We Never Know What We Will Get Into

We experience all kinds of things in our business.  Not everyday is the "same ol' same ol'". On Saturday, April 23, we experienced cattle herding.  We were in White County when we got caught right smack dab in the middle of the great escape.  I remembered daddy always told me to just stand still so the cows would not run past me, so that is what we did. We stood there until the guys got them all gated back up.  Stroker thought it was funny to watch the little boy on the porch (in his underwear) yelling "Go Cows Go!".

We knew spring had arrived on Sunday, April 24 when we had our first water slide rental of the year. I'm so glad to see spring. It's my favorite season you know. It was a busy spring day. After church, we traveled to Rickman, Smithville and had a stop in Cookeville.

I started my week off with a dentist appointment on Monday, April 25.  It's not my favorite way to start off a week, but I was due a visit.

Tuesday, April 26 was kinda painful. No particular reason, just that my shoulder blade hurt all day.

I went for a massage for my back and shoulder on Wednesday, April 27. It made a world of difference. There isn't much that a good hour massage won't fix.

I was feeling way too relaxed at church Wednesday night. I was ready for bed early after that massage. The pressure washing guy came to wash our house Wednesday too. 

One last thing for Wednesday.

 I got the call from mom that her leg was starting to swell.

 I hope that goes away on its own.

Stroker and I had a date night on Thursday, April 28 at the Bull and Thistle in Gainesboro.

We both ordered steak. It came on a huge serving platter and was way to much food for one meal. We somehow managed to eat the most of it. It was good, but a bit over the top.

We had an evening of rest on Friday, April 29. Those evenings are the best! 

We dropped Brooke and Mary off to see Mary Poppins at CHS and picked them up around 11pm.

We ended the month of April with dinner at my nephew Brad's. He cooked on the grill and had lots of good food for everybody. We just hung outside for a while and enjoyed the afternoon on Saturday, April 30.

The Formal Proposal

I finally mailed the "cake pop maker" that I sold on ebay and had dinner at Longhorns on Tuesday, April 12.  I should have mailed it a week ago.

I spent Wednesday, April 13, taking mom to two doctor appointments. Her little mind is beginning to fail. She has a hard time remembering recent events. It's hard to see her health decline like it is. She now weighs less than 100 lbs. I told her that we are going to have to tie a string on her so that she doesn't blow away.

Other than the appointments, we went to church and Steak-n-shake. I someday hope to be one of those wives that cooks at home, but for now. 

Stroker and I attended the baseball game on Thursday, April 7th. It was the night that Josh was to ask Brooke to the spring "Formal"  He had all the eighth grade players to put on shirts that spelled "formal?", then he walked up from behind with her bouquet.  It was sweet. 

Our Church hosted a Women's Conference on  Friday night (April 16) and Saturday morning (April 17). I got to attend Friday and part of Saturday.

We had two new units delivered on Friday and Ella spent the night.

Saturday, April 16, was a lot of riding around to Livingston, Gainesboro, Sparta, Rickman and Cookeville.

Sunday April 17, after church, we drove up to Tomkinsville KY. We had lunch at JayDees and hung out at Dale Hollow for a while.

Our pastors birthday was Tuesday, April 19th, so we met up with a few people for his birthday dinner at the Whistle Stop in Baxter. 

Mom had another doctor appointment on Wednesday, April 20. I also had our two new inflatables inspected before going to church. I called Kevin and talked to him about moms medicines too.

I went to daddy's on Thursday, April 21 to notarize some papers for him. 

We finished the week on Friday, April 22 at the All American Diner in Baxter. 

This must be our week for Baxter restaurants.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Kate and I got a couple of people for April Fools day.  We printed out some pages that stated "This copier has been upgraded to voice prompt" We had people standing at the copy chanting "1 copy".
It was sooo funny.

Saturday, April 2nd was not so funny. I got a call from Devin around 8 am that his brakes had went out on his car. By the Grace of God, he did not hit anything. He was on highway 111 when he realized that he had no brakes, so he coasted until he stopped. 

We finally got his car home and realized that his brake line had rusted out.  Devin said "somebody must have sliced it"  Bless him...he wants to be gangster. 

We also made deliveries, done some yard work and I went to the Jenkin's singing...all on a single Saturday.

Brookelynn arrived back home on Sunday, April 3. We had already been to church, made deliveries, went to open houses, and picked up my unsold consignment items before she arrived. We sure was glad to see her.

I bought a new glass top for the coffee table on Monday, April 4 and bought a new blue dresser.  We went to dinner at Olive Garden.

Brookelynn had an orthodontist appointment on Tuesday, April 5. I talked to Georgi for two hours before we went to dinner at El Tap. I spent some time working on the website too.

I had yet another ePlan training on Wednesday, April 6. We had a fellowship meal at church Wednesday night, so we didn't have to go out for dinner.

God's Not Dead II is on at the movies, so Stroker and I went to see it on Thursday, April 7. 

We tried a new restaurant called "Bravo" on Friday, April 8 before helping Debi set up for the Women's Conference.

On Sunday, April 10, we attended church, looked at open houses and had lunch at Outback.

That pretty much sums up spring break 2016.

Spring Break 2K16

We had high school orientation on Monday, March 21. That was hard to swallow. Our baby is entering high school.  Pump the brakes!   

We, along with another parent, went to dinner at El Tap afterwords for moral support for each other. Can't believe high school is so close. 

I went for a massage on Tuesday, March 22, while Brooke went to a ATMS baseball game. I also got in a trip to Lowe's and had to make a trip to Algood. That's quite a day...for a Tuesday.

Stroker and I went by the funeral home Thursday evening, March 23. Margaret Prucing's mother's visitation was being held. She just lost her husband this year, and now her mother. 

 I feel so bad for her.  

Devin joined me for a trip to Celina on Thursday, March 24.  I like the way he steps up to help when we need him. He does not like to help...but he will if we are in a bind.

It was Maundy Thursday, so Stroker and I went to church service to end the day.

Everyday is usually busy around the Hayes House, but Friday's always kick off the busy weekends. I got quite a few things accomplished on Good Friday, March 25.

Stroker and I made our return trip to Celina, I dropped off a couple of totes of consignment items for the sale, I visited mom for a while and we went to dinner with Gary and Darlene.
Our church Easter Egg hunt was held on Saturday, March 26. Although ALL of our inflatables were rented, we somehow still had time to attend the egg hunt. I miss our kids being kids. Their egg hunts have long passed.
We all went to church on Easter Sunday, March 27, followed by our annual egg hunt at moms. I took the parachute this year too. The weather turned out awesome this year. We spent most of the time outside at moms. We hid and found about 120 eggs. There were prizes too.
We ended our Easter at my mother-in-laws. She cooked dinner for the family. I cancelled my hair appointment because holiday's are for family...not hair.
The kids are too old for Easter baskets nowadays, but that doesn't mean the Easter bunny doesn't come LOL.

I had to go to Lebanon on Monday, March 28 for ePlan training, as if I havn't been trained enough. That program never ends. Uuugghh. Stroker grilled burgers for dinner and they were delicious as usual. I ended my Monday taking Brooke to buy $165 worth of summer clothes because she claims nothing fits from last year.

On Tuesday, March 29, I took Brooke to get new sandals because she has apparently outgrown those too. Afterwords, Brooke headed out to Atlanta with Mary for the week, with her new wardrobe in tow. We are right (smack dab) in the middle of spring break, so she has hit the road.

Stroker and I looked at a house on 1644 S. Jefferson. It would be a prime location for our business, but we both agreed that it would be hard to live on such a busy street. I treated myself to a massage. That's about all the spring break I will get.

IHOP and church was all that we accomplished on Wednesday, March 30.  

Thursday, March 31 was the day that Darlene and I went to the movies to see "Heaven is for Real". It was a good movie. I managed to keep my sobbing under control. 

Breezing Through March

It is clear that I would not make a good commuter to work. 

I love that I am so close to schools, shopping, work and everything else that I'm involved with. Because after my third trip to the Capitol on Tuesday, March 15, I was getting bored with the trip. Several business owners and I met at Shoney's on Donelson Pike for a briefing before heading over to Legislative Plaza at 1:30. Of course Representative Ryan Williams seen us and had the bill "Rolled to the Heel".  When time ran out for the committee to hear the bill, they pushed it off until Wednesday, March 16. So back again I went. Brookelynn went with me this time to experience how laws are passed. It was 4pm before HB2456 was finally heard. Once Representative Ryan Williams noticed that he was losing votes, he decided to pull the bill before it had a chance to be voted down entirely. 

I expect to see this bill resurface in 2017.  Until then, we can all get back to business.

We heard that Gary's sister Debi had a stroke on Thursday, March 17. That was a shock as she is only in her 50's. 

March 17 would have also been Kevin and Vickie's 26th anniversary had Vickie not made her poor choices.

I spent Friday, March 18 at CHS volunteering to help at the career fair. We had our usual dinner at the Doodle later on.

We babysat Jett, Dash, and Grey for a while on Saturday, March 19 while Stacia went to visit Debi in the hospital. I organized around the house because I like organizing and we mad a quick trip to Gainesboro.

It was my day to bring breakfast to church on Sunday, March 20. We all went to Rib City afterword's.

All We Do Is Eat

There was an amusement board meeting on Tuesday, March 1, but I didn't get an opportunity to attend. We did manage to stop by the polls and vote for the primary presidential election. Stroker went to a high school basketball game to watch Bryric play. I stayed home to catch up on some housework. I always clean better when he is not at home.

We had dinner with Sterl and Debi after church on Wednesday, March 2 at the Cracker Barrell.

I ordered two new inflatables on Thursday, March 3 to add to our inventory. I customized the colors on one of them. Hopefully it looks bright and fun when we receive it.

I worked on invites to the Womens Conference Friday March 4, before we went to Outback for dinner.

We had lunch at Ollie's in Celina on Saturday, March 5. We visited Ma and Pa's grave. I like these graves at the cemetery. The entire family has matching flowers. I hope that when I am dead and gone that no one puts pink and red flowers on my grave. I really need symmetry too, so that I can R.I.P.

We also sold our Jungle Bounce house to someone in Atlanta and had the inspector come by and inspect our new Mini Deluxe Combo.

It was a very busy day for us.

Lennox's birthday party was Sunday, March 6 after church. We also sat up a bounce house in the forier of someone's house. You know you have a big house when you can set up a bounce house in the forier.

I redesigned the bounce house brochure to add our new Deluxe combo, front entry combo, ocean bounce, dunk tank and fly guy on Monday, March 7. 

That kind of stuff takes longer than you think.

Brookelynn and Devin both had dental appointments on Tuesday, March 8.  And both had a cavity.

I went for another back massage and I visited the Sculpting Spa for a consultation on my neck.

I can't believe season 2 of American Crime was on its last episode Wednesday March 9. It seems like it just started. As interested as I sound in the show, I missed the final episode anyway because we hung out at Cracker Barrel after church until 9pm.

We had our usual dinner at the Doodle on Friday, March 11. 

We needed a good dinner Friday night so we would have plenty of energy to drive around all day

Saturday, March 12.  We drove to Overton, Jackson, White and DeKalb counties. It was a nice day, and a longer day because of Sunday, March 13 daylights savings time. 

We went to Cheddar's afterword church with our church family. I also visited mom, Darlene, and dad.