Watching Hurricane Gustav

Well, here is what we are seeing as of tonight: Tracking Gustav

Predictions seem to indicate that the hurricane will be increased to a Category 5 by tomorrow. There are mandatory evacuations in New Orleans as of tonight. I still don't feel that we are in the clear yet, because this storm could very well change course once it hits the Gulf tomorrow.

Candace and Jeremy may come stay here with us if our place is looking like a safe place to be tomorrow. I guess we will know more within the next 24 hours.

A dancer in the making

We have signed Elise up for tap and ballet. She will have her first class next Wednesday, so we went out this weekend to buy the required shoes (and a few other extras as well). Dancing is an expensive hobby! But I think Elise will love it, and it's important to me for her to find something to be involved in beyond just going to school. This is a good way to test the waters with dancing - this class will be held at her regular preschool during school hours. If she really enjoys it and sticks with it this year, we might sign her up at a studio for more "formal" training next year. So far so good - she is very impressed with the wardrobe. I almost could not get her out of the leotard, skirt, and tap shoes this morning.




I remember my dance classes back when I was about her age. I think it brought back fun memories for my mom to go with us to pick out Elise's stuff today. There is a recital in May - that seems like so long from now! I'm looking forward to it already.

Ooooh la la!

No explanation necessary! By far the highlight of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. I loved every single moment...(sorry, baby) *wink*

I warned you that it would be boring...

I don't have anything exciting to write, but here is what we've been doing:

• Reorganized the pantry
• Cleaned out the "Harry Potter" closet
• Did a bunch of yard work, including trimming bushes, pulling weeds, potting fall plants for the porch, mowing, and edging (thank you mom for all the help!)
• Completed Elise's fall clothes and shoe shopping
• I have actually watched more sporting events than my husband during the past 2 weeks, thanks to around the clock Olympic coverage
• I've tried several new recipes, but still haven't found anything that Jamie likes better than my King Ranch Chicken or Chicken Spaghetti. I'll keep trying, though!

Now you are probably wondering what the "Harry Potter" closet means. My friend Angie nicknamed her closet underneath her staircase the Harry Potter closet, and I thought it was clever so I've stolen it. If you are familiar with the Harry Potter movies, you probably remember that Harry's evil aunt and uncle made him live in the closet beneath the staircase. Anyway, ours was a major disaster zone. I was afraid to open the door for fear of starting an avalanche. And frankly, I just couldn't stand the clutter any longer. I'm actually on a major decluttering mission at the moment. Jamie and I are contemplating a move next summer, and I can't stand the thought of having to move all this junk. I figure it will take me a year to declutter every square inch of this house in my (lack of) spare time, so I better get moving now.

The football team has had 2 scrimmages, and their first game will be on Friday, September 5th at home against Dayton. Dayton is ranked #1 in the area in the preseason, so it will be a tough one.

School starts tomorrow. I don't think Jamie is ready, but it will still be here in the morning nonetheless!

Elise is moving to the preschool room at daycare, and her first day is tomorrow as well. Normally Jamie takes her in the mornings, but I could not miss her first day of preschool, so I will be taking her. She will want to stop at Starbucks on the way and get vanilla scones and chocolate milk, so I will allow extra time for that.

That's about it!

Bittersweet Moment

Elise is a toddler no more. It's now official. It's really been this way for quite some time, but this past week she made the final step in the process of becoming a child instead of a toddler. We are now sleeping through the night without a pull-up and having no accidents. Some nights she even gets up and uses the potty and goes back to bed - all on her own without even coming downstairs to wake us.

It's amazing how you are just going about your life and all of a sudden, your baby grows up. But it's a good thing, a proud moment. Not only because she is progressing, but also because pull-ups are expensive. LOL

Hey, sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.

Irony at its best!

We had a rather eventful afternoon at the office earlier in the week. A series of shelves toppled over in our file room, knocked into the wall, and caused the entire wall to collapse (thankfully no one was hurt)! Of course this occurred on the very first day of our department's internal audit...Murphy's Law, you know. Files were everywhere, and we had a random sample chosen by the auditors of 45 files to pull. That was an interesting endeavor to say the very least.

And does anyone else find it incredibly ironic that we are one of the largest construction and engineering companies in the country - yet our own office walls are caving in??

My name is Melanie, and I am an Olympics junkie!

I absolutely LOVE the Olympics. LOVE. I look forward to this for 4 years, and I'm totally in my element when it rolls around. I have not moved from the sofa since the games began on Friday. Elise is actually pretty interested too, which is a pleasant surprise! Jamie loves it too, so it's just been a fun family affair to watch each night. I can't seem to find the time to put together a substantial post, because I am far too distracted by the TV at the moment! Mens' gymnastics finals, beach volleyball featuring my favorite team (Walsh & May-Treanor), and Michael Phelps in the pool tonight - it doesn't get any better than this!!!

Fairy Tale Confusion

Last night while Elise was playing in the bath tub, I was sitting on the floor next the tub talking with her. This is when we have some of our best talks. She was telling me about a story that her teacher had read earlier at school, and then she started telling me about Cinderella. She looked at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, the Tooth Fairy brought Cinderella her blue dress."

Tropical Storm Edouard

We are fortunate to be on the weak side of the storm, so we are doing well and just getting some rain and minor wind. The school district is closed today, and KBR ended up closing as well. I am curled up with a nice, hot cup of coffee - Elise is watching Aladdin - and Jamie is reading the paper. Bailey and Dexter are happy that we are all home so they can curl up inside and avoid the rain. So all is well here with us, and we are getting an unexpected day together as a family.

I hope our neighbors in Chambers County (which appears to be getting the worst of the dirty side of the storm) will come through things with minimal damages.

We now interrupt this marriage for football season!

Tomorrow is the official beginning of 2-a-day workouts. It's that time of year again already! I'm actually really excited. I love football, and I also love the fact that fall is around the corner. It will still be really warm here for the next 2 months or so, but at least now there is an end in sight. Fall is my favorite time of year, so I am feeling energized as it nears. I'm already on the look-out for fall and winter clothing for Elise. She's outgrown every single thing she wore last year.

Another nice thing about football season is that we get into a really good routine around here. Jamie has scheduled work hours on Saturday and Sunday of each week. I know that sounds like it would be a bad thing, but once we get acclimated, it works out really well. I'm a big creature of habit and a planner, so I really like the predictability of football season.

Jamie takes really good care of us all summer by taking over most of the household cleaning, grocery shopping, and chores, so I enjoy returning the favor during football season. It's something that I love about our marriage - we are each there to pick up the slack when the other gets swamped. Elise and I get into the routine of doing grocery shopping on Saturday mornings and laundry and cooking on Sunday afternoons. This is the time of year when I am the most domestic. I'm not much of a cook normally. It's not because I don't want to cook - I just don't have the time. We tend to plan activities outside of the house during the weekends of the off-season, and we just aren't around enough for me to be in the kitchen preparing meals. It's kind of nice to switch gears and become more of a homebody.

We will not have any major weekend plans from now until mid-November other than our annual trip to Dewberry Farm & my 30th birthday celebration. I guess that means my blog might get a bit boring unless you are interested in football updates or new recipes.