May Blessings

Yes, I'm running a week late on this post for May.  I've kinda been busy getting the house ready to sell, so without further ado, here are the blessings I'm counting from last month:

• Mother's Day brunch hosted by my sister Mary and her fiance Paul with lots of enjoyable conversation on the back porch on a beautiful afternoon (plus entertainment provided by one particularly adorable dachshund and her pink racquetball)
• My last day of work (May 17) and the beginning of voluntary unemployment, which for the first two weeks consisted of back-breaking work like painting, yardwork, packing, moving boxes into storage, and cleaning just about everything in our house.
• Girls' Night Out at the Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta and lots of fun comments about taking Hot Hamlet home in our trunk...
• A pleasant birthday afternoon spent stitching with the ladies at PINS and a birthday date night with my husband to see Star Trek: Into Darkness in 3D on the IMAX screen.  Yes, I am not ashamed to be a Star Trek fan!
• Brunch with my in-laws at Ray's on the River (my first time there) to celebrate the May birthdays of me and my SIL--any excuse to get together with family and to see our three adorable nieces!

Counting My Blessings #1

After an emotional rollercoaster of a week, I thought it might be nice to try a new weekly post for me to "count my blessings" instead of getting fixated on all of the unknowns that have been stressing me out lately.  It's a way for me to reflect on the positive things that made me smile this week.

1. Tea time with my favorite youngest sister last weekend and the smell of the new tea flavor I picked up while we were there: Mango Paradise 
2. I'm slowly swapping out all of our brass fixtures in preparation for putting the house on the market, and I managed to purchase all of the replacement light fixtures for inside our house for under $100--yay!
3. Adding a few books to my "to read" pile because of a discussion at Book Club: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (no, I've never read this classic), Around the World in Eighty Days by Michael Palin (someone who actually traveled the route of the novel), and Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman (a fictional account of two female journalists racing to complete the book's journey)
4. Dave finally got his vacation approved!  Now I can actually make reservations at the Eight Gables Inn... if they get some spring specials posted soon ;-)
5. This text picture of my niece puppy, Layla.  I guess she was cold and tired, and I can totally relate!

Mommy, it's past my bedtime...

Better than the Superbowl?

While my father and my husband watched the end of the Superbowl, my mother, my sister, and I were having fun at the expense of poor Layla, who just wanted to recover her ball from under the kitchen cabinets. Too bad she was afraid of Rufus!

Furry Favorites

I got a new cell phone in the mail today, so I'm clearing pictures off of my old phone. Here are a bunch of my favorites of pets past and present...

My hammie, R.B. "Arby" Hayes

HistoryDiva's guinea pig, Neville (her old picture ID)

Ralph and Booger watching me eat (picture ID for the parents)

Bum Ralph (picture ID for Dad's cell)

Booger, the contortionist dog (picture ID for Sarah)

Layla and her beloved squeaky ball (picture ID for Mary)

Garfield as a baby hammie

Friday Funny

Dave made sure that we got to go see "How to Train Your Dragon" last weekend. It was very cute, especially the tiny dragons that reminded me of Layla.

Friday Funny

It's below freezing, and Layla *still* wants to play ball? Good luck getting a snow-covered metal lizard to help you with that, LayWray...

Thanks for the picture, Mary!

Ball!

It's my niece-puppy, Layla, and her squeaky ball!

Resistance is Futile

Or Layla chasing a red dot around the living room...

Brain Swap?

What would happen if Ralph were to wake up from one of his innumerable naps with Layla's brain...

Layla's New BFF

Dave quickly figured out how to keep Layla entertained...

Fetch!

All Layla wants for Christmas is a fetching machine !

Thanks to Layla's mama for this hillarious PeoplePets article!

Happiness

This would be Layla if it was a ball in her mouth...

"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."

Ben Johnson

My Babies

I got to spend some quality time with my "babies" this past weekend. Layla, my squeaky ball obsessed niece-puppy, was very entertaining with her new favorite toy: a giant squeaky crab with a hole in the middle that was just big enough for her head. The hole was also great for hanging the toy on your foot and pulling Layla up off of the ground while she tried to wrestle it away from you.

Booger, my other niece-puppy, was much more laid back. Once she had been greeted with pats and kisses, she turned herself into a giant dog-skin rug in random corners of my sisters' living room. I guess she was sad that her mama wasn't home.

I can't forget Ralph, even though technically he's not a "baby" (after all, he's at least 12 years old). He was happy when we got back to the parents' house because we had brought a pizza. And there is nothing Ralph likes more than a pizza box--except maybe a French fry in a Wendy's bag or licking Dad's dessert dish clean.