Florida, Space and Reba, oh my!!!!

Hello friends I meant to post this yesterday but time just got away from me. I was so tired yesterday I only did laundry and read and worked on my Valentines Day hearts. I told my husband that the past week had kicked my butt. He said that I say that every week and I guess I do. Ha!!!

So it all started last week on Sunday. I flew to Cocoa Beach Florida with a couple of other people from work. I had to leave my house at 3:45 AM to drive to Knoxville and meet them. Our Attractions group, Southern Highlands Attractions was meeting with some of the marketing people at Kennedy Space Center. Our plane left at 5:35 AM. I had gotten up that morning at 2:30 AM to get everything ready to go. Mark had to work that day as well and had to leave out almost as early as I did. It was a bit of a scramble to get up, get all eight babies taken care of, and get out of the house on time but we did it. Then our plane was delayed in Knoxville to allow for de-icing and we almost missed out connection in Atlanta. Luckily we didn’t.

We were headed to Cocoa Beach FL and we flew into Melbourne. The Melbourne airport is only twenty miles from Cocoa Beach and is a much smaller airport than Orlando which is about sixty miles or so from Cocoa Beach. The Melbourne airport is fairly small, very easy to navigate and I loved it.

We landed, picked up our rental car and headed to Cocoa Beach. We had a little time to kill before checking into our hotel so we got coffee and went to the beach. It was unusually cold for Florida but the beach was beautiful. I got some great pictures that I posted on Wordless Wednesday you can check it out here if you missed it.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott on Cocoa Beach and it was lovely. My room was a small suite with a separate bedroom and kitchen area and a balcony, it wasn’t beach front but we were getting an excellent rate for our attractions group plus it rained two of the days we were there. We met up with most of our group that afternoon and had dinner that night at Fishlips and it was so yummy.

On Monday morning we left by bus to go to Kennedy Space Center. A former attractions member and friend had recently retired from Kennedy and she arranged a special tour for us. It was great!!! The only downfall was that I reached down for my wallet as we were pulling into the parking area at Kennedy and realized it was not in my purse. I didn’t remember seeing it in the hotel room. I was pretty sure I had had it the night before when we stopped at Publix but I couldn’t be for sure. We were scheduled to be at Kennedy all day. I almost got Uber to go back to the hotel to see if my wallet was there but the hotel was about twenty five minutes each way. I kept constantly checking my accounts to make sure no one was using my card. Luckily when I got back to the hotel my wallet was there. I had put a shirt on top of it and that is why I didn’t see it. I hope I am not the only one who does things like this.

We had dinner that night at a great restaurant. Branos Italian Grill, was amazing. Not only the food but the entertainment. On Monday night a precious couple, who are both eighty four years old and have been married for sixty four years, plays music and serenades the diners. What a treat. They were amazing.

We were in meetings half the day on Tuesday and it rained all day. We were scheduled to take an airboat ride but it was canceled because of the rain and cold weather. We did get to visit the original Ron Jon surf shop and meet with their marketing people. That was really exciting. The store is huge almost overwhelmingly so. I got a couple of tee shirts. We went back to the hotel and chilled until dinner.

On Tuesday night we ate at Rising Tide Tap & Table. Another fabulous meal. I had the Mahi Dorado and it was to die for.

We headed home on Wednesday and I was so glad to get back home. We had a late flight and I didn’t get in until after midnight. I took Thursday off and had lunch with the sisters and took supplies to my mother in law and did some house cleaning and extra snuggles for the babies.

Work on Friday and it was sooooo cold. The high temp was only 34 degrees F. I did grocery shopping early Saturday and then went to Knoxville with my niece to see Reba McEntire in concert. What a night, I love Reba and the concert was so good.

Sunday I did laundry and chilled. I think I was still tired from traveling and everything and I just took it easy. WHEW!!!! What a week!!!

How was your week?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

A funny thing happened to me this morning, I found myself running early, ahead of time. If you know me, I am always ten minutes late or just barely arriving on time. I hate this habit and it is one I have really been working on. So I noticed this morning I had some extra time. I guess it could be because I didn’t lay in bed an extra 20 minutes or it could be that Molly and Scruffy got it in gear and took their morning bathroom breaks together, or I didn’t fall back asleep after drinking my coffee. Whatever, I found myself with extra time. How wonderful . I noticed this made for a much more enjoyable morning with the babies. Feeding them watching them play, giving six of them their flea meds. You get the picture. But the thing was I wasn’t frantically doing all of this because I was running behind. I had some time.

I don’t do New Years resolutions anymore. I just find that way too stressful. But I do like to pick a word every year and focus on it. Last year my word was “present” I wanted to make sure that I was present and “in the moment” with everything going on in my life. I think many times we get so busy and caught up with day to day that we forget to actually experience what is going on or how we feel while it is happening. And you do know that hours, days, months and years can quickly slide by if you are not careful.

I think I have always taken advantage of time and I never fully respected or appreciated it. My expectations of what I can do in a limited amount of time are just crazy. I try to cram an hours worth of work into thirty minutes and then I am blown away by surprise when I can’t get everything done. I then tend to blame myself for not being faster and more organized when in fact it would be impossible to fit all those things into such a small amount of time.

I used to work with a man who was always fifteen to thirty minutes early for work. I was quite impressed. I asked one day just how he did it. He said “ I get ready for work and then have nothing to do so I sit and wait at my house until it is time to come to work” I could picture him sitting there, on his couch or a chair, all ready for work. Well friends I am not that person. And if I did get ready early I would go on to work or I would be deep into another project or something around the house that would probably put me behind again. But just sitting and waiting I am not good with. So I will never be quite like that.

So this morning as I slowed down and actually got to spend some time chatting with my husband and noticing just how unbelievably soft Milo’s fluffy fur was and how smooth my coffee tasted and how bad Scruffy needed a bath, can’t promise it’s all good, I realized I didn’t feel that frantic, getting out the door to work, feeling that I often get. And it felt great!!! It felt more relaxed and I am sure it probably helped my blood pressure. My husband has often compared me to a tornado ripping through the house getting ready for work. And that is because I am usually running behind. Out of time.

Time flies, It’s about time, Time is money, Time waits for no one, and on and on.

You have probably guessed that my word this year is “Time” and by that I mean I will give myself more of it to get things done. I think by giving yourself time to experience the things in your life that truly make you happy is time well spent.

Happy New Year!!! Do you make New Year’s resolutions? how is your new year going?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Happy Tuesday. It was back to work for me yesterday. I had been off for three days and to be honest, with Christmas over I was ready to get back in the swing of things. I don’t know how you are but after Christmas Day I am done with the holidays. My husband is not like that. He believes in continuing to celebrate the week between Christmas and New Year. Not me. I do leave all the decorations up just for him although I am the one who takes all of them down anyway.

But today, Tuesday I had an extra wonderful day off. It only took one day back at work, and we were slammed, to look forward to this extra little decadent day. I actually had a vacation day to use before the end of the year so I picked today. But it was wonderful!!! I woke up thinking I had work and then remembering I was off today I settled back in the bed for a few more minutes of sleep. It was so nice. I got up and had coffee and read some blogs and just enjoyed being at home and not having anywhere to go.

Mark was off today too. He has been on the verge of being sick for about three weeks. He has coughed and felt bad and just when he thinks he is getting better he feels worse again. I talked him, finally, into going to the doctor tomorrow. Hopefully we will find out what is going on.

I did get up early and take care of the babies. I loaded garbage and went to the landfill. It was a good thing I did. They were almost full for the day at only 9:30 AM. I guess everyone getting rid of their Christmas wrappings. I wouldn’t let hubs do anything today. I feel like he needs to get well and get lots of rest. Because of the immunosuppressants he takes it takes him twice as long to get over anything than it does most people. I knitted, cooked dinner, took the babies for a long walk, and we watched a movie, Don’t look up, It was pretty good. A good day. I just can’t wait until Mark gets to the doctor and he can find out what is going on. Maybe get some meds. It is always scary with him he is very finely balanced with his kidney and all the meds he already takes.

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So how is your week going? Do you take down your Christmas decorations right after Christmas or do you leave them until the New Year?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Hello friends and Merry Christmas Eve. I can’t believe Christmas is here. I don’t think I have ever felt less Christmasy in my life. I haven’t posted in a bit. Things here have been busy and sad. That’s a bit of a strange combination isn’t it? But I guess that’s how life can be sometimes.

Two weeks ago we lost one of our young employees in a horrific car crash. Matthew was only 18 years old and just the sweetest, caring person you could ever hope to meet. It has left our work family shaken. And as it always does when such a young person dies it makes you question. Looking around at the funeral at the absolutely packed church I had to smile with pride for this young man. At such a very young age he touched so many lives. He was an awesome amazing person and we will never forget him, And that is all I am going to say about Matthew.

It is hard to believe the end of the year is coming, where has the year gone? I was looking back at some pictures the other day and they were taken in March!!! It seems like it was yesterday.

The last two weeks have been absolutely jam packed. My sister and I managed a trip to Sevierville, TN to the Tanger Outlet Mall for some Christmas shopping. We also had our work Christmas party in Knoxville, I posted a lot of pics of that on the last Wordless Wednesday that I did. I hosted twenty of my family members at my house on Sunday for our annual Christmas get together. We had a ton of food and did the dirty Santa exchange. It was a lot of fun but a lot of stress getting the house the way I wanted it. You know how that goes. My husband always threatens to boycott any other get togethers at our house because he says I get manic with it. I know he doesn’t meant it. My friend and co-worker celebrated her birthday with a fun birthday party Tuesday night, add in lots of Christmas shopping and work work work. Wow!!! I am ready for some down time.

The hubs has to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. It sometimes works out that way and we are used to it. I was off today and I decided to clean my house this morning. I started at 6:30 AM and got most of the upstairs cleaned. You see I have a reason for this, I plan to do absolutely nothing tomorrow but binge watch some t.v shows and stay in my pajamas all day. If the house is clean then I can feel better about it all the way around.

My sister had a Christmas get together tonight with just her two children and their families. They invited me over so I went and it was a lot of fun. Before going to her house I went to visit my mother in law at the village and spent a couple of hours with her. I took her the Christmas presents we had gotten for her. We had a fun time. I ate lunch with her and we gave out presents to the staff at the village. I then went to the cemetery to put flowers on my parents, Mark’s dad’s, Mark’s grandparents, and my brother’s graves for Christmas. And then home to take care of all the babies and just collapse. What a full and fun day.

So as you can see a very busy two weeks and a lot of fun with a lingering sadness for our friend Matthew that will not go away for a very long time.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful and fun filled Christmas!!!! Love each other and cherish your love for one another.

Never forget the reason for this season is Jesus Christ always and forever in our hearts.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!