A Trip to Texas and Yard Work

Does any one has foundation plants that appear to belong in a jungle, not in your front yard??  We trimmed the foundation bushes in July.  Gave them a serious hack...and this is what we had come October.

So we gave them yet another serious hack with the help of a certain little fellow.  Here it is - your only intentional bump picture.

 I also made a very important trip to Texas to meet this little doll and see her big brother.  She has the worst expressions.  It is like she knows when you are going to take a picture.  She will be sleeping with the cutest face until you try to take a picture - you get a look like this!

 Poor Elizabeth, she has my cow lick.  Her hair will never be smooth in that spot.  She also thought tummy time was for the birds and would give you an evil eye as soon as you rolled her over. 

Finally, a sweet face!

She is the most laid back baby.  She is happy to just chill, which given her brother's need for attention - this is a very good thing.  John is handling the transition well and is just upset that he can't touch her because he has had colds. 

And then there is this...

Oreo Cookie needed a bath after a weekend in a country and far too long without one (i'm not admitting just how long, but let's say it was about the same amount of time as the bushes, YIKES!).  As soon as we arrived from Georgia, I got Andrew to throw him in the tub so I can scrub the nasty boy.  Well, in true weirdo form, he could not figure out how to get himself out of the tub.  Andrew has to pick him up going in because he knows it is bath time, but you would think that he would willingly jump out.  Heck no.  He spent a solid 5 minutes crying and fussing and trying but wouldn't put his paws on the ground.  We are now going to use this as doggie day care, ha!

A Taste of August and September

Really, y'all - I have no idea what all happened in August and September other than a bunch of random stuff. 

Andrew took the Medicine Board in August, which meant the first few day so August were filled with studying.  The weekend after he took the exam, we went to Orange Beach, Alabama for the first time ever.  Around here that is a shock...most folks from this area consider Orange Beach their annual beach destination.  We thoroughly enjoyed our trip.  It is a great beach, wonderful area, lots of good food, and best of all - we had no plans other than to spend time on the beach and eat.  The only issue with the entire weekend was that it rained...and rained...and rained.  See...it rained....

 (and we take horrible self-pictures, ha!)  We spent most of Friday on the beach.  We had to sit through a brief sprinkle or two, but nothing major.  Then Saturday, the rain set in and it wasn't moving.  We walked on the beach in the rain twice, but that was our only time in the beach.  And I don't mean a little drizzle...I mean we were soaked...as in...it was pouring down rain, but we wanted to enjoy some time on the beach.

Overnight Saturday night and into Sunday morning, a massive storm blew in.  It had some serious winds, which seemed even stronger on the 14th floor of a condo building.  All was good and fine until just as we were getting ready to shower and dress to head home, the power went out.  And we were on the 14th floor.  And the elevators didn't run on a generator.  So down the steps we went with all of our luggage and special beer that you can't buy in Mississippi so naturally we stocked up in Alabama.  We made it in a single trip.  No one was injured and we made it back with our prized beer.  I have to admit - it was killer seeing all the sweetwater and not being able to drink one.

But it did stop raining long enough for us to enjoy dinner on the patio one night.  Sadly, that was the only night we were able to have dinner outside. 

 

Now when I tell you that our little boy is already like his father - allow this previous picture to demonstrate the issue with taking pictures for you.  Andrew HATES to have his picture taken, so he refuses to look at me most of the time.  Well, wouldn't you know it - the ultrasound tech was trying to get a profile picture of our little booger and he kept his face hidden the entire time.  The one time he did show his face, he was moving around so it is blurry.  I'm telling you - like father, like son.

At some point during August or September, I decided to start slowly cleaning out the house.  I am just trying to clear out some of the "unnecessary stuff" we have collected over the past 4 years.  Y'all, we love ball caps.  We were them for golf, shooting, hunting, yard work, when we don't feel like washing our hair (oh, wait - that's just me), etc.  Well, little did I know, we had a serious collection of non-camo (those are stored in a separate location with the other camo) hats.

 The ones stacked on the table were known keepers.  The ones on the back of the sofa were up for debate.  We ended up trashing all of the hats on the back of the sofa (I believe).  We cut our collect in half!

Then in September, Andrew went on a trip for Peds Board Review.  He was gone for week so I enjoyed a week of cooking everything that he doesn't like but love.  At some point during the week I (as planned) used up all my fresh groceries and was going to eat chicken cakes (think crab cakes, but with chicken instead) that I made and froze a month or so ago.  Let's just say that after one sniff of those suckers, I knew they were freezer burnt.  So I went in search of plan b which did not include leaving the house.  This is what I found...

Um...Houston, we had a problem.  Don't laugh but both the heavy cream and the milk were expired too.  Soooo....that left me with a massive selection of beer, diet coke, salad dressings, and cheese.  Yep, yummy.  The beer would have been more than satisfying but that wasn't an option, I don't drink soft drinks except for the rare Diet Dr. Pepper, I had nothing and I mean nothing to put dressing on, and same with cheese.  The pantry was equally as bad.  It was a sad day.

And that is a taste of the random stuff that happened in August and September.

The Blessing of a Nephew and a Niece

Because when you have a nephew and a niece and your sister tells you that she is done with kids - you get every single little boy outfit and bedding that she saved just in case her second was a boy once she finds out her second is a girl.  Then you spend an entire day sorting clothes in boxes organized by size...

 Then about 6 months later, you say thank goodness for a sister that saved everything and only had one boy because...YOU ARE HAVING A BABY BOY!!!!

Yep - Andrew and I are thrilled to share that are having a little wiggle-worm boy in March!

(even better - John was also born in the March so the seasons and sizes will line-up!!)

Um, Yeah. What Happened to August and September??

Without saying anything else - I have to share that Andrew passed the Medicine Board Exam!!  He (actually, we) is very excited to have successfully checked that box.  He faces the Peds Board Exam at the end of October.  I ask again, what kind of nut does it take to pick a program that requires two Boards??  Had I made it to med school, I certainly wouldn't have signed up for such a challenge.  

I'm sorry, but I'm not even going to try to back up and fill you in on August and September.  It was just way to busy.  I'm sure Tucker did lots of cute things that we have pictures of and I know that we took a trip to Madison (Georgia of course).  Honestly, y'all, I don't have it in me to back up at this point.

I will share this little story.  You know you are home in the country when you go for a run early on a Saturday morning and get passed by not one, but two, dump trucks hauling loads of chicken litter.  Oh the joys of running in the country.  I will say that there is nothing like a run from my parents' house to town and back.  I run down a narrow two-lane with no shoulder, just a ditch, then cross the (very uneven) railroad track, continue down said two-lane but with a shoulder and a (uneven concrete sidewalk full of hardwood tree root damage waiting to trip you), and in to the historic district before turning to head home (which is all uphill by the way).  It's plum beautiful to watch the sunrise, listen to the birds, and wave at old friends - but that dang hill, the sidewalks (which I refuse to use), and the narrow two-lane are what makes it a solid challenge every time.

And to bring you right up to speed - Andrew and I have been blessed with a niece, Elizabeth Gray.  If you ask me, she is just perfect (but I haven't pulled my weekend shift in Texas yet - that might change after that weekend).

Still Not Normal

I got this in a text from Andrew last night - our dog is not right.

Everyone else at cooking club gets texts with pictures of their kids being cute...I get this.  Let's be honest - there is nothing cute about it.

I also fall in the still not normal category this week.  I needed new running socks because my old ones have seen far too many miles and way too much sweat to even smell semi-clean, so I ordered two pairs of my normal sock.  Then I got brave and decided to take a walk on the wild side and order a new style.  Now that is bold folks - if it isn't broke, don't fix it - applies to shoes, socks, shorts, sports bra, shirts (any other s' word that applies to running) - you just don't change for the sake of change.  They said they are made the exact same, just are cut lower.  I had to do a side-by-side review to see if it was true when they arrived...

I'm testing them out tonight - I promise not to wear one of each pair.  We will see if they told a story.

July

When you wait a month before posting, your titles become really easy - this is the month of July.  Yep, creative.  I know you are impressed.

We had a wonderful visit with Mom, Dad, Vito, and Tico over the 4th.  They arrived in classic McGinnis style - dog crate tied down in the bed of the truck redneck style - it only missed duck tape - a tarp was involved - but both dogs were inside the cab.  If you know the McGinnis clan well, you know that we will never win style points, but we will always win the most resourceful contest.  I didn't know you could rent moving trucks until I was in my teens - but I'm still not sure we actually ever used one.  When you moved 7 times before age 15 in the same small town, you just move in the cow trailer.  Like I said - never style points, always resourceful. 

Anyway, this was the first meeting of Tucker and Vito.  They played for hours together. 

 

(Tucker is leaning on Andrew and Vito is leaning on Tucker)

 

We did interrupt play time to take both of them to PetSmart.  You should have heard the comments, it was hilarious!  Everyone was talking about the two HUGE dogs.  Little did they know, we were dropping the meanest one of the bunch off to be groomed...and he is only 5 pounds.  Once Tico returned from PetSmart - this is all we got out of him the rest of the weekend.

They brought us bbq and stew from the small town my mom grew up in - Bostwick, Ga.  Look at it on Google maps, it is a single flashing caution light town.  If you know me, you know I love the annual 4th of July BBQ in Bostwick.  Honestly, it is some of my favorite bbq and stew.  It was almost like being at home for the 4th.  It isn't the 4th without locally cooked bbq and stew.  We still have some in the freezer, but man do I hate to use it up, I have to wait a whole year to get more of it.  We took Mom and Dad to shoot on Saturday.  Gotta love a family that shoots together - one must assume that we will stick together.

 And yes - that is really Mom's gun.  She is only a little proud.

They both enjoyed playing with Andrew's toy.  When we got home from the range, this is what we found in the yard.

 They finally stopped playing and decided to rest for a little while.  Every night we would bring them inside.  Give a dog a bone and he will be still for hours.

 

We also took them to their first gun show.  That is always entertaining and it did not disappoint...such interesting people there.  As soon as they left on Sunday, Tucker assumed his position in his chair and stayed there for hours.  We had to force him to get down and go outside.

The rest of July involved a work trip to the coast, which resulted in a upgrade at the Hard Rock to a suite with a view.  Talk about a nice little trip.  Nothing to fuss about when you can wake up to this view and enjoy the sunset at night.

Andrew and I also celebrated our 5th anniversary with a wonderful dinner at Parlor Market in downtown Jackson.  The food was amazing - it is most definitely a spot we will visit again.

The Green Monster

I know you are going to be extremely sad to hear this news, but we had no other choice.  The green monster is gone.  Andrew's poor truck finally found its way out of our hair.

While it served us well (minus the brake light issues, the broken thermostat, visors without fabric, non-functioning power door locks, blinker set-up going out, somewhat functioning a/c, and most recently the catalytic converter going on the fritz), we (yes, even Andrew) are thrilled to have said our final goodbyes.

I don't give it enough credit - Andrew even says that it only broke when I drove it because I was mean to it - it did have 106,000 miles on it and only once did it not crank (but you could not guarantee you would have brake lights).

So as we close this chapter of med school and residency, we open the next chapter of life with a new truck, ha!  Allow me to be the first to say, I love the new truck and I promise to never, ever speak badly of it because I hate to think we the ol' green monster did to me.

In case you were concerned - yes, it fits in the garage

and yes, we like white vehicles with tan interior!