THOMPSON TOWNE: 2009

12/15/2009

Report Card

A-, for a well decorated tree but with limited height

A+ for our wonderful addition to the fireplace this year

A, for planning a lunchdate with handsome Tanner.

Lily was pleased getting to stare at him from across the table.

Isn't he soooo cute?!?!

B-, for taking a dumb picture just for grins

D+, for washing my fuzzy sweater with John's not so fuzzy sweater
which has since become fuzzy
(I was distracted by this cutie pie!)

And to round it off......

F for cooking.

I was quite ambitious the other day and wanted to make baked potato soup. I had all the right ingredients, had all the right tools and even had the timing down.

I mixed things.

I added things.

I even cubed things.

I was feeling really good about myself when the scent started filling up the kitchen.

This was going to be GREAT STUFF!

I served John.
He wouldn't even give it to the dog to try.

He asked, "Did you cook the potatoes?"
I replied, "They've been in the pan on the stove for a while and they seemed squishy to me."

He stated, "Did you follow the directions? I guarantee it says to cook the potatoes before mixing."

I search and search for it on my recipe hoping to prove him wrong.

There was nothing in the instructional portion of the recipe so I checked up at the ingredients.....

6 red potatoes, peeled, cooked and cooled

Yup. I had the potatoes and they were peeled better than other potatoes ever were.

Nothing was cooked.

Nobody ate.

In the hopes to redeem myself tonight since John was coming home early, I told him I wanted to make it up to him by making dinner. He was rightfully a bit frightened by this suggestion but, like the good husband that he is, he asked, "Do you need anything?"

"Well.....I forgot to defrost the chicken."

No wonder he has lost all confidence in me.

She's on the Move, People!

11 months

2 days

and

19 hours old.....

Lily Grace took her first steps!

I tried to grab the camera to catch her in the act, but it was just so much fun laughing and crying and enjoying her "running" to my outstretched arms that I wanted to live in the moment.

However, I did capture steps 2-4 before I truly believed that she was actually walking.

Here's what I got:

12/04/2009

Thankful Little Turkey

(From Lily)

I'm thankful for......

...meeting my cousins Nicholas and Nathan and my Aunt Jenise and Uncle Kurt:

...Mommy making it back in one piece after her first ride on a motorcycle:

...the fun toys Nana had for me to play with at her house:

...Daddy driving us to Houston and letting us stay longer even when he had to go home:

...football, because it keeps Daddy entertained:

...my Aunt Wendy,

...because she makes me smile:

...for cousin Morgan teaching me new tricks:

...for Morgan taking me down a slide without falling off:

...my Texas turkeys:

...my first Thanksgiving dinner:

...getting to go on my first Girls' Christmas Shopping Day with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory:

...Nana footing the bill for the lunch:

...getting to see my first Christmas tree at the Galleria:

...Mommy putting me in Morgan's lap:

...for child protective services because I almost called them to get me away from this....this.....this....big, red thing:

I'm starting to not be so thankful right about now:

...being able to provide the afternoon entertainment for Mommy, Nana, Aunt Wendy and Aunt Betsy:

...leaving that man behind:

...getting to see Brady and his mom Rebecca:

...having such a good friend:

...those big, beautiful blue eyes:

...Morgan and her jewlery:

...Morgan:

...my mom being so cool:

...Uncle JR taking such good care of Mommy on his Harley, on the highway, heading to a biker bar.

11/16/2009

Refocus

I feel like the last few posts have mainly concentrated on things other than the real purpose of this blog:

LILY GRACE

She's just over 10 months old and crawling up a storm. She's pulling up on anything and everything and really only needs to hold one of your fingers to walk. "Bah, Bah, Bah" is a main part of her vocabulary when Bear comes into the room. Followed by "Duh, duh, duh." I'm guessing this means "dog," but with Bear you never know.

The number one thing she says and does is "HI!" while holding out her hand. To everyone.
Everywhere.
All. The. Time.
Thankfully people love it and it makes them smile!

We are in party planning mode for her first birthday! I can't believe it's almost been a year having her with us.

Christmas preview

And without further ado....

I finally bring you her 6 month photo! Thank you, Nana!

11/14/2009

Friday the 13th

Nov 4th at 3:45pm: I receive a birthday card with a gift certificate in it stating that I will be a guest investigator with the Atlanta Ghost Hunters.

3:46pm: My eyes tear up in fear and I begin to have a difficult time breathing.

10pm: I can't seem to fall asleep.

Nov 9th at 11:30am: Andy Roberts (lead hunter) calls me to provide information and give me upcoming dates.

Nov 10th at 9:37am: I decide to go ahead and put a request in for Nov 13th. Friday. Why not, right?

Nov 12th at 1:48pm: I receive confirmation that I have the last available spot for the 13th. Friday.

1:49pm: I FREAK OUT!

Nov 13th at 7:32pm: I arrive at the haunted location to find another couple speaking with Andy. I trip walking up the stairs and make a typical Audra-esque entrance.

9pm: LIGHTS OUT. Yup. All of them. Pitch black dark except for the two little red lights on the recorders.

9:01pm: AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I've never sat so still and quiet in all my life.

Fast forward

10pm: It's my team's turn to head up to the attic. Great.

10:05pm: I ask my first question.

10:07pm: I ask my second question, keeping in mind these are former Civil War soldiers; presumably Confederate.

10:10pm: I'm kind of getting into this ghost hunting thing and ask, "Do you think the South will rise again?" (I was bummed not to get a response.)

10:15pm: We move out into the hallway of the attic.

10:37pm: We feel cold air. It's an old house, I'm sure it's a draft. We hear sounds from above, I'm sure it's an acorn falling from a tree. We hear footsteps on the floor beneath us and a thud, I'm sure it's one of the girls from the other team walking in her noisy heels to the bathroom. We hear three distinct knocks from a room down the hall where no one has been. Not so sure what to think about that one.

11pm: Time's up. Where are you, Andy?

11:05pm: Okay. Our hour is up. I'm ready to head back downstairs. WHERE ARE YOU, ANDY?!?!

11:12pm: We meet up with the other team. The girl wearing the noisy shoes had been on the first floor the entire time without a bathroom break.

For the next hour and a half, we sit in the control room and chat while Andy is uploading all the recorders onto his computer so he can give us a cd to take home to listen to on our own.

4 digital recorders x 2 hours + 1 other recorder from the beginning = 9 hours of listening for EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon, for your rookies out there).

The cd will only play in your computer.
Good, I wasn't interested in being tempted to listen to it in my car on the drive home. At 1am. Alone.

I woke up feeling sort of brave and ready to tackle my first 30 minutes or so of audio.

The darn cd was blank! Hopefully I can get in touch with him to get another one, or I don't mind waiting to see what he comes up with after listening himself.

All in all, it was a fantastic night! I would definitely do it again!

This is the house.
The Warren House in Jonesboro, Georgia

Brief history of the house:

~Built in the 1700s by Mr. Warren

~Site of a major battle of the Civil War

~Used as a hospital for wounded soldiers

~After the battle, the yard was covered with bodies and amputated body parts so they dug a big grave in the backyard and buried them.

~The room thought to be where the wounded soldiers may have been treated, still has some of it's original plaster where the soldiers wrote their names.

Here's a link to the website with some of the past investigations of this house. Enjoy!!!

http://www.freewebs.com/henryghosthunters/warrenhouse.htm

11/08/2009

Fantastically Fun Weekend

This was the final weekend we would have any guests for a while so we took advantage of it!
The Arnolds came into town for the football game and Farrah's baby shower and I hope they had as much fun as Lily and I did. Baby Charlie has grown so much and giggles at the annoying dog and lets Lily beat him and is just plain cute!

Beautiful family