Happy Birthday to ME!

After church on Sunday, February 22, (MY BIRTHDAY) daddy and Phyllis met up with us at Golden Corral and he treated me to lunch. Daddy sure knows what I like...food.
We hung out for a while and discussed all this crazy snow and ice that has came through this year. I told him about our shed and it's crushed roof. Daddy always has good advice...even when he doesn't know that he's giving it.
I was gonna drop off consignment items for a sale on Monday, February 23, but since the shed is out of commission, I didn't even bother to get any sale items rounded up. Brooke spent the night at her friend Devin's since school was closed, and our Devin stays so quiet that you can't even tell he is home. It was kinda like having the house to ourselves.

School was closed again on Tuesday, February 24 for snow. The road conditions are improving, but it's still rough enough that schools are closed.
On Wednesday, February 25, school opened at 10 am. Brookelynn went to Life Church after school and as we picked her up from church, it began to snow again.
The snow lasted throughout the night and on Thursday, February 26, I got up and took Devin to work because the roads were covered. Some people tell me that Devin needs to get experience on the snowy roads, but he hasn't even driven a full year on dry pavement yet. The snow and ice that we got this year are very unusual. It's not like the powdery dustings that we are accustomed to. There will be plenty of time for him to get driving experience on snow. for now, I'm trying to avoid him sliding into a ditch like this car on the interstate.

Of course, schools were closed again on Thursday, February 26. By evening, the roads were decently clear. We actually drove to Jamestown Thursday night.
Friday, February 27, school was cancelled again. We went to dinner with Mildred, Paradise, and Libby at El Tap. Brooke was going to go bowling with them but changed her mind by the time dinner was over.

Stroker had to work on Saturday, February 28. I had Devin to go to Northfield with me. He is a great helper when he is in the mood. :)By the time Stroker got off work, I had already been back to Northfield and returned home. Gary and Darlene went with me on the second trip. They also rode back up to Jamestown with us. As frozen as everything has been here lately, 
we stopped for ice cream in Jamestown

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Sleds are Ready

So, the weather man promised another good chance of precipitation beginning Sunday, February 15.  I took Brookelynn shopping for some boots to wear in the snow (just in case).  We went to dinner at Chili's before I went to my hair appointment. The sleet and freezing rain was supposed to hit over night.

Monday, February 16, we woke up and did not have any flakes, but it was cold. Sleet and freezing rain were accumulating quickly. Stroker ended up coming home before lunch because businesses were shutting down early due to road conditions. You can see the icicles
starting to hang from my patio chairs. It was Presidents Day, so the kids already had the day off from school.

The snow portion of the winter blast started to hit later in the evening. By Tuesday, February 17, the roads were a nightmare, not to mention tree's and power lines were breaking form the heavy ice coating.

People were beginning to lose electricity. We were fortunate to have ours the entire time.  The weather had gotten so bad, that not only schools were closed but the C.O. was closed too. Most government and State office across TN were closed for the day. Even FedEx closed. I spent most of the day on Google+, catching up laundry and working on my website.  Brookelynn and I made a McDonald's run around 9:30 am, and the main roads were still rough.

Wednesday, February 18 was more of the same. State and Federal Offices were closed due to ice covered roadways. I spent another day at home with my kiddos peering at the cold from my nice warm living room.

Thursday and Friday were abbreviated days at the C.O. It was only open from 10:00-4:00 both days. 

On Friday, February 20, I was surprised by Amanda, Jacquline and Dr. Nash with the pricey handbag that I have had my eye on. I also received a Carmike Cinema popcorn bucket and a Carmike Cinema gift card. I don't celebrate my birthday's these years, but it sure feels good when others do something nice for me. I also enjoyed a big birthday cake from my favorite cake decorator. The gifts just kept on coming.

Round Two of snow and ice hit us Saturday, February 21. So much ice that my birthday breakfast that daddy had planned to take me to got cancelled. I was so disappointing. (insert tears here). We all stayed inside all day and took long winter naps. Devin woke us up once to tell us that a huge limb had fallen from about 50 feet up and crushed the roof of the shed. It was just one let down after another that Saturday.

I have also been impressed with the icecicles this week. 

A Week of Lovin'

Sunday, February 8 finally got here. I have been looking forward to the day for months. WINTER JAM at Bridgestone Arena. The place was absolutely packed. Some people even got turned away at the door. The evening was awesome. I loved it! I sang along because no one could hear me. Brookelynn and Morgan got to see Hillsong United sing "Oceans" (their favorite song). We arrived at 4pm and got back home at 11:15. I can't wait to go again next year.

We woke up Monday morning, February 9, to water all over the floor because the water heater busted during the night. We spent the day sopping up water, moving the washer and dryer so we could get to the water heater and shopping for a new water heater. We finally had one installed by 7 pm.  Stroker was so stressed out all day that he was exhausted by bed time. He can not handle having something "Out of Order". Nothing is ever left "undone"...it's one of the things I love about him.

I got to have lunch with my sis at O'Charley's on Tuesday, February 10. We don't get together often for lunch, but I love when we do. 

Wednesday, February 11 held some good news since our week got off to a soggy start. We went by Verizon and left with a $75 savings per month on our bill. So glad I stopped by to go over our plan.

  I love saving money. 

We went to Logan's afterwords to spend our first month's savings on dinner LOL.

There were a few flurries of snow Thursday morning, February 12. Just enough to cancel school at 11:15. Brookelynn loves a good snow day. By noon, the snow had stopped and melted.

Brookelynn had her friend Alyssa over for a sleepover on Friday night, February 13. Grey came over to spend some time with us while S&D went for a pre Valentine's dinner. He was fun to take care of. I love his calm spirit. That's my kind of kid.

I visited my mom on Valentines Day and took her lunch after the hubs treated us all to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. After we got back from Sparta, we got to rest and relax at home for the rest of the day. I loved every minute of it.. These days, we prefer "down time" over anything.

First Week of February

I went to visit mom and dad for a while on Sunday, February 1, after church and dinner with some of our church friends. Devin went with me to mom's, but Brooke stayed home because Morgan was coming by to pick her up for a sleepover. I also spent some time with daddy. My dad always has some great advice...even when he doesn't even realize that he is giving it. Time tends to get away from me on Sunday's during my visiting. I try to visit weekly, but sometimes life gets way too hectic.
Brookelynn spent a second night at Morgan's on Monday, February 2.
The hubs and I drove to Sparta on Tuesday, February 3, to check out some copy cat's that have apparently been stalking us. The more we found out, the more we realized that we had nothing to worry about. What a cobbled up mess those people were in. We just turned around and went to dinner at Logan's.

I made one of those dreaded trips to Wal-Mart on Wednesday, February 4 to stock up on junk food. Ella came home with Brooke for a sleepover because rumor has it that a decent amount of snow will fall overnight. I even cooked a home cooked meal so the kids could graze on that the next day.

I woke up Thursday, February 5 with a horrible headache and found that there was no snow. I managed to get the girls to school and treated a headache with two Tylenol, two ibuprofen and two Aleve until after 2pm before it let up. I hate days that my head hurts like this.

The hubs and I had another dinner date for two at Crawdaddy's on Friday night, February 6. Just an F.Y.I....Crawdaddy's has the best vegetables in town.

We tried out our new I.R. M. on Saturday, February 7. It was kind of a fail, but only because we don't really know how to use it yet. I can't wait until we learn how to maneuver it correctly. It's gonna be the best thing since the invention of dollies.