Merry merry

It was an incredibly merry Christmas at the Garrett household. I'd like to upload a bunch of wonderful photos from our celebrations with family this weekend, but I'm in full recovery mode already. I'm busy trying to sort through the cardboard jungle, organize all the new toy instruction guides, downsize the enormous baked goods/sweets collection that has accumulated over the last several days, prepare for one more set of visitors and host a post-production party. So, for now, you'll just have to trust me when I say it was a very merry Christmas for us. Hope the same was true for you and yours!

Oh, and almost forgot to mention a visit to see Daddy at the ER tonight, and unfortunately it was not for mere fun! Jack took a tumble and went flying towrds the ground, but the first thing to hit was his face on the corner of the keyboard tray of the computer desk. Thankfully, a little glue is all Josh thought it needed, and Jack was incredibly brave and didn't cry at all while Dad preformed his magic.

Whew...it's over!

Yes, the inaugural Kitchens that Cook is officially over. Could you hear my deep sigh of relief on Saturday around 6:30? I would have liked to have seen a little more traffic, but for the first time holding the event and the fact that it was a holiday weekend, we were not disappointed. I don't know the final numbers, but we raised about $5,000. Josh enjoyed cooking & filming with Kathy. We heard lots of positive feedback, and we're hoping it can become an annual event.

I was thankful to have my mom come up and watch Jack for us most of the day on Saturday. Dad was able to join us for dinner. He brought Jack a harmonica, which he enjoyed playing. After cleaning up the depot, putting in an appearance at the after-party, I was ready to crash...but managed to stumble into El Campesino with the rest of the family for dinner.

Sunday morning we packed up the cooler and headed to Atlanta for the Braves game with the Walshs, who live in Charleston. Mike went to med school with Josh, and he and his wife were in Atlanta for a wedding. Since this week is Mike's 30th, we met them at the Varsity for lunch and joined them at the ballpark. I just knew our day would be spoiled by rain, but it was a great day! We actually took Jack to one of the faux-Varsity locations before one of the Thrashers games last year, but this was his first trip to one of the official greasy Vs! He was a big fan of the frosted orange, but who wouldn't be?? The big crowd and loud "what'll ya haves" seemed to intimidate him a bit at first, but he settled in quick and enjoyed a naked dog and his first FO.

Liz bought a big group of seats together and we actually ended up being in the shade and having a great view of the field. Because of the steep seats, Jack couldn't really walk around though. He grew a little restless a few times, but managed to make it through the whole game with the help of frequent paci breaks, a giant chocolate chip cookie, dancing to the loud music, peanuts and of course...a coke!



Today we joined some friends for a Memorial Day cookout with ribs and all the fixings. I'm having trouble keeping straight what day it is since Josh was home today and we missed church yesterday. Anyway, it has been a busy, long weekend, and I'm so thankful that the rain showers seemed to cooperate with our schedule.

On the Air

Yesterday, Josh, Jack and I had the priviledge of visiting with Kathy Nicholson of Southern Hospitality. As I mentioned in a previous post, Josh will be cooking with Kathy as part of our Kitchens That Cook fundraiser next Saturday. (That's right...it's only 9 days away! Still need tickets? Let me know!) Kathy asked us to come out to WRAF at Toccoa Falls College and record a segment to air on Sunday about the event.

Since Tuesdays are Josh's afternoon off and we barely saw each other yesterday, he hated for us to not spend the day together. So, Jack joined us in the studio. He was was pretty cooperative for the most part...especially considering he was in the midst of skipping a much-needed afternoon nap! He loved it when Kathy let him control the sound board.

After the interview we took a trip down to the falls. The weather was perfect. The short walk to the falls is in the shade and there is a cool breeze coming off the water. What a beautiful place! Thanks for being so good to us, Kathy! We're looking forward to lots of fun next weekend!

Neglected?

Feeling neglected? I was shocked to find that I had not posted since April 20! Wow! I've been super busy, and the blog is usually one of the first things to suffer, then laundry, and the kitchen sink...the list goes on. Yes, I realized it was bad, when my father-in-law says to me, "You're never on Facebook anymore."

So, what have I been so busy with? Well, a few main things have been occupying my free time (which believe it or not...stay-at-home moms/homemakers/full-time moms do not just have an abundance of. Maybe I'll post more on that some other time.) First, I'm serving on the hospital foundation board and placed in charge of a fundraiser that involves a tour of kitchens in one of our local communities. I helped with a similar event when we lived in South Carolina. Since the event has never been done before in our community, it is a lot of work. And, since I don't have as many contacts as someone who has lived her much longer...it is tough to get all the resources/help you need. We're about 3 weeks away from our event, and I'm feeling the crunch. We need more sponsors and need to sell more tickets. If you're interested in either, let me know! :) Topping it off, Josh has agreed to cook with one of our demonstrators, Kathy Nicholson who has her own cooking show. So, we've been busy perfecting his recipes...which hasn't been all bad because it involves eating! (Also, our logo is not orange...but blogger keeps turning it orange and I refuse to deal with it!)

Additionally, our church is planning a musical for July, which as you may guess involves Josh acting/singing. Guess who was tapped to design tickets, posters, programs, etc? We've lived here not quite 2 years, and I'm amazed at how quickly everyone learns about your background/prior work experience. And, since you don't have a paying job, you must have all the time in the world, right? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy writing, designing and the others, but not when all the projects come at once. I also enjoy having an outlet and using my creative skills, but it can also be very exhausting when your only designated work time has been relegated to (if you're lucky) a couple hours of your little one's nap and Monday evenings after his bedtime. (Last week I stayed up till 2 a.m.) I hate to sound like I'm complaining, but I do feel the need to get some of this off my chest, so sorry you're being forced to read it! (I promise to promptly follow this entry with a Jack-heavy & photo-heavy post!)

The last item that I've been working on is just my MOPS stuff in general. Our last couple of meetings have required a good bit of set-up, clean up, preparation and the like. Our final meeting is this week, and I needed to prepare a DVD of our year-in-review. It sounds easy enough, but I'm quite the perfectionist when it comes to these videos. You probably won't be able to tell, but I spend a great deal of time making it zoom in on the photos or scroll an image one side to the other. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. We're also gearing up to begin our planning for next year. I've already designed Save the Dates cards for our moms. Fortunately, we scaled back our summer event schedule. Hopefully, we'll get a better turnout with fewer and less frequent events.

Well, that's what has been keeping me busy. Hate to have bored you. Next post will fill you in on what we've managed to squeeze in during non-nap/non-Monday nights!

In Local News...

Some of you may remember me writing a few weeks back about Jack participating in a photo shoot for an upcoming ad campaign at the hospital. Well, if you don't remember don't feel bad because it was merely a brief mention in an already brief blog entry with no pictures. That's right...one of those boring posts with no fun pictures that you all suffer through. Say what you want it was one of my "most commented on" (is that a real phrase?) posts.

Well, the ad is ready, and I'm told will begin running tomorrow. I've included a photo here, for those of you that don't live around here or locals who don't subscribe.* And for you locals, be sure to come and see how incredibly nice the newly renovated Family Birth Center is. The aesthetics now come close to matching the incredibly wonderful care and personal service you'll encounter there.**

*Shame on you, if you fall into this category. Our local newspaper is a wonderful source of information that you can't find in the AJC (which doesn't deliver around here anymore anyway...but, we won't get started on that)...not to mention the loads of humor I often find in each issue of the local paper. Finally, the newspaper is a dying art form that needs our support. Subscription rates are ridiculously low. Call today! And, no they aren't paying me to say this (not enough people actually read my blog for that to ever happen, but if you know of some way I could get paid for saying things I already would have said...please let me know!)

**No, I'm not getting paid to say that either. But, I do speak from experience.