Whoa Dude...

...it has been waaaaay too long since you've heard from this girl!

I am so sorry for the unannounced hiatus from blogging. I don't have an excuse for you. Sorry, I just don't.

I didn't feel like blogging for a month. Sorry, I just didn't.

But I do now. It is my peragative as a woman, after all, to do what I want when I want.

One of the things that made me want to get back on the blogging wagon was a sweet shout-out that I got from my bloggy friend Paige! Oh my stars I was so flattered and surprised when I saw that she had mentioned me has one of her favorite bloggers when I hadn't blogged in weeks.

THANK YOU PAIGE!! I LOVE YOUR BLOG, TOO!

It just warmed my heart so, and I decided I MUST live up to Paige's undeserving praises and update the blog. So here I am.

As you might remember, I was on mandatory paid vacation for a little minute there. That little minute turned into three weeks and I have to tell you that it was lovely. I loved every minute of not working, and getting paid to do so.

Here is a picture of a Tunica casino just to give you an idea of the magnitude of things:

So many women say, "Oh my gosh if I didn't work I'd go crazy with boredom!" I am here to tell you that I am not one of those women. I found out during those three weeks that I am really good at doing nothing.

To be fair, I did work via email and phone for the majority of my time off. But I did so in my pj's with Kathie Lee, Hoda, and coffee.

I also spent some quality time with these two girls:

That's right, I said TWO girls!

For about three weeks, we fostered this sweet little nugget from the Tunica Human Society.

She is a 6-month only Golden Retriever who I named Bonnie.

Bonnie Raitt.

Doesn't she look like a Bonnie to you?

She loved staying with us and learning the ropes while she awaited the big trip up North to her new home!

Y'all might remember that my last foster dog placed in her forever home through a wonderful
rescue group out of Memphis, Good Dog Rescue. They place dogs in loving homes in the New England states. Up North, they do not have the stray dog problem that we struggle with here in the South.

Last week Bonnie happily loaded up on the bus and made it safely to her new home in Connecticut. The following Monday I recieved a glowing email from her foster mom. They let her sleep on the couch her first night home! Love it.

This fostering experience was much easier than the last one with Dolly Parton. For starters, we only had Bonnie for three weeks instead of four months. And when it came time for the drop-off, I knew what to expect.

I only cried a teeny tiny bit when it came time to say good-bye. Unlike with Dolly when I had to go back to work with mascara-smeared cheeks.

So that was my little project while we were off.

With the weather getting warmer, and summer well on it's way, I've been thinking so much about our upcoming beach vacation! Y'all might remember our trip with the family last year to Destin (second post here). My in-laws are nice enough to treat the whole family to a beach house, and us kids take care of the food. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

So this July we are going to Watercolor, a beach community near Seaside, Florida. I have been to Seaside many times as a kid but have not been in probably about 10 years! I can't wait to go back.

Sometimes when I'm bored at work, or on a run by myself, my thoughts are filled with pictures like these!

I can't wait to go back to the beach with some of my most favorite people!

You know lots of beach houses have names? The house we stayed in last year was Pelican Perch. Well, I asked my family a fun question last year:

What would you name YOUR beach house? The only stipulation is that you have to pay homage to your Southern roots in the name. Here were their answers:

Lilibeth (my M.I.L.): "Tara" because that was the name of the house in 'Gone With The Wind.'

Boog (my F.I.L.): "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" because it's cute and funny and so is he.

Sara Whitten (my S.I.L.): "Mermaid's Playground" or "Delta Playground" or something like that...I remember it had playground in the name because she is a teacher...get it...playground...recess...you get the picture.

Me: "Dixie Mermaid" because I like Mermaids. The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie. What's yours? Wait...one question at a time here. :)

And Tom's was my all time favorite: "FARMER'S TAN" for obvious reasons. Love that. And he thought of it all my himself. :)

Now it's your turn...what would you name your beach house? Only this time you have to pay respect to the college you went to. I went to Alabama so mine would be...

THE HOUNDSTOOTH HOUSE!

And I would decorate the entire house top to bottom in houdstooth only. ha ha....

Leave a comment with your beach house name...come on...it'll be fun. :)

Babies, Water, and Doggies...Oh My!

This morning I have been taking it easy, answering emails, drinking coffee and visiting with this little lady!!!!
Evie and Bex came for a visit this morning! I loved seeing Evie and cuddling with her. She is such a sweet, even-tempered baby.

Y'all will remember when I visited Bex in the hospital right after Evie was born. They have been so blessed to learn that Evie's surgery for her lip will be a one-day, outpatient thing. In and out and done with it!

Her surgery is scheduled for mid-July, and Bex says the recovery will be tricky, but they will get through it.

Evie has blue eyes, beautiful skin, and it looks like her hair is a little bit strawberry-blond. Love it!

As you can see, Mama Reba was intrigued and concerned with baby Evie. She was too funny the whole time they were here...she would not leave Evie's side!

So some of you may be wondering...."It's Monday...what are you doing lounging around at home?"

Well, I'm glad you asked.

As you might have read or heard on the news, we are experiencing crazy weather 'round these parts. :)

Last week, we had about 13 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. We woke up to the back yard looking like this:

Although Reba is a retriever, she is never too fired up about water of any kind. She has to be coaxed and bribed to get out on the rain to go potty. She is looking at me in the picture like, "Lady you are crazy if you think I'm getting out in this. Rain simply will not do for this hair!"

Our house is fine, but we did have about 4 good inches of rain in our carport and back yard.

Unfortunately, some of our friends in Tunica were not so lucky and have standing water in their homes, so please keep us all in your prayers!

The constant rain combined with more rain and melting snow up North, has caused the Mississippi River levels to rise to all-time highs. They are saying that the river has not gotten this high since 1937.

Because our casino properties are on the river, we have been forced to close the Tunica casinos temporarily. Right now they are expecting to be closed for at least two weeks. So that is why I'm just chillin' at home today!

The great news is, that my company is paying all their employees and continuing full benefits while we are closed. So essentially I am on mandatory paid vacation right now. It's cool, but there is still a little bit of worry there about our property, that the damage will be bad and will result in a longer than expected closure.

But only time will tell!

Anyway, enough of that....

On Saturday Reba and I ran the Doggie Dash benefiting the Tunica Humane Society!

As you might remember, my goal for this race was to finish. And good news...we did!

We took one short walk/water break around mile 1.75. We finished the race in 32:07 which I was really happy with. I think I can definitely get that time down under 30:00 by the 5K on June 18th.

Reba did wonderfully on the leash during the run. There were lots of runners and walkers with their dogs, and she was not distracted in the least! Just focused and running along side me the whole time.

However, around mile 2.25, she got way tired and slowed me down big time (<---I am a terrible mother for saying that but it's true!). I think with a little work and effort we will be able to get her endurance up to where she can run steadily the whole way with me.

We will work on that in the coming weeks...I have some time on my hands after all!