Job Update

I'm happy to inform you that I have gone from being unemployed to being double employed. As of this week I have 2 jobs or as I like to think of it: a "real" job and a "just for fun" job.

The real job won't officially start until November 8th. I'll be working at the brand new Baptist Eastpoint. I've been hired as a part time pediatric speech language pathologist. I'll be working about 20 hours a week with two other wonderful therapists. I'm excited to be back in the provider position. I miss supervising a lot, but it's time for a change.

Job number 2, or the "just for fun" job started yesterday. I am working very part time (as a fill-in or substitute) at Sophie's Fine Yarn Shoppe . Can you believe it? Those of you that know me, know that this is a dream come true. I had so much fun yesterday learning the ropes.

Now I just need to find another "just for fun" job at a quilt shop and I'll be set.

Sally

Severe Weather Alert

Today was a stay in your jammies all day kind of day. The weather guys have been talking about the chance for severe weather for a few days. Our weather has been so boringly beautiful lately that I'm sure they couldn't help getting all excited. They interrupted the Today Show at about 9:30 and stayed on the air until 1:00. I have to say that when the tornado sirens went off I got a little scared. The dog and I were on our way to the basement, but we don't have a TV down there. I decided that so long as the electricity was still on I would take the risk and sit tight in front of the tube. Thank goodness the storm blew through in a hurry. 80 miles an hour is what was reported. The only damage I can find is a downed branch from our neighbors' tree that happened to land sort of in our yard. I was hoping that when we left Iowa we left the tornadic activity behind. Guess not. At least we got some much needed rain. I called Grace to let her know that the storm was coming her way. She said she had a safe place to go to just in case. Tomorrow it's going to be beautiful and sunny again. Can't wait!

Sally

Haunted Places Smiling Faces

Grace came home for a visit this weekend. There are always ulterior motives, but I like to think that she just wants to spend time with me. We took our usual early morning walk at the zoo. Probably our last one this season. It was chilly and not many animals were out and about, but all of the Halloween decorations gave us something to look at.



While away at school Grace has become interested in the paranormal world. She is a fan of the show "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel. So when she got home the other night she informed us that Louisville is home to the most haunted hospital in the WORLD. (Alan already knew this.) Waverly Hills Sanitarium is an old abandoned tuberculosis hospital. Back in the day thousands of people died there. Of course we had to go and check it out. We tried to find it Friday night, but thank goodness we didn't. It was scary enough seeing it in the daylight. If you want to read more about it, the Louisville author James Market has just written a book called The Requiem Rose , a historical novel set during the tuberculosis epidemic of the 1920's.

I understand that the people who own the building now offer tours and sleepovers. No thank you. I will have to pass.

Sally

OMG to the MAX

You people, and you know who you are, have been holding out on me. I just got back from a not very quick visit to my local HomeGoods store. Who knew? I've seen other bloggers mention HomeGoods, but didn't realize that it was such a big deal, or should I say good deal. Yesterday I discovered that there was a store very close to our house. I mean very. Like less than 5 miles. This morning I decided to check it out. I have to say that I was a little disappointed when I pulled in the parking lot and saw that HomeGoods is connected to TJ Max. I have always had problems with TJ Max. I just can never seem to find the bargains that others rave about. I parked and went in anyway, and boy am I glad I did. I found some of the coolest things for amazingly low prices. I hate to confess, but even bought a couple of Christmas things. I tried not to go overboard, but I just couldn't help myself. Here is a little peek at a few of my treasures. I promise I'll show more at another time.

Weekend with the Girls

Jacqueline and Joni, otherwise known as Joni and Chachi, came to visit from Iowa this past weekend. It was so great to see them and get the chance to show them around Louisville. We took them to all of our favorite places including: the zoo, the Fresh Market, the Kroger, the scary Halloween street, the Captain's Quarters, Mall St. Matthews, and the ginormous Joanne Fabrics. We also went to some new places that are sure to make it on to our favorites list from now on: Wild Eggs restaurant for breakfast and Churchill Downs. Next time they come to visit we are going to the races.

Sally

Friday, Friday

Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed. We finally got some real rain Wednesday evening. I love how everything looks and smells so clean after a good rain. I'm going to ask you to keep your fingers crossed again. I went to a job interview and left with a very good feeling. I hope to know if the job is mine by next Friday. If all goes well I might be working in this brand, spanking new building. It seems a little "posh" for me, but boy is it beautiful inside.

Maggie had another spa day yesterday. We have company coming for the weekend and the poor girl was one really stinky dog. I took her back to the same place so I should have assumed that she would come out looking the same. I hate to say this, but it's so embarrassing driving home with her in the car. I know that people are looking at her (since her head is always sticking out of the window) and judging me. I'm really not the lady that puts bows in her dogs hair. I'm just not.

I think even Maggie was a bit embarrassed this time. I could not get her to look at me for the picture. She looked to the left, she looked to the right, but never straight on and she's usually a sucker for picture taking.

At least she matches the fall decorations. No matter what, I still think she's the cutest dog in the whole world.

Have a great weekend!

Sally

Rain, Rain, Please Don't Go Away

I know it's hard to tell from these pictures, but that wet stuff on the ground is water, which did not come from our hose or sprinklers. I wouldn't really call it rain yet, but we are hopeful. It has been something like 55 days since we have had any "significant" precipitation. It is seriously dry here. Dry and dusty. It's hard to complain about having beautiful weather everyday, but what we need right now is a good soaking rain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that today is the the day. There is not another chance of rain in the 10 day forecast, so please keep your fingers crossed too.

Thanks.

Sally

Biker Mama

I sat around all day waiting to hear something about a possible job opportunity and finally at about 3:30 I'd had enough of the waiting. Thank goodness my library books were due back today, and thank goodness Alan pumped up my bike tires yesterday. I don't know what the weather is like were you live, but we have had a few absolutely beautiful days here in Louisville. I'm talking 80 and 90 degree temperatures. It's summer again! I took a little ride to our very cute library on my bright red bike ( I know, very green of me) and now I feel better. Maybe I'll hear about the job tomorrow...

Sally

Halloween Hullabaloo

So you think I've gone a little overboard with the Halloween decorations? You should see the zoo. These pictures do not do it justice. There are pumpkins everywhere. Apparently our zoo celebrates the holiday with a month long party. I'm not sure what the animals think about it, but one of the big blue macaws actually spoke to me today and what he/she said was "bye bye". I'm taking that as a hint.

Have a great weekend!

Sally

Girlfriends

OK, sorry guys, this post is probably not for you. I'm not really running out of things to say, but this is just something I need to share with all of my "girlfriends" out there.

Those of you that know me, know that I have a "nail" thing. Fingernails, toenails just not hammer and nails. The way I look at it, I can diet and exercise myself silly which let's face it is hard work. Or, I can just keep my nails looking nice and call it a day.

From December through June I sported acrylic nails. This was a first for me because I have been blessed with healthy, easy to grow, hard fingernails. I decided to try the "fake" nails to help make my life easy and most importantly because Alan and I were going on a cruise to celebrate our 25th anniversary and who wants to deal with polish and chips and all that? To make a long story a little shorter, I loved the nails but decided to have them removed in June before moving to Kentucky. I spent the summer trying to get "my" nails back to a healthy state of being.

Finally things were back to normal when my friend Jacqueline suggested that I look into something new called Shellac . It's a new polishing system that lasts 2 weeks. I'm not kidding. It really does. The best part is that it's applied to your own nails and there is very little filing or buffing involved. Are you still with me? The problem is that not all salons do it. So, me being the techie that I am I Googled local salons that carry the product and found Girlfriends Nail Shoppe.

Honestly, I picked it because I loved the name and I can really use some girlfriends right now. the shoppe is 5 minutes from my house and Kathy is about as sweet as they come. I've only been to see her twice, but I feel like I've know her a lot longer.

Just keeping it real here, this is not cheap and it does require maintenance, but to me it's totally worth it. I go 2 full weeks with great looking nails, and they are MINE!

Sorry for the info-mercial blog today, but I would feel so guilty keeping this secret to myself.

Have a great weekend!

Sally

Spooky

So, remember all of my cute pumpkin pictures from yesterday's post? I'm sure that you noticed how each pumpkin was purposely placed in just the right spot. Well, for the past two mornings I have looked out the window only to find 4 of my precious orange gourds rolled haphazardly into the middle of the yard. This is a very unsettling sight for me first thing in the morning, before I've even had any coffee.

Now I'm not naming any names, but Alan swears that it's not his doing, so unless we have strange creatures visiting our backyard in the wee hours of the night, I'm thinking it must be...... you guessed it.
I'm keeping my eye on this dog.



Sally

I need to get a job

Fall really came to Alton Road this week. The weather is perfect! Chilly mornings and warm afternoons. I love it. I love it so much that I got into serious fall decorating mode. When Grace came home last weekend, her response to all of the orange was "Are you bored Mom?" I've shown you a lot of the inside already, but here are some outside pictures. I'm telling you it's the total package.

Do you think it's too much? I think I need a few white pumpkins just for a little more something, something.

Sally

Yesterday

Yesterday Alan and I celebrated the 30th anniversary of our first date. Can you believe that? Truly it seems like yesterday, or the day before yesterday, but definitely not 30 years ago. Alan has a knack for remembering special dates. Actually he has a knack for remembering pretty much everything. That's one of the things I love about him. I can always count on him because I am becoming ever so forgetful. What I do remember is that 30 years ago yesterday we sat in the backseat of our friend Ricky's car on our way to the St Tammany Parish Rodeo and I fell in love. Really, it's true! Some things a girl just knows. These are the beautiful "Halloween" flowers that Alan gave me last night. I wish I could tell you that I cooked some amazing dinner for him, but I decided to keep it simple with meatloaf, potatoes and homemade apple sauce. Hope you are celebrating something special this week.

Sally

Weekend Wirlwind

It finally feels like fall here in Louisville. It actually got chilly enough to turn on the heater. The only problem was that the heater wouldn't come on. So, this morning I will call the heater guy and hopefully he will come out and say "it's just a little (inexpensive) problem" and then he will fix it and my feet will thank him.

We had a great visit with Grace. We did all of the things I mentioned in the last post and then some. After our zoo walk, we drove out to Huber's Orchard. This is a pretty big establishment. I think we were all a little overwhelmed. Next time we will know better. We purchased 2 large pumpkins for the front porch and 2 tiny pumpkins for the dorm. We decided to buy (not pick) apples and we also picked up some very, very, very yummy apple bread. I need that recipe. We took the long way home through Floyd's Knobs. It was a beautiful drive.

Grace's friend Jennifer arrived Saturday night. She and Grace attended Saint Stephen Baptist Church Sunday morning, as part of a school project. This is a huge primarily African American church here in Louisville. The girls had a wonderful time, even ate at the church restaurant. The service started at 11:30 and they didn't get home until after 3:00. That's a lot of church.

We also managed to watch a lot of football, golf and horse back riding on TV. I'm kind of glad that Monday is here so I can rest up a bit.

Sally

Weekend with Grace

Happy October! Can you believe it's here already. All of the holiday frenzy is about to start, but before it does we get to spend a lovely weekend with Grace. She's coming home from UK and I can't wait to spend some time with her.

I'm guessing that she's looking forward to sleeping in her own bed, not eating in the cafeteria and getting her laundry done for free.

Alan's looking forward to a walk at the zoo, a trip to the orchard, checking off all of the things on my to-do-list (well, maybe not),

and I'm looking forward to just spending time with my family. Sure do wish that David were here too, but he knows we are talking about him (big smile). These are some of my favorite pictures of Grace. She has grown up so fast over the past few years and we are so proud of her. She is Amazing for sure.

Have a great weekend!

Sally