Happy Birthday Grace!

19 years ago today, we were blessed with the best Valentine ever. The sweetest, most precious little girl. Her brother called her his "cute heart" but we called her Grace.





















19 years have passed by so quickly. You will always be our little girl. What an amazing young woman you have become. So independent, so confident and so full of life.

Thanks for spending yesterday with us.
Lunch at P.F. Chang's and Fiddler on the Roof at the Lexington Opera House. What a lovely afternoon.

Happy Birthday/Valentine's Day!











Mom

90 Days

I haven't talked much about my job. To be perfectly honest when I first started at Baptist Eastpoint I was totally overwhelmed. TOTALLY. Never having worked in a medical setting, the whole experience was foreign and made me feel very incompetent. I've been a speech pathologist for 25 years and I don't think that I've ever really lacked confidence the way I did upon starting this job.

Thank goodness the people that I work with were supportive and encouraging. It's a pretty close knit group of SLP's, OT's and PT's. Thank goodness Alan was also there to greet me with a hug and dinner when I finally would get home, usually frustrated with myself for being so slow to catch on to the computer system or the reporting procedures.

I was beginning to think that you really can't teach an old dog new tricks.

But... and it probably should be BUT, eventually all of the pieces fell into place and everything just clicked. I GOT IT! and now I can't even believe that it was all such a big deal at the time. This week marked my 90th day with the Baptist Health Care System. I had to have an official review with my supervisor and the good news is I passed and they are going to keep me, at least a little while longer.

Sally

Tea of the Week

English Breakfast Tea was my mom's favorite tea. She drank it in the morning and in the afternoon. She always added a "drop" of milk. Mom was not a coffee drinker. She could not stand the stuff. She even tried to convert my dad from coffee to tea. A few years back he started drinking a cup with her. I think it was just to be nice, because my dad is serious about his coffee.

When I was young my mom drank Lipton Tea, probably because it was the only kind you could get. She is from Boston you know, so I'm sure the whole tea thing for her was just a given.
I'm not sure where the Vienna Finger cookie addiction came from, but she loved those plain tasting little biscuits too. It just so happens that they are one of Alan's favorite cookies too. So in honor of my mom, (and because the box is red) this weeks tea of choice is...


Sally

More of My Favorite Things

On to the "sewing room". OK, so it's really the guest room, but for right now it's where I sew, so I'm calling it the sewing room. The room is not really one of my favorite things, but my sewing machine sure is. I have had 4 sewing machines in my lifetime to date, and this one is just the best ever. It's made by Brother and it's designed for people who love to quilt. It does all the regular sewing stuff too, but it makes quilting so much easier. My favorite feature is that it practically runs itself. I don't have to use a foot pedal. See the little red light on the front? That's a button that you use to make it start and stop. Super cool!Second favorite sewing item. See that fancy looking tool sitting on my sewing machine? Here, let me give you a better look. This is a fancy, shmancy seam ripper. It was given to me by my favorite quilting buddy Barb, and I'm starting to think that I can't live without it. Seriously. I sewed and ripped so much this past weekend, that I know for a fact that without this tool, the quilt I was working on would not have gotten finished. Thanks Barb. It's nice to know that your friends don't think you are perfect and plan for your mistakes. You are the best!!!

Sally

A Few of My Favorite Things

I thought I'd continue with the whole February is all about LOVE theme and share with you a "few of my favorite things" (I'm singing that just like Julie Andrews...) Anyway, I'm starting in the kitchen as usual. Do you guys spend as much time in your kitchens as I seem to? It's amazing how much time cooking and cleaning up takes. I guess it's a good thing that the kitchen is my favorite place to be. There's really not that much to my kitchen. I will say that the layout is perfect for cooking. Everything I need is within reach, plenty of counter space and open to the rest of the downstairs so that I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I've always wanted a RED kitchen. When Alan and I first got married, that was the plan. Somehow until now that just never worked out. I sure do wish that I still had the red and white dishes that we bought way back in 1984, but they just weren't meant to last through 2 kids and 4 moves.

I know that I have talked plenty about my Big Red Pot. But I do LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.

I also LOVE these cute little polka dot pots. I need to figure out more ways to use them.

Finally I thought you might like to know what my current favorite cookbooks are. I visit with most of these talented ladies everyday when I read their blogs. It's weird how it makes you feel like you know someone that you've never met. I would LOVE to meet them all. I wish I could spend an afternoon in their kitchens just soaking up the atmosphere and wisdom. Just in case you would like to get to know them too, you can visit them here.

Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Serena Thompson The Farm Chicks

Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa

Nigella Lawson Nigella Kitchen

Got to go cook dinner!

Sally

Happy February!

I don't think I wished you all a proper
"Happy February"!
I got so excited when I heard that the groundhog didn't see his shadow. Spring is on it's way...

In the meantime I'm still trying to stay warm and drinking hot cocoa is one sure way to do it, especially if your hot cocoa has the cutest little pink marshmallow hearts floating in it.

I picked up a box of this Swiss Miss Dark Hot Chocolate mix, because we all know that dark chocolate is heart healthy and since February is all about the "heart" and since I'm all about sticking with a theme it just seemed like the right thing to do.

I'm not sure that hot chocolate with heart shaped marshmallows is exactly what one should drink while watching the Super Bowl, but that's what I'm planning to have, and you can be sure that I will be lifting my mug in honor of those
Green Bay Packers.

Hope you have a sweetheart of a weekend.

Sally

Tea of the Week

There used to be a time when I would go to bed, fall asleep, sleep all night and wake up when the alarm rang. I'm not exactly sure when this simple routine began to change. Some tell me that it's stress, some say hormones, some say it's all just part of the aging process. Whatever it is it's making me crazy.

Now my routine looks something like this. I go to bed. I lay there for sometimes hours trying to shut off my brain. Trying to sleep. Finally I fall asleep, only to wake up a few hours later needing to go to the bathroom. It takes another long while to get back to sleep. The alarm clock (usually Alan) wakes me up. I go back to sleep for a bit and then the other alarm clock (Maggie) wakes me up again.

I'm sure that if I got more exercises, more yoga, read more boring books things could get better, but why go to all that effort when one can just drink a soothing cup of SleepyTime Tea? Does it work you ask? Well, that depends. I have to drink it early enough that it doesn't contribute to the needing to go to the bathroom problem, but not so early that the soothing affect wears off before I get through the whole getting ready for bed rituals. It's a dilemma.

I will tell you that it smells wonderful and at this point I'm willing to try just about anything.

Sally