The New Treadmill

We (Jared) were finally able to put the treadmill together this past Sunday. Following this great feat, Jared and I rewarded ourselves. We went out to the Corns. Jared stayed in and watched football with Jamie while I went with Nikki to watch the very adorable Marley and Me. So far, the treadmill has seen one workout. Here's to many more!

Christmas, Christmas time was here...

There was lots of joy and cheer this year. We kicked off our Christmas celebrations earlier in the month by traveling to Raleigh, NC to visit with Jared's family. We followed it with our tradition of spending Christmas Eve Eve with the Corns. We always have a feast of Spaghetti and Meatballs and then exchange our gifts. Wow, how Eli and Atticus are growing. Atticus is all smiles (although Nikki claims that he throws a tantrum every now and then), and Eli is at just the right age to really appreciate and glow in all of the gifts that Christmas has to offer. The hit of the night, for me, was the Chocolate Mint martinis. They left me with a teeny headache Christmas eve morning, but it was SO worth it.

Christmas Eve I trucked down to Warner Robins (sans my hubby who was working) to celebrate Johnson family Christmas. It was a real treat because Crystal and Uncle Butch were able to come. We snapped this family photo.
On Christmas day, Jared came home exhausted! He'd only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before. He came home and crashed for a couple of hours while I whipped up a breakfast casserole (and played a little pathwords). Once I put it in the oven, I awoke my slumbering husband, and we emptied our stockings and exchanged cards! We'd each gotten our Christmas gifts prior to Christmas (Jared went to a Clemson game, and I got a treadmill).

The true treat of the morning was watching Jasmine. She was SO excited about her new bone and three new stuffed toys. She sashayed around the living room all morning so happy and so proud. She became even happier when she realized we were packing her bag and taking her with us to Eastman. She ran out the back door and sprinted to the Rav4, not stopping until she reached her place in the backseat and happily waited for us.

We jumped in the Rav4 and headed to the Joiner family Christmas. As always, it was a treat. Good food and good times with good family. After lots of coffee throughout the day, we were both ready to crash pretty early that night. We awoke to a delicious seafood quiche that my mom prepared (shrimp, scallops, crab meat on a grits crust...yum!). We exchanged gifts with my mom, brother and his girlfriend that morning. Again Jasmine was the hit of the morning. She stared excitedly at me as I removed each of her toys from the gift bag my mom had placed them in. She sat so pretty and at full attention. Jasmine made out like a bandit this Christmas!

Afterwards, we headed out to my Dad's house to exchange gifts with him. Once we got out to his house and inside of it, Jasmine could not wait to get outside and run around in the wide open. She sat at the door and whined and whined until we finally let her out. She had a blast chasing after the new toys that my mom had given her. When she was all done, Jared had to spend a few minutes picking sand spurs off of her. Once we were all done, we hopped back in the trusty Rav4 and headed home. What a wirlwind of a trip, but what a blast.

Go Thrashers!

We went to a Thrashers game last night. Our friends, Joyce and Desmond, had extra tickets. Wow! The Trashers stink this year, but we still had a good time. Some of Desmond's family (younger nephews and cousins) came, and it was a hoot to listen to them cheer and copy sayings that the adults were saying.

Womanizer Cover - Hilarious!

Holiday Madness

Why, oh why, did I wait until the weekend prior to Christmas to do my most important Christmas shopping? Am I getting old or what? I despise the malls. Jared and I went and split up so that he could pick up some stocking stuffers for me. As I am traveling through the mall and teenagers are running wild and people continuously bump into me, I feel as if I might break out into hives and have a fainting spell. The mall, the Saturday prior to Christmas, is NO place for me...not anymore. We gave up on our mall shopping, hit Kohl's then headed to the Corns so that we could fiesta a bit at the Mexican restaurant. Good times!

Today, it was back to the shopping. Then I came home to wrap, wrap, wrap and bake, bake, bake. I made my boss a basket which featured a coffee cake...made by me. I made cookies for all of the associates, paralegals and secretaries that I've worked with this year. These are money savers, but they are definitely not time savers. I'm happy to have most of what needs to be done, done. Maybe, I can relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday season...doubtful! :)

Hanging with the Fam

This past weekend we traveled up to Raleigh, NC to visit with Jared's extended family. We stayed with his aunt and uncle, Trish and Kirk. What a great time we had! When we arrived Friday night, we had a wonderful dinner of homemade clam chowder, cornbread and other snacks then stayed up late into the night talking and catching up. Saturday, even more family came over, and we ate all day. We started the day shucking and eating 2 bushels of steamed oysters then moved on to a ham with all the fixings and then stumbled over to a full dessert table. What a treat! My eggnog pound cake seemed to be the choice dessert if you wanted to get a little tipsy just from eating. Of course, there was Debbie's divine chocolate cheesecake along with delicious chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies by Grandma, frosted rice krispies and many other treats. Following all the eating, we played basketball and cornhole (Brad (Jared's Dad) and I were self proclaimed champs!). Later we were treated to the musical talents of the family. Simon and Nathan played a little piano then Kirk, Brad and Matt played us a little blue grass while Grandma Alma took a turn on the figurative microphone. It was such a fun weekend, I hated to see it end.

Deck the Halls with the Purintons

Jared and I finally put up our Christmas tree! In order to have my husband help me, I had to provide spiced eggnog. During one moment of decorating the tree, my heart warmed as I remembered that Jared proposed last year as we were taking down the Christmas tree. The holidays will always hold a special place in my heart. I will always be reminded of my special surprise proposal when trimming the tree.

Fun with Anna & Gracie

Jared and I kept Anna and Gracie this past Friday night while Keith and Carolyn went out to dinner and Christmas shopped. We had pizza, walked to the town square to look at Christmas lights and decorated cookies. It was a funfilled night. Gracie and Jasmine became fast friends by the end of the night, and Anna finally conked out despite her best efforts.

Got Rear-Ended Last Night

Last night on my way home from work, when I was likely less than 5 miles from our home, I was rear-ended. What a bummer! Luckily, I was fine and the guy that hit me was fine. Both of our cars had some damage, his more than mine. I felt fortunate to be hit by a nice guy. While waiting for the cops for 45 minutes, we discussed mutual hobbies, his education (going to life), my husband's schedule (he noticed our firefighter tag), and lots of other things. Good luck to Joey, and I am sorry that we met under such unfortunate circumstances. Now on to trying to get my repaired during the holiday season and holiday travel. Fun, fun!

Coffee and Egg Salad -- Yum!

On our way home to Thanksgiving, we had to stop so that I could go to the restroom. We were both in a rush, and neither of us had breakfast that morning, and we were on our way to a late, late lunch. Jared went in to peruse the snacks. He decided to get some coffee. After I came out of the restroom, he asked if I wanted anything. I looked around and saw some chicken biscuits in the back. I went back for a closer look and decided I didn't want one. However, while I was back there, Jared decided it would be a good idea to purchase a pre-packed, gas station egg salad sandwich. I swore that I would not touch it once we got in the car. As Jared started driving, he was having trouble getting the sandwich out of the pre-packaged container and requested my assistance. I told him that there was no way in hell I was touching that nasty sandwich. Finally, he got it out, had a bite and immediately decided to eat no more (and immediately wished he hadn't taken that bite). Then, he washed it down with piping hot coffee. Smart choice in snacks, babe!

Burning Down the House

Wednesday, when I arrived home, Jared had done a lot of cleaning. We were expecting my parents and Jared's parents on Friday, and we (we = me) wanted the house to look nice. While we were making the bed and changing the bedskirt, Jared through the old bedskirt out of the room, and it landed on our chest/cabinet. Little did we realize at the time that a candle was burning on that chest. It didn't take long for us to realize. Jared looked over, and there were flames flying high. He ran and grabbed the bedskirt and took it outside to smother it. Meanwhile, Jasmine layed on the couch and took it all in. I don't think she's cut out to be a rescue dog. :)

Big Burn III

This past weekend we went to Big Burn III. The Big Burn is an annual event hosted by firefighter, Mike Nolan, wherein we all gather at his house for a giant bonfire. It began in year one because the guys wanted to burn a fire safety sign that one of them made for a competition but later found out that due to a lack of funding, the competition no longer existed. Guys will be guys at the big burn, and it's a very interesting time. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

The 38's Crew

Esera having his way with the fire.

My Correspondence with Shirley Franklin

If you are local to Atlanta, I'm sure you've heard about the city's budget shortfall. As a result of this shortfall, my husband's life is, to a degree, more endangered in an already dangerous job. Minimum staff fire crews are not the safest, and that is what the city is resorting to. Last week, I sent Shirley Franklin an email expressing my concerns. I was certain that I would not hear back from her at all, but I was very impressed when I did. Below is our correspondence.

From me:
Dear Ms. Franklin,

I urge you to reconsider the recently announced furlough as it relates to public safety figures. After hearing public statements from fire and police personnel, it is clear that you are putting these noble men and women who choose to protect and serve our communities at grave risk. As the wife of one of those firefighters who depends on him to return home safely after each shift, I again oppose any reduced work hours that may put him or his fellow firefighters at risk, and I implore you to reconsider this decision.

I have voted for only democrats since I was first registered to vote at the age of 18 beginning with the Clinton/Gore ticket in 1996. What has driven me to support the democratic ticket is their desire to look after working class Americans. While I understand that you must push initiatives that encourage growth and improvement in Atlanta such as the Beltway, now is the time to protect Atlanta in its current state and it's employees rather than look to expand the city in a capacity which the it can not support.

My husband proudly and bravely serves in Atlanta even though after 6 years he is much lower paid that many of his friends that work in other counties and departments. Please do not make this a choice that he and our family will regret. Please protect our family as he protects your community each day when he goes to work by reversing your decision to furlough public safety personnel.

With best regards,
Sandi Purinton

Ms. Franklin's response:

I agree any cut back in public safety is unacceptable. That is precisely why I recommended a modest property tax increase to increase the city’s budget flexibility. The Council unanimously declined the proposal and left me to cut over $14 million from the budget in July. I made those cuts reducing some police vacancies but without other cuts to APD. Now the recession and rapidly falling revenues (12% in the first quarter) make it necessary to use $12 million from reserves, to institute a hiring freeze and to impose furloughs. Under separate cover I will send the report I made to Council last week. Otherwise, the city cannot operate in the black which would threaten our bond rating and the financial viability of the city for years to come. There are no easy answers in this case. I opted to be unpopular by proposing a modest tax increase dedicated to public safety to save the city from some of this pain. Without a turnaround in the economy or a federal “rescue/investment for cities” our situation only gets worse. As we start working on the FY 2010 budget to be adopted by the Council in June 2009 I hope the Council will hear from folks who want continued investment in public safety.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. SF

A Busy Weekend

This past weekend was pretty busy and pretty exhausting. I was so excited that we had much of yesterday to relax and recover.

We started off the weekend going out to our favorite pizza joint, Blue Moon, with our newlywed friends, Joyce and Desmond. It was a very fun night. I just let loose and enjoyed the good food, good friends and good drinks. As always, we got into a heated discussion about Michael Vick that made a few of the other tables cringe. What can I say? This girl LOVES Matt Ryan.

After a restless Friday night, we had to get up EARLY to drive down the Eastman for my great grandfather's funeral. While there, I discovered another fantastic family name for little girls...Nelly. My great grandmother was named Nelly Ruth. Jared is not so fond of naming our future daughter Ruth, so maybe I can talk him into Nelly. What a whirlwind, we visited with family I hadn't seen in years, stopped by to see my mom then it was back in the car and back up to Atlanta.

Once we returned to town, we stopped to see Tom in order to pick up the turkey fryer that he and Shannon are loaning us for Thanksgiving (so exciting!). While there, we got a tour of the GLORIOUS Vinings firestation. It is SO nice. It has a deck with a gas grill, and it also has an amazing kitchen. It even has an elevator.

We got home and freshened up then it was off to Kip and Kelly's 5th anniversary party which also became Kelly's 40th surprise birthday party. Kelly is, of course, a fabulous 40! The party was a wine tasting so we were able to take the wine that Jared's parents made. We also played a little stick the nose on the clown (akin to pin the nose on the donkey). Nikki won the prize, a MARGARATOR, for best food with some chocolate candies from Sam's. The car ride home was nearly as entertaining as the party thanks to Mr. Corn.

Needless to say, we slept like rocks Saturday night. After lazing around much of Sunday, we decided that we wanted to switch bedrooms. We cleaned our bedroom and tried to make it as "Jasmine-hair free" as possible. We measured beds and measured rooms, and we are going to make the switch. Tomorrow while I am working, Jared is going to do a good deal of the grunt work (what he does best) then I'll return and do the finishing touches (what I do best)! I'm excited.

Being a part of a historic moment...

Whether you are an Obama supporter or not, one had to be touched in come capacity by the result of the election and the emotions it stirred. I never considered the history that would truly be made by Obama being elected (when I supported him). As I watched a 106 year old black woman and civil rights leaders emotionally vote and watch returns, I realized what a tremendous moment it was for them...something our generation really knows little about. We only read about segregation and the civil rights movement in history books. These people lived it and were effected by it and as a result many generations to come will be effected by the outcome of this election. I hope and believe there are many positive results to come as a result of this election.

Good friends and good food

Tom and Shannon hosted a bunch of their friends for a low country boil this past Saturday. It was a good time. It was fun to get to know some other firefighter wives, watch some football, then relax by a fire pit.

They made their low country boil in a turkey fryer yet they have no plans to fry a turkey for Thanksgiving. They offered to let us borrow it, and I was thrilled. When we have our families over for Thanksgiving, we can serve up some fried turkey. The greatest thing about it is that it's one less thing for me to do (you can bet that Jared will be in charge of cooking up the turkey) and one less thing to cook in the oven in my tiny condo! Thanks, Tom and Shannon!

Six Months, Can you believe it?

Today would mark the half year anniversary for me and Jared. Before you make fun of me, we are not having any half year anniversary celebration dinner or exchanging gifts. It was just a fun day to notice and acknowledge. Yay!

Halloween

I went out to Nikki and Jamie's for Halloween. Eli dressed up the cowardly lion and Atticus was the scarecrow. Nikki and Jamie also dressed up as Dorothy and the Tin Man. They were the hit of the neighborhood. Jen, Joe and Ben were the spider family and all looked fabulous as well. After we hit the neighborhood party at the clubhouse, they went trick or treating while I gave out candy. Julie, Lee, Shelby and Claire ended up joining them on the trail. Jared was working so he missed all of the fun. Here are a few pictures.

Zac Brown

I can't believe that the same Zac Brown that I used to toast two times a week (Wednesday and Friday) at the Dixie Tavern is now being played nationally AND has a video on CMT. You go boy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGQ_F6QbB1I

2008 Pumpking Carving Fun

We gathered at the Corns for the annual pumking carving. Each year, we have an appetizer, a sampling of two chilis, a delicious dessert and pumpkin carving fun. This year I carved a witches face and Jared carved a bat. Eli made a light brite kitty cat. Jared and Nikki hated their pumpkins; Joe didn't finish his pumpkin, but we all had a good time.