Time Off

Friday, June 18, was the last day of school and we got done cleaning the lab around 10am and I headed home. Marc sent me out to the store to pick up a couple of things so we could finish cleaning since my parents were coming on Sunday. We had been planning on making a family trip down to Orlando to stay with Marc's cousin and to see my best friend who was going to be in from Ohio for a cruise that was leaving from Tampa. We had all these fun plans with Marc's cousin *food related, of course!* and then my parents, who were also in Orlando for a conference, were going to drive back to Jacksonville behind us on Sunday. Then a hiccup came when our car started leaking massive amounts of water into the floorboard on the passenger side. We decided, hesitantly, to not take the trip so we could get the car fixed.

So Marc messages me while I was at the store and tells me to please hurry home because the kids are driving him crazy and he was about to freak out. I rush home and, as I walk into the living room from the hallway, see a figure out of the corner of my eye. KATIE WAS HERE!!!!!! I threw myself at her, bags in hand. I missed my best friend SO FREAKING MUCH. Marc had also taken the kids to a sitter so we had the whole day to ourselves. We went to Jimmy John's for lunch, and then went home and took naps. *I know, I felt like I was wasting time with Katie but I knew if we didn't nap, we'd be crashing at 7.* When we woke up, Katie and I went out shopping. I miss that. I miss just going out with her and browsing through stores. I miss trying on clothes together and taking funny pictures in the dressing room. I miss just being us girls. Even the girl friends I have here just aren't the same. Katie has known me since high school. She has been with me since before I had kids. She has transitioned with me from the quiet, reserved, insecure, religious person I once was to...well, whatever you want to call me now. She's been with me through my brother passing away, teenage struggles with parents, breakups, and new love. Katie knows me. Katie knows my emotions. Katie knows that I'm crazy and loves me anyways. Katie and I can not see each other for massive amounts of time, and still be able to just pick up where we left off. We are going to be old, purple haired ladies sitting in rocking chairs stuffing our faces with desserts because we are so old it doesn't matter anymore. I like knowing that. I am so lucky to have her in my life.

Anyways, so we went shopping and then went to my school to pick up my graded Skills final. I got an "A", by the way. The only person in the class to wind up with an "A" in the class overall. Some got "A-" but I'm the only one with a solid "A." And I made it on the President's list again. Yay!

It was so much fun to show her my school and let her see all the places I'm talking about all the time. We took this fun picture in the elevator.


Then we went out for sushi. We had THE BEST sushi EVER. I believe the place was called Sushi House and it is right near the school. Definitely going back there. The 2 rolls that are orange were the best rolls. Crunchy something or other. Yum!




We played poker with Tom, Jacob, Curtis, and Phillie later that night. Then the next morning we went out to Panera for breakfast since that is ALSO one of our things and then did some more window shopping at one of our favorite places, Artsy Abode. After that, we picked up ice cream to take home to the girls and she hung out with them for a few minutes before she had to leave around noon. A short visit, but one that I needed SO BADLY! I'm SO thankful I got to recharge my Katie batteries!!!




Since then we have been spending time getting all the little errands done that we don't usually have time to do, so they get put off. Things like getting my eyes checked, going to the library, going to the beach, etc, etc. We've been working really hard on reading with Harmony and it's paying off! She is getting SO much better at it and is extremely proud of her new skill. We also have Layla completely daytime potty trained! She takes her day naps and even goes out of the house on errands in panties and tells us she has to go at the store, the restaurant, the park, the beach, etc. We are SO happy about it and she's proud of being a big girl! Down to only 2 diapers a day! One for each kid at bedtime!!!

I also have started Cookies for a Cause back up and have started selling them at Doing Dishes, a Paint Your Own Pottery Studio, as well! So feel free to place an order or go to Doing Dishes to scoop some up and to paint some pottery to stay out of the heat and keep the kiddos busy, too!



Last but not least, I made a tutu. I know this is supposed to be my "food" blog, but I love crafty stuff, as well, so I'm going to go ahead and put this up here. I've wanted to make tutus for awhile, mostly for the girls. I saw a picture, though, of a chick in a corset with a tutu and loved how it looked so I wanted to make one to wear to the Marion Crane show this past weekend. I love how it turned out and it was SO EASY! I'm thinking of having a girls party over here where we all make them...for us or for our kids. We had alot of fun at the show, Marion Crane was amazing, as usual, and we got a much needed night out. Pre-show, I went with Jaime over to Bree's house and we all hung out as girls for awhile and finished getting ready. As noted earlier, I miss girls time, so this was a really nice treat!!!






So far, the time off from school has been wonderful. I've been able to unwind a little and take a breath. I am missing all the cooking, though, and missing all the people at the school. I've started to work on some of next quarters reading so I will hopefully have a little jumpstart on the work and material so I can focus on the projects that I am sure I am going to have in at least two of my classes. I may or may not write before I start back, July 12, depending on if anything extremely exciting happens before then.