thankful

This year, I am thankful for having 4 tires on my car...

And 4 windows - all in one piece. 

You see...

Pat and I were startled out of a deep sleep a few mornings ago by a very obnoxious banging on our back door. "Police! Police!"...So we opened it up (while Eloise was trying to eat the man alive). He asked us to come out to the GATED parking lot to check our car for "damage." 

Downstairs was a little gathering of neighbors around my car and one other car. Apparently our upstairs neighbor was leaving to go to work and saw a man down between our two cars.... with these rocks and bricks. He was going all St Louis style and trying to steal our tires!!!!!

Never to disappoint - these people live up to their #1 status on the 'most dangerous cities list'!!

But really...

I am so thankful for having company this Thanksgiving! Last year we were able to spend it with Alison, Michael and the girls - and this year my parents made the drive up.

Living far away from family could make for a lonely Thanksgiving - but not when you have such great families that make the long trip to be with you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

okay okay.

Pretty sure when I hear that my father realized how long it had been since I updated the blog that an update was past due :)

Here's October!!

We had a fun weekend trip to Eckert's for apple and pumpkin picking - even Eloise got to come along!

You have to ride out the the pumpkin patch and apple orchard on a tractor. Elle was such a good dog (so abnormal...we thought maybe something was wrong with her since she was being so well behaved) so she got a prize...an apple!!! And ate the whoooole thing. 

Here's the pumpkin patch! 

We had a whirlwind weekend in Chicago one weekend and Birmingham the next...

These are the Birmingham pics...

Jamie's bachelorette!!

And for Mary Clare's 5th birthday! 

 I can't believe she is already 5...

The best part of having a Halloween birthday is that you get to dress up

Mary Clare is Jessie from Toy Story

This is MC and a boy who just loves her from school

Two cowgirls and Alice in Wonderland

And the family portrait.

Cowgirl, cowgirl, cafeteria worker, cowgirl, cowboy and construction man

lovely.

 Patrick in his teeny tiny cowboy hat that I found for him -  such a good sport!

birthday girl :)

and last but not least

Grandaddy and Marilyn!

seattle

We had a wonderful time in Seattle, despite the fact that within less then 24 hours of our arrival I lost my ID...oops.

Patrick had a conference to go to and was presenting a research project in the "young investigators" category. I got to come along as his side kick :)

Puget Sound

Pike Place

This is where they throw the fish, the first Starbucks is located, and where you can buy the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen - for $5-$20 - unbelievable.

Pike Place Chowder has one multiple 1st place awards in the nation for their clam chowder. Pat thought this may have been the best meal we had the whole time (and we ate at some very good places!)

And of course we went to the Space Needle

I kept passing the flowers and staring at them. Patrick asked if I wanted some and I said no, since we were in a hotel. I finally broke down and for $5 or $10 (can't remember already...losing my mind in my 20's....) I got some flowers and stuck them in our ice bucket :)

We walked all over the city. I really mean that. ALL over it. 

This is Lake Union

And here's the presenter with his fancy badge. I snuck a quick picture of him in it when he wasn't expecting it. So sneaky

I squeezed into the back of the conference right before he presented to all of the cardiac/radiology doctors and listened in. He did SO well! I was very impressed and proud :)

And about that ID. I was nervous I was doomed to live in Seattle for.ever. But Patrick found a copy of our marriage license on his flash drive, which matched up my name for my nursing license and expired Alabama license. Phew. Here's the moment we found it!!

Thankfully they let me on the plane. And Pat came flying around the corner right as they were boarding the final zone of our seating (we left at different times to get to the airport) - it was kind of a close call and he has been known to miss a flight or two..........

:)

online outlet

For those who have yet to hear...

JCrew has an online outlet on the weekends!!! 

best news of the year.

plumbing 201: leaky sink

This summer I took plumbing 101. With the help of Patrick and my dad we fixed our leaky pipe.

I have now advanced to the next level. I may not think twice about spending $100 at JCrew, but when it comes to spending money on 'fix it' things, I refuse. I am stubborn (thanks Mom and Dad...) and tend to think I can DIY with any and everything around the house.

I may have saved a LOT of money by not calling a licensed plumber...but if the 25 cent rule still applied to all curse words I'd be broke after this experience...

 (I use to make my dad pay me for cussing. he stopped real quick.)

the culprit

my tools (yes...rubbery jar openers)

 

Alright. Here it is.

The broken thing in the other picture goes under that big metal thing...the drain I think?

 Dad said I had to get that brass looking thing off to put a new one of the silver things on. This is where the rubbery jar opener comes into play.

Except that it didn't really work.

Off to Home Depot!

I show up, walk around with a blank stare, and a nice old man asked if I needed help. His name was Howard. I showed him my pictures and what I thought I needed - and we walked all around gathering supplies. He gave me a very detailed lesson about fixing my sink and when I had a panicked look on my face he reassured me that I would be able to do it. I almost asked if I could take his picture but figured he would think that was weird.

This wrench weighed as much as I do. I was getting arm cramps from trying to hold it, it kept falling off, and I couldn't get it tight enough, and then realized I needed another wrench or something to hold the other side. Thank God for rubbery jar openers....

After a VERY long fight, a lot of *@&;*'s, multiple texts to Pat and phone calls to my dad, it finally loosened up - see??!  

Now, I had very detailed instructions from Howard. Here is my $0.99 jar of plumber's putty that I rolled into a long string, circled around the drain hole and then smushed the drain back onto it real hard.

All of this work just to put this new piece of metal on...

Howard made sure I got these plastic rings that go between the pipes - he says that every time you undo these pipes you should replace the tiny clear plastic rings. If you don't, they may not fit back on the same and it will leak some more...so I did as he told me.

Test run. 

Sink full of water, took the plug out and not a single drop leaked!

I had a moment. I started getting nervous that maybe the other side was leaking too!?

So I did the same thing over there...

It stayed dry as can be down there!

 This huuuuuuuge wrench (see...it's as long as my upper leg!) is making a trip back to Home Depot. 

We have a love hate relationship after this experience...