News from the nest

I stayed up waaaay too late last night. After my little adventure to discover life past 6pm, I was keyed up and the boys were keyed up and we all stayed up most of the night. I crashed around 3am, Austin and Devin much later, if ever. My mom called at 8:45 to tell me they were on the way up here... I dozed a little bit after but got a few more calls and finally gave up and got up.

My parents' car was in the shop for a week and so they had borrowed my grandma's car. Grandma lives "over the mountain" in Hayesville, North Carolina (it's about 45 minutes from here, not that far from me but a long way from my parents' house). Cody and Marquee came along with them... they drove one car while my mom and dad drove the other. Mom and dad stopped by for a minute but Cody and Marquee came and hung out with me in the nest. Yep. In the nest. I read my Atlanta Journal Constitution on ajcprint.com and we watched a Few Good Men (just for the court scene) and chatted. Cody went and got Mickey D's and they had lunch in the nest with me. *laugh* OH how times have changed! (note to Candice, I did not eat McDonalds but I did eat the muffin that Robert Drake brought up from the city for me last night... I mean... it was a gift!) Love having my Cody boy around! He is doing great in school and enjoying his "new" car (thank you A.T.!). They brought me the paperwork so I can register it for him this week. I'm paying for the insurance for him as long as he's in school... and it's cheaper/easier for me to tag it here.

Mom and dad came back from "over the mountain" and brought me a sweet note of encouragement from Grandma. I put it in my bible so that I can save it. She's 85... and has had quite an adventure herself. She has a "sweetie" who is in his early nineties and in failing health so she is taking care of him. That's the kind of relationship I long for... one that loves unconditionally, regardless of what you have to offer in return. Some think that's impossible. I know otherwise. There are many in my life who love me unconditionally and they are a great treasure to me.

Austin and Devin had a great time together. The best thing about having Devin over is that next time it will be Tobye and Kevin's turn! Ha! I'm kidding. Having Devin over is much less stress than having some random kid over, since he's family. I don't have to use company manners for him.. I have known Devin his entire life... and his father his entire life... there is an adorable picture floating around my house somewhere of a preschool (and blonde) little me peering into a little crib at teeny tiny newborn cousin Kevin. We are so blessed to have family living near us, especially family that brings so much joy to Austin.

Today has been a fabulously lazy day. I haven't even gotten out of my pjs from last night! I haven't showered! I haven't even brushed my hair! The only place we've been is to the Ingles and to take Devin home. At the Ingles I saw my friend Pam and said, "I'm embarassed to see anyone looking like this!" and she said, "you actually look great". The old girl's still got it! I wasn't actually wearing pajamas. I sleep in these really comfy yoga pants and a tshirt... I threw a sweatshirt over it... and... well... there ya go... ready for prime time. Or something.

My big news for the day is that the Ingles expanded their salad bar! Woohoo! They also have an olive bar that includes such big city delicacies as marinated olives, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella. They also added a chicken wing bar but that kind of grossed me out. Chicken sitting out in the open air of a grocery store for hours... mmmm.... I'll pass.

Spread out in the nest right now: the remains of my dinner, my old (inoperable) cellphone which is now my phone book and alarm clock... the landline phone in case my buddy calls... the New York Times that Mr. Drake brought me... my bible... my remote control... even though I have my shows for the evening preprogrammed. Miss America is on tonight! It's not the same big deal that it was when I was a kid but I still love a good beauty pageant. I always think about the movie, Drop Dead Gorgeous with Kirsten Dunst.

I didn't quite get laundry done today but I carried the dirty laundry into the laundry room... that was a start. Cody fixed my vacuum cleaner today... so I need to vacuum. Austin is dead tired so I'm giving him a little break from chores. Tomorrow will be a pretty full day for us... church in the morning, bible drill at 5pm for Austin, church at night... and in between I'll try to straighten up a bit. Today is R&R day for me. As soon as the construction on the office is finished I'll be working most Saturdays... which will mean that there won't be any day of the week that I have to totally chill. This is both good and bad... staying busy is great... getting worn out and run down is a bummer.

Soooo... that's the news from the nest for today. It's not always high drama!
love and hugs, y'all!