Bailey Holiday Projects

We just got back from Thanksgiving vacation and after getting stuck in traffic for 4 hours, BOY were we glad to get home. The only problem is that time buffer that I always like between the time you get home and the time you have to go back to work. I missed that buffer and feel like my life is a little nuts with all of the home projects going on, no groceries, a filthy house and mounds of dirty laundry.

Maggie had a good time playing with E's parents puppy, Bob. Bob repeatedly tried to sexually assault Mag but he was lacking in size so she just thought he was playing. He pretty much just rode her tail around the house the whole time since that was all he could wrap he little paws around...if you get the picture. E thought it would be funny to get some VERY graphic pictures of all of the assaulting so I had to search hard for a pic that wasn't too dirty. They played for almost 3 days straight with E's brother (he really loves her and I think I may will her to him) and Mag had such a good time...so good that we had a hard time waking her up in the morning.

What else did we do? Well, my mom found a local thrift store that sells Target returns and rejects so we raided their store and spent a fortune but got so much.

Here is a picture of my biggest purchase. The seams have ripped on our comforter (I think Maggie's claws helped more than anything) so we were looking for a new silk quilt. And I found one at this store for 25 bucks!! All of the other ones I had been looking at were over 200 dollars!! I was thrilled.

We also picked up the bedding for the crib. I really like it and think it will turn out cute once I get the nursery finished. We also picked up several things my mom had started collecting for us...diapers, hangers, clothes, playpen, baby positioner, etc. We are sitting pretty so far.

Saturday Night Ball Games

Boy, after leaving Alabama several years ago, I had forgotten all of the football fanatics that plague our state (and my family). But we agreed to go to dinner party to watch the game anyway. E ended up helping family members on their computers while I socialized with the women while we talked about what we were/weren't going to name the baby. My cousin's wife Tara made lasagna, salad, garlic bread and an AWESOME Blueberry Pineapple Cobbler. (BTW, Tara, I need that recipe)

To appease my immediate family who couldn't attend, my aunt took several pictures of me including one belly picture. (**Please keep in mind that this belly picture is not current and is, in fact, a month old since all of the these events happened during the hurricane evacuation. My current belly no longer looks anything like this...will post current pics soon)

My aunt wanted someone to compare my belly to for a picture she wanted to send my mom. Immediately, my grandfather stood up, grinning from ear to ear, pulled up his shirt and posed for the picture. TOO FUNNY!!!

NY Recap

Me, Kimberly and Laurel had such a good time in the Big Apple! We couldn't have asked for better weather or better company! We ate lots of pizza and walked around until our feet were bleeding!! Here is the recap:

Saturday:

We met up at the hotel and then headed to dinner with my co-workers. We stopped at a few places in Times Square on the way back.

Sunday:

We had breakfast together and then headed to Chinatown to buy knockoff purses, jewelry and other crap. (this was the first of 4 trips to Chinatown for the other girls) We took the subway back and then had lunch at Grand Central Station. I had to go to work for a while so they walked around town a bit and then we met up for dinner. On the way home, we stopped at Rockafellar Center. It all made me wish it was Christmas and the big giant tree was already lit. They ice skating rink had just opened and everyone was on the ice showing off whatever skate moves they had.

Monday:

I had to work all day ...I still can't figure out why I had to go on the trip in the first place...I literally did nothing!!! We went to Columbia University and toured a little bit of the campus and then started the session. I read a book the entire time or did the Sudoku puzzles out of the USA Today. We headed back and then I took the girls sightseeing. First, we hit the Empire State Building. We took the elevator to the 80th floor and then walked up the next 8 flights of stairs to avoid a 30 minute wait for an elevator. WHAT A MISTAKE!! I need to realize my limitations these days! I am just too pregnant for that anymore. We then we and had some pizza and I let the girls try tiramisu for the first time. Then we got lost!! We learned all about the subway by mistake. We tried to go to the Staten Island Ferry but somehow ended up in Chinatown again!! I still don't know how that happened. But we finally made it and honestly, I am glad we got lost because we got to see the Statue of Liberty all lit up at night. It was great and free and so the girls were super happy about that!! On the way back there was an imperative ice cream hunt where we searched several venues but ended up at an all night market pulling butterfinger ice cream pops out of their ice cream freezer.

Tuesday:

The girls got up early and headed to the Today show set at Rockafellar Center, but not before calling me at 5:30am to ask directions...twice!!! They had the best time. I was really worried they wouldn't like it since Laurel didn't even know what the Today show was, but they stayed all morning and didn't come back until 10am. They saw Meredith Viera and Cosmopolitan Magazine's 50 hottest guys too. They came back on Cloud Nine after taking pictures with all of the guys. They were the only young girls there that day and so the guys naturally wanted to take pictures with them rather than women old enough to be their mothers and grandmothers. I worked that morning but got off early. We all met up for lunch and then headed to the World Trade Center Memorial. It was so moving to see everything the museum had in their exhibits. They also had a place where you could view the new WTC towers that are currently being built. I am really glad we went. We made, yes, another stop in Chinatown for last minutes gifts for loved ones back home and then headed back to the hotel early for frozen yogurt, godiva chocolate truffles and chocolate strawberries, then to change for the Broadway play we had tickets to. It was their first Broadway play and I enjoyed experiencing it with them. We went and saw Wicked. OMG...it was such a good story that put a different perspective on the Wizard of Oz. Amazing talent too...the lead girls had such beautiful voices. The baby was craving late night pizza on the way back from the play, so who was I to deny her. We stopped and pigged out for a few minutes before heading to bed for our last night in the city.

Wednesday:

I got up early and went to pick up breakfast before our last session started while the girls slept in and then went shopping for the last time in the city. We all piled into the limo and headed off the airport for home. My 3 hour flight turned into an 8 hour flight due to weather in Houston. Then because of the weather, there was flooding everywhere and car accidents at every intersection. Our hour and a half trip home turned into a 4.5 hour trip home. We finally got home at 1:30 am when I realized I had food poisoning from our stop at McDonalds on the way home. What a wild ride!!!

New York, New York

Hello New York!! Here I come. And just in time too. I am allowed to fly for a few more weeks. And yes, I have to go for work!!

Lots of fun plans while we are there. First off, my cousins Laurel and Kimberly are staying with me. Whew!! Thank goodness. I asked E but he had no desire to go. I asked my mom but she wanted to save her days off for when the baby comes, but Kimberly jumped in like a champ and roped Laurel in too. This settles my nerves GREATLY as I really didn't want to go alone only to hang out with the people I work with. Blah!!

World Trade Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Station, Columbia University, Times Square, Rockafellar Center and Chinatown...be on the lookout for these chicks!! We are even planning to hit a Broadway show while we are in town. I am so excited that we got ticket (and cheap tickets at that!!) to go and see Wicked on Tuesday night. I have been dying to see this show ever since it came out. And it had just left the Houston Theaters when we moved to Texas. SO CLOSE!

In other news, I had to go and buy new clothes for the trip. First of all I needed jeans that actually fit. I am so in between sizes right now that it is aggervating. I really thought I would be bigger than this by now and would actually fit into my own clothes but, of course, that's not the case. (Why am I complaining that I am not fat enough??? Weird!) So I had to go spend more cash I could have been spending in New York this weekend on maternity jeans, comfortable walking shoes, scarves and gloves, and long sleeve maternity tops. (Yep, that's right, I am fitting into my maternity tops just fine...Thank goodness!) Here is some of the cute stuff I got!! (It's all Gap Maternity or Piperlime in case you see something you like)

Finally Home!

While our time away was nice and we were extremely appreciative of our family's generosity, we were definitely ready to get life back to normal. We stayed with my grandparents for about 10 days. We had only originally planned to stay 3 days and 2 nights so we washed alot of clothes while we were there. Maggie had a fenced in backyard with lots of squirrels and birds to chase. My Nanny babied her BIG TIME by defrosting steaks and ground meat for her, feeding her ham bones and ham and cheese hot pockets. Maggie even felt comfortable enough to crawl into bed with my grandparents. Nanny enjoyed having me there to cook new things with her. Papa even having E around so they could talk politics and tinker on the computers.

We got home on Friday afternoon after lunch. After several days, we finally had sewage and power so we knew that clean water wouldn't be far behind. Sure enough we got clean water on Sunday so all is back to normal, at least for us!! We checked the house and everything was fine. We do have a large tree branch on our fence but E should be able to fix that by replacing 2 of the slats on the fence. But OH MY debri was everywhere. Since I really didn't have maternity work clothes lying around the house, E gave me the OK to stay inside all day get things done in there. I felt guilty about not helping but once he told me he wanted me to stay inside, that made everything better.

Driving into town was very erie. It was still somewhat baron and lots of businesses were still closed. Lots of trees down, giant piles of debri in front of everyones home, blue tarps on every other roof, traffic lights out and homes still boarded up. Very weird!! Here's a few crappy pictures of what we saw on the way into town.

One of our neighbors a few streets over...we saw several houses like this or worse.

This is our street

Our house...with just a few branches down

The Backyard (The only damage we suffered was this limb on our back fence.)

E spent all day Saturday bonding with his new chain saw and using the car and several ropes to drag large branches from the backyard to the front yard. He worked incredibly hard all day. And then had to come inside do homework all night. I felt really bad for him. And just when we thought we came out on the other side unscathed, the kitchen sink started leaking. Well, to be accurate, it looks like it has been leaking since long before we bought the house. E went to make himself a pot of coffee to stay up all night and do homework when he heard the water dripping into the cabinet underneath the sink! So he spent all day Sunday with a major headache, stuck up under the sink completely redoing all of the plumbing under there. It's still not finished. It looks like I won't be cooking for a week or so until he can get a chance to pull the cabinet out, fix the leak and replace the subfloor. Sigh! With all of the homework he has with this last class he is taking and all of the debri left everywhere, time is something he doesn't have alot of. So for the next few days, I am using all paper and plastic ware and ordering out unless I want to wash dishes in the bathroom sink.

1000 Miles Yard Sale

Sounds weird right? I agree! But my grandparents, parents and my sister swear by it. Let me preface this post by saying that my family member are a bunch of yard saling ANIMALS!!! They do this stuff on a serious weekly scale. I have never really enjoyed going with them. Me and E went yard saling one day here in town and found nothing, although on the way home from the farmer's market one day, I stopped at one in our neighborhood and bought 2 chairs. Let me breakdown the yard sale finds for you by person:

Nanny: she is looking for anything that will help celebrate any and all holidays, clothes, chairs (because everytime we go home for the holidays one of us is getting married or having a kid meaning one more seat at the Thanksgiving table), unique gift items and now baby stuff.

Papa: I think he goes for moral support for Nanny, however he finds books and little trinkets for his tools and office

Mom: She really looking for furniture and picture frames, mostly things she can spray paint, refinish, reupolster, or reuse in a completely new way.

Dad: He goes to help her decide what's junk, he seems to find trinkets for his office and always seems to be drawn to the things that remind him of his childhood and anything leather (not clothing though)

Blake (sister): She is there for it all!!! She gets some of the weirdest things there and makes them work. She has some really cool clothes and they all come from yard sales and the thrift store. Why? I don't know. She has a really good job and so does her husband but it's the thrill of the chase for her, I guess!!

But back to the 1000 mile yard sale...it's a big event for the state of Alabama and my family goes every year. This year they went with baby stuff in mind for me. Evidently me and E got more stuff for the baby than anyone else got for themselves. I know that from their yard saling adventures, so far, they have bought us a snugli, a swing, baby monitors, some maternity clothes, a mission style baby bed and mattress and a sandwich maker...well, that one's not really for the baby!! I am pumped!!! Now, we may have to rent a uhaul to get it all home when we visit for the holidays.

Life's Good Stuff!

There are so few genuinely "good things" in our lives these days. In the midst of work (blah!), a hurricane, pregnancy sickness and exhaustion, and no electricity... I was super glad that Pam and Dennis (E's parents) had stopped by for a visit and dropped off some presents...4 of them to be exact!!!

Me and E dream about this ice cream! Don't get me wrong, Blue Bell is good and I wouldn't dare fight any Texan on that issue, but Mayfield is where it's at!!! They came out with Snow Cream when we were in college. Pam used to fill her freezer up with it and on Sunday, E and I would visit so E could do his laundry and we would always sit and eat ice cream while we waited for everything to dry. We couldn't get it in Florida when we lived there and now we still can't find it. So Pam bought us 4 tubs of it and threw it in a cooler with some dry ice and then they made their way to our house this weekend.

Ahhh...Pam, just so you know, I have had a mug full every night since you left!! Thank you!! we are going to go through that ice cream so fast!

Maggie and Bob

Pam and Dennis (E's parents) came to visit this weekend and brought Bob with them. Bob is their very tiny miniture Yorkie!! He is so tiny and so terrified of Maggie (for obvious reasons-Maggie is at least 25 times his size).

But as soon as Maggie laid down and rolled over, the game was on. So we made Maggie lay down and keep still and Bob finally warmed up to her, so much so that he felt gutsy enough to take her ball away from her the day they left. She didn't care though. She thought they were going to play chase with it. Boy was she wrong! He just wanted the ball!! So in retaliation, Maggie went back to his bed and took some of his toys. It's so weird how closely related kids and dogs are!

And then, evidently, she felt comfortable enough to jump into Pam's lap to watch TV with her before they left.

2 More Baileys

Hey, we always welcome more Bailey's into our household...That's why we decided to procreate!!

Pam and Dennis (E's parents) needed a break from life at home and have decided to stop by for a visit this weekend. I haven't seen them since Christmas but E saw them at the end of May when he went close to home for a conference. Safe travels to you both.

Happy Belated Birthday to Blake!

So Blake is my sister. She was 25 years young on Saturday. We are very close in spirit, not so much in distance. I think we live about 13 hours away from each other and really only see each other one holiday during the year. Now that we are both married and sharing holidays with our in-laws, we don't see each other as much. But she ran off and married her first high school boyfriend and they got married 4 years ago this week. So Happy Anniversary too while we are congratulating people. But so far so good, even though he's a pain (just kidding) she hasn't killed him yet so it looks like it just might work out after all! Blake is finished her masters at the Univ. of Alabama this year and started working for the County Health Deptarment and moonlights as a dietician at the local hospital. She reminds me of my mom, they always have to be doing SOMETHING...they can just sit still and enjoy life!

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary!

Vacation Fever

Yep, I have it alright! I am having the hardest time focusing on my work, my duties at home, the laundry, the cleaning, you name it. All I care about it E coming home in a few days and then leaving for vacation. I feel like a kid during the last week of school.

I am having the hardest time concentrating on the tiniest tasks and find myself trying to look busy while I bide my time until the end of next week. The weeks need to fly by faster.

My parents sold their house when I was in college and some friends had a basement apartment that they offered to let them stay indefinately. They stayed there for a while with the idea that they wouldn't live in town very long and that this job was only temporary until he found something better. (coincidently, 7 years later, they are still there and love it so they built a house a few years ago) So they took the money from the sale of their house and put it into a beach condo closer to where they are originally from. It's up for rent most of the time but we all get to put in a week or two throughout the year and enjoy it when we need a break.

And boy do I need a break. I was telling E the other day how excited I was about vacation and he just looked at me. I asked him "Aren't you?" He answered "Well, of course, I just don't understand why you are as excited as you are. We went on vacation last year."

Well, I guess that he forgot that our whole vacation last year was an anxiety attack for me since we were between moves. We packed up our stuff and threw it in a moving van in Key West, then headed to the beach for a few days of vacation before we started moving into our new house in Texas. So most of my vacation was spent making phone calls to the movers, the electric company, the telephone company, etc. And to top things off, the water was ICE COLD and we couldn't stay in but a few minutes and the wind was furrocious so if you tried to get some sun you shivered.

My aunt took this picture of us last year at my grandparents house on our way home from vacation. Notice my lack of tan after a week at the beach. It was quite sad. But MY how skinny we were. I was running 4 miles a day 6 days a week at that point and E had stopped eating what they fed him on the boat in Key West and jogged with me some when he got back. (In case you are wondering...we still look like that...just about 10 pounds heavier...both of us)

In Other News...

Beth Bailey has signed on for 4 days of fun and relaxation during the Annual Bailey Vacation.
Beth is our neice of 15 years now. She is on the Flag Team at school and I hear she's really good. I haven't gotten to see her in action yet. 9 days and counting Bethy!!

Happy Birthday Kim!

Kimberly, yes, it's finally your turn. And no I didn't forget it's your birthday too!! I am SO sure you have been starved for attention lately!! HA!

If you can't tell already, I am close with my family, my extended family and all of E's family!! I am the oldest of 9 nine grandkids on my Mom's side of the family and for the most part, we have all grown up together. Kimberly is number 5, poor kid, she really got hit hard with the middle child stick, middle in her family and middle of all the grandkids. Just Kidding!!

She works hard and plays hard. She graduated early from Auburn last year and moved back home where she works for Coca-Cola full-time now and at 22 already working on her MBA. Man!! The things you can do if you know what you want to do with your life!!!

Happy Birthday Kim! Me, E and Magpie love you very much!!

Congratulations Graduate Joe

I hate growing up sometimes especially when that means you have other priorities (work) when you don't want to miss important family events. Unfortunately, I had to miss the graduation of my cousin, Laurel, because of work and Maggie and then fact that E was out of town. But nonetheless, she deserves a Congratulations live from Everyday Bailey!

I know you will go on to do great things. You have always been a good kid, good friend and a good cousin and I love you very much. You have worked hard, created opportunities for yourself and really turned into the young lady that I always thought you were. I have no doubt that you will go far in life. So go to college, study hard, party a little and love every minute of it!! We are super proud of you and miss you very much!!

(P.S. the check is in the mail...I know you were wondering...and sorry for the pic...all your mom sent me was a handful of blurry ones....this was actually the better of them all...sometimes you just have to make lemonade)

Happy Belated Birthday Kayla

Well, Aunt Everyday Bailey screwed up big time this week. My niece's birthday was on Saturday. I thought it was on Monday. So being the "on top of things" aunt that I am, I called her on Sunday, the day before her birthday because I wanted to be the first to wish her happy birthday!

So here's how the conversation went:

EB: Hey it's me
K: Hey what's going on?
EB: Not much...just wanted to be the first to tell you happy birthday!!
K: Huh? My birthday was on Saturday!
EB: Huh?
K: May 3rd...that's my birthday...not May 5th



I felt so stupid and I even have one of those email reminders that reminds me when someone's birthday is coming up. I guess I had it programed wrong. Those only work as good as the retards that program them. I told E, "Why didn't you tell me that her birthday was yesterday? You were there when she was born...not me!!"

Anyway, poor kid. Lots of stuff going on at home and no time to party like it's her birthday. K...putting your present in the mail today!! Love you!

Promised Pics

Here is the exhausting picto-post of everything me and Mom (mostly Mom) did this weekend...













This is my new den. Mom recovered the chairs in brown canvas. I made the pillows from an Amy Butler fabric called Lotus Cherry Wallflower, I bought the lamp at Pier 1, the side table from World Market, and the ceramic birds we found on sale at JoAnn's Fabric and then painted then silver and but a glossy coat over them to make them look metallic. The rug and the ottoman were old peices I already had. Hopefully, the room will all pull together once I have walls on the other side of the room, inside of 2x4's, and carpet/tile instead of black and white NASTY lanolium.













We got these three paintings from Hobby Lobby out of the clearance buggy for 2 dollars a piece.



















This is what we did them...It doesn't POP on my wall color like I had hoped it would but I still love them.














This is a peice that hangs in my bedroom. I started this one in June and have gradually been working on it slowly. I finally had the time to finish it this week.













Why did it take so long, you might ask? Because the dots are SO TINY!!!!! and SO TEDIOUS!!!!













We dug up all of the leftover flowers and plants left by the previous owner and I planted 2 azalea bushes, 2 hawthorne bushes, a bunch of little purple flowers as fillers, and I spread out the grass that was already there. Now I actually know what is in the beds and how to take care of them.



















Since my door is off-center to my porch, and I like things to be somewhat symetrical, we bought a large pot and a tree that will hopefully grow tall as well as some petunias to cover the bottom of the tree. Then we planted 4 pots of geraniums for the stairs.














With the leftover fabric from the pillows, mom made me a new purse while I made Easter lunch.













These were metal placemats we found on sale at Pier 1 for 4 bucks a piece. We were going to hang them in the new room but the other paintings filled that spot better.













Here is a closer pic of them.