Toadfrogs and Elephants

Wade’s Aunt Louise and Uncle John have recently moved to Greenville. Wade’s grandparents stayed with them for the weekend and Wade’s parents stayed at our house. We all got together on Saturday for the GaTech vs. Clemson game. In a sea of orange, we were some of the few GaTech supporters. Brad drove up from Atlanta so we had a total of four Tech graduates (Uncle John too). It was sad that we lost the game, but getting the group together was fun.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, Wade carved a pumpkin before the game.

Wade’s family is coming to visit and arrives tonight. I am cooking dinner, but the best part is the apple crisp for dessert. As I was peeling the apples, Madison plopped down right in front of me and just stared. I gave her one of the apple peelings and she loved it. Of course she did, she loves anything coming from a human hand.

Happy Birthday Aunt Gayle!

Danielle called and asked me to watch Emma today. I said sure. Emma wasn’t the perfect angel today. About lunch time she got very grumpy and said she wanted to take her nap. I wasn’t about to argue. She woke up from her nap a different person (that’s all it takes for Wade sometimes too). We had lunch and went to the park. Then it was back for one more viewing of Sleeping Beauty (it had been playing when I arrived).

This week we have my mother, grandparents, aunt, and uncle visiting and Wade’s parents and grandparents. My family is in town for tonight and Wade’s is coming to spend the weekend. My mother called to let me know they were running a few hours behind her anticipated schedule (no surprise there), but they arrived in time for dinner. Then we made chocolate chip cookies and talked. Mom stayed at our house and everyone else was at the hotel. Wade went to bed at a decent hour, but mom and I stayed up late talking.

My family: Granddad, Grandma, Mom, Aunt Beverly, and Uncle Tommy.

Let’s celebrate small things. I got all the laundry done – six loads. I cleaned. I watched a movie – Benny and Joon. I got a check from Scientific-Atlanta – just a few more to go. I ran errands. I got a great deal on an unpriced item at Wal-Mart. I changed the sheets on all the beds. The new recipe we tried for dinner was great and easy to make! Madison didn’t escape from her fence – like previous Mondays. We were on time for bible study. I finished my book. Wade cleaned up his office. I didn’t cough all night long.

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Wade and I had a strange encounter at church today. I was working the information table when a young couple stopped to ask questions. Through our discussion I found that they had moved to Anderson from Atlanta. They had attended Buckhead church in Atlanta. The guy graduated from Tech and worked as a designer for Electrolux. It could have been the story of Wade and I. I introduced them to Wade and we made plans for dinner this week. Now if only we can get them to volunteer for the host team and carpool on Sunday mornings!

Once again Wade and I had our annual pumpkin carving party. We have had it in three different locations in three years. Hopefully next year we will still be in our same house! Just to recap, here are pictures from the previous two years.

None of the Atlanta people made a return trip, but we had people from both Anderson and Greenville. We had singles, couples, kids, work people, church people, and neighborhood people. I didn’t get the chance to carve a pumpkin, but we had a few extras and one has my name on it.

Pumpkin Carving – the whole group

While painting our living room, we had done some test painting in the dining room too. We were trying out various shades of red. Wade suggested painting over the red with orange. Then we let people sign the wall. The room will eventually be painted, but for now we are going to have fun with it!

Wade took off from work after lunch on Tuesday and we started our trip to Memphis. For this one we left the dogs at home with an intern from Wade’s work. It is very convenient to have people without homes or families who don’t mind staying at our house. We got to the Burch house around 9 pm and visited for a while.

The visitation was at 10 am today, followed by the funeral at 11. There was quite a bit of family – the favorites being Wade’s little cousins Marie and Tina.

Directly from the funeral we started the long drive to Anderson. We did make a stop in Madison, AL to have dinner with our friend from college, Daniel. We were dropping him off in his work parking lot when I heard someone calling my name. I turn around and one of my sorority sisters from college is walking towards me. I knew Tracey had moved to the area, but I didn’t realize she worked for the same company as Daniel. Do you hear the tune, “It’s a small world, after all” playing in your head?