Random thoughts...

**So it's not that early but I am still dragging this morning...why? Imagine this...sound asleep, I mean really asleep, and all of a sudden you're awake. What was that noise (question from Brian...me still sleeping)? So I wake up and listen...Beep...I groan, he questions again and I reply...it's the smoke detector. Yes, at 1:30 in the morning the smoke detector decided the battery was just a little too low for it's liking and proceeded to beep incessantly. So out came the ladder and 2 new batteries later, I climbed back in bed grumbling, but ever so thankful I started a random battery box. Otherwise, we'd never have been able to go back to sleep! **I changed my name at work a couple of weeks ago and have had to fight off a little panic. The computers display the name of the person logged in and our initials display on bottles to show who was on duty. All of that has changed. I have had a few moments where I see Ashley Thompson on the computer and start to think I'm logged in here aren't I? And the first time I saw ATh on a bottle I just about sent it back to reprint the label. Talk about getting confused...:P **Due to schedules, I've missed a fair amount of the Olympics. I've recorded a good bit and plan on catching up some tonight. But it dawned on me that the first Olympics I truly remembered was 20 years ago. Then, I started to feel very old!!

1 and 4

This past weekend we packed up the boat, the dogs, and some birthday presents!  We headed to Decatur to celebrate my niece and youngest nephew's birthdays.  We had a chance to have some "adult" time Friday evening when we got there and then it was party day!

We have been wanting to take the kiddos (and Alli and J) out on the boat for a while now and seized an opportunity to do so this weekend.  We went to Lake Wheeler and played around for a little bit.  Conner was fearless as always and wanted to do everything (including climbing out of the boat before anyone could "help" him).  Lee was not so sure as she is afraid of water.  She spent a good bit of time in peoples laps and it took quite a bit of coaxing to get her in the water (it was boiling hot).  But once she relaxed she seemed to enjoy herself.  Both got a chance to "drive" with Uncle Brian and the adult men knee-boarded a little bit!  We then headed back to set up for the party, including a bounce house:)

Took his driving very seriously

She didn't really want to drive, just to sit:)

Brian's attempt

Jason's attempt

Feel the wind blowing his hair:)

The party was a great success as was the bounce house.  Conner blew out Lee's candles for her (so we had a repeat blow) and Ethan discovered that cake is a REALLY good thing to eat.  Lots of family was on hand to celebrate and some of their new friends were able to come as well. 

Lake Dogs

The last few weeks have flown by!!  We have been working a lot between the two of us and we have found ourselves in August (almost)!!  We started earlier in the summer by taking the dogs out on the boat.  This was Ada's second time and Elli's first.  

They both have "life" jackets (thanks to my fear that they would just sink) and we took LOTS of towels!  Needless to say, neither was terribly excited about being in the water, but Elli handled it much better than Ada.  Elli's instincts at least kicked in and she started trying to swim for land:)  Ada, on the other hand, tries to climb on your head and has no coordination to her swimming stroke;)  

They both really enjoy cruising on the boat and letting their ears flap in the wind though!  All in all a successful lake trip that gives us a little hope that we may have some lake dogs at some point!:)

One last dip before we left

Convelescant Day

That is exactly what has happened to my last 2 days off from work.  What I originally thought was just some allergies, turned into something much more painful while I was at work Tuesday (sore throat, headache, earache, but strangely no sinus issues).  So, I have doctored myself over the last 2 days with marginal benefits.  Brian and I have decided I have a virus as I'm showing no signs of an infections, but man does my throat hurt and boy do I NOT want to do anything (Brian has been quarantined to ensure he does not get this stuff- sad, I know).  So, instead, yesterday I took a 3 hour nap, felt guilty for being lazy and not getting anything done, made friends with tylenol and advil, and tried the chicken noodle soup thing.  When Brian got home, we continued the laziness (which was totally fine) and finished a show we have been watching (will tell you about it in a second).  When I say we finished the show, I mean we had 4 one hour episodes left and we watched them all...we couldn't pass up moving to the next episode as we were constantly left hanging!;)  So today, I realized just how little I actually did yesterday, so today has been a 50/50 day- doing stuff that doesn't require much exertion from me- ie laundry.  Hoping this laying low will put me back on my A-game tomorrow! ( I still won't deny that I cringe every time I have to swallow.)  The weather has helped as well, so rainy and stormy (my grass is extremely happy)!!

So onto the show we have been watching.  Brian has introduced me to something dangerous since we started dating...it's called netflix (streaming to be exact).  We are also able to stream from amazon prime...so if we could stream sports live on either one we could get rid of cable (too bad this isn't possible)  He and I like to watch movies.  So much so that when we watch regular tv we generally record it so we can fast forward through the commercials (therefore, i don't know what anyone is advertising anymore)!  So, we got pretty engrossed on a Starz miniseries and discovered we finished all the available episodes.  So, we went in search of another miniseries to fill our time.  We had heard some things about Downton Abbey and decided to give it a shot. 

Oh my...what a great show!!  The story line develops very well and totally sucks you in before you even realize it.  You find yourself justifying why you can stay up another hour so you can see what happens.  *sigh*  It really is a great show.  The only bad thing is, we now have to wait until January for the 3rd season to come out.  So, we are back to our original dilemma...we need another miniseries to watch...sad, I know, but we enjoy it.  

Otherwise, it has been a pretty good week.  We had some family in town this past weekend and enjoyed hanging out, grilling out, and shopping.  It was fun to play hostess and it forced me to get the house back in order.  I also tried out a new recipe from my grandmother- peach enchiladas- oh my, so good!  Brian is still talking about them!:)  I'll make them again soon and post the recipe with a pic (they didn't last all that long).  Elli and Ada also got to meet Savanna (a choc lab).  It seemed iffy at first if Ada would be nice, but she learned to tolerate the big brown dog.  Elli on the other hand seemed to like her alot (usually it is opposite).  Thankfully, Savanna is a pretty laid back pooch and didn't seem to mind too much that Ada was copping an attitude (though I minded and was correcting her every chance I got).  I think next on their list is to meet some cats!:)