I can pull up on everything now! 

These are my new big boy pajamas... 

Happy Birthday to me- I'm nine months old today!! 

When do I get to go back to the pool?  

I'm learning how to splash in the baby pool. 

My first car! 

This is like a big bathtub so far! 

I can't wait to jump in!! 

Pool time!

Daniel gets to try out the swimming pool in approximately one hour. He's asleep right now!

Dave is watching Star Wars episode IV, since we saw III last night. It's amazing how seamless the two flow together, even the actors resemble each other!

I'll try to post some pictures later of the pool adventure. Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day weekend

Not too much going on here.... Dave and Daniel are heavy into the zzzzzzzzzzs right now. I love naptime.

Scored some clothes for Daniel on ebay this morning. Paid $7 total for 8 pieces. I needed the 4 pairs of shorts in the lot but ended up with some other cute stuff too. I love ebay, but it drives me nuts when I see prices that exceed what I would pay new for something.

We're going to a surprise birthday party tonight, I'm giving a baby shower here tomorrow, we might go see "Star Wars" on Sunday night, and we don't have big plans for Monday yet.

Dave's just happy to be home for three days. He didn't get home until 1:30am the other night.

And we don't have the van back yet. tick tock....

ps another confession

That last post is for whoever left a blog comment under the name Randy Jackson.

I didn't know until Tuesday night there is actually an American Idol judge named Randy Jackson.

I had thought some random stranger found my blog interesting and was just making a comment.

Now I'm really going to bed.

confession

So I did watch about 45 minutes of American Idol on Tuesday night. I did NOT watch the finale on Wednesday night, but I did watch the "Today" show segment this morning about the winner. I did form an opinion that neither candidate was anything special, but Carrie had an edge on voice quality. Bo had a better stage presence.

So there, I've gotten it out there. I can go to sleep in peace tonight.

Dave is never coming home! His flight tonight was scheduled to arrive at 8pm, then he called and said 10pm, then he called again and said 11:30pm, now southwest.com says 12:06am. I'm going to bed....

Love and Germs (Part 2)

So far it's Nasty Germs=2, me=0 this year. See my March 11 post. I swear I am at Walgreens pharmacy every other day, or at least weekly (last week was Daniel's croup). I finally quit trying to get rid of my sinus infection on my own and dragged myself to the doctor this afternoon.

Our rental car smells like smoke and Daniel keeps crying because the sun gets in his eyes (tinted windows = priceless).

I calculated I have seen/will see Dave a total of 30 minutes between Sunday afternoon and Friday night.

The good news is our insurance adjuster left a message and he has already seen the car today and signed off on the damage quote. The clock is now ticking on Trickett Honda.

Now I'm going to get my drugs and hopefully a good night's sleep. No, I am not going to watch American Idol. Is it Friday night yet???

Run Flat Tires

Our van has special "run flat" tires which mean you can drive on them for 125 miles after you've had a flat. There's a special plastic core inside them. I remember thinking when we bought it, that is pretty cool, I won't ever be stranded. Unfortunately, I got to test them out today. I was coming back from a trip to Bowling Green to see a college friend who was visiting from Seattle. I took Grandma Carol with me to entertain Daniel in the back seat. Just outside of Franklin, KY, I collided with a rolling tire that had fallen off an 18 wheeler. I tried to miss it, but it managed to hit the right (passenger) side of the van. It tore a hole in the tire and messed up the front bumper with black marks.

The good news is the tire performed just as promised. I'm sure a lot of people passing me (I had to stick to 55 mph and I turned on the hazard lights) wondered what the stupid lady was doing driving on a flat tire. Dave called around and found the closest Honda dealership that had another run flat tire in stock (there was only one in Nashville- hope we don't ever get stranded in a small town!!) and I made it there with no problems.

The bad news is when I got there I had to file an insurance claim, my first ever, leave the car on the premises and get a rental car. This is the Odyssey's second trip to the body shop in 9 months, poor thing.

We'll see how this experience takes....I told the body shop manager about Crest Honda holding our van hostage for two weeks to replace a door and set the expectation right away. And this time I expect to get the parking sensors that have NEVER worked fixed....

Other good news- this accident could have been a lot worse and we are so thankful God was watching over us today. Precious Daniel slept through the whole thing.

Good Deal

I just have to share this one....

I have discovered the powder formula that Daniel uses is $12.96 a can at the SuperWalmart in West Nashville. I've checked at two other SuperWalMarts on this side of town and it is selling for $19.96. All other stores are over $20. We use about one can a week, so this price difference can add up! So, today we made a field trip over there to save $28 (4 cans). I was under the impression that all WalMarts priced everything the same, at least in the same city, but aparently not. Buyer beware, there may be a WalMart price war in your city too.

PS- I suspect this all has something to do with the WIC program in West Nashville, but I don't know enough about the program to know if it lowers prices or works like food stamps.

Kicked out of the Executive Suite!

Well, now they need my closet for a new full time employee so I've been evicted! They are obviously not ready for my leadership from this executive closet space. I do have to help our department practice squatters rights by not moving until the day before the new employee starts, so no one else claims this space. I already had a visit two weeks ago from a "space scouter" looking for intern space. She looked surprised to see me, like she was hoping the space would be empty. These people are like piranhas.

Actually, this will be my 7th move in six years, so I'm down to one box. Two moves ago, I decided I would be a proponent of the "paperless office" which has turned out to be a wise decision.

I'm moving in with our other new employee, who is a former colleague from internal audit many moons ago. She's an extrovert, so we'll have fun. I was getting lonely and feeling isolated anyway.... I cannot lead alone!

Coming soon....

From the FAQ section of www.starbucks.com: How can I request that a Starbucks store open in my neighborhood?Please refer to the Contact Us section of our Web site to let us know of your interest for a new Starbucks store in your community.

Been there, done that this morning.

There are seven retail spots available next to our new Publix store opening in June. There are three more spots across the street next to the Walgreens (to be built). We are trying to lobby for some specific stores that would best serve our interests (of course). Other nice-to- haves include: an ice cream or dessert store, dry cleaners, UPS or FedEx type stop, and maybe a Mexican or Chinese place.

What else would be nice to have within walking distance? Input requested! (if you send me a good business idea, maybe we can just go in on it together!)

This weekend wore us all out! 

Ahoy Matey! 

Our two favorite Disney princesses 

Daniel and Cousin Claire playing the pull up game. 

The seal in my house

This morning I woke up to the sound of a seal barking at 5:15am. It was coming from Daniel's room, and it was the CROUP! Coming off the busiest weekend of his life was just too much for his little immune system and the bug must have launced a stealth attack sometime yesterday. This was the one Monday I was scheduled to work and teach some classes, but flexibility is the name of the game. After a quick trip to the doctor and an oral steriod, Daniel is already sounding much better. The doctor says we can resume normal life tomorrow. I feel most bad about having to alert the five other mommies from our community group babysitting swap since Daniel was part of the "play group" last night during our meeting. So far, it's "no croup for you", since everyone else seems fine.

Unrelated but exciting: There is an HP media center PC on its way to my house within the next few weeks!! Thanks Johnny!!

Apprentice- not the FINAL episode?

Sorry for the delayed post here, but I've had four kids in my house since Thurday and we just got VCR #2 re-installed downstairs. VCR #1 ate "The Little Mermaid" yesterday and I had some very unhappy nieces on my hands.

First, let me say I am not happy about the deception of May 12 being the final episode. Then again, so we need a live finale? We all know Kendra is the winner.

To my other reality tv fan friend, we don't have thoughts on American Idol, because we don't like it. We just can't get into it. We've tried.

Gotta go bathe the two nieces. Maybe we can re-enact the little Mermaid in my bathtub....

The great Franklin Real Estate hunt

We have some friends in town house hunting in Franklin. It's a tight market here, so I've been giving them lots of advice (Yes, they did ask for it. I don't give unsolicited advice). It's brought back a lot of fond real estate memories from our last two houses. Here are some of them, in no particular order, to protect our realtor "friends".

You know you have encountered a poor realtor when:

• You can tell them how much the owners paid for the house when you are negotiating.
• They call you two days after you've seen an MLS listing and claim it is "brand new".
• You know more than they do about schools, taxes, neighborhood amenities and current issues (i.e., an electric substation about to be built behind a neighborhood).
• You know more than they do about any aspect of the whole process.
• They refuse to make repairs on the house you are buying from them and you find out the day of closing.
• They lie and say their client has to close immediately without repairs being finished because they are buying another house the same day (client stated later she was moving in with a friend).
• They throw their pen at you when your real estate agent confronts them on above issues.
• They get into a shouting match with the closing attorney that has to be taken outside.
• You smell alcohol on their breath.
• They still owe you money they promised to hand back to you as part of the sale.

ALL of the above are from our personal experience. We have quite a few more opinions about this process which we will hopefully put to good use next time around.

Good luck Amy and Derek!!! Welcome back to Nashville : )

Busy Mommy

We're getting ready for the "big visit" weekend with all Dave's family in town for his sister's MBA graduation from Vandy. Daniel is ready to see and play with everyone! We are also going to attempt our first pool outing of the summer. Dave's been gone since Monday, and I am so lonely! His flight was delayed tonight, but he is going to make it home- yea!

Usually on Thursdays, I run A LOT of errands while Daniel is in Mother's Day out. I think my previous record is 8 stops in 4 hours. A typical Thursday might include a combo of :

• grocery (and a trip home to unload)
• wal-mart or target or SAMS (I try to just pick one depending on my needs!)
• bank drive thru
• gas
• dry cleaners
• haircut
• hobby lobby oR michaels oR joanns
• library
• lunch with a friend or Dave (the two times he's actually been in town this year)

Whew! Sometimes I just like to see how fast I can run around and how much I can actually accomplish. It's like I'm playing in the amazing race, against myself. I know it's sad, but I have to make up my own adventures these days....

Tomorrow is an easy race, since I only have five errands on the list. Anyone want to race against me?

The Apprentice

it's Kendra, I just know it is....

I just know the Donald was not "bedazzled" by Tana in the last task.

Shoot, we have to tape it since we have a previous family-type engagement. This is risky since VCR #1 has eaten three tapes in the last week. I must use VCR #2.

I want TIVO! I want TIVO! I want TIVO!

The whole gang- Mother's Day 

Gotcha, Pa Pa! 

I love you Mommy! 

Mothers Day 2005

Under tremendous pressure to make my first Mother's Day something special, Dave rose to the challenge and took me out on a fabulous date Saturday night. We went to eat at Saffire, a restaurant in the Factory in Franklin, strolled around downtown Franklin and got ice cream (after we decided if we were in a Ben and Jerry's or Baskin Robbins mood). He presented me with a gift, something I've been wanting since Daniel was born. Well, I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you either, so you'll just have to look for it next time you see me.
Sunday was great- church and time spent with Grammy and PaPa Burden (just returned from two weeks in Great Britian), Aunt Martha, cousins Beth and Eric and significant others. It was nice to see the family, but Grandma Thelma was missed- she could not leave her home to join us.
Daniel says, "Ba ba th th hey"= Happy Mother's Day to all!!

Wanted: New Home Computer

Our 5 yr old commmpuuutteerrr iissss moovvvviiinnnggg vveerrryyy sllloooooooowwlyyyyy (and doing some other weird scary things). We must replace it before sudden death occurs.

Dave is heavy into research mode for a new one. If anyone has seen any good deals on Dell or HP, send them on.....I think he looking at the "Media Center" models.

PS- I have been led to believe "Media Center" includes TIVO ability. finally....

yes, this is my son!

I've had quite a few comments about the striking resemblance between Daniel and Dave in the baby pictures. The strongest comments have come from those who have seen Daniel in person and not just compared the pictures. So, I thought I'd better address these issues:

1) yes, I was just the surrogate mother for this dave baby.
2) I'm sure he possesses my brain power if nothing else (have you seen the study that proved men inherit their intelligence from their mothers?)
3) no, I'm not worried about that.
4) I've already called dibs on the next child. It will be a girl and it might just be a mini-Christina. so there.

Jenna and Daniel. Daniel :"But I'm not sure I'm ready for a girlfriend yet!" 

"24"

This is a big milestone- Daddy and Daniel survived their first 24 hours alone while I went to our church's women's retreat. They made it, and they even left the house to go to Sam's and Lowe's! I was glad Daniel remembered me with a big smile when he saw me on Saturday night.

The retreat was good- sessions were led by my old BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) teaching leader- Michelle York on "The Pleasure of God". Great thoughts on what pleases God and what we can enjoy about His wonderful creation. It was great to hear Michelle again in a different context.

I had some BSF leader flashbacks and fond memories while listening to her. I highly recommend BSF for any and all who want to study the Bible seriously or if you are a beginner and just don't know where to start. I can't wait to join again when Daniel is old enough to participate in the children's program.