"Nightmare on 31st Street!!"

The events you are about to read took place at my home last night.

Me: Ben, there is something wrong with that toilet in the hall bathroom. There is almost no water in it at all.

Ben: Oh yeah, I meant to fix that. I'll work on it.

Me: Ok, thanks.

(I go into the master bathroom and begin brushing my teeth. Ben comes in to the master bathroom, grabs the plunger and goes back into the hall bathroom.)

Seconds later I hear a shrill voice yelling from the hallway:

Ben: Nightmare on 31st Street!! Nightmare on 31st Street!!

(Note: This was not a "real" voice he was using but one that he uses when being funny so I didn't think much of it. Plus, he was yelling "Nightmare on 31st Street" and what does that really mean, anyway?)

So, after a few minutes, curiosity gets the best of me and I go to the hall bathroom to see what Nightmare on 31st Street is.

Have you ever seen the commercial about the septic tank cleaner where it shows the lady in her bathroom mopping away furiously and water is pouring over the sides of the toilet? That is the scene that was currently taking place in my bathroom. Except remove the lady with the mop and replace her with Ben with a towel outside the bathroom door trying to keep the water from pouring into the hallway. No exaggeration.

Me: What happened??

Ben: It got stuck! Has that never happened to you?

Me: No.

Ben: I went to get the scepter (read: plunger) and when I came back water was everywhere!

Me: Well, the handle has hung before but it didn't cause water to run out of the toilet and into the floor!

Ben: That is what happens when there is a clog.

Me: Oh.

So, there you have it. A new Christmas Story: Nightmare on 31st Street. I wish I had pictures but I was too stunned to do anything but grab more towels.

If Fast Food Was Pharmacy

AKA "Why We Can't Just Get a Z-Pak Off The Shelf and Slap a Label on it"

AKA "Why it Takes 'SO LONG' to Fill Your Prescription"

by Katie Lassiter, Pharm D

So, it is 4:30 am, I can't sleep, and the thoughts from the two previous days at work are running through my head. Sunday at work was the day from you-know-where including every complaining customer you can imagine, not to mention I caught a forgery which is a whole other issue in and of itself. I had the store manager called on us twice with a follow up from my district manager today (or, uh, yesterday?). I am extremely thankful that our managers understand the stress and pressure that we are under and come to inquire as to what actually happened instead of assuming we deliberately did something wrong. Even though my job is not on the line and I am not "in trouble" for said complaints, it is really hard for me to get past when things like this happen because a feel that it is unfair to me. I am not behind the counter watching a movie and having a good ole time and delaying people from getting their medications just for kicks. Contrary to popular belief, I hate it when I have a whole line of customers staring at me and continually checking to see if their prescription is ready. I know it sounds fun, right? Long story short, I have had this little synopsis brewing in my head for a long time in order to fully explain to people " your prescription is not back here sitting on a warmer ready to go" and "this is not fast food" and to ask, "why do you people think you deserve for your medication to be ready in 15 minutes or less?" and "why do you think you are the only customer at the pharmacy when you wouldn't expect this at any other public place such as a restaurant that requires WAITING for a table?" and "why do you think you can walk up to a counter and yell to the pharmacist behind the computer who is diligently checking people's prescriptions for errors and ask 'HEY! Where are the cotton balls?" So, thus brings us the story that follows.....

If Fast Food was Pharmacy

Setting: a fast food burger joint

A customer walks up to the counter with their order in hand. Please keep in mind that the customer ordering the food did not actually pick out what they wanted to eat, someone else wrote it for them. In fact, the customer has no idea what the order is, nor are they familiar with what is on the menu. The customer hands their order to the cashier who proceeds to take down the customer's personal information before scanning in the order. (I could go into a million things here such as, the customer refuses to give their birthday, does not know the birthday, argues about giving the information, or asks 500 questions about what their "order" is because they have no idea what it's for, but that would take all day. Just keep in mind that the "cashier" is delayed from doing other things because the customer is clueless.) Several minutes later, the order has been placed.

Next, the manager (pharmacist) has to check the order and assure that it was put in correctly by the cashier. The manager is the only person in the fast food place who can check orders because of their special knowledge of the menu. So, the manager sees that the customer has been ordered a double cheeseburger and a fry with a medium beverage. Uh OH! The person who wrote the order didn't put WHAT SIZE FRY the customer should have!!! The manager cannot just assume what size of french fry was to be ordered so they must make a phone call to the person who wrote the order. And guess who is the only authorized person to make the phone call??? THE MANAGER.

Oh wait... The Manager has to take a phone call because someone is calling in an order. Who is the only person who is authorized to take order call ins??? THE MANAGER. So, customer number 1's order is being delayed a bit because the manager is tied up on the phone taking orders.

Now, back to the order. The manager calls the person who wrote the order for customer number 1. After pushing 15 different prompts, manager is finally asked to leave a voice mail. Ok. Manager leaves the voice mail and continues to check the rest of customer number 1's order. Now, this may come as a shock to some, but the manager isn't just responsible for making sure the order is put in correctly. The manager must also check to see, does this person always get the double cheese burger or is this a new order? Is this double cheese burger going to cause any issues when eaten with the other things on the order? Is the medium beverage going to contain too much sugar for the customer? Calculations may have to be made.

But before the manager can fully check the order, they have another phone call. It is another burger joint calling to transfer an order. Who is the only person authorized to transfer orders in and out of the burger joint?? The Manager!

Finally, the manager is free to finish checking customer number 1's order.

Oh wait.... the customer's credit card (insurance card) that was stored in the computer that pays for the order is EXPIRED and the customer didn't think to give us the new one. Customer number 1's order is held up yet again. So, the cashier tracks down the customer, the customer digs out the new card for the cashier, and the cashier enters it into the computer. The burger joint submits the order to the credit card for them to pay for it. OH NO! The credit card won't pay for a double cheese burger! They will only pay for a regular cheese burger. So, the cashier informs the customer. The customer gets mad. The Manager then makes another call to the person who wrote the order to inform them of this situation. Customer number one can only get their beverage at this point. The cashier makes the beverage. The Manager checks to make sure that the correct beverage has been served (only the Manager can do this) but before the manager can check this, a customer has come up to ask the manager a question and is telling the manager their life story. The manager clearly has nothing else to do. So, the manager is finally free and can check the beverage. The beverage is good to go. The receipt prints out. The cashier rings up customer number one (we will have to wait for the person who wrote the order to call back before we can continue with the rest of customer number one's order).

Oh wait!!! The customer has a coupon for the beverage that he forgot to give the cashier!! However, these coupons cannot be scanned at the register. They have to be entered into the computer using codes, all of them different, and the whole entire credit card claim has to be redone. OH WAIT!! The customer forgot to "activate" the coupon by calling the number on the coupon that clearly states that the coupon must be activated. The cashier's time has been wasted yet again.

All the while there is a long line of customers waiting to pick up their orders and drop off new orders. All the while other orders are getting faxed in. All the while the phone is constantly ringing. All the while orders are being left on the voice mail. All the while customers are lining up to ask the manager random questions.

Now, that was just one customer's order. Just one! They do hundreds and hundreds of orders a day. Now, say a customer was accidently given a quarter pounder when they had brought in an order for the chicken sandwich.. not a big deal, right? But if a person is actually given medication for diabetes when they were supposed to receive seizure medication, it could be detrimental. That actually happened at a pharmacy (not mine). Or, say a child has been given a prescription for a drug that children are not supposed to take (I have actually seen this before) and the pharmacist doesn't catch it, that could be serious. Or what if the patient brings in a prescription for a drug from one doctor when they are already on a similar or interacting drug from another doctor? These issues are serious. They might not be happening on YOUR prescription, but they very well could be happening on any of the other 300-500 that we are working on that day. We cannot for-see these issues so we give the estimated wait time to the best of our ability. However, you never know what problems will arise. I didn't even touch on half of the things that could actually go wrong.

So please, cut us some slack people. Our job is serious and just because your Z-pak isn't ready in 5 minutes doesn't mean we're back there delaying it just for fun. We don't want you in our faces any more than you want to be in ours.

That being said..... you can expedite the process by calling in your refills 24 hours in advance, not the day (or hour) you need it. Also, make sure your insurance card is up to date. Also, realize that doctors often have no idea how much a medication costs or if it is on your insurance formulary. The pharmacy deals with your insurance as a courtesy to you. It is not our fault if your insurance changes or will not pay for something. The customer is responsible for knowing what medications they should be taking and how they are to be paid for.

Now, I have vented long enough. I am just really down about the issues I had to deal with this past weekend. It can be very discouraging when you are working really hard to do your best and serve people the best you can and people lie and act unfairly (yes, lie). I wanted to be a pharmacist so I could share my knowledge with others because I feel that knowledge is useful and beneficial to people. It is disheartening to find that all many people care about is themselves. I have been shocked and amazed at the types of people and attitudes I have encountered in the last 2 years. If people are treating complete strangers with utter lack of respect and sometimes even hatefulness, how are they treating their family members?

I also have to say that I do encounter some very sweet and gracious people from day to day. I just wish there were more people like them.

AND if you are still reading this, thanks for making it to the end! :)

Garden + Voting = unrelated

Remember this? The garden we planted what seems like a year ago? I took this picture at the end of April when it was about a month into the growing process. Well, in spite of the negligence of its caretaker and the fact that it spent several months completely covered in 5 foot trees weeds, the garden is still thriving. Don't ask me how.

The squash and zucchini basically spontaneously combusted because I planted about 12 plants in a 2x4 foot area. However, this was not before they spit out a few squash and zucchini for us to taste. Here are a couple of tidbits of info that I have taken away from this experience....

1. It is easier go ahead and put in your tomato cages and poles for the cukes before they are actually full grown plants. Some may think this is common sense... anyway...

2. Squash and zucchini plants get REALLY large so they each need at least a 2 foot area to grow in. If you plant them too close, one day you will walk outside and find that they have completely split and grown as far away from each other as possible (literally over night), smashing some of your other plants. Then they combust. It's very strange.

3. Herbs are the absolute easiest to grow. My basil, parsley, rosemary, and especially the mint have thrived and are all still kickin. I have used the basil and rosemary the most. I decided that I do not like the taste of parsley, so, easy as it was to grow, I will not grow it again.

4. Water actually works. Shocking isn't it? I was really really bad about keeping the garden watered, especially in the time of stifling heat. It is a miracle that we still have any plants left. However, Ben recently started regularly watering the garden and it even brought back a squash plant that is now flowering! We are getting more jalapeno and bell peppers than we know what to do with and some basil spontaneously sprouted in the yard next to the garden. The water also brought back some of our tomatoes and strawberries that I thought were a goner. It was honestly weird.

5. If anyone reads this who is actually successful at gardening, could you please email me and let me know what you do with all of your produce? We got more tomatoes and peppers than we could eat. We gave some away but others just went bad. I hated that part.... I would appreciate any tips on how to save, cook or store the produce so it all gets eaten.

The thing about the garden that never ceased to amaze me was that I planted those little plants in the ground and then they gave me food. Every time I would bring in a tomato or pepper or an herb, I would be baffled over the fact that it even existed. I couldn't physically make the plants grow and produce fruit, it was the way God made them and they just did their job! The whole thing has been a wonderful learning experience and maybe one day I will have the discipline and knowledge to keep a garden growing in every season!

And now on to the unrelated.....

Today is voting day! I hate politics. I don't say much about politics on this blog because I don't see the point. In fact, I feel that the less I know about politics the better off I am because the less angry and stressed I am. I hate personal agendas and greed and just plain stupidity. I love this country and I think that we are very blessed to live here. I also think that the founders of our country who worked so hard to establish our great government would be very disappointed if they saw how things were going today.

Ok, that's all I can stomach to say about my thoughts on politics. All I know is that we need to pray for our country and pray for our leaders and pray that God will put the right people in charge. So, please pray.

Happy voting everyone!

The Lame House and Other Things

Happy Halloween from the house who got 5 trick-or-treaters. Seriously. Ben and I bought 3 huge bags of candy because we had high hopes of handing out lots of it. However, a huge bowl now sits before me filled to the brim with Snickers, a variety of Reese's, and Sweet Tarts. I looked out the window of the front door and literally saw kids walking down the street past our house without even giving it a second glance. Is our lawn that unkept? Is it because I didn't carve a pumpkin this year? WHY ARE WE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU PEOPLE?!!!!

Next year I am going all out with fake spider webs, lifelike vampires, coffins, tombstones, etc. all over our pristinely manicured lawn. Then I'll bring back out this years candy and be like "There ya go suckers." I'm not bitter.

Moving on... FALL!! I love fall so much. I wish it would stay fall until December 20th and then it can be winter for 2 weeks and then fall can come back until Spring. I shall start praying this request now. Ok, check out this S'more....ahhhhh (that is a chorus of children (not snobby trick-or-treating children) singing in the background)

One of the lovely things that comes with this time of year is S'mores along with fires in the fire pit on our back porch. I love S'mores so much that I have been known to make them in the microwave when there is no fire around. It is easy... you just heat the mallow up for 10 seconds and when you take it out of the microwave, sandwich it between the other S'more parts and you are good to go. And, if you have never watched a marshmallow in the microwave then I suggest you do it now just for kicks. Except heat it for like 30 seconds. For an even bigger thrill, use Peeps.

Another Fall must have is Apple Cider. I have tweaked and perfected my own recipe from others and it goes something like this:

1 half gallon of apple cider

1-2 cups orange juice

the juice of 1/2 a lemon

4 cinnamon sticks

8 whole cloves

a squeeze of honey to taste

A few thinly sliced lemons and or oranges (for looks mainly)

Bring all ingredients to a boil (I am guessing on the quantities here... I just throw it all in there so you can add more or less as you like) and then let simmer for about 30 minutes. Store left overs in the fridge.

So, the news is pretty much out now that Ben and I are having a baby in April!! I mean, it is on facebook so that basically makes it official. Anyway, we are really excited! However, I think my parents are more excited. The week after we told them the news I found a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my front porch steps with this card attached....

I think mom and dad actually meant for the card to say "ThankS for making us grandparents," but apparently this was the last card the florist shop had. :) Their flower arranging skills far outweighed their card-writing skills. Anyway, Ben's parents are excited too even though this baby will be grand baby #5 on their side. The newest addition, Neely, was born just over a month ago! I am ashamed that the only pictures I have of her are on my cell phone but she is such a cutie! She and our baby may end up being in the same grade!

Here is my first "pregnancy" picture. I finally bit the bullet to pose for it. I am 13 weeks here.

Ben and I actually made it to Auburn for a ball game last weekend! Our friends Josh and Shelley came and stayed with us for the game and they inspired us to make the long 45 minute drive to campus. I am sad to say that we have only been to 1 game since we graduated! This past weekend we didn't actually go to the game because we didn't have tickets, but we did go and hang out on campus for tailgating. We had the best time and all of the new additions on campus have made it even more beautiful!

Before we came back to Montgomery to watch the game from the comfort of our couch, we grabbed lunch at one of my favorite Auburn places, Pita Pit. I love it!!!! While I was there I found this hanging on the cork board near the coke machine:

If you can't tell what that is, it is little pieces "strips" of paper with pictures of chickens on them. I laughed out loud for like 5 minutes when I saw it. It was sort of awkward because the game was starting so the only people in Pita Pit were me and Ben and the people making the pitas. The pita guy did not acknowledge me but I was laughing so hard AND taking pictures of the sign. I went to take my own chicken strip but then I saw what looked like a spot of blood on one of the strips and I changed my mind.

So, Auburn killed LSU which was AWESOME because the LSU fans are possibly the rudest and most obnoxious I have ever encountered. They were yelling at Ben and me all day long (on our own campus!) and it got old fast. We would just smile and wave or ignore them. (I'm sure there are some very sweet LSU fans somewhere out there.)

In other news...

I traveled to Mobile a couple of weekends ago for a baby shower for my friend and old roommate, Allison. The shower was great and it was fun to get to spend time with Allison. She is going to be a wonderful mom! I am very excited that our children will be close to the same age!

Ben and I got to keep our nieces Adalyn and Bentley for a little while one Saturday night while their parents went out. They are so good and we had a great time getting to play with them. They are just growing up so fast!

And lastly I leave you with a picture of my silly poodle. He is always into something! Lately he has been digging in the yard, not only with his paws, but also with his face, as you can tell from the picture. I open the door to let him back inside and this is how he greets me. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. He is going to be so jealous when the baby gets here!

Disclaimers:

1. I am not seriously praying "please let us only have 2 weeks of winter."

2. I am not really handing out this year's Halloween candy next year. That was a joke.

3. I have no intention of spending more than 50 dollars on Halloween lawn decorations such as coffins, tombstones, fake lifesize vampires, etc. Ever.

4. My lawn will likely never be pristinely manicured.

5. I am not responsible if you try to heat a Peep or marshmallow of any kind in your microwave and it explodes. (The marshmallow, not the microwave is at risk of exploding.)

A Random Post About Work

There have been multiple times at work that I have had to look around and ask, "Am I the only one seeing this??!" For example, when the lady walks up to the counter with 100+ gold safety pins in in her hair, or when a 70+ year old stick skinny lady walks past with hair that is composed of one giant white dreadlock. Usually I have to do this because what I am seeing is so completely bizarre that I need confirmation that it is, in fact, real. For example, yesterday I am at my computer making the regular checks and I hear "PRAISE JESUS I AM DOING GOOD TODAY!! GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN! GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN! THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU JESUS! GET BEHIND ME SATAN!"

Huh? Really? I sink down behind my computer, which is standard practice when we want to hide our reactions from the people out front, and turn around to confirm that I am not hallucinating. The shouting continued in the same format. It was coming from a lady who was in line at the register. After her purchase was made she yelled to us, "Be Blessed Children!" We said, "You too, mam." And then had someone follow her to her car to make sure she arrived home safely. I tend to think most of these people are insane, which many of them are, but the general consensus was that this lady was drunk. This is not a rare occurrence either, I just have a hard time telling the difference.

While it took me nearly 2 full years on the job to stop feeling like I was going to cry every time I had to enforce a law and a customer didn't like it, I don't think I will ever cease to be amazed by the crazy things people say and do. Don't get me wrong, my skin isn't super thick yet. I still get upset when people cuss at me and I get really mad when people argue and I get really aggravated when people are complete idiots but act like I am the one that just doesn't get it. Sometimes it makes me want beat my head on the counter. However, people like the safety pin lady, the dreadlock lady, the people with bugs in their ears, weird rashes, bizaar clothing, and random shout outs to Satan really keep my job interesting. I can honestly say that I rarely have a dull day. I can also say that there are many days when I just want to go home and sit on the couch and just stare at a wall.

It's a crazy world out there. If you are usually surrounded by pretty normal people and don't get much excitement, I invite you to visit my place of work. I promise, you will not be disappointed.

A LONG Post

Well, it's finally fall! Don't get me wrong, I like summer, but fall is my favorite time of year! I will do my annual "Things I Love About Fall" post a little later, but for now I need to recap a few things and post some pictures for memory's sake... Remember back in July when I wrote A ((as in singular) post and mentioned that I was in Blue Ridge at a cabin waiting on my family to arrive? Well, here are the events as follows.... And following those events... the trip to Elijay for Ben's family reunion!

(All of these photos (except 2 of them) are strait out of the camera taken with my 50mm lens. A lot of them could use some touching up, but I love the pictures that this lens takes! )

Blue Ridge Family Vacation

My family, part of which were supposed to arrive around 5, arrived well after midnight due to several various setbacks including that the Garmin is a liar and tells people to turn onto roads that don't exist. Anyway, I was sitting in the mysterious 3 story cabin surrounded by woods for several hours at night alone. Thank goodness I had the dogs because it was creepy! No blinds or curtains on the windows... not sure what was in the basement... etc. Anyway, the rest of the family (except Ben who had to work until Sunday) finally did show up.

Matt was exhausted from his summer job as a landscaper in the 100+ degree heat. In fact, that is probably the only reason I was able to get any photos of him on this whole trip. He hates it when I try to take his picture. But I got some. Sucker. Oh, and the little white dogs, Henry and Scooter, LOVE him. And they drive him insane. I think it's hilarious.

This is my sister at breakfast the next morning. We laughed at this picture for an hour.

We spent most of our time at the cabin just playing in the creek, fishing, and walking in the forrest that surrounded the property. It was a beautiful place and we definitely left saying how much we look forward to going back.

The boys watching Matt fish...

Matt is so excited that Pete got in the water with him while he was trying to fish.

I really love this picture of my dad.

When my family got into town, my dad and Matt were in charge of going into the store and picking up the things that were on the list Cara and Mom made. Cara put "large sunglasses" on the list. These are the ones my dad picked out. I would say he followed her instructions exactly.

Here is the cabin's kitchen. It is by far the best cabin we have stayed in. I wish I had taken more photos of it!

So, for a huge surprise, mom hired a chef, yes, a chef to come in and give us a cooking lesson! Our chef's name was Chef Douglas and he came around noon and brought everything needed to prepare a gourmet meal. He taught us how to make crab cakes with sautéed spinach and portobello mushrooms, peach champagne soup, goat cheese bruschetta, and a berry tart with Chantilly cream for dessert. It was amazing! For some reason, Matt and Dad didn't want to stick around for this so they went canoeing and fishing instead.

Chef Douglas actually has a business called "Cabin Cuisine" where he will come to various cabins and prepare meals for the guests or do cooking lessons. I think it is a great idea! Mom, Cara, and I had the best time, loved the food, and learned some good cooking tips!

This swing in the backyard was a favorite spot of all.

Matt and Cara at dinner one night. I really am their sister. We really are blood related.

The dogs absolutely loved playing in the creek that ran behind the cabin. Berkley was a little timid about the water at first but eventually warmed up to it and then turned into a reckless maniac. Berkley and Pete spent most of their time chasing balls that were thrown into the water.

Henry and Scooter wanted to get in the water and play with the big dogs so bad. It was hilarious watching them trying to participate.

One day we took a walk into the surrounding forrest and enjoyed taking a lot of fun nature pictures. This one is my favorite.

My dad was actually wearing a "Bama" shirt here, but I might have taken that out...

Ben and me ready to go out for dinner... I was so glad he didn't have to work the whole weekend and got to come to the cabin for 2 nights. It just isn't the same when he's not around.

Me and my Berkley Baby Poodle.

Lassiter Family Reunion at Amicalola Falls

I should start by saying that 1. I did a horrible job of taking pictures on this trip and 2. from the beginning I was very concerned about how this trip was going to turn out.... there is a Highfield family curse when it comes to taking trips and I was afraid I had inherited it.

It all began when Berkley and Pete (who were supposed to go on the trip which includes a 4 hour car ride) both got diarrhea the day before we were supposed to leave. I have no idea what caused this, but needless to say we were stopping every hour so or so to ensure that the dogs did not have any accidents in the car. On top of that, the night before we left, Ben discovered that some money had been taken out of my pay check without my permission for a "garnishment." So, we spent the drive up to GA stopping to let the dogs have diarrhea and on the phone with WalMart's garnishment office, a law office, and my district manager. Turns out that some man named Cedric, who also works for Wal Mart, has the same last 4 digits of my ss# and Wal Mart mistakenly took money out of my account instead of his. We are talking about 800 dollars. If we had not caught this mistake, the grand total would've been about 2300 dollars. Soooo, we are off to a great start!

We finally arrive safely to our Cabin in Elijay with no accidents. It was kind of tricky to find and we had to follow a very narrow gravel road to reach it. Ben and I dropped the dogs off at the cabin and went to pick up a few items from the store for lunch and for the reunion cook out the next day at the park. While we were at the store, a huge storm came up with a lot of thunder and sky to ground lightning. When we returned home we discovered that the power was out at our cabin. It really turned out great because we just relaxed, read, and took a nap. It'll be back on in a hour or so, right? Wrong.

Ben's parents made it to the cabin around 8 or so. I am not sure how they were able to find it in the dark! We lit a bunch of candles and sat and talked until Ben and I realized we were really hungry. However, how would we cook anything? Ben had a fabulous idea to cook our frozen pizza on the grill by the light of his cell phone. It was actually very good!

The power stayed off until around 11 AM the following day, just in time for us to get ready to go to the reunion at the park. Almost all of Ben's dad's family was there. Ben's dad is one of 7 children and we were getting together with his parents, the kids, and their families. It was fun getting to know them and we enjoyed hiking the trails at Amicalola falls. I didn't get many good pictures because I was mostly worried about Pete and Berkley. Bringing them to the cookout probably wasn't the best idea, but Ben's little cousins had a good time walking them around on their leashes.

The following day we didn't have a specific check out time so we spent some time walking the road that our cabin was on and playing in the creek in front of the cabin. The weather for the rest of the trip was beautiful and it really wasn't too hot... at least not compared to the stifling heat of Montgomery!

Before we left, Ben and I decided to set up the camera to take some family photos. This is the first try. The second try was better and that is the picture in my header above. The funny thing about this set of pictures is Pete. He drops his ball while the camera is shooting. My camera was set to take about 6 frames and you can see Pete watching his ball fall and then roll off the porch. It is hilarious because he is OBSESSED with the ball.

Anyway, that about sums up our summer trips with the families. I hate I didn't get more pictures of Ben's family while we were with them. Hopefully next time Ben's brothers and their families will be able to come too and I am sure there will be plenty of photo opportunities then!

Where Did July Go?

Hi friends! Or should I say, Hi anyone who is still reading.... Have I really been blogless for a month? What happened to July? One thing is for sure, the time is FLYING by! I have a lot to update on so I'll start from the beginning and go from there.

Disney!! For our 2 year anniversary Ben and I took a last minute trip to Disney World. I say last minute because literally, it was. That's what we do. Wait till the last day possible (the day before we leave) and then book the trip. I literally booked the hotel the day before and we called Carnival on the way to Orlando to take our names off the waiting list for the cruise leaving Port Canaveral. We were on the waiting list because we waited last minute to attempt to get on the cruise. Anyway, we didn't make the cruise so we went to Disney instead.

I have to say that I love all things Disney but Ben doesn't exactly share the love. I mean, he tolerates it and somewhat enjoys parts of it, but he could really do without. I hope this changes when we have children. Anyway, I was pumped! I packed up our road trip survival kit: Oreos, Peanut M&M's, Reesce's Cups, Sour Patch Kids, and Cheez-its, and we hit the road.

We stayed at the lovely Dolphin Hotel (where the "dolphins" look more like giant goldfish, but oh well) that is in the Disney Park and has Disney transportation but isn't really Disney... so it was the best of both worlds. We got a good deal on the room since it was, after all, a last minute thing.

Our hotel was right off the Disney Boardwalk which lines the lake and is full of cute little shops and restaurants. It was a short walk from our hotel to Epcot or we could take a little boat to MGM (now Hollywood Studios) or Epcot. The location was really perfect. We probably would've spent more time in the parks and at these little shops had it not been a hundred thousand degrees and packed full of crowds of people who have no concept of personal space.

My time at Disney confirmed my distaste for crowded areas and sweaty people who don't wear deodorant.

The fireworks and lazer shows at Epcot and Magic Kingdom were really amazing! The people at Disney definitely go all out and pay attention to every detail. The parks are spotless and beautiful if you can manage to get a glimpse of anything around all the people. (Can you tell I am bitter about the crowds? Never go on a holiday weekend and never go in the heat of summer. You have been warned.)

The Magic Kingdom has had the long time standing of being my favorite park for many years now. However, this year I do believe it was surpassed by Animal Kingdom with Epcot falling in a close second. Ben and I rode the water ride at Animal Kingdom where Ben refused to tighten our seat belt so we would be able to stand up and avoid getting hit with water. While I almost smashed my face into the hand rail in the middle of the raft, we did escape the ride as the driest passengers. Go Ben.

One of the highlights of the trip was the dinner show "Hoop-Dee-Doo Review." We loved the food, we loved the show, we loved the service, it was so much fun! If you ever venture to Disney World, this is definitely worth the time and money. However, do not waste your time and money on the "Pirates" dinner show. Do not. Don't do it. Do. not. do. it.

So, Ben and I are two years into this whole marriage thing. Where did those two years go? Would you believe I am just now getting around to ordering wedding pictures? Seriously! Just now. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. Hopefully this time next year I not only will have my wedding pictures, I will actually have them in frames and hanging on my walls! Lofty goals... lofty goals...

Two Weeks Later...

Hi Friends!

I am currently sitting in a creekside cabin in the beautiful mountains of Blue Ridge, GA waiting on the rest of my family to arrive. Sadly, Ben won't be able to join me until Saturday but I am already looking forward to him getting here! This is the annual Highfield family summer vacation and while we usually go to Sea Grove, we decided to change it up a bit this year. Anyway, pictures and more family fun to come but in the mean time I need to catch this blog up to speed with my life since May. It.Was.Busy.

Here are a few pictures of some of the highlights (more on births, anniversary, and freezer cooking to come):

So, as I (sort of) mentioned before, Ben and I joined our friends Josh and Shelley on a long weekend trip to Panama City. Josh and Shelley are two of my best friends from pharmacy school and Ben has grown to love them as well. We always have so much fun whenever we can find time to get together.

Here are Shelley and me showing off our jumping skills.

Here are Ben and Josh showing off their um, jumping skills...

Could this sign contain any more adjectives?

Oh, and what a pleasant surprise! We were there during Thunder Beach Week. What is Thunder Beach week? It is basically the week that anyone in the continental U.S. who owns a bike rides it down to PCB and drives it around for the entire week as loudly as possible. Awesome. This is what we found during our Wal-Mart run. Seriously, there were A LOT of bikes in PCB.

Here are some atypical Thunder Beach participants:

Here is a typical Thunder Beach participant:

Just kidding. We did, however, see a little bit of everything that weekend including a man wearing a "Cole Slaw Wrestling" tee shirt. Said tee shirt featured scantily clad cartoon women wrestling in cabage. I took a picture for the blog but decided against posting it because that picture definitely would've made this blog entry PG-13. Needles to say, Thunder Beach made our little weekend getaway very entertaining if not peaceful.

Upon our return home we found this:

A few special gifts from our friend Daniel. Seven hundred and seventy four of them...

We did what any other person would do. We played in them.

Then we put our poodle in the middle of them.

And he had no idea what to do. So he just sat there. The end.

Now that I am working the 7 on 7 off schedule, I only have every other weekend to spend with Ben. We took advantage of one of the few Sundays (ever) that we had no other obligations and took Pete and Berkley to play in the pond at Mimi and Pop's (Ben's parents).

Pete was pumped.

Berkley, not so much. Apparently he had forgotten how to swim since last summer.

Pete obsessed over his ball

While Berkley watched from a safe distance

Sometimes its hard to be a poodle.

Earlier that morning, Ben made us his special homemade doughnuts!

These things are awesome! My mom used to make these from time to time when we were little and Ben and I like to make them every now and then when company comes over. You just buy canned biscuit dough, ball it up, and drop it in the fryer.

Once the dough balls are nice and brown, let them dry (get off as much of the oil as possible for best results) and then drop them in the baggie of powdered sugar. Shake well and then serve. Yum!

We didn't let these dry enough before coating them in the confectioners sugar, thus they were a bit on the over-coated sugary side. Less is more in my opinion because the powdered sugar will kind of cake up in your mouth if you have too much on the doughnut. Also, we have tried different variations of dough shapes and have found the dough ball to work the best. Oh yeah, and you can't eat just one. Don't hate me.

I'll leave you with that but hopefully I'll be back before next month.