Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like Randy Johnson’s hobby. Randy Johnson retired from his job as a Major League Baseball pitcher in 2009. Since then, Randy’s passion for photography has filled his days. As he mentioned on his well-done website, Randy was a photojournalism major when he pitched at the University of Southern California and kept up his hobby through the course of his 20-year MLB career. I came across his website via his Twitter account and it appears that the man knows what he’s doing. This seems to show a softer side of Randy, who was known as one of baseball’s grumpiest players during his career. At 6’10”, he’s one of the tallest players in MLB history. He was a terrific pitcher...batters (and birds) feared him.

This week, I love the idea of ‘going Google’. I don’t have a laptop, but I would like one. When making purchases, brand loyalty often influences my decisions more than any other factor. Since I have an iPhone, I would naturally want to pair it with a MacBook, right? Actually, that’s not the case in this instance. I've been noticing what other companies are doing in the smartphone market – especially the phones that use the Android operating system (as compared to Apple’s iOS). Android is owned by Google and I’m a big fan of all things Google (YouTube, Google+, Google search, etc.). Can you see how my brand loyalty is sneaking back into the equation? So, I guess before I get a laptop, I will seriously consider getting something other than an iPhone – preferably a Samsung Galaxy S4. Then I could get something like a Chromebook. I really like Google’s Chrome browser and Google Drive’s ability to back up everything on a cloud service really appeals to me.

I don’t dislike my iPhone. But I’m very excited to see Apple’s competitive advantage shrinking by the day. Just like in any other industry, we - - the consumers - - win because healthy competition gives us the best products possible.

This week, I don’t like possums. I happened to look out a window the other night just in time to observe a possum emerging from beneath our ground-level deck. I knew exactly what this was creature was but my mind tried desperately to convince me that I was seeing a cat with a severely deformed head and shaved tail. Once it was fully out from underneath the deck, the possum paused in the yard to allow its eyes to adjust to our porch lights. That’s when I got a good, long look at this disgusting and vile animal. Who knows how long this…thing…has been residing so close to Graham’s little swimming pool? Who knows if this gross...thing...has drank from or even swam in Graham’s little pool? I don’t have the answer to these and many other questions but I do know that this possum must leave. A Google search informed me that possums aren't big fans of moth balls. Maybe that will work. I’ll keep you posted.

Not the possum at our house, but very similar in disgustingness.

Nashville and Auburn

A few weeks ago was my annual girls trip with three of my best friends from college.  We have done this every year since we graduated, and it is always a wonderful time to visit, laugh and encourage each other.  We typically go to the beach, but since most everyone has moved away we decided that Nashville would be a more central place for our trip this year.

Our rule is that only babies that are under 1 can come.... so that meant Graham got to spend a few days in Auburn with my parents.

I had a much harder time leaving than he did (this was my first time to be away from him), and from the looks of the pictures I received it appears that he didn't miss me at all!

I loved having a break and getting spend some time with my friends and was thrilled that Graham had so much fun with his grandparents.

Mr. Mac

A month or so ago I started taking Graham to the library for their weekly story time.  For the most part he enjoyed it.  He loved the songs and the bubbles at the end, but the actual story time was spent chasing him around the room or getting him away from the other kids who were sitting there quietly listening to the story.

I noticed this "Mr. Mac" weekly activity that was offered on a different day of the week so G and I decided to give it a shot.

Here we are at first.  Standing in the back of the room...just taking it all in. 

More kids start to show up, but we are still sticking close and not quite sure about it.

Starting to warm up.

After a few more songs....he was ready to go.  Not sure if you can tell, but he is standing directly in front of Mr. Mac.

No fear.  He even started to beat on the banjo case like it was a drum.

I think we may swap story time for Mr. Mac from now on.  I am so thankful that our library offers such fun activities for kids!  We will certainly be back!

Most Important Meal of the Day

Breakfast.  Some people prefer a full spread, others grab a granola bar on their way out the door and some skip it all together.   I would say that we fall somewhere in the middle...weekdays are pretty much cereal, Eggos or a granola bar, but we usually try and do something a little more special on the weekends and make a point to all sit down together.

When I was growing up breakfast wasn't a priority, but on special occasions breakfast provided some of my fondest childhood memories.  Once in a while my mom would make homemade donuts out of canned biscuits.  We (meaning me, my brother and my sister) would get to roll out the biscuits and make the hole in the middle which was big time fun!  Another breakfast memory was with my Uncle and Grandfather.  My family would make many trips to Auburn (where my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle lived) for football game weekends.  The kids would always wake up early and my uncle and my Granddad  would take the kids to get breakfast then go to the eagles cage.  It was awesome! 

My dad and I are the two early birds in our family which worked out really well for some quality father/daughter time.  Anytime we were on vacation Dad and I would venture out together and have a fabulous breakfast and enjoy conversation together.  Even to this day when I am home we are usually up before everyone else, and we get to share that time together.

With all of that said I was determined to come up with a fun family tradition that involved breakfast.  After tossing around some ideas we decided that we would attempt to go out for breakfast as a family every month or so.  Something to look forward to and a great way to try out all of the breakfast places around town.

Our inaugural outing was as few weeks ago, and we went to Hamburger Heaven.  The food was so-so (they are much better at burgers and onion rings), but the company was outstanding!  Looking forward to making many more breakfast memories!