Well, this year at Palm Beach was a little different than last year. It was supposed to be very relaxing for many reasons:
1. Ben finished the bar the day before we left.
2. I had been freakin busy at work and was looking forward to not dealing with other people's problems.
3. We knew this would be our last vacay with no children.

I laxed, big time, on my picture taking. I don't even think I got a picture of Ben and I together. This irritates me because long time loyal reader, Heather S., has challenged Taylor and I to a 2nd annual "Best Palm Beach Post" contest and I really don't have anything to back it up. I didn't see any 70 year old men in a red Speedo with matching Crocs, no ladies tried to run me over on a motorized scooter by the pool, and I didn't even come close to getting "Steve Irwin'd" by a gang of stingrays. And if that isn't bad enough, Ben and I left 2 days early. With all this in mind, here is my attempt at a second win (if you don't remember last years contest let me refresh your memory; I beat Taylor so badly he re-did his blog and STILL lost). Pitiful, just pitiful.

Day 1
Ben and I traveled and waited in airports all day. We flew out of Abilene at like 9 in the morning and got to Miami at about midnight. Luckily for us, Taylor and mom were feeling hospitable and picked us up from the airport.

Day 2
Sunday, August 2, was my 30th birthday. I cried. I told myself I was actually turning 29. I threw up a little. But alas, I could not deny any longer that I am no longer a coveted 20-something. The magazine articles for 30, 40, and 50 year olds, where they tell you how to take care of your skin and what clothes are now "too young for you," now apply to me. Heather and Taylor took the day very serious and decided to prepare a fabulous, gourmet dinner fit only for a mature lady such as myself. Ok... So I actually thought I had a picture of the meal but I don't. Anyway, it was hotdogs. Heather did get me a birthday cake and I have a picture believe it or not:


Day 3
We chartered a fishing boat and Paul, Taylor, Mitchell (my nephew), dad, Ben and I went out fishing with a guide. It was really fun and something I had never done before. Mitchell was sea sick pretty much 10 minutes into the trip and laid in the back of the boat most of the time. Dad seemed to be doing ok until he threw up over the side of the boat. Paul started to get queezy but held it together. Taylor, Ben and I felt fine for the whole 4 hours and we decided they got sick because they all ate bananas for breakfast. It was the only sensible conclusion...
Ok, I found one picture of Ben and I.





Love this picture. Dad looks like some rando who stepped into the picture.

Day 4
This day was like most. Beach, pool, food, fun with some random activity and not much else. I love days like that.
Anna's head. If you can enlarge this picture, do it. Her face is hilarious.

Heather doing her "High School Musical Jump." I didn't take the picture correctly. If you want to see the complete "High School Musical Jump Competition" between Heather, Anna, and myself go to Taylor's blog (you can link there on the right side of my blog). I think I clearly won.


Making Tie Die shirts



Day 5, 6, 7
What a little jerk...


So here are your instructions: Read Taylor's post and then come back and vote by leaving a comment.

The Mover and the Shaker

I would like to thank all my loyal "Macon Fun of The Grants" readers for their comments on my blog. I appreciate the excitement over the baby and the sympathy for my lack of blog comments. I have good readers. I had 10 comments and none of them were from me!! Now that is exciting.

I went to the doctor today and everything was great. I love my doctor. My due date is March 7th. After seeing the sonogram, I am more excited. I think I was anxious about what the doctor would find and, I know it sounds crazy, but I wondered if I was even pregnant!! I mean, I haven't been sick and other than having two positive preggo tests, being really tired, and all of a sudden having HUGE boobies, I had no indications. I know, I sound crazy but we all knew that. Anyway, he/she moved tons which Ben and I were both surprised about. The doctor laughed at one point because he/she looked like they were shaking their butt. That's my kind of kid.


I know I promised Palm Beach pictures and I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting for them but I am freakin tired. Next time.

Our Little Juvenile Delinquent...

So, our parents have bigger mouths than we do which is why, for many, this announcement doesn't exactly put the "new" in "news." I was wanting to wait and announce this with a picture or something else big but I guess I will just have to settle with: I'm preggos. I think I forget sometimes that yes, I am 30 years old and can't continue to say "hey, what's the rush? I'm still young, I've got plenty of time to have kids!" No ma'am. Not no mo'. The time has come. Ben and I are both very excited.

I go to the doctor next week so hopefully, everything will be ok. I have this fear that something will go wrong since I am only 10 weeks and now, since everyone is starting to know, there will be a problem that I will have to then announce to the masses. I know, I know, I am weird and have some serious hang ups but that's what makes me so awesome. I will update after the doctor's appointment next week.

This story is something only an animal lover could truly understand:
Well, Ben and I had an awesome vacation in Palm Beach, FL with my entire family. This has started to become a tradition since this was our second summer and we have already booked the condos for the next summer thanks to my dad's timeshares. We have two condos every year that are ocean front and only steps from the beach. Really, I should still be in Palm Beach and not sitting here in Abilene typing this post but this year was a little different. Heather and Taylor hired a housesitter to stay at their house and watch their dog and cat. Eleanor, our chihuahua, was also going to stay with them for the week. Wednesday night, Taylor tells Ben that he has some bad news. The housesitter's called and said Eleanor is missing and has been since 9:00 that morning. He said they have been all over the neighborhood and called the pound but have not been able to find her. Well, I seriously freak out. If you haven't figured out yet, Eleanor is my child. I think when you don't have children of your own your pets tend to take over that role so this was more then just some dog missing. This was my baby missing. I start to cry like a little baby and can't stop. Heather lives in a nice neighborhood but over the past year, all the cats in the hood have gone missing and, on numerous occasions, there have been very large paw prints on her driveway from some sort of wildcat. Eleanor is a typical chihuahua and only likes 1 or 2 people so I knew, even if she is being called, she would not come to anyone but Ben or myself. I felt like, in my heart, I had to at least try to find her and comb the neighborhood or else I would never forgive myself if she was never seen again. Ben talked to a woman at American Airlines who told us we either had to pay $480.00 per ticket or use 12,500 points per ticket in order to move up the flight. He then called again later and talked to another woman who said she was an animal lover and has put her job on the line but will move up our flight for free. Anyway, we cut our incredible vacation short by two days and come home. I cried all night and all morning. We to DFW and Ben calls the housesitter who says they went to the pound and found her there. We were relieved. When we got to Abilene, we got her rabies tags, went to the pound and after doing the all the paperwork they told us which holding tank she was in and sent us back. Eleanor was sitting on a concrete floor and looked at us like she couldn't believe we were actually there. I noticed a red sign on her cage door that read "WILL BITE! DO NOT TOUCH!!" She slowly got up and came to us when Ben opened the cage but when we picked her up she started licking and waggin her tail. The worker came over and I told him we went ahead and pulled out and asked if that was ok. He said "I would have needed you to get her out anyway. She bites me!" Needless to say, she was dirtier then she has ever been, she was shedding really bad and her butt showed serious signs of diarrea. It is a complete bummer we had to come home early but we are just so thankful to God that she is safe and alive. Hmmm, coming home early from vaca to bail out our child...I hope this isn't a preview of what's to come.




Next post: Palm Beach recap with pictures. Stay tuned all 2 of you loyal "Macon Fun of the Grants" readers. Just out of curiousity, does anyone read this thing? I have gotten like 2 comments on my last 3 posts and I think one of those was actually written by me.