Our Little Models

Late last year, Michael Dean was asked to do some "modeling" for Britax. A good friend of mine, Marianne, works there and she passed on the message that they needed little boy models for their car seats. Of course, we jumped on the opportunity.

So, the pictures have finally made it to the public! Well, at least online they have. If you go to www.britaxusa.com you'll find MD and Donnie sprinkled throughout the site. You'll also see Marianne and her little man, Conner, on the home page as well as a few other pages.

I know it's just a little, tiny area in the big wide world of the web. But, I think it's pretty cool...

www.britaxusa.com/media (Click on "Decathlon" on the right)

www.britaxusa.com/media (Click on "Decathlon" on the right)

www.britaxusa.com/about-us/jobs-careers

www.britaxusa.com

www.britaxusa.com

Fun with Daddy's Music

Funny how MD knew exactly what to do with those little ear buds...

Grandma Betty

Or as Michael Dean calls her, "Betty!" She just celebrated her 88th birthday back in November. She's got so many life stories to tell - from being an airline stewardess back when there were no "flight attendants" (and they had to wear 3in. heels) to retiring, with my Grandpa Duck, through Fords (Motor Company) up in Detroit, Michigan. She's just a sweet, matter-of-fact older woman - who's wearing out.

She'd been living on her own for-ever until a few weeks ago when she took a spill and ended up in the hospital for a few days and is now in an assisted living, rehab facility in Harrisburg. My mom's really taken on full-time care of her while she's in there and is now faced with finding a new permanent home for her. Basically, a nursing home. Yah, we all cringe when we say those words.

Anyway, please keep my Grandma Betty (and my mom) in your prayers. They've both got a long road ahead of them and are both wore out. Thanks :)

RRCC Marriage Retreat

This past weekend, Donnie and I headed to Charleston, SC with about 20 other couples from our church for a marriage retreat. Although I violently coughed for about 90% of the time, we did have fun. We spent most of our time hanging out with other couples - well, except for the hour or so that Donnie & I spent driving around Charleston looking for an (open!) urgent care facility. We were unsuccessful. Apparently, Charleston's urgent care facilities think they only need to be open during normal doctors' hours. Oh and by the way, Delsym did absolutely nothing for my cough. So, don't waste your money, kids.

Anyway, some of the trip's highlights were a Ghost Walk - which included a creepy cemetery where our guide claimed to have seen the "lady in white!" Um, OK. A meal at Poogan's Porch - very good biscuits and sweet butter. Beautiful weather. A hotel room where I didn't have to clean up after anyone. Time away with my husband. And a by-chance run-in with my best friend!

So, we knew we'd both be in Charleston for the day but had NO IDEA we'd both be eating lunch at Hyman's on Friday afternoon! BFF 4-ever...

Just strolling through Charleston...

Working Mom Example

This morning, at work, we had a mandatory training meeting on environmental and safety practices around the office. You know, so we all can go home safely to our families at night. Well, they bribed us with BoJ's biscuits and juice, to come, then made us listen to the most monotone-speaking man in our company for 30 minutes. In order for our company to have a record that each associate attended, we had to sign a sheet, give our personnel number, then rate the course. For some reason, everyone always rates these courses as "Very Good" when they're really not. Anyway, I signed the sheet and passed it onto the 2 guys sitting behind me, who pretty much made fun of the presentation the whole time. That was fun. About 30 seconds after I passed the sheet off, I realized I had given my NC driver's license number rather than my Bosch personnel number. I mean, my NCDL # just slid right off my pen, with not a second thought. The 2 guys got a kick out of that - then made fun of ME for the rest of the time. Ah, the joys of being a working mom.