tho one about my Halloween costume

Go to Tara's blog for a sneak peak of what we are gonna be today.... THEN, come in to the Hotel to see for yourself. We even have CANDY!!! come between 11:30 and 3.

I will have pictures later, so stay tuned!

the one about Kinoki foot pads

What do you know about these things? Brett and I have been SO CURIOUS! We saw them at Wal-Mart the other night and HAD TO TRY THEM. First of all, they stink to high heaven. Second of all, they stick almost too well to your feet, therefore, everything else sticks to your feet the next couple of days. But as far as their claim of "pulling toxins out of your body?" I think it is a total hoax. I think the sweat from your feet just change the color of the pads. I have been doing my own research on these things for the last couple of days and I am just not convinced. Brett on the otherhand.... he still thinks they are legit. Either way... you all know how I love gross stuff so OF COURSE I have to post pictures!!

Brett's

Mine

the one about a Spencer sandwich

Tara and I tease cute little Spencer at work about how we have a big fat crush on him. We talk dirty to him and give him such a hard time. We invite him to the "cold room," (that is where we go to drop our daily cash) and we always tell him we want to have a Spencer sandwich. So Tara made this bumper sticker and we snuck to the Hotel one night when Spencer was at work and put it on his car. Funny huh!!!
He loved his sticker. At least he said he did. Maybe he was just sparing our feelings, but he did tell us he would never remove it. Poor Guy. He gets totally harassed by not only me, but Tara too.

the one about the corn maze

I was so excited today to get to go to Quayd's field trip at the Bluebell corn maze. I have been so lucky to go help in his class every Monday and I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go on my first field trip as a Mom. We packed our lunches this morning, bundled up, (which we didn't need to do after all, because the weather was BEAUTIFUL!) and loaded on the bus. It seemed like we would never get there, but we finally did. One hour on a crowded bus full of 6-7 year olds was my idea of HELL! We took a wagon ride and all of the kids all got to pick a gord from the pumpkin patch. Then we had a little lesson on water and corn to prepare us for the questions we would find in the maze. We had a potty break, and we were off. Our group made it through the maze with no troubles. Luckily, the other mom in our group had already been, so she lead us. After the maze, the kids got to play on the slides, in the corn bin, feed the goats and just run around. They loved it! We loaded back on the buses and went to the Bluebell park for lunch. The kids got to play for awhile, then we loaded back on the hell bus and headed home. It was such a fun day. I am so glad I got to go. Quayd's class had like 6 moms that came to help. One of the other first grade classes didn't have one single mom help. Sad! Quayd has such a great teacher and I am so glad he has such a fun class. I am in charge of his Halloween Party on Friday and I can hardly wait!!!

the one about carving pumpkin

Yes. you read that right. PUMPKIN. We just weren't in to it this year, so we only did one. A "family pumpkin." Brett did all of the carving, I accessorized it and Quayd played with Lego's in his room. Aren't we lame???

Quayd needed a pumpkin for a contest at school and he wanted it to be a pirate. We did the best we could. We went to the Halloween carnival at his school last night to see if he won. He didn't, but we still thought it was cute!

the one about the Quayd show

Quayd made this cute Halloween thing at 4-H fun day and he was telling Brett and I how to make it. He was so funny telling us all about it, I had to get it on video.

the one about my pirate name

I had a very productive day at work. (Not!) I hung out with my new buddy, Spencer, and we talked like pirates all day then googled pirate phrases. It was so much fun. We laughed and laughed! He is such a cool kid. I can call him a kid, because he is one. He is only 20. He just moved to town to live with his sister. He came in to the hotel last week to apply for a job and I knew we needed to hire him the second I saw him. He is so much fun and he fits right in with all of us at work. He is so smart and he is catching on to the front desk stuff so well. We love him!!! This is him wearing the sweet eye patch I constructed for him out of office supplies.

This is my pirate name.

Bloody Mary Bonney

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

This is Spencer's pirate name

Dread Pirate Bonney

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

It was cool. You had to take a quiz thing and it generated your real pirate name. So, if we were pirates, we would be related! We are pirate soul mate-eys!!!!!

the one about Kan-suela

Since I have been working full time, I have really been slacking on my house work. I am not exactly the best house keeper anyway... but I have really had a rough time keeping up on it now. A few weeks ago, I looked around and noticed that my floors were awful, my walls were disgusting and the bathroom...... oh, the bathroom. Anyway, I got so frustrated and overwhelmed that I knew it was time to call for help. I knew I needed a house cleaner. Who is the first person I called? KANDICE! She is the best little house keeper ever! She will tell you that she isn't, but don't listen to her. She is the best. I told her what I needed and we worked it out. She comes once a week and I am so happy about it. She says she loves the extra money, but I love coming home to a nice clean house. It helps me SOSOSOSOSO much. She doesn't even know how much I appreciate her. I was so excited to come home today and find my nice clean oven, sparkling fridge, organized junk drawer, and everything else nice and clean. I took a few pictures to show off my super clean house.



Kandice is so funny. When I first approached her about this, she said she would like to help me out, but that there were a few rules. The biggest one, which we both agreed on and we are trying really hard to obey, is to not have it be weird with the money end of it. I know she doesn't charge me enough, so I try to pay her extra. I never want ANYTHING to interfere with our friendship, especially a "business transaction," so we are both trying to be really open, up-front and honest. So far, so good. Her next important rule was that she have certain cleaning products. She made me a list and I bought everything she needed, including a handy tote to keep it all in.
She also requested that I have treats on hand. Last time it was peanut butter M & M's (our favorite!) and this time it was my yummy cupcakes. She is not a big soda drinker, but enjoys a Pepsi on occasion, so I always make sure to have a nice cold one in the fridge for her. So far, this has worked out GREAT for me, and I hope it has been ok for her too. I love my little Kandice so much! She does a great job and I love that we are close enough that I don't even freak out for her to see how big of a pig I really am. OK. So I freak out a little, but it is totally worth it.

I wanted to share a few pictures of my fall decorations. I had to take them today while everything was nice and clean.

the one about the big 3 - 0!!!

thirty (thûrt-E)
Noun
pl -ties
1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and three
2. a numeral, 30 or XXX, representing this number
3. something representing or consisting of thirty units
Adjective
amounting to thirty: thirty miles
thirtieth adjn

Yah. I am 30 today. I don't really know what to think, other then.... HOLY CRAP! I AM 30!!!!!! 30 just seems so old. I don't really feel old, but it sure sounds old.

Here are some interesting things containing the number 30.
30 minute meals with Rachel Ray
The TV show "30 Rock"
The TV show "30something"
Thirty Years War 1618-1648
30 year Mortgages
30 30 is an ideal Midtown Manhattan hotel location, near Park Avenue
Thirty is the second point that is scored by one side in tennis

Some interesting things that happened in History on October 18th:
1867 - United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day. (Your welcome, Sarah Palin!)
1935 - Birth of Peter Boyle, American actor
1939 - Birth of Lee Harvey Oswald, purported American assassin of John F. Kennedy
Zac Efron born on October 18, 1987

Interesting things that happened in 1978:
The birth of the first "test-tube" baby, The signing of the Panama Canal Treaty. (Brett is obsessed with the Panama Canal, so I threw that one in for him.)
The top five shows of 1978 were All in the Family, Charlie's Angels, Three's Company, Happy Days, with the most popular being Laverne & Shirley

On the day of my birth, October 18, 1978, Grease was number one at the box office. And the number one song was "Kiss You All Over" by Exile.

I would like to celebrate ME for a second and write 30 things I love about my 30th Birthday...
1. I love being healthy!!!!!
2. I love being Quayd's mom
3. I love being Brett's wife
4. I love my family and friends
5. I love these guys... 6. I love that I am a woman.
7. I love that, even though I am not perfect, I have people that love me.
8. I love my car.
9. I love my job.
10. I love that Kandice took me out for a fun night on the town to ring in my 30th Birthday!!!

11. I love that while we were out, I saw my best buddy, Jay!!!
12. I love my new coat, Thanks Bretty!!!
13.I love that Cara wanted to make sure to be the first one to wish me Happy Birthday, so she brought me a super cute candy gift package. It was from her and Debra, and even though I thought I took a picture of it with my cell phone... I didn't.
14. I love that Brett cleaned the kitchen for me while I was out.
15. I love that I am going to go to dinner with my family tonight.
16. I love that Quayd still likes to snuggle me.
17. I love that Brett still likes to snuggle me.
18. I love that I have such a great friend (Kandice) and that we are comfortable enough with each other that we spent 1 1/2 hours skinny dipping in a hot tub tonight, just talking about everything and nothing. (Of course it was dark. I mean REALLY Dark!)
19. I love that my house is all decorated with my Halloween stuff.
20. I love that I was able to reference my birthday to a test tube baby. That is FUNNY!
21. I love that I was able to go see Nights in Rodanthe before it left our local theater. (Thanks Brett. It meant a lot to me that you took me!)
22. I love that my Birthday is in the fall. It is such a pretty time of year and I love it!!!
23. I love Diet Pepsi.
24. I love that Brett, Quayd and I have the BEST family ever. We are so lucky to have each other and even though having one child is not at all what we planned for, it works for us and we love it!
25. I love that it has been 6 years since my health/heart ordeal and I am feeling better than ever.
26. I love that I have been married for 10 years! Isn't that cool!?!?!?
27. I love that I have my blog so I can record all of these crazy feelings.
28. I love that I have friends and family who read my blog.
29. I love that Tara is going to cover for me at work so I can have the day off! (She doesn't know that yet! ;)
30. But most of all, I LOVE that I am 30!!! Seriously. 30 is great, and I am so glad I have finally reached that milestone. I love my Birthday and I am so excited that it is TODAY!!! Rock on 30!!!!!!!

happy birthday to me!

the one about new stuff at work

Sooooooo, my work has been super crazy lately. Tons of changes and tons of drama (all of which I am not involved in, YEAH!!).

We had a change in management. Our old General Manager, Jana, is no longer working at the hotel. Now we have a new manager, Marriah. She is awesome and I am so excited to work with her. I have actually known her for a super long time. She and Brett have been on the fire department together for a long time. Anyway, we are currently working on a big promotion for me, which is both exciting and scary. And a big promotion for Tara too. It will be good. Hopefully, I will have more details soon!!! So in between GM's, we had a "temporary General Manager." His name is Maine and we were homies. His assistant is Mark. We all got to be super great friends. In fact, on one of their last nights in town, Tara and I had a dinner/football watching party with them and our families. We had a great time. This is them....
Maine Mark

Sooooooo, that was a pretty boring post. Tara took that picture of the guys and I felt like I had to post it. But I really don't have anymore to say about it. Sorry! ;)

the one about parent teacher conference

Well, last night, Brett and I went to Quayd's parent teacher conference. I am so delighted to say.... QUAYD IS A GENIUS!

Mrs. Green talked to Brett and I for quite awhile about Quayd. It is so nice when your child's teacher thinks your child is as great as you do! She totally bragged all about Quayd and I was just eating it all up! She told us that he was a good boy in class, he sets a good example, and he is a quick learner. It made us laugh because some of the things she told us were SO BRETT!!! Such as, his handwriting. He can write all of the letters, with no problem, but he just won't take his time and make it nice and tidy. It stresses me out because I am a FREAK about nice handwriting. Brett, on the other had..... not so much. Mrs. Green also told us that Quayd just wants to listen, learn and be done with it. That is so funny because Brett and I do that too. It makes me nuts when someone doesn't pay attention the first time, so it has to be "re-explained." Brett is super smart and he loves to learn, but he hates to waste time. Apparently, Quayd feels the same way. He has lots of good friends in his class. All of the kids seem to love him, which doesn't surprise us at all. He has always been very friendly and sweet and he makes friends very easily. She told us that the other day the class was sitting on the rug and Mrs. Green was asking Quayd something. Everyone was staring at him and he told them all, "You all don't have to look at me." In their center groups Monday, Quayd's group were reading to themselves. His buddy, Rylan, was being very chatty. Quayd was sick of listening to him so he reached over and put his hand over Rylan's mouth. It's just so funny to me. Quayd is so much older than his age and in some ways, he is just like me. But in other ways, he is just like his dad. So far, it seems like he has gotten the better of both of us. It really is true.... Two wrongs make a right.

Anyway, Quayd is ranked number 2 in his class for reading and number 4 in his class for math. He has gotten 100% on every spelling test so far. His NWEA scores are above average and I am so super proud of him. He amazes me every single day. I often wonder if we did the right thing by sending him to kindergarten when he was bearly 5. It's times like this that I feel like we made a good choice.

I can't say all of this stuff without bragging about Quayd's WONDERFUL, AWESOME, AMAZING, FANTASTIC, ADORABLE, BRILLIANT, FUN, COOL teacher.... Mrs. Green. Thank you Megan for working so hard with Quayd and for being such a great teacher. We love you and we are SO impressed.

My favorite part of first grade is that I get to go in Quayd's class and help, like I did for most of last year. I told my bosses that I had to have one day off during the week and we chose Monday. So I go every Monday morning and work with their center groups. I get to do a fun activity with them each time I go and I totally love it. I get smothered with hugs from the students and I love that too! Quayd's class is going on a field trip to the corn maze on the 29th and I get to go along! I am so excited. I am also planning their class Halloween party. I love being a mom, and a helper, and I love my job for letting me do all of this stuff!!

I am so proud of my little boy. He is so smart and I am so glad he is loving school and doing so well. Good job, Quayd-er-ade!!! I love you!!!

If you would like to see Quayd's class blog..... click here!

the one about a false arrest dance party

I don't know why, but I have this retarded song stuck in my head. Bret and I saw this video on E! the other day and I have been singing it ever since. Stupid.

the one about itty bitty kitty

Brett and I are such suckers. Look at what Quayd talked us into. It was kind of a funny story. It came from my sister-in-law Danette's mom's house. Her mom, ReAnn, ALWAYS has kittens. Seriously. You would think she would get the dang mother fixed.... anyway. Danette had been wanting this one, but knew my brother wouldn't let her have it. She went to her parents to get some corn stalks to decorate for fall. With the large amount of cats at her parents house, he dad was really bugging her to bring one home. When they were loading the corn stalks in the car, her dad put the kitten in there too! She didn't even know until she got home and there was the kitty.

Now let me rewind a bit...... A few weeks ago, ReAnn brought a couple of the kitties to Danette's because one of her friends wanted one. Quayd saw them and BEGGED us to let him have one. He hasn't forgotten and begs us all the time for one. We kept saying no.

Ok, fast forward to last Friday. Danette and Brandon were unloading the corn stalks, and "SURPRISE!" There is the kitty. Brandon was, of course, annoyed. Quayd walked over right then and saw it. He said, "Danette! I didn't know you got one of the kitties!" and Brandon jumped in, "No. It's not Danette's. ReAnn sent it for you. It is your Birthday present." Everyone had a good laugh, but Quayd took it serious. He was SO touched that ReAnn would give him a kitty for his Birthday. He loves ReAnn, by the way. So, he came home with it, and we didn't have the heart to make him give it back. Danette and Brayden were a little sad, I think because they really wanted the cat. Brandon, however, was not on board. Sooooo, now we are the proud owners of three cats.

Brett wanted to be really mad about it all, but look what I caught them doing a few days ago....

Orange loves the baby too. They are together all of the time. Its pretty sweet. Look how cute they were all cuddled up the other day. They love this Lightning McQueen blanket and my pink neck pillow.


We finally decided on the name Itty Bitty. As she gets older, I am sure we will drop the "Itty."

the one about Jason Wright

Oh my heck!!! I am freaking out right now! My sweet friend Chauntue' called me tonight to tell me to go look at the comments on my blog post from yesterday about the great book I read, "The Wednesday Letters." Well, I can't believe it, but the Author himself commented on my blog!!!! Go check out my comments, if you wish... ALSO, My New Blog Buddy and favorite Author is having a contest and I need YOUR help! Go to this http://www.recoveringcharles.com/ and sign up to be on Jason Wrights email list. Where it says "referred by," type my name. Then it will enter me into a contest that I REALLY want to win!!!!!!! You can unsubscribe if you want too (but I can't imagine you would!) Jason Wright is an amazing author and I love his books. I finally have a day off tomorrow and I will be going to the bookstore to find his latest book, "Recovering Charles." Thanks so much, Mr. Wright for your AWESOME comments!!!

the one about the Wednesday Letters

I finished this book last night. I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! One of the best books I have read in a long time. I told my friend Janice that she needed to read it because it reminded me SO much of her parents. Janice, READ IT!!!! SOON!!! I got to page 82 and I was a little confused on the details and I was SO ENGROSSED that I was worried it would end too soon, so I just started over. I have never done that before. It was so super good though. It's a "Must Read!"

the one about old yearbooks

Shae had this on her blog, and OH MY FUNNY HECK!!!! I had to be a big fat copy cat. Check us out...

1976 (Well Well Well, I like 70's Brett. Yummy!)

1986

1988

1994 (No joke, I totally have a picture that looks just like this!!!!!!)

1970

Obviously, these are fake. But funny, huh!?!?!?