Hotty Totty!

It is no secret that I went to Ole Miss and have a deep deep love for Oxford, Mississippi. I have been devastated the past few weeks with the news that Colonel Reb will no longer be in production after August of this year. I know they took away his presence at the football games two years ago but I don't think that anyone thought it would come to this! I have joined the rest of the Ole Miss community in my scramble to procure all things Colonel Reb in his last few weeks on store shelves. This has not proven easy considering I live over 5,000 miles from Oxford. If ANYONE has a hot tip on where to find Colonel Reb tervis tumblers of ANY size, the reward will be great!! Anyways, I digress. I received a facebook message from a friend of mine today telling me that there were Colonel Reb jon-jon shortalls for sale at The Divine Children's Show on Facebook. I nearly panicked. I hadn't even see the shortalls yet but I knew I had to have them! I'd been sitting home with no car bored all day and this was my only happiness!! I quickly located the page and couldn't believe my luck!!! This is the cutest page ever!! I recommend everyone check it out!! The shortalls were only $29 and that included shipping!! For anyone who knows about children's clothes (and I certainly don't know much) a hand smocked outfit like this can run upwards of $50 or more. I really didn't have to think twice before I bought them. It completely made my day. The End. I have nothing else to say about my day other than I enjoyed my dinner with my husband and my child now has Colonel Reb smocked shortalls. Life is good.

Baby Nursery Complete!

After a slow start this morning (I slept until after 10:00am for some reason) I ended up having a fairly productive day! Our house doesn't look like a tornado hit it and I accomplished quite a few things. First off I cleaned out our refridgerator. I know that this doesn't sound like a huge accomplishment but trust me, when you save food like we do but don't ever eat leftovers, it adds up. Now I feel like I can actually see into our fridge again. After the fridge I tackled the even bigger task of cleaning out our garage. It wasn't that there was that much STUFF in there but there was so much dirt and leaves that I don't even know where it all came from. I moved our bikes into the basement (since god knows how many times I have "tapped" mine with the front end of the car) and all miscellaneous things OUT. I swept out the whole thing and now it looks fantastic. There is nothing in there now and if I come home to find out that "someone" has started storing things in there again, we are going to have some issues! :) Friendly warning.

After my cleaning frenzy I decided that Evans' nursery was probably never going to look as good as it does now so I took a few (okay 28) pictures of it to share. I know that I have shared most of these at some point so this is the last you will see of it, I promise. The only thing left that we are waiting on is the glider/rocker and god knows when that will arrive.Evans' bath towels.View from his room. Nice huh? Sure beats his parent's view!Evans' cute lamb chair from his great Aunt Kay and Uncle Frank!Picture over the door from his Grandmother Susie (even though we are not positive this is what she will be called!).Super cute laundry basket.His name letters made especially for him by his mother. :)The AWESOME Jonathan Adler rug that Susie bought him. It was very interesting getting this to Germany from the States!Some shots of his crib and bedding.Inside of closet. This will probably be the one and only time it is organized!And last but not least his cute lamb sign from his Aunt Tate that hangs on the outside of his closet.Taa-daaaaaa......That's all! Believe it or not I had more but I realize that some people will probably stop reading my blog after this post!

I fetched Deaner from the base this afternoon when he got back from Brussels. I was lucky enough to get this from him when he arrived!!And look what was inside!!!!YUM!! I can't think of a better treat than handmade Belgian chocolate!! Now I will just have to restrain myself from eating them too quickly!! We have just enjoyed a nice SPICY dinner (maybe a jumpstart for Evans) and now I have to go clean up! I hope I didn't bore everyone to death with pictures! Happy Hump Day!

What is wrong with me?

I woke up this morning, showered, got dressed and had lunch with my friend Barbara. I picked up our mail at the base (one of our strollers arrived!! And yes, I said ONE of them) and headed home. As I was sitting on the couch to settle in to surfing the internet my finger happened to brush against my ear. I was surprised to feel something very GREASY on my EAR. I looked in the mirror only to find a big GLOP of my conditioner in my EAR! WHAT? How does this happen?? I mean, I'm super glad that it wasn't something really nasty like ear wax but I sure hope no one noticed my conditioner oversight!! SICK!

I realized this morning that the big Wiesbaden wine festival is starting on August 13th and running until the 22nd. I'm thinking that perhaps I can persuade my doctor to induce me at my appointment on the 9th so that we can be ready for wine on the 13th?!? What do y'all think? Maybe she will go for it?!? Ha. Maybe he will come on his own by then anyways and Mama will be able to have that glass of wine at the festival!! I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind coming early to be able to enjoy the festival as well! Steph found me some of the pictures from last year. You can't ask for anything more than this!The only thing that would be different about this year is the addition of a few week old baby! I think Evans would really enjoy the festival!

So, one other big accomplishment of the week is that our plane tickets are booked for our trip home at Christmas! Deaner's dad helped us book them with his medallion status (we are lowly Silver Medallion while Dick is the prestigious Diamond Elite status!) and I am so so so relieved that they are booked and we don't have to think about them again. Last year at this time tickets were much cheaper and this year they have shown no signs of coming down. We are all set and it is one less thing on my plate between now and Christmas. Now if the future 4 month old will just behave himself on his first transatlantic flight!

Tonight is my last night without Deaner, thank goodness! My last meal of mac and cheese alone! I'm ready for him to get home. Then the baby can come. No more traveling after this trip so we are all set! 39 days til College Football Kickoff! Happy Tuesday to everyone!

30 Days til 30

So it might really be 31 days but since today is almost over this title just looks better. I can't believe that I am about to turn 30. What an old lady!! Half of me finds it hard to believe that I could still be pregnant in 30 more days but the other half of me can't believe that I will have a baby in a matter of that short a time! Deaner seems to think that Baby Evans will arrive not this weekend but next. We will see! As long as it isn't in the next two days while he is in Belgium, I am fine with that.

Did everyone have a good weekend? Friday night we ate at a great Greek restaurant and Saturday Steph and Jon came over and we grilled out steaks. Yum! We played a great game of Phase 10. Has anyone else played this game? The best game ever!! I can see it being a popular stocking stuffer from us this year. We really enjoy it.

This morning I woke up early with Deaner to take him to the base to pick up his government car. Remember we are still operating without the Crossfire and will be until the part arrives from the States that we need. God please let it be fast because sharing a car basically means that I don't have one. Anyways, we had breakfast together and he was on his way. I headed to the commissary to pick up a few groceries and then I went to the post office to get stamps for the birth announcements and to send two baby gifts. As I was getting out of the car to go into the post office I noticed Deaner's laptop bag still in my back seat. As this point it had been over an hour since he left. And I was in a hurry having COLD groceries in the car and all. I called Deaner who nearly freaked about leaving the computer and he said he had to turn around. After mailing my packages and getting stamps I had to drive the laptop halfway to him. Thankfully we got to the rendevous point at exactly the same time and it wasn't a big deal.

I have had a relaxing afternoon since then. I tried to copy my sister by making her famous Oreo Balls but I failed miserably and I don't even want to eat any of them they look so bad! I'm sure they don't taste so bad but we will see. I have come to the conclusion that I like to eat things that other people make better. By the time I make something, the thrill of eating it is gone!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!!

Massive Oversight

It has been brought to my attention by an avid blog follower (my dad) that in the hub bub of excitement waiting for baby Evans to arrive in the next couple of weeks that I have severely neglected one of my most commonly anticipated events of the year. How could I even overlook the fact that besides the birth of my first son in approximately 33 days that College Football Kickoff will most definitely take place in a matter of 43 days. How is that for a constant? I might not know when Evans will arrive but by God, kickoff WILL occur in 43 days. This is big deal for us here in the Deaner household and I am sure that in the years to come, Evans will realize that this is nothing to mess around with. Normally the weeping starts around the second week of January because really, it IS hard to live all summer without football. The anticipation builds all summer but when we hit the 100 days til kickoff mark it is game time. This year my ever enlarging belly, back pains and sleepless nights have preoccupied me and I have let it slip to 43 days before shaking myself out of this fog and getting a grip on reality! I suppose this could be looked at as a blessing! No matter when Evans arrives, Kickoff (yes, it does warrant a capitalization) will occur on September 4th and I intend to be ready. Should my son make his appearance in time (and my god, he better) let's talk about something really important, like what he should wear! I am thinking that it will probably be a three costume change day as I don't want him showing any favoritism so early on in life. First we have the Ole Miss selection, which I am sort of concerned won't fit him right away.Unless of course he continues to grow at super sonic speed. The only upside to having a 10 pound baby is that he can wear his football gear right away! We will have to choose one outfit from this genre.....Again, I am infuriated by this picture not turning the right way but I don't know why it is doing it. I am pretty sure this white one will fit him right away. The red jacket was mine as a child and he will have to be a few years old before that will fit. And last but certainly not least, one of these.I realize that we are a bit lacking in the UVA department. Daddy is not going to be happy about this. It is by far Evans' nicest jersey but considering it is a 2T I'm not sure how that is going to work out. There is NO upside to having a baby THAT big! I know that the orange shirt is for basketball, which we don't really give a hoot about, BUT the shirt is for a newborn and it just so happens that it was also mine as a baby. How cute is that? Anyways, if Evans graces us with his presence for college football kickoff 2010 than he will be well dressed. I can hardly wait for the season to begin, and of course to meet my baby!

Yesterday went to hell in a hand basket shortly after I posted about my boring day. The Crossfire broke down AGAIN on Deaner's way home from work and I had to go pick him up. I am so sick of dealing with this car that I could scream. And let's be honest, Deaner is the one dealing with it, not me. But here I am stuck in the house again today with no car! A part has been ordered that again, may or may not fix it, but I am double crossing my fingers and I would appreciate if y'all did too! My dinner ended up really great even though I was totally rushed through my prep time having to have gone to pick up the stranded man. Here are a few shots of it. Thanks to New Girl on Post for her ideas!!It was really good and it will probably be added to the weekly rotation. It was super easy to make but all that chopping was a little tedious! We have no huge weekend plans. Steph and Jon are coming to cookout tomorrow night and hopefully by then the Commissary will have some better steak selections! I hope that everyone has a really good weekend!! Go Rebs, go Cavs and go Dawgs! :)

Improvement

While my mood has somewhat improved today I have just about absolutely nothing to report. I got up early with Deaner this morning and rode with him to pick up his car. Which may or may not be fixed. It may or may not turn off again on the Autobahn. Isn't that assuring? We had breakfast at Burger King, which I would truly like to eat every single morning but alas, I do not wake up in time for it 95% of the time! After we got the car I ran to the commissary to pick up a few things. Deaner has been hinting around that he would like me to make him stir fry for dinner one night so I picked up all the things that I need to make it. I haven't ever made it before but I have had some helpful hints and I am hopeful that it will be good. I'll let y'all know tomorrow. Thank god it is almost the end of the week! I have to say that the week went by pretty quickly! Deaner just told me that he has to go to Brussels on Monday and stay until Wednesday! Boo!!! Oh well, I am sure I will be fine here eating mac and cheese from the blue box and relaxing! Today after I got back home I went and got back in bed to read because I wasn't feeling so hot and I fell asleep for 2.5 more hours! Geez. And we are talking I was really asleep and having dreams. I guess I was really worn out from something. It is rainy and gross here today and the Country Club is closed anyways so what else was there to do!?

Now I think I will read my book for awhile, shower (yes, it is 4:05pm and I still haven't taken a shower) and then start preparing my divine meal for this evening! Hope everyone has had a great day!

The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

I mean, I guess my day hasn't exactly been as bad as Alexander's but it hasn't been a great one. And I can't exactly put my finger on why. I woke up this morning worrying about anything and everything that I could think of. Maybe this is normal with a baby coming so quickly on the horizon? I think that it has been triggered by the issues with the Crossfire yesterday and me worrying about how much it is going to cost to fix. Then I started thinking about how much it is going to cost us to fly home this Christmas, buying gifts, buying diapers and formula if for some reason I have to formula feed and I just started to unravel. Hopefully it is just an off day and tomorrow I will feel better.

I tried to escape my day by floating in the country club pool. It is supposed to rain the next few days so I figured it was a good idea to get some sun in before we don't see it for a few days. The high this weekend is actually only in the 60's and I am REALLY looking forward to it! So back to the pool. There are a few things that have really been annoying me lately. The first and the worst is the addition of this to the neighbors back porch.I do not understand windchimes. They really annoy me. I mean, the neighbor hangs them up and then goes to work all day long leaving me to listen to them chiming all day long! Currently I am sitting in the den. The dining room and the kitchen are between me and I can still hear them though the window from the house NEXT DOOR. I might be launching Operation De-chime soon. As if the chimes aren't enough, there is always this.See this harmless looking silver thing to the left? It is actually the devil disguised as a PINWHEEL! Everytime the wind blows this pinwheel spins and lets out a blood curtling screech that just about will make your ears bleed. I'm not sure who it belongs to though (my money is on George) but I have seriously considered making it disappear one night. Who knew that one little pinwheel could cause a person such angst? :) Lastly, I was very annoyed by this today.My super nice, super expensive (ha ha) pink raft has apparently buckled under the weight of this pregnant body. There is a hole in it somewhere (obviously) and it is pretty pathetic to look at when I rolled off of after my afternoon float. Least I still have the green one to pop! Anyways, now I am going to settle in on the couch to read and wait for my husband to come home. Hoping that tomorrow is a better day!

Ta-daaaaa!

Here is the finished product from Way Cool Designs!! Susie sent this picture last night before I went to sleep and of course I was super excited to be able to share it with y'all! Now if only I didn't live in Germany and didn't have to wait so long for it to arrive! Maybe it will be one of those packages like from Barnes and Noble that arrives in 4 days but I am not going to hold my breath! I just can't wait to get it so I can start filling in all the family information for Evans! Again, for anyone interested, Susie also does wedding guest books etc and she is certainly worth checking out! While we are on the topic of baby items (which I am sorry for those of you who find them completely a snooze, I am trying to keep the talk to a minimum!) Deaner put together the baby swing this weekend. My sister and brother in law gave us this awesome swing at my baby shower in Atlanta and I have been trying to wait until a more appropriate time to put it together. Of course it was not necessary to have a swing sitting in in our dining room for the last several months but I decided that with 36 days left it was okay to go ahead with assembly!Here is my handsome handiman putting Evans' lamb swing together. I know that Deaner is an engineer and all but after this incident...I figured that I better inspect the finished product a little bit more carefully this time around. It was a good thing I did! Apparently Deaner lost interest in the swing when it came time to put the actual seat/fabric part on it and if we had actually put a child in it the way he had arranged it, it would not have been a good ending. I had to take the whole seat part apart and redo it! Geez. After my discovery I figured it was just better if I put together the bouncy seat!Now we are done with putting stuff together for awhile at least. Deaner's dad is bringing our jogging stroller when he comes in September but that might be the last big thing. Who knows what else will come up.

So, today has been an eventful day. I went and got a pedicure on the base because I had a gift certificate. Lacking.....to say the least. Still I needed one BAD and I got one. The issue came later in the day. About half way thru this post I received a call from Deaner who informed me that the Crossfire had stalled out on the access road between the airport and autobahn. I found this a big concerning but apparently it started up again after some time and he was able to keep driving. Until it did it again and this time on a very narrow part of the autobahn. He couldn't even get out to put up his orange triangle!! The police had to come and a tow truck and I just got back from picking him up at the mechanics place where it was towed too. Nice huh? Just what we need. The mechanic thinks it could be something with the computer in the car and that it will be super expensive. Just what you want to have happen when you have doctor's bills coming right and left and a baby coming in 5 weeks. The guy told us we need to sell it. I have never liked the car but still, I don't want to have the hassle of selling a car and buying a new one with a baby coming anyday. I'm over it and in a grumpy mood about it. Don't even ASK about Deaner's mood! Happy Tuesday!

Productive Weekend!

Well, how was everyone's weekend? Ours was nice and relaxing for the most part! We had dinner with friends on Friday night at a delicious Greek restaurant where we will definitely be dining again. I love finding places here that we like because I find that they are few and far between around here!

Saturday I had a productive day and got several things ordered for the baby. It dawned on me a few days ago that I still had no baby book for Evans. There is so much tacky stuff out there and I had been really put off on previous occasions when I had looked. Saturday I was determined to find one and order it because frankly, we were running out of time. I stumbled upon the website Way Cool Designs and fell in love with the perfect baby book. There were SO many options and Deaner was actually into helping me pick one out! In the meantime, I put some feelers out with some friends, asking if anyone had any baby book suggestions and I had TWO friends respond with this being the same vendor that they used! I e-mailed the owner, Susie, to make sure that they could ship to our APO box and got an immediate response confirming that they could. SOLD. I called to place my order and Susie was MORE than helpful. She assured me that they ship to APO's all the time and that it wasn't a problem. She also said she would make a special effort to get my book out to me as quickly as possible to ensure that I had it before Evans arrives. There is a lot to say about great customer service and I certainly found it here! Deaner and I picked out a baby book with a coffee color linen cover just like this one.With this font monogram (although ours will be in navy blue).And our ribbon will be in navy blue as well. There are several themes that you can choose for the inside pages and Deaner and I chose to have the Beatrix Potter pages because that is what we had as children. I can't tell y'all how excited I am to get my baby book!!! I am sure that in the coming weeks I will start anxiously checking our APO box for my treat! I would highly recommend using this company if you are in the market for a baby book. I will definitely be posting more pictures of it once it arrives!!

I also pre-ordered Evans birth annoucements!! I copied a picture of the ones that I chose from Tiny Prints BUT I decided that I don't really want to show them yet or no one will be surprised when they get them! The stupid person there tried to tell me that they would charge me $25 to ship to my APO box. What a rip! However after a bit of research, it turns out Tiny Prints has a printer here in Europe and I can have the announcements UPSed here for only $10 and they will only take 1-5 days to arrive! The envelopes are already being shipped to me so I can get those done and out of the way! :) I was feeling QUITE productive at the end of Saturday!

We had a great dinner down on the river Saturday night and Sunday had a relaxing day. Deaner left for England this morning for a meeting but he will be back tomorrow afternoon so he isn't gone for long. I have done a major cleaning of our house today which greatly needed to be done. The top two bedrooms are spotless and I even vacuumed spider webs off the ceilings. The next two bedrooms (ours and Evans) and the guest bathroom are also spotless. The entry hallway on the first floor is sparkling. I have only completed half of the main floor though before I ran out of steam. The kitchen and laundry room are perfect but the den and dining room still need a bit of work. Unfortunately the Country Club was calling my name and I had to have a several hour float to recover! Now I am about to eat some dinner and watch some TV! Perhaps tomorrow I will resume my cleaning! Happy Monday to everyone!

Evans is a Beast!

Well, I was pretty happy with Evans' size at my appointment two weeks as he was 4.5 pounds and in the 50% for weight. I thought that was pretty normal and nothing out of the ordinary. Today, on the otherhand, was another story. Apparently Evans has totally chunked up and now weighs 6 pounds and is in the 70th percentile for weight! WHAT? What is going to happen if I go another 6 weeks?? That means that I could have a 9 pound child. God help me. I mean, I know that babies slow down their growth at the end but something tells me that Evans isn't going to stall out at 6 pounds. Yikes! The doctor even called him CHUBBY and showed us his belly fat! Nice. I am sure that this in NO WAY reflects my eating habits and what I have chosen to feed this child! :) Now I don't see my doctor for another THREE weeks because her office is closing for summer vacation. Some timing huh? I'm frightened to see how big this baby gets while she is closed. And frightened to see how big I get. At my next appointment I will be almost 38 weeks. I hope I make it until then! She said she thought I would make it to my next appointment but I guess we will see! I wonder every night as I waddle to the bathroom how much longer this is going to last!! I don't know what I am going to do but I feel like time has completely stopped!!

Unwanted Guest at the Club

Things at the Deaner Country Club have been going really pretty well the past few days. I have had some really nice relaxing afternoon lie abouts in the water and I truely don't remember the last time I was this tan (on the front side at least). Deaner and I had a small squabble this past weekend over who the actual "owner" of the DCC is because apparently whomever the owner is, gets the better chair. I feel like I am the owner of the club but he says that he is since he is the actual mortgage holder on the club. I just let him have the chair in the end and I know in my heart who the real owner is! Like we have a mortgage on an 80 euro pool!

Unfortunately I think I may have an unwanted visitor at the DCC. As I was peacefully floating today on my raft without a care in the world I was very startled to hear a giant croaking sound. Yes, that is right, three very large RRRRRRRRRIBBITS right in a row. I did some detective work around the pool because the last thing I want is a giant frog taking up residence there but he was no where to be seen. I think he might currently be residing in George's fish pond next door but I hope he doesn't get a hankering to move to my much nicer and much cleaner pool, because he is not welcome. I continued to hear him all afternoon. The rrrrrrribbets are so distinct and come in sets of three and for awhile I was thinking that maybe it was a toy of some sort. I'll try and pay attention tomorrow.

My lack of blogging yesterday was in direct relation to the heat. I just couldn't stand to sit with the computer on my lap producing heat on my legs. Tonight it looks like it might rain (HALLALUJAH!) so I figured I would try and get in a quick post. Deaner is frying bacon in the kitchen for BLT's and while the smell of bacon is delicious to me, I hate that my kitchen is going to stink for the next 12 hours! More updates to come tomorrow! I have a doctor's appointment at 11:30 and I can't wait to hear if there are any developments in Evans' arrival schedule! Looks like there is definitely a storm brewing here so I need to go make sure the cover is secure on the DCC. More later, Happy Wednesday!!!!!!

My Club's Newest Employee

Isn't he handsome? And he has so many uses!! Saturday Deaner took on the role of lifeguard at the club as well as the pool boy. We decided that since I love my pool so much that we need to take really good care of it. We went to the German Home Depot (OBI) on Saturday morning before taking to the pool and bought some chlorine/pool chemicals so my water can stay fresh and so clean clean. We realized quickly enough that the water was not going to stay so crystal clear for weeks on end if we didn't buy some chemicals. It was really interesting trying to translate the instructions into English so that we didn't end up with chemical burns on our body! However, I think we figured it out just right because the water is nice and clean now without an ounce of slime! We also go a skimmer (a.k.a. a cat pooper scooper because the "real" skimmers were so expensive), a pool cover (again, a.k.a. a cheap paint drop cloth) and this little guy!!Actually Deaner picked him out all by himself because I had to sit in the air conditioned car with the groceries while Deaner ran into OBI for the pool goods. I didn't mind at all! So there was lots of time spent at the Club this weekend. Deaner and I both swam on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is just so refreshing. On Saturday the pool was getting a bit on the warm side so we drained out some water and replaced it with nice freezing hose water. When it is 97 degrees outside and you have no AC in your house you resort to desperate measures. There have also been many many showers this weekend. I never thought I would say that I was sick of seeing the SUN in Germany!

I have been saving some pictures to post that I keep meaning to share with y'all and then I forget. The first is that Evans' laundry basket liner finally arrived from Pottery Barn Kids. I will never understand how places like Barnes and Noble can get me 10 hardback books here in 4 days but some places like PBK take 3.5 weeks to ship me a piece of fabric. Regardless, it is here and it fits the basket that I bought at the PX.Now his dirty clothes can be housed in style! :) Also we received two packages recently from friends of mine with AWESOME gifts for Evans'. First my friend Jen sent these cute outfits!And then my friend Julia sent us these.I'm sorry, I have tried to rotate this picture 4 times and I just can't figure out why it won't work. Cock your head to the side! :) I can't wait for Evans to get to wear all these adorable outfits. I am currently washing them right now so they will be nice and ready for him!

So that is about all from our weekend. I'm heading over to Steph's today to help her organize her spare bedroom. Yes, that's right, I'm taking a day off from my Club but that is okay because it is supposed to be nice and hot all week. There will be plenty of time for clubbing. Honestly it has been so hot in Germany the past week that I'm really surprised I'm still alive. I am really hoping that we get a good doctor's report this Thursday and that the Doctor still thinks there is a chance I will be early. I don't know if I can continue like this until August 25th!!

Today at the Club

Today at the club was another giant success. Steph came over this morning for a day of fun in the sun at the Country Club and the weather did not disappoint! It was about 85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky all afternoon! Last night I made a Club playlist on my ipod of 75 of the most popular beach/pool songs that would play for 5 hours of floating in the pool. It was fantastic. Even with the remote I never had to start the playlist over again! The menu at the Club today was a bit more sophisticated than yesterday and Steph and I dined on fresh brushetta for lunch in our top notch dining facility.Not to mention the mass amounts of brownies consumed after our afternoon of floating. And don't forget the smoothies we had after lunch! After my small sunburn yesterday I decided I needed to float on my stomach today. Thankfully our rafts had enough "give" in them that I was able to do this very comfortably. So comfortably in fact that 3 hours of floating passed in no time at all! It looks like I am going to keep this tan afterall! Jon is out of town so Steph is staying for dinner with us. I made spaghetti sauce this morning and we are just waiting for Deaner to get home from the gym so we can eat. I think we will dine at the Club for dinner as well! Happy Thursday!!

Country Club at it's Finest

I have to admit, I grew up enjoying my parent's country club immensely. I was on the swim team from the age of 5 and it was pretty much the dominating environment of my childhood. In the summers the normal routine was to wake up in the morning, put on our bathing suits, head to swim practice, afterwards jump off the diving board 4389734 times, have lunch at the pool, jump off the diving board 4398743098 more times, then have dinner at the pool with my dad joining us after a day of work. I have to say that it was the life. And I have been missing it a lot lately. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. If I couldn't be lounging around at Ansley in Atlanta, I would have to create my own private Country Club and extend membership invitations to only the tip top elite in Germany. Last week I took the first steps towards my dream by purchasing the pool.Now this pool might not look like much but after two days of preparation, I think that my country club is closer to being complete! I really wish that I had taken some pictures of it today while it was in action but sadly, I don't want to show a picture of myself in a bathing suit. So here it how it looked yesterday while it was being filled.Who knew it would take ALL day to fill a 1500 gallon pool? I sure didn't. I finally turned off the hose around 5 because I may or may not have gotten a bit nervous about the actual weight of the pool on our deck. I mean, as much as I want this pool, I don't want it to collapse into our basement or anything. That might not be worth it. Upon Deaner's arrival home last night and his assurance that the pool would not collapse into our basement I resumed work this morning. I got our new patio umbrella set up.So now we have a dining facility at the Club. I realize that that umbrella is tilted to the side but there have been contruction workers at the house next store and this provided a bit of privacy. And finally!! The pool was filled to capacity!Keep in mind that during the day (before 5pm) my whole swimming pool is in the sun. I'll try and do better with the pictures tomorrow! Do you like my rafts? At the real Club, rafts are not allowed but this is the joy of having your OWN club! You get to make the rules! Today my friend Anne came over for the Grand Opening of my Country Club and it was a huge hit. The water was still a bit chilly having just come out of the hose but we both got in the pool and floated on our rafts for an afternoon of pure enjoyment! I didn't even manage to sink my raft despite being over the weight limit! Today at my pool I served fruit smoothies, brownies and diet coke. Not my finest menu but I am expecting that to improve. Steph will be joining me at the Club tomorrow and I am planning a lunch of fresh brushetta and icy drinks. In about 7 weeks or so I will also be serving a full bar. I am hoping that I can talk Deaner into grilling out by my pool this weekend so I can show him how awesome it is. For membership information please contact me!