Just Another Saturday

Just got Jack down for a nap and thought I'd get in a quick post. We've had a busy couple of days. Saturday morning we headed down to Athens for a few hours. We started by dropping Jack off at my mom & dad's house, then we headed downtown to meet the Forets for lunch. Ryan & Elise live in Greenwood, where Ryan is finishing his final year of residency. He & Josh worked together for a year there. They both went to LSU and are actually headed back to the bayou and closer to family when Ryan begins his practice in a few months. They decided to spend the weekend in Athens to celebrate Elise's birthday and take in part of the UGA/LSU baseball series. They invited us to join them.

We had a yummy lunch at East West Bistro downtown before heading to the game. With the temperature hovering around 72, it was a gorgeous day for baseball. It was warm, but not uncomfortable...we'll save that for football season. It started off shaky with the second batter jacking a homerun, but the dawgs answered with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the first. We had to scoot a little early to make it back for a birthday party, but felt confident in the dawgs 6-2 lead. They ended up winning 10-8 (so we missed some drama), but unfortunately it was the only win of the 3-game series for the dawgs. Here's to hoping they bounce back against Arkansas this coming weekend.

After picking up Jack, we headed back towards home to join Andrew's first birthday celebration. The weather was beautiful back home too. Everyone was enjoying the afternoon out on the newly expanded deck at the York's house. Andrew enjoyed seeing his gifts, but I think eating his cake was his favorite part! We all enjoyed it too!

After we left the party we headed home, where my little sister, Emily, was waiting on us. She had agreed to drive up to watch Jack for us while we headed to the Rotary Club's Casino Night fundraiser. We had a great time. Josh got an education in Craps from Spencer Carr, while his wife Nancy & I tried our hands at Black Jack. Thanks to a very kind dealer, I had quadrupled my money by the end of the night. Josh was pleased to have doubled his and may be a little braver next time we go to Vegas. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves until we spotted folks with gobs of tickets (representing tens of thousands...about 20 times what we had). So, I'm guessing there was an even nicer black jack dealer out there. Anyway, the whole thing is fake money and all for charity. Despite spending most of the night at separate tables, Josh and I had a great time.

The night finally wrapped up with me, Josh & Emily all watching the UNC/Nova game. Exhausted, we all headed to bed. So, it was basically just another Saturday around here. What about you?

Day Two in the Emerald City

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Greenwood, it really is nicknamed the Emerald City. On Thursday, we began with a yummy breakfast Kristie made. She'll laugh when reading this to see me going on about toast and bacon, but that's more than the bowl of cereal or instant breakfast I do. After breakfast, we went to PTC, the college where I worked during our three years in Greenwood. It was great to see old co-workers and see how things have changed and continue to change. They were a fun bunch to work with. Here's Jack playing with some make-shift toys in Tommy's office.

Then, we joined Elise, Gretchen & Tripp at Mig's for lunch. It was so much fun to see everyone again. Elise and Ryan (her husband) are now beginning their third year in Greenwood, which is wild to think. I can remember recruiting them like it was last month. After lunch, Jack and I went by the Montgomery Center, where Josh worked, and visited some of his old co-workers. His nurses were very excited to meet Jack. Everyone seemed to be doing very well.

Our last stop of the afternoon was to see Carey and Max. I don't think I had seen Max since he was maybe a few months old and he's more than 15 months old now. He's quite the cutie. Jack enjoyed watching him run around picking up different toys, trying on shoes and showing off his hats, although his K-State ball cap is the cutest. Carey is expecting a little sister for Max in just a couple of months. I was so glad to have the opportunity to see them, especially since I called her at the last minute. Thanks, Carey!