she had to enunciate clearly when speaking to her french and german languaged friends. Rick spent much of the evening trying to get her to speak East Tennessee-ish again. Pretty funny.

Once again, I forgot to take pictures of her. I am hoping I get better at that now that I have a new, small Canon Elph to carry with me in my purse everywhere. I just got it yesterday.

So, she's here and she's fine and I can't wait to hear of all her adventures.

Have a happy Wednesday!

2 days!

My darling wayward daughter will be home in 2 days. I am praying she will have a safe trip. I can't wait to see her. The last time I was at McGhee Tyson airport, I sobbed my eyes out from anxiety and sorrow. This time I will probably sob my eyes out from relief that she is finally home and safe. Tuesday will be a good day.

This coming weekend, I will finally get to meet Steve. I'm not really nervous about that. I trust that she has made a good choice. It will finally be good to chat with my potential future son-in-law. The only thing that worries me is that I will say something stupid to embarrass Chanel. I have been known to blurt things out and then say, I can't believe I just said that!

Chanel will be a busy girl when she gets home. She will have to get car insurance again, and a phone. She will need to find an apartment in Cookeville and a job before starting school next month. All with little money. *sigh*

I think Sienna has about decided not to move to Cookeville. She will have to talk to Chanel about it more when she is home. I'm going to try to just give a little bit of guidance and then let them make their own decisions. I have to trust that they will make the right ones. They are both smart girls.

Today is a rainy Sunday. It will be a nice day to snuggle with Rick on the couch and watch Happy Feet.

Have a great day!

Lost and Survivor where are you?

Okay, so we all know that Rick and I love to watch TV. During summer there is absolutely nothing on TV and I am so ashamed to say that this is what we have stooped to: Ice Road Truckers
Ax Men
Black Gold
Verminators (no joke)
and last but not least: All About Dung. I mean, seriously?