Car Crashes, Sick Cats and School -- Oh My!

It's been a busy few weeks, but what else is new right?

Let's see, we headed to Columbus the weekend of Aug. 8 for Brandon's cousin Jarrod's birthday party, which was basically a mini-family reunion. We had a good time and enjoyed all the yummy food Aunt Michelle fixed. We also got to spend some quality time with Brandon's cousin Zach's new baby, Logan. He is about three months old and very cute. Brandon did a great job with him --despite all the women watching his every move. Aunt Shauna passed on a good piece of advice, which she received from her mother: Don't ever start something you don't want to continue. (Note to self: re: crying baby...)

This past week was super crunch week for grad school -- I had a 10 page paper due for retailing, numerous case studies to read for B2B marketing (a large part of our grad is based on class participation/commentary on case studies) and a group powerpoint presentation on another case. I made the week worse by crashing my car -- it was completely my fault and a very stupid maneuver. What ticks me off is all the money I wasted: $1,000 deductible (on a $3,000 repair) and $114 ticket for running a red light. Fortunately, no one was hurt. It did royally screw up my day though -- I spent hours dealing with insurance and had to make a quick visit to my OB to make sure the baby was OK. Heartbeat 156 and strong, no injuries to anything except my pride...and the car. Brandon is my personal chauffeur for now.

Also, we found out that Sassy's has some fairly serious kidney problems. For now, we are going to switch her diet and see if that helps stabalize her. If not, I will be learning to give her fluids at home.

This weekend we took a break and went shopping for baby furniture/bedding on Friday to make a final decision about paint colors for upstairs. We have a good idea of what we want to do now. On Saturday, we had a nice lunch with Paula and Kirk then split boy/girl with the boys playing frisbee and girls hitting the outlet malls.

I had to present at 7 a.m. this morning for work. FUN. I also do my B2B presentation this evening for class. Wish me luck -- hope I'm still standing at the end of the day.

Family Party, Tennessee and General Exhaustion

Today, I feel like I could fall asleep sitting up. I think I’ve stressed myself out just a little too much over the past five days. With my summer graduate school schedule, Sunday through Wednesday is a marathon regardless of what we do on the weekend, but this past weekend, we also hosted a family reunion so that seems to have put me over the top. It was great to see everyone, though, so it was worth it. I particularly appreciated Becca and Justin’s help Friday and Saturday loaded and unloaded the huge amounts of stuff we had to take.

We turned the party into a surprise 80th birthday party for my Grandma, too, which went great. She seemed to really enjoy herself and virtually everyone thanked me for organizing it so that made me feel good. (Now if I could just get my Kentucky cousins to participate…oh well, their loss! I’ll post pictures from the party over the weekend. I haven’t had a chance to download them yet.

We had a great time in Tennessee visiting Ben, Carrie and Pants a few weekends ago. We broke the pregnancy news to all of them then – I thought Pants might crash the car! Everyone is excited, of course. We went to the Smokies to hike and saw our first black bear, which was very cool. Brandon and I couldn’t resist going into hiking mode, though, which means we blew up the hill ahead of the others. It felt so good to be hiking! Granted, Ben has a 15-month old kid on his back to laden him down, so I assume it is justified. Here is a picture of all of us that Carrie took.

Update

Not much to report here -- I am excited to note that I finished my Winning at Retail book last night, so I can finally move on with my mid-course project. Whoo hoo!

This weekend we are just chilling at home and doing some yardwork. It is the first free weekend we've had in quite a while. Mom is going to come down for lunch on Saturday, but otherwise it's pretty wide open. (that's a good thing!)

Next weekend we're headed to Tennessee with Pants to visit the Feldmeyers. The weekend after that I have class again (boo!) and then it's time for our family reunion. I'm very excited to host the family party -- it's been a really long time since we all got together and it sounds like we're going to have a great turn out! Now I just need to cross my fingers for a non-blistering day.

Have a great weekend!

Grad School and Weekends

I spent most of my weekend in class – about 15 hours worth of retailing. Suffice it to say, I could do not to hear anything about Walmart, Kroger, Publix or Target any time for the next few weeks. (Our visiting professor from the University of Georgia talked quite a bit about these superpower retailers…) Now I have a group project to complete – including a 250 page book to read in preparation for the project—before July 24. FUN. It’s going to be a busy month!

On Sunday, Brandon and I headed up to Dayton for the Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival. We noshed on some great BBQ wraps and enjoyed the live music. Pants, Bess and Kevin joined us for the headliner concert – Dr. John, a famous New Orleans musician, and Robert Randolph & the Family Band. It was a great way to relax after a long weekend of class, but it sure made Monday morning hard.

This weekend we’re going to chill at home. We’re hosting Brandon’s parents and his aunts and uncles Friday afternoon/evening at our house then going to a Reds game. It’s fireworks night, so it should be a great night!

Happy short work week!

Ann's Surprise Birthday Party

We headed to Columbus this weekend for Brandon’s Grandma Ann’s surprise birthday party. Steve and Roy flew in from Arizona, so it was nice to see the whole family. Ann had a great time talking to all her friends and the extended family, particularly giggling with her best friend from childhood, Lena.

It was a fun, but exhausting weekend. Here are a few photos from the trip:

(Andrew hates being hugged -- he got a double whammy from Michelle and Shauna. Love it!)

(the totally edible birthday decorations were awesome!)

(Lena and Grandma Ann enjoying pina coladas)

We stayed with Anna and Andrew Friday and Saturday night. We always have a good time with them.

Lovin' My Fresh Produce

I have to say, I’m feelin’ pretty darn good about my decision to join Eaton Farm’s Community Supported Agriculture program. I can’t wait for Sundays when I get my big baskets for farm-fresh produces and eggs. This week, I got beets, cabbage, cauliflower, green onions, lettuce, eggs, cucumbers and garlic toppers. YUM. We roasted the beets and cauliflower with some carrots last night to go with Brandon’s awesome BB Q ribs. It was a great summer meal.

I pick up at the Hyde Park Farmer’s Market. I was excited to find a local farmer who raises grass-fed beef, pork and free-range chickens. I bought chicken, pork and breakfast sausage. I hate supporting commercial meat and poultry farming because of its inhumane treatment of animals, unfair labor laws for workers and disregard for the environment. (A few examples: chickens fattened so fast they can’t stand up in the tiny, completely dark cages they are raised in. Cattle fed corn-based grain that makes them sick, requiring antibiotics to keep them “healthy” then resulting in e.coli outbreaks….I could go ON and ON!)

Anyway, if you can support a local farmer do it!

Three Weeks

That's how long it took the City of Cincinnati to take our broken fence. We followed the rules to the letter (the trash people broke the rope holding our bundles then left it), complained twice and finally said screw it and threw the wood in our trash can. Stupid city services...

It's been busy around the Harper house lately. We've had friends in town and took a weekend get-away to the Hocking Hills this past weekend. I'll post more later.