Checking In

Okay, I've been not-so-subtly reminded that i need to post, so here it is. Lots of doin's in my world!

I'll start around where I posted last.

I took AbiLyn to Rock City on July 2. It was her first trip there, and she had a great time! We were in the Fairyland Caverns, where they have dioramas of different Mother Goose stories, and there are little backlit plaques with the story you're looking at on them. I read a couple to AbiLyn that I thought she might know, and as we continued around the room, she would just tap each little sign with her finger...her way of telling me to read it, please. It was so demanding in a cute way! I was of course happy to oblige. We stopped at a picnic spot on the way down Lookout Mountain, but the one family that was there when we arrived left, and we were the only ones there in a rather secluded place. It was very interesting to try to get AbiLyn to leave without making her scared. I don't know why I felt nervous, but we got out of there and stopped for ice cream at the bottom of Lookout Mountain.

On July 3 a friend of David's from work hosted a lovely pool party at his home. They have one of the most gorgeous backyards I've ever seen...fountains, swimming pool, hot tub, sound system. It was great. I played my first game of water volleyball. Luckily, I had some very good teammates. They also had smoked some chickens and ribs that were fantastic. It was a perfect kickoff to the holiday weekend.

We went to the lake of course on Fourth of July, and had a wonderful time with both sets of grandparents and my aunt, uncle, and cousins (the Lees). Liz and Carla also brought their dogs with them, and they were very well behaved. The Drokes are now the proud owners of a Great Pyrenees mix named Caesar and the Davises have a little mixed rescue puppy named Shelby. They'll certainly be a fun addition for many lake trips to come. David, with the help of the Lee men, put on another amazing fireworks display which we viewed from the water! Beautiful!

When I got back to work after the long Fourth of July weekend, I was greeted with the wonderful news that I was being promoted. I've moved up a notch in the Appalachian Underwriters world to Underwriter Assistant. I'm still training, but I'll be working with a super-nice underwriter. It's a great opportunity to learn a lot and really make myself indispensible, and therefore get some much-needed job security in these nerve-wracking times.

Since then, I've been working a lot, spending time at the neighborhood pool, and reading. I'm getting ready to get some projects done around the house. I need to update some of our family portraits, and I'm going to attempt painting some laminate bookshelves. I've done my research, so we'll see how it goes.

We're supposed to have an outdoor family night at Siegel Park tonight and play sand volleyball. I don't know if the weather is going to cooperate, but if not, it'll be indoor games at our house. (Still, I have to go to Wal-mart on lunch to find the cheapest volleyball I can.) Should be interesting! I'll try to remember to take my camera tonight.

I may post some pictures later today, but for now, I'll bid farewell. Not for long, though...I promise.

Oh, in the meantime, check out my sister's new blog. It's in the sidebar...Much Ado and Blessings Too. She is the Mom of the famed AbiLyn and Lex that you read so much about here.

Ta-Ta!