Kati Ann's Visit

I looked forward to Kati Ann's visit for weeks. I was going to get to have her from 4 p.m. Friday until sometime on Saturday. She has been in my office many times to stay while her Mom, Bobi Ann (Our 5th & 6th grade director) or her Father, Jared (Our 7th & 8th grade minister) so many things at the church. Kati Ann will be 2 the first of May. I enjoy her great big smile. She has always been such a happy baby. I have taken Kati Ann to school a few times. She is special to me.

I thought that all that was going to fall apart. With Dad having kidney cancer and just getting the news that the cancer is back I thought I was going to have to drop everything to go be with him. Dad called on Thursday and said that the VA wanted him to come in the next morning. We didn't know why. I tried to get everything together so I could go to the VA with him on Friday morning. Nothing was working out except my job. Working at the church has its benefits. Any way they just wanted to check him cause his voice is hoarse and he will be going to Florida for school.

I got to bring Kati Ann home and we played with the little people toys and went outside to play. We learned penny and quarter. That was fun to watch her put things together. We worked on potty training. Just like all little girls that come to visit they all like Bobby Sue doll that she made and they all want to play with it. We spent Saturday baking cakes and playing with the toys. We went for a ride to the store and Kati Ann took a nap. She is so fun and I love to hear her laugh! I look forward to the next time we can play.

Sunday morning Darrin and I went for a ride down to the lake house just to check things out and grab a few items. Then we came home and I have made chocolate covered cake balls and started on Terry's flowers for his wedding cake.

The weekend

After having a very successful Thursday and getting all my work done. I decided to take Friday off work and make Bailey's 10th birthday cake. Mad Hatter is the theme and the child is ten. This was my first attempt at a tipsy turvy cake and it turned out ok but needs improvement!!! Bobby Sue and her friend KK got to the house around 7 p.m. and we got to spend a little time together.

On Saturday morning Darrin and I drove to Talking Rock, GA to see Maria and Dad for Valentines day. We went for dinner and got to talk with Dad and Maria. Dad is on a new drug for the cancer. It causes hoarseness and he has lost his voice mostly. It is encouraging that some of the outward signs of the cancer are going away. Tells me that the new drug is doing what it is designed to do. We stayed the night and got up in the morning and Maria made us breakfast including bacon (she is vegetarian). So that was cool even though she didn't understand it needed to be hot or at least warm.

We drove back on Sunday morning and I went to set up my tent for the Freze-out. Darrin then took me to dinner and we watched the Dayton 500. We ate at Indago Joes. After that I went to church and hung with the kids and got to spend time with Kati Ann. Then we all left the church and went to the camp site and built a big fire and just hung out. the students all played capture the flag. While they were playing we put the Christmas tree on the fire and it was so cool how it just blew up. It was a hot fire!!!

The students all went to bed at midnight Diana, Lindsy, Kenny and I just hung by the fire for a while to get it to die down and then we went to our tents. I dozed here and there but it was to cold to sleep. 28 degrees overnight. At 6 a.m. I got up and went inside for a minute and we (two girls) then went back out and built a fire.

Theodore, Alabama

Darrin and I went to visit Kathy. We had several things we were planing to do while we were there. First I was planning to run in The Battle of Mobile 5k and then it is Mardi Gras and I wanted to get photos of a parade. We did that and also helped Kathy out with some plumbing problems.

The Battle of Mobile 5k I ran in 39:45 which is a time I am happy with. During this race I got to try out my new gps watch. I set it to alarm if I ran slower than a 14 minute mile and I also set it for 3 and ones. The first mile my watch didn't make a sound. The second it alarmed a few times, but the last mile it would not shut up. I ran hard and felt it all day.

I had not had a chance to run much for most of December and January. I did get to run more 5ks than just running in December. Thanksgiving morning I ran the Turkey Trot 5k with Jackie, April. Pam, Trish, and Bobby Sue. Then on December 5 I ran the Jingle Bell Run 5k with Susan. On December 20 I ran the Rudolf Run 5k with Clay. Then we went to Dallas for Christmas. Lisa, Zac and I were going to run a 5k there but the weather got bad and they kept postponing the race so I decided that I didn't want to run that late in the day. I spent the first two weeks of the new year in Japan and did get to run while I was there.

After eating breakfast we went to watch the Rolling River Mardi Gras parade by Kathy's house. It was fun to catch beads and moonpies. This is a family parade and many of them park their trucks and get out the grills. I took pictures of people at the parade.