I must vent..

As with most new jobs, there are challenges. Unfortunately for me, my new challenge is another teller.

I must preface this with information I received my first day on the job. Vault Teller "Elaine" is one to ignore. She's gonna make comments that are uncalled for and.. unnecessary. Just take her with a grain of salt.

So I was plainly aware..

But I'm sensitive.. easily offended.. and full of hormones that make me cry..

Now, I didn't cry today.. but I did roll my eyes.. numerous times.. just for "Elaine"...

Still prefacing- upon hire most associates were informed of my two previous years of teller experience. I have caught on quickly to the new procedures and policies (or lack of..) but I still need help being reminded of the correct way to do things.

One thing that's extremely different at my new bank- buy/sells. Tellers purchase or sell money to/from the vault teller (Elaine...) and there are paper trails that you have to validate. Yup, I know.. I've been a teller before. But, they do it differently. And I'm trying to adjust.. but what do I hear from my new friend "Elaine"...

What bank were you at before? Bank of America. And you were there 2 years? Ye- For someone with 2 years of experience you should know that you have to validate receipts for buy/sells. I know, my other bank just did things differently. I couldn't go into the vault by myself and get your money. I would give you the slip and you would get the money for me. What kind of system did Bank of America have?! They've changed.. (she apparently worked for BOA years.. and years.. and years ago). Yeah- they have changed.. and it works and I don't know why the hell you use the system you do.

She went on about how I should know how to do stuff with my experience.. and ya know what.. I do know what I'm doing. They're just in the dark ages about policies and the way they do stuff. Seriously.

So, I tried to get over it.. remember to ignore what "Elaine" says..

But when another teller goes to her station (which for this week is right next to me), she complains to them about me..

It really pissed me off when I heard her say, "And she's supposed to have two years of experience.."

Don't make me get mad and say the B word..

It may very well happen this week.

south georgia at its finest

With every trip to the big city.. Statesboro.. we have to travel down roads lined with the most beautiful crop fields. I love being the passenger on these rides..

A few years ago when Marshall and I first met.. and I made my first trip to South Georgia.. I became very intrigued with farming life. Let me warn you- no, I do not want to become a farmer or farmer's wife.. I just find it all very interesting. My favorite part- identifying the crops. It's tricky when the plants are just coming up and still immature. I have a hard time distinguishing cotton from soy beans when they're young.. maybe it's just me.

But I LOVE riding down the road.. there's corn.. soybeans.. peanuts.. some more corn.. cotton.. cotton.. Those are the main crops around here.

I'll get around the posting some pics one day (in my spare time..). But my favorite is soy beans. They are a beautiful, lush green.. and they occupy the entire field! It's a sea of dark, leafy green. Love it.

How many different types of grass do you know? I know sod and the kind you plant. But.. do you know we have at least 3 or 4 different kinds of grass in our yard? Apparently Southern Georgians know their grass. Whether it be Centipede, Bermuda, Bahaya, Nut.. that's all I can think of and I think that's what Marshall says is in our yard. We're trying to get it down to one type.. and I don't know which one that is.

The best thing, though, about South Georgia- the boys. Well, young men. It's a whole different breed down here. Charming, well-dressed, soft-spoken, well-educated (most of 'em), good looking.. And one of my favorite parts (especially with Marshall) - the hands. They're rugged from working.. yet so gentle. Sigh. I love my hubbie's big hands.. they make me feel feminine and petite.. and secure.

Mmm.. he'll be home any minute now..

ooh.. it's a baby

Yay. First prenatal visit was by far the best doctors visit ever. They did not make me pee in a cup. They didn't prick my finger or draw blood. No invasive inspection of my privates. No feeling on my breasts.. that's always weird to me.

They took my blood pressure, temperature, weight... ULTRASOUND! And then let the nurse practitioner talk to me about pregnancy stuff. Easy as pie.. mmm.. pie sounds good right now.

That's our [insert cute embryo name]! Right before the ultrasound I was seriously thinking this is it. Either my mind has been playing games with me and my body or this is real. We could really have a little baby in me. And as the nurse was squishing around on my tummy.. it was there. Plain as day. I couldn't contain my emotions.. I wanted to cry.. I laughed mainly. Just in disbelief. Something that I've, we've, wanted for a while.. and there it is. And here it is now.. right here [points at my belly].

The nurse kept going on and on about how strong the heartbeat. She let me hear at least 3 different times. And you could definitely see it. Pretty much half the size of our little one.. who is measuring in at .31cm. We're so proud of you, keep growing!

So my very uninteresting belly pic. Believe me I feel so much bigger than I look. And I think I look like a teenage boy in this pic. I'm really showing a little bit.. I promise.

Morning sickness. Arrived this morning. Promptly after waking up.. perfect for a first day of work! Fortunately, I only dry heaved for maybe a minute or two. And Jesus answered my prayer and took it away. Beat that SeaBands. I haven't had any symptoms since then..

And my first day of work was great! I got branded by First Southern and found out that we get free lunches on Saturday. And $20 each month if you're perfectly balanced, and additional $50 if you balance 3 months in a row. That's a potential $110! Alright!

Ok. I'm hungry. Enjoy my embarrassing, awkward pregnancy pic.

Must... concentrate...

I've been meaning to blog about my absent mind.

Sudoku is one of my favorite brain exercises. Basically it's my addiction. For a few weeks while we were moving and settling in, I stopped cold turkey. Within in the past 3 weeks I've caught back up with my sudoku.. but for some reason I suck!

Prior to moving Marshall would be amazed at my times on hard puzzles. I was also amazed..

Anyway, I began noticing that I couldn't concentrate very well, I made silly mistakes, and would miss completely obvious numbers.. what's wrong?!

Darn you, Pregnancy.

I also noticed I would completely forget errands that I had. I would go to town with my grocery list and make a mental note to stop by the post office or the bank.. or wherever. Get home, and realize that I never made it. I'm never spacey. Well, sometimes I have a bad day.. but usually because I took some heavy drugs the night before.

I'm really hoping the whole 9months aren't like this. I want my sanity back. So, I'm going to keep exercising my brain with my Sudoku.. eat my blueberries.. and work on crossword puzzles on the toilet.

Now, what was I going to do??

six weeks.

Because only a few people read this, that matter, I'm going to go ahead and blog about being preggers.. I'm sorry, Mollyanne, Pregnant. With a capital P. And the few people I have told about my blog, I'm pretty sure forgot and don't stalk me regularly..

We're going on 6 weeks this week. I've got my, I mean our (baby and me), first doctor's appointment Tuesday. Right after my first day of work. Well three hours isn't much of a day, but we'll consider it a day.. or morning. Yea.. that sounds good. First morning.

I'm curious as to what all they're gonna do to me. Prick me a few times, make me pee in a cup, ultrasound? Probably, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up. There's not much to see at this point. I definitely don't want them sticking a scope up my whoo-ee though. No thanks.

Okay, so morning sickness comes in the late evening, between 8-9pm. Just queasiness for now, and hopefully that'll be all. Tummy aches most of the time and just feeling weird. My boobs are beautiful and plump! And I feel like I'm getting pudgy. Great.

So we've told Marshall's parents, his siblings + spouses, my mother, and Mollyanne and Erika. Brother-in-law and his wife have been the most excited.. and they were the most recent. Both our parents were just like, "Oh nice, that's nice.. wonderful." But I really appreciated the reaction from brother-in-law and wife.. hugs, yay!, congrats!.. they made me feel good about this! Not that our parents aren't excited.. I guess they've already got grandkids and have shared the experience of pregnancy news. I don't know.. I just wish they would have been more excited.

Marshall and I discussed if and when we should tell his siblings.. and it's so hard to keep secrets (this is why we always know what gifts we're getting).

We met up with his sister and her husband, Rebecca and Jason, last Sunday after church. We had lunch at the hospital (don't laugh.. it's really good and cheap) and the whole time at the table I was giving Marshall looks. Would now be a good time? I really just wanted to throw it in the conversation. Surprise them. Not like, "We're pregnant!" But just casually slip it in.

So we were walking out of the hospital and still hadn't shared the news. We stood around in the parking lot when Jason mentioned something about us needing to get a carseat so we could drive Anna around.. when the moment came! Well, we'll actually need a carseat within 8 months. Jason caught on real quickly, Rebecca was kinda like, "Whuh? What?!" She got it.

Then Marshall's brother and his wife, Kent and Janna, came by Thursday night before Bess' VBS Program. We showed them around the house, since Janna hadn't seen it. And we got to the "spare" bedrooms and which one would be the "nursery." They were so excited.. and, again, I'm so glad!

We told our parents the day after we found out. We had Marshall's parents over for dinner that Saturday night and we decided we really wanted them to know.. and the whole evening I was sooo nervous. Like, my heart was really beating.. hard. Weird.

So we got through dinner, and many looks had been shot to Marshall.. but nothing. We go into the living room and watch tv.. nothing. I think we might have had dessert, too... and then I informed Marshall of my plan to bring up MamaJean's grandkids necklace and then ask if they knew what the February birthstone was. But Marshall ruined it and just blurted it out.

Well, not exactly.. he prefaced it very well. "So, my sperm is amazing and so are Amanda's ovaries."

Ok, just kidding. He just said that it was really soon and we had one positive pregnancy test, we're pregnant. Oh, how nice. And now Marshall's dad looks at me weird.

With my Momma- you've gotta repeat stuff a few times and she'll eventually catch on. I had to tell her over and over MARSHALL painted the bathroom.. and MARSHALL is going to paint the shutters.. Momma I CAN'T PAINT!!

Oh, so how far along are you? You knew at graduation!? No Momma.. but at your wedding I was and we didn't know it. Have you gone to the doctor? We just found out yesterday. Well I'm concerned with how small you are. You need to go to the doctor and make sure everything's ok. What colors are you going to use in the nursery? I think we have to find out what it is first. What do you want to name it? What's Marshall think? Do his parents know? I don't think we should tell Jim yet. Have you told your Dad? What if you have twins?!

And the question I get everytime she calls..

Are you showing yet?!

I guess she is excited. She's funny.

And I feel like I'm showing, because of my little pudge I got going on. And I don't think I can wear tight shirts anymore. We had lunch with extended family today and distant cousin made a comment about me being so skinny.. I had been sucking in the entire time.

Now, how do I tell my new employers that I'm going to leave when the new year comes??

family.

We have possibly the cutest babies in our family. I get to see Anna a few times a week. Intense babysitting experience. She totally said my name last night. Usually it's Ma-Me for me, MeMa, and Uncle Marshall. But we were reading a book together and pointing at fictional family members. There's a young lady in one picture, she seriously pointed to it and said, "a-MAN-da." Both her mother and I were so shocked.. at this point we should have praised her and given her prompt positive feedback.. but we were too busy laughing.
Like Sassy, it's hard to get a decent picture of Bess. She's always got her hair in her face.. and like me, doesn't like to tuck it behind her ears. Bess is a wonderful older cousin. She's got at least good 4 years ahead of everyone, so she can be very helpful entertaining the little ones.

I love this chunk! Isaiah, or IZ as Anna calls him. He's a drooling machine and loves to laugh. We're excited to see him grow up.. and there's no telling how big he's gonna get. At 5 months old.. he's wear 12M clothes. In the 95th percentile, too.

We're proud to call these few babies our nieces and nephews.. and this is only half. We've got Emma, Jayden and Caleb, too!

Hopefully our babies will be as cute.. or cuter.. only time can tell!

what tha?!

Yea, my thoughts exactly. I was picking blackberries behind our house when I realized I almost walked through this web..

I freaked out a little, at first.. but then I carried on picking blackberries, trying to figure out why there was a miniature crab spinning a web in our backyard.. so I did a little research.

My new friend, no offense Roomba, is MRS. Gasteracantha cancriformis. What the hell!? JK.. that was for Marshall who laughs when I curse, but then gets on to me (not how you do it with kids). Mrs. G.C. is also known as a spiny orb-weaver.. and she's a little untidy. Her web is ugly, common to her genus. And she's freakin' huge, compared to her little man. I found her and her 3 friends at the edge of our deep woods, which surprise! is where she's supposed to be. So she's smart.. but still scary looking. So I'm going to monitor my lady friends and see how many babies they have.
We have gardenias (do I need to go into scientific names again?) in front of our house. They've been blooming for almost a month now.. And then I found this late bloomer today. Poor baby.. Grow baby grow! Well, take your time so I can enjoy your fragrant self.

I don't know what this is, but it's growing wild in our front jungle yard. I like wildflowers.
We transplanted azaleas back in early May, when I was ovulating probably. And we've had to water and water them.. which hasn't been bad because it rained like 3 weeks straight. And now they have little buds on them.

And, back to my original plan- GRANITA! Marshall raved about the blackberry granita I made for our anniversary.. so I'm going to surprise him with his new favorite dessert.

Then we have Bess Duty tonight.. which means I have to cook dinner.

And we have to do something about Maddie's gas.. it's been squeaking out all day.. you'll hear a little tsssssst.. and then it hits ya!

coffee toffee twisted frosty, you make me giggle

I applied 2 weeks ago to a local bank, knowing that positions were opening up with students leaving for the summer. What I received from them last week was a letter saying there were no position available at this time.. blah blah blah.

What I received today- was a call.

What I have planned for tomorrow- an interview.

Connections are good, connections got me an interview. Or so I'm thinking. The girl that called about an interview left a message about her talking with 2 other girls that work at the bank. I don't know what they said.. but now I have an interview.

I thought that letter was strange, only because the "two other girls" had informed me and family members that positions were opening up. Then I talked with mama-in-law (today) and she had heard that a younger college girl got a summer position with them within the past week.

So, we'll see what happens.

The bank is freakin' awesome, too! They have a popcorn machine and fountain drinks in the lobby. Umm.. hello?!?! How cool is that?

Plus they are huge sponsors for GA Southern football.. umm potential free tickets? Blue jean days?!

Interview is Tuesday at 3:00pm.. now.. what do I wear?! Let me practice interview questions in the mirror.. and fix dinner for the man and myself (and my rice grain).

Our Great Date Experiment

Our Anniversary Date- interesting.. different.. lovely.

We began by eating appetizers at Arby's. I had my favorite cheese sticks and Marshall had a roast beef sandwich.. we got free fruit tea. Without any kind of coupon we spent over $6 at Arby's. That's ridiculous. Marshall wasn't thinking about how much it would cost.. as he handed the cashier a $5 bill. This is why we don't go out very often.

On the way to our next destination, we got stuck behind a horse drawn carriage. I would lie and say that Marshall took me on a private tour of Savannah.. but he's cheap.


Our next destination was Firefly Cafe. It was a tiny hole in the wall off Habersham.. with outdoor seating and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We heard good reviews about it, so why not.
It reminded me of Athens, always a good thing. They have "environmentally safe" paper straws. Really neat, they weren't plastic.. kinda cardboardish. Come to think of it, they were like Playtex tampon applicators. Now, I think I 'm going to move on..

Marshall got tuna. Gag. He said it was a little dry. I got chicken marsala. It was pretty good. My chicken was almost dry. Bummer. BUT- there was an interesting twist to the marsala. It was topped with fried leeks. Now, I don't know what leeks taste like normally.. but they were really good fried and it gave the marsala an unsual, distinctive taste.. but a good one.


After dinner, we walked from.. I don't know where.. to River Street. It was a long walk.. went through many round abouts/gardens. It was in front of John Wesley that I decided we should take a picture of the two of us. Marshall has the longest arms so that was his responsibility..
But long arms doesn't mean he has good aim.

At least I look cute. So, I got mad at him and said I didn't wanna take any more pictures with him.

So I made him take pictures of me. We had a little photo shoot.


This is why I married him. Isn't he the cutest thing? I hope our babies look just like him. But not his feet.

So we headed back to our car millions of blocks away. And then made our way to a family-dollar-general, whatever. Marshall had it easy. I told him the night before that I needed a strainer. For the granita I needed to strain the blackberry puree.. but I didn't have one so I spent about 10 minutes spitting out hulls during dinner.

Anyway.. he knew I needed one. But I also need a P-Test. He knew that, too. But did he think which one I would rather have? No. He just wanted more granita.. Boys.

So I got a stinkin' strainer.. and he got coke and nutter butters.

I was disappointed, but I didn't show it. Instead I got me a P-Test today. Perhaps tomorrow morning..

And, alas, our final destination was dessert. We spent a lot for appetizers.. oh and fancy dinner too.. so we went FREE! Half-melted root beer floats. Oh yeah.

Well, Marshall should be on his way home any minute now. I'm gonna pop a frozen pizza in the oven and quit eating all the Cheez-Its. At least they're baked and not fried. Then we're hooking up our NEW FLAT-SCREEN LCD HDTV I DON'T WHAT THESE INITIALS MEAN!

Happy Anniversary to US!

We've finished the second year of marriage, 67 more to go. More or less.

Today we celebrated with a nice dinner.. tomorrow the real celebrating starts. Marshall is on call tonight, so we have to play it safe and stay home. He's already had one call.. hasn't gone in (yet).

Tomorrow we're heading to Savannah (the 3rd time for me this week) and enjoying a "Great Date Experiment." We're gonna have dinner at Firefly Cafe.. apparently it's pretty good. And free dessert at Sonic (FREE ROOT BEER FLOATS WEDNESDAY!).

In the meantime, I made a delicious 2 course meal.

Table for 2 anyone? Everything was on the table when Marshall got home. I've been really good about having dinner ready right when he walks in the door from work. What else am I supposed to do all day? Sleep?

Tonight's menu: Peppercorn Pork Tenderloin, Roasted Potatoes, "Fancy" Green Beans, and Sauteed Mushrooms; Dessert: Lemon-Berry Granita

We really call the green beans "fancy" green beans. They're frozen, not canned. I steam them (in the bag) then saute them in EVOO, garlic, and teriyaki sauce.


Lemon-berry Granita.. homemade.. made the man come back for more. Granita is like Italian ice. Easy. Fairly quick. And so delicious.

For the granita, I picked some fresh blackberries out of the backyard and pureed them with some frozen blueberries. Then mixed the puree with a room temperature sugar syrup (1cup sugar + 1cup water; zest and juice of 2 lemons; boiled until sugar dissolved). Poured into a baking sheet and froze. Checked and stirred every 30 minutes for about 2-3 hours.

Then to complete our Anniversary Night, Marshall connected our new home theatre and he's watching Jurassic Park. Our flat-screen should be arriving any day now!

The night's not over.. and we'll see how tomorrow goes!

Bessie Mae

Bess graduated from kindergarten today.. yay! I was really shocked to see parents bringing bouquets of roses for their kids.. who does that?? Apparently parents that dress their daughters in embroidered smocks with huge bows or sons in Polo's and fishing shorts and Sperrys. And the dad in the plaid pants and tacky bow tie (way too many patterns on one person). For the record, Marshall's bow ties are not tacky.

Kent (brother-in-law) said he felt the white trash of the party. He's just down to earth. And a great guy!

And the father of one of the most cutest babies.. Isaiah. He's also one of the loudest babies.


After a long visit in Savannah with the in-laws, I was looking forward to a relaxing rest of the afternoon. On the way home, Bess and I were playing distracting car games and looking at clouds. Oh my gosh.. what does that look like?!

Rhino? Boar? Cah-razy. Scary, too.