The Week that Kelly Came

Good morning, blogland! It seems like everybody had a pretty nasty Monday yesterday, and I hope that Tuesday is much, much better.

I worked yesterday. Not good, not bad, just neutral. Which is what work has been a lot lately.

Before I get into the pictures and stories from last week, let me just say, I had some crazy dreams last night. Please note this disclaimer first: I AM NOT PREGNANT. I repeat ... I am NOT HAVING A BABY. End disclaimer.

So, the entire night, and I mean ENTIRE, I dreamed about having a baby. Well, first it was one baby. The second dream, I was having septuplets, which were all term, and yet my baby bump was seriously lacking in size. This had me worried. And I was dreaming about having a c-section, and looking up at the CRNA and completely freaking out ... and he gave me this gas stuff, and I was sure I was going to be put out and intubated, and I remember thinking that I did NOT want that to happen ... but I never went to sleep. And realized that it was laughing gas that he was giving me. And THEN I dreamed that I was still in high school, and had just had a baby, and was trying to do too many things at once, and this weird lady who I don't know was helping me with the baby and trying to keep me from breastfeeding .... and yeah. It was weird.

That's what happens when you attend deliveries (especially c-sections, a lot) and work with babies all the time.

Once again ... I AM NOT PREGNANT. Fin.

Now ... onto the fun stuff!

Kelly's Birthday Dinner:

I used my new china and my crystal and bought snapdragons to make a really pretty table :)




And we dressed up!




Love her :)


This is a GORGEOUS picture of Kelly, I think.


Colton came for dinner!


Me and my sweetie





Kelly's birthday cupcakes


Opening her birthday card from me


And her present!


Colton gave her an Arcade Fire CD, along with a song that he wrote and recorded himself. It was really ridiculously cute :)


After dinner, we played Battle of the Sexes!


Thursday, we went to Chez Lulu!


Lookin' cute :)


And Friday, we met Colton at the Botanical Gardens. They are so stinkin' cute.


Skipping!


They decided to have a skipping contest ... here they're plotting their path


And off they go! Oh, how I love this picture




I love the light here


Then we went to Starbucks for a "snacky-snack" for Kelly





In the car, after dinner at Cantina


Mark took us to the First Presbyterian church as a history lesson - one of the churches to whom Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is addressed.


I love my sister!


And then we headed up to the Vulcan, to try to look at the Birmingham skyline. The trees were in our way.


Silhouettes of the trees


We found a little hole! Birmingham is really pretty at night...


And there you have it - our fun week in pictures! I can't wait for her to visit again in July :)

It's already Wednesday again!!!

My weeks are passing in a blur. I can't believe we are this close to cruising!!!

First of all, because I promised: a picture of my quiche!!



It was really yummy :)

This week, I'm at my parents' house through tomorrow. Elissa is here too. It is our last hurrah before she starts dayshift.

What you've missed since Friday's Fill-in-the-Blanks:

Saturday and Sunday, I worked. They were good, slow days. I'm ready to pick up the pace a bit again, but it appears that everybody's census is down (and when I mean everybody, I mean the entire Southeast... any NICU nurses out there? Is this true?) So maybe I'll just have to be a bit more patient, and enjoy these slower days while I can.

Monday morning, I headed out - arrived in Chattanooga around noon-ish. We had a pleasant, slow day. Elissa got here that afternoon, and we talked and caught up and looked at pictures, and then we played Speed Scrabble with my mom that evening. Fun times!

And yesterday was my Daddy's birthday. Happy birthday to him! We went to the aquarium, and then Kelly and Colton came over and we had dinner at a hibachi grill. Yummmy!!

Pictures of yesterday:

We started at the Ocean Adventure side, with the butterflies, which is my very, very favorite part of the aquarium :)


I thought this butterfly was GORGEOUS!


Hibiscus :)


Me and Lissa!


Lissa made a friend while we were there... and carried him around for quite a while.


My Mommy and Daddy


Pretty blue butterfly - my favorite! I spent the whole time trying to get a picture of these, and they didn't want to land on anything.





We moved on - to the penguins!!


And then we saw jellies. I love to look at them ... they're so other-worldly, and ethereal





Can you find the tiny sea horse?


Mr. Alligator thought I looked tasty


After a long day at the aquarium, we went to Shogun for dinner! So yummy!
My dad, mom, and grandma


Me and Lissa


So glad Kelly and Colton got to come too!


Back home, for cake and birthday presents!


Unwrapping gifts


He likes the polo shirt from Mark and me!


Kelly's present was the best of all, though. She wrote and performed a Birthday Rap (with Colton's assistance) ... it is worth watching. My sister is amazing :)



So today, I'm not sure what's in store. We might take a little field trip to my mom's friend's house and see her chickens (who lay green eggs! they're soooo pretty - and yummy, too.) And I think Lissa and I might venture downtown to coolidge park and the carousel ... hopefully it'll be a bit warmer today. We shall see...

Hope everybody has a happy Wednesday!