Big Weekend

Madeline is growing like a weed! Saturday (Valentine's Day) was Madeline's first birthday. She had her birthday party at the zoo in Gulf Breeze. Jennifer came all the way from Ft. Bragg to participate in the festivities. Everybody seemed to have a really good time.



The other big news for the weekend is the For Sale sign in front of my house in Jay. I'm hoping for a quick fair market sale! The other pic I stole off of Jennifer's camera. It's a pic of her two little girls Maya and Sophie.

Wagon Fun!

We tested out the new little wagon with Madeline today. It was a big hit! She absolutely loved riding in it... Especially when her daddy took her fast up and over the little hills. We took the wagon in the back yard too. Becky and Haley had to come and check her out.

Settling In

I'm getting settled in to my "new" old digs. I reclaimed the master suite at the house in Jay and am getting stuff out of suitcases, boxes and bags and finding spots for everything. I got new accessories for the master bathroom here in Jay. I decided to lighten it up a little. The old bath stuff used to be dark blue. I think the lighter colors make it look a little more cheerful.

I think Haley is settling in pretty well too! What do you think?!

Big Day!

Well, today was the big day... after over three years on military orders, today was my first day back to work at the post office. I survived intact, but not without some serious butterflies. It was a very full day. My sub was supposed to assist me today. I guess he sort of did... but they had him doing all kinds of other stuff today, so he wasn't exactly there to answer questions as they came up or anything. They had him case for a while on another route... head to the main Post Office on Jordan St... Deliver express mail... So, it wasn't exactly the help I thought I was going to get, but he did lead me out on the route and show me places where I had to dismount with the mail and stuff. All in all, the day wasn't too bad, but it did seem kind of surreal to be there doing that job after all this time. I can definitely tell that I am out of practice as well. My right shoulder is really aching tonight and my fingers hurt a little. My back is a little sore too. Looks like a Motrin kind of night! Hopefully it won't take long to get used to using these muscles this way again. I should be able to pick up some speed fairly readily too. It's a pretty good route overall... And thank goodness I have a mail truck now!

Trip to Paris

The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous! It was definitely chilly out yesterday though. It never made it above mid twenties. Today is supposed to be toasty - nearly going up to the freezing mark!


Me and Lisa headed to the Tractor Supply in Paris. We were in search of a new halter for Heidi and another couple of bags of horse feed. Along the way we passed this creek full of geese. The creek is half frozen and covered with snow and they are just sitting there playing in it. There were tons of them!



This flock of geese was leading the cows to the creek.

Note the amazing house on the top of the hill. I think the house was actually smaller than the multitude of barns that were also on the property.

New Year, Big changes!

My military orders in Hattiesburg were up on the 14th of January. I spent the last week frantically trying to get the last of my stuff moved from the house there back to the house in Jay. I borrowed Kirby's truck to move some of the bigger stuff that wouldn't fit in the Honda. Kirby's truck barely fit in my garage there! Thankfully, I was able to get some renters for the house there. A military couple with a son that hopefully will enjoy the house as much as I did and stay for a while.


One of the best things about moving back to Jay is getting to spend lots of extra time with Madeline. She will be walking soon. She has already taken a step or two and as soon as she gets a little braver, she will be off and running.

With barely enough time to catch my breath from moving out of my Hattiesburg house, I loaded up a U-Haul to bring a bunch of stuff up to Lisa & Jim's. They are graciously letting me store some stuff in their garage until I can really get moved (again!) and get a place of my own. I had lots of duplicate stuff (two entire kitchens worth) and no place to put it. Since the house in Jay is going on the market at the end of this month, I needed to get some of the stuff out of there so that when possible buyers come to look they can actually see the place and see potential for themselves.

Me and Haley made it up here to Lisa and Jim's safe and sound Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised with how easily the U-Haul towed. I was a little nervous when I first headed out. The only time I had towed before was with a Humvee! Jim helped me get most of it unloaded yesterday afternoon and I should be returning it later today. We got snow most of the day yesterday and it finally starting to stick last night. What a beautiful morning to wake up to!

Fall in the Deep South

This is what fall looks like in the Deep South! About 5am this morning, the rain started changing to snow. By 6am it was all snow. Haley loved it and was running across the yard like a maniac and was eating the snow off of the woodpile and stuff. It's still snowing lightly now, but it won't get an opportunity to stay long. We are supposed to be back in the 50's tomorrow. It was a pretty neat break from the norm though and I actually got a Snow Day from work today!