sleepin' ova

Note: Blogger will not let me post pictures after any editing is done....so you'll have to enjoy these with all of their original over exposure and shadows!













I do not have sisters...but these girls are very close to it. I was their nanny for many, many years...I watched them grow up...yet I am always amazed at how much more they've grown each time I see them! They have always been like a second family to me. I feel very blessed to be part of their lives. The girls and their mom (sans Court--she is at GS) came to stay with us yesterday on their way to vacation. It was so fun! A real old fashioned sleepover. We had dinner here and then made a trip to get ice cream. We hung out for the rest of the night and took lots of pictures. (See above) It was great. Carli played Texas Hold' em with Tommy...he said she was pretty good! Then they played UNO...I think she could have stayed up all night playing games. I was just like her when I was young....never wanted to go to bed! Tommy and I both had to work early this morning....so we were feeling the effects of staying up far too late...but it was worth it. We totally enjoyed ourselves.
I was able to meet them for lunch and shopping before they headed out today. We had a delicious lunch outside and then did some power shopping. Camryn got a Hello Kitty from Build-A-Bear (AKA The most expensive bear you'll ever have but you stuffed it yourself so you don't care!) She also got a purse for the Kitty and Crocs for the Kitty. When all was said and done--the Kitty was too heavy for her to carry. The owner of Build-A-Bear is sitting on some tropical island drinking a margarita and getting a foot massage...making millions off of cotton stuffing! Whoda thunk?
Tonight was great, too. We sealed our patio...wait...did I say we? I meant Tommy! And it looks great. For dinner, we went over to Tommy's great aunt's house for a picnic. It was such a perfect night for a eating outdoors. Tommy even took a dip in the pool.
Planning to go to a little riverfront restaurant tomorrow night....a view of the water, food, and wine...you know I'm excited!

patios, weddings, football fields, and dinners...

If I don't miss my guess...this post is going to be a jumbled mess of unorganized photos! Oh well!
This weekend was a busy one. We got our patio re-done. We already had a slab patio but wanted to get a new layer that is stamped and dyed like cobblestone. This process took (actually, is still taking) a lot longer than I thought it would. We really like how it is turning out though. It is tough, though, because we can't let the dogs out in the backyard. We have been taking them out front on the leash. It takes forever and is often a fruitless effort! The patio should be finished by tomorrow. We will certainly have dinner outside to celebrate.
On Saturday we traveled to Cincy for one of my former housemates/sorority sister's wedding. It was beautiful! The ceremony was unique and touching and the reception was fun. I was able to catch up with so many friends whom I haven't seen in way too long. There is always so much laughing! I love it. As a bonus...the reception was at the Bengals Stadium! Tommy and I are big Bengals fans. After the reception we were walking down to the car and I spotted a door that was ajar! Much to Tommy's dismay...I opened it and we walked right out into the stadium. It was dimly lit and larger than life! We both just stod there in awe! It was so neat. I think the bride and groom had some of their pictures taken on the field! Tommy would have loved that!
On Sunday....we went to church and then met up with Carlie and Brook and Gina and Dan for a boat ride on the river. We rode up to Captain's Quarters for dinner. It was a beautiful night! We got to watch the sunset on the boat ride home. It was a great time.

It was back to reality today....tutoring for me, work for Thomas!

friday.

*One of my summer school students lost a tooth this morning. In an effort to strengthen her writing skills I suggested that we write a letter to the Tooth Fairy. You know...an on-demand writing prompt, if you will. I had to laugh when she asked the Tooth Fairy for a cell phone. I'm thinking We're talking ONE tooth here!! I think the most I ever got was a ten...and that was probably because dad was too tired to try to find change. I'm pretty sure mom once left me a cute little letter about how brave it was of me to lose a tooth and not cry. She knows me well. I loved the note mom...but you still owe me a cell phone.

*The condos are finally on the MLS to sell. That was my job and it took me a bit longer than Tommy would have liked. I have officially given up on reading the fine print!
Keep your fingers crossed that they sell quick! That would be nice.

*I got a sweet thank you note today from one of my kiddos from last year. His family got me 2 movie tickets and a Starbucks gift card. It was a very nice surprise. The movies and Starbucks just happen to be 2 fun things that I rarely treat myself to. I used to go to the movies fairly often until our preacher at church mentioned how dishonest it was to sneak your own food into the theater. WHAT?? I thought I was being financially responsible! Just 2 diet cokes and some microwave popcorn....is that so bad? The one time we ventured out to the movies after that it cost us half of a mortgage payment! It's like....2 tickets...roughly $20. XXXL tub of butter-soaked popcorn (Tommy insists!) and 2 drinks...roughly another $20! And since we are standing there at the candy counter- I have to have Snowcaps...even though they are $7.50. And then you have napkins and those are probably $1.50 each! A small fortune! For this sort of price they better have individual space heaters at each seat and the movie better be captivating! Otherwise, I'll be sitting through the whole thing thinking about what kind of outfit I could have bought with the money we just wasted!

*Libby got accepted at the University of Kentucky Graduate School! YAY for her! We are so hapy for her. She is now an official Wildcat!

*We are celebrating Pepper's birthday tonight with some treats from Three Dog Bakery. Sure...I could make him the Pup-cakes at home but you know kids always want the store-bought stuff. My mom used to slave away at the cutest cakes...she would painstakingly cut them to be whatever shape I was obsessed with at the moment...a megaphone, a telephone, a trianlge Guess Jeans patch, etc. You name it! I think I remember saying "My friend so-and-so got a cake from Kroger that had little plastic balloons on it. Could I get one of those?" Which is why I am skipping the baking and going straight to the store! I'm trying to aviod the possibility that he might beg for what the lab next door got for his birthday!

I'm off to conquer a mountain of l a u n d r y and run some errands. TGIF.

....and they were too cute for words...

I just had to share some photos from this evening.

mow wah hee mow wah hah mow wah hee hee hah hah.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I hope you enjoyed your weekend with all of us kiddos. Thanks for being you and for loving me!

We are home from the lake...safe and sound. We had a perfect weekend...truly perfect. We had quite a crew on Dock Holiday....10 of us! It was such a fun time....you really had to be there. We got to meet Libby's family (well, her sisters and their spouses) and they were, of course, just as sweet as Libby is. Allison and Chris and Becky and Jason...all very great people. It seemed to me that we had always been friends after knowing each other for only an hour or so. We played games, drank danny boys, tubed, laughed a bunch, read, ate, laughed some more, ate some more, played cards, danced to Romanian music, caught some sunshine, took boat rides, and more.

from l to r... becky, jason, chris, allison, lib, and jus.

I think Tommy gave me a slight case of whiplash during this kiss!

(Above) This is everyone getting ready to go against my wishes and jump from a cliff that they had no idea how deep the water was underneath!! Don't they all look sneaky? Tommy has been in pain ever since....so it is possible that he learned his lesson!

Kissing the soon to be Mrs. Dozeman!

Tubing is a sport that seems fun while you are doing it---but hurts so bad later that you find yourself wondering WHY you would partake in such an activity. My forearms are like jelly as I type this!

This is Becky and Jason on the red tube and Jus and Libby on the green.....and below is a shot of one of many wipeouts!

Ladies, if you are reading this...it was so nice to meet you! Tommy and I think you are all wonderful! We loved hanging out and getting to know you. Lots of pictures are coming your way! I got some great ones.

And now....must get in bed. Gotta rest up...I'm going to be making some sweet moo-lah with Uncle Rico tomorrow.

together.

sweet pictures of a very sweet couple.
justin & libby june06

75 random thoughts ...post-vacation

1. so thankful for the opportunity of a great vacation at the plantation resort on amelia island

2. it is fun to go on vacation with lots of fun friends
3. the book i am reading is good..the dive from clausen's pier...
4. airplane seats are ridiculously small
5. i think i have serious back/neck problems from said airplane seats
6. never cut it too close and try to arrive a mere 45 minutes before your flight takes off (country t and country s missed their flight out of louisville and had to drive to cincy to even be able to make it to amelia
7. frozen lynchburg lemonades are as good as they look
8. ordering a pizza from room service at midnight is as expensive as the cute little menu says it will be
9. dragging freshly manicured toes on the bottom of a pool can ruin the look quickly
10. i still love beachside bar and grilles as much as i always have

11. as much as i love florida...my hair does not. the humidity gives me a "bad perm" look
12. tommy and i very much love a piano bar
13. music in the above mentioned piano bar reminds me of my dad and brother who both love music even more than i do
14. a full-body relaxation massage is unreal...even though "relax....let it go...clear your mind" aren't things that come easy for this worrier
15. the locker room in the spa was nicer than my house
16. i found a new breakfast drink that i love...orangina...the name makes me giggle
17. palm trees that bend out over the pool are so cool
18. we overpack
19. peeling sucks
20. i wanted to buy a ice cream bath scoop--but forgot

21. i forgot gym shoes--but never felt the urge to exercise anywhoo
22. the staff people at the resort were amazingly nice and always went above and beyond
23. we had a beautiful condo but never even sat on the couch once
24. the writer in me was hoping that our condo would have a guest book/journal thing..i love those
25. tommy looks so cute in his green plaid shirt..it one of my faves
26. gouchos are so comfortable
27. i fell in love with the shampoo and conditioner at the resort...it was called wake-up rosemary and it had that herbal/aveda/spa/refreshing smell
28. i got my hair cut by someone other than carla...yikes...i'm so brave
29. i love the feeling of sleeping with the balcony door open all night
30. i love waking up so early because the first rays of the sun are shining in
31. i love rolling over to find that tommy is silently watching them too

32. i miss my dogs no matter how great of a time we are having
33. i love ultra-chic pet boutiques..even though i would never spend that much on anything like that
34. i only semi-enjoyed my first facial. turns out having a cloth over my face brings on a panic attack...besides that, couldn't tell a difference at the end....thought i was going to come out looking like the noxema girl....and certainly didn't
35. love southern hospitality...and people you meet whom it feels like you've always known
36. i am not a nap taker--but naps on beach chairs under umbrellas are truly good
37. love to smell "home" on my clothes when i am somewhere different
38. saw a new bag at the pool that i love...designer cath kidston...LOVE the stand-up shopper style in the classic rose print...but alas...too much $$ for me to justify. check out her website--she has great products
39. love my friend brook...glad to know her...glad to have time to just hang out and be girls with her while our husbands played golf on the gorgeous ocean links
40. love that brook calls anyone who she thinks is acting less than intelligent a "crackhead." makes me laugh out loud

41. proud that we didn't lose a room key the whole time we were there
42. wish we had been there for longer
43. love hanging out with a group but also being able to enjoy time with just the two of us
44. had our favorite dinner at a restaurant on the island caled PLAE...which stands for people laughing and eating...which i think is a brilliant name
45. enjoyed looking at houses that must be worth $3 to $10 million in some cases...and letting my mind wander as to what the people that live there did to make so much money, if the poeple that live there are happily married, if they have children and if those children are ruined by the ease of being so wealthy, if the poeple that live there believe in God, and how much of their success they attribute to Him, what they do for fun, etc.
46. apart from the fact that my hair hates florida...kind of wishing we lived there because of all of beautiful pictures i could take of families on the beach
47. amazed by the fact that no matter how old i get...i still get in a bad mood on the day i have to leave vacation
48. missed my diet mountain dews
49. loved hearing a friend of ours say that every single night their little son says a prayer of thanks for his teachers
50. i came very close to meditating in a meditation garden...but my rolodex of a mind stopped just short of the real thing
51. laughed until my side hurt when tommy popped the top on my champagne and then (to be funny) tilted it up to pretend he was drinking it..and it exploded all over him....then to make matters worse, he decided it would help if he put his thumb over the top--which only made the spray that much more intense
52. decided that i LOVE little shopping bags...you know, the paper kind with handles...the kind that department stores give out only at Christmas time...on the island even your groceries come in a fancy shopping bag....even if you need like 10 of them
53. paid $4 for a package of goldfish and realized that maybe the outrageous prices are the reason they give out those cute little shopping bags
54. love a vacation where you never have to leave the resort

55. saw lots of babies taking naps in the shade...so cute
56. ate some wonderful creme brulee...i like the top, tommy likes the bottom
57. omlette bars...aren't they grand
58. like the picture below where you can see me in the lens of tommy's sunglasses
59. crazy beautiful weather all but one day
60. floating on noodles in the pool is the next best thing if you can't have a raft
61. love seeing tommy "fight the waves" with his pals like he is back in grade school...so cute
62. love tommy...period.....so, so much....so blessed
63. wondering why i hate applying sunscreen to anyone else so much
64. wanting to get some of that new (or at least new to me) continuous spray sunscreen
65. still freak out when i see the message light blinking on the condo phone...always thinking something bad has happened...never considering that it might be a sweet reminder of a spa appointment the next day

66. love looking...really looking at the ocean...especially at sunrise and sunset
67. got choked up when i saw a wife pushing her husband in a wheelchair down by the water....love to see people practicing full-blown love
68. wondering why i always have the urge to grab an extra towel from an unattended maid cart even when we don't need an extra towel
69. love the look of stucco condos with a terra cotta roof
70. love that i smile in the shower on vacation because i'm always either reflecting on a fun day or getting excited about the upcoming evening

71. i get lots of use out of my cover-ups (thanks mom) since i won't get up out of my lounge chair without wearing one
72. love fancy lobbies and nice people that work at front desks
73. really love that our dogs were so happy to see us last night that their tails almost wagged off of their bodies
74. love that my mom just called from spain and sounded so happy and full of life
75. hate that vacation is over...but giving thanks to God for a wonderful time and for safe travels for all 17 of us!