2009 August | Permission to Peruse

The Lake

August 31st, 2009 at 1:04 pm / Amy Bennett / 10 Comments »

Picture proof. Lexi finally made it onto a boat with a life jacket. The purple life jacket to the rescue!

I’d say she enjoyed it. She was relaxed enough to almost fall asleep.

Emma, was of course ecstatic to get back on.

With of course a snack. Have I mentioned how much she is eating these days?!

We also got to visit this sandbar and let the kids swim.

My parents decided to invite themselves (glad you did!) since they hadn’t been out on a boat in forever.

The couple in the foreground (below) were our hosts. He is 92 and they have been married 70 years.

SEVENTY.

SEVEN. ZERO.

Can you imagine celebrating your 70th wedding anniversary? And actually now that I think about it, my parents have been married over 30 years so that’s over 100 years of marriage in that picture. Crazy.

But they are one of the sweetest set of people I’ve ever met. They like to treat Scott like a son and I’d say Scott is quite ok with that.

The kids also tested out their fishing rods. And…they hated it. Lexi was trying to catch a small fish and a catfish came out of nowhere, grabbed her line which pulled her forward a bit. It scared Lexi to death and she literally went running for the hills. Then of course Emma wouldn’t touch her rod. And honestly, I took over the rod and it scared me to death when a catfish grabbed my line. And no, I don’t think I’ve ever fished myself. I’m sure my parents my argue but it was definitely not a thing we did growing up. After Saturday, I’m guessing it’s not a family past time the girls want to take up.

They did, however, enjoy casting their line (is that what you say?!) with no hook or bait (again, right?) just to see how far it would go.

Scott redeemed the Bennett’s fishing prowess and caught a few fish for us. This picture is like a Where’s Waldo? The fish is hanging on the line..see if you can find it!

Definitely a great day. The only downside is it almost convinced Scott and I to go buy a boat one of these days. Someone stop us!

See the rest of the pics on my Facebook.

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Say Cheese!

August 28th, 2009 at 5:19 pm / Amy Bennett / 2 Comments »

So as mentioned earlier today, I went to a photo shoot this afternoon. I had a very similar experience to my NY trip last year. I was a nervous wreck beforehand but then felt quite comfortable there. The photo shoot was at CustomShop near downtown Charlotte. It’s closed during the day but they allowed them to use the storefront while they cooked in the back.

When I got there, the photographer Armando was there and one of the other girls (debating whether to say models/talents) Mackenzie. Within a few minutes, another girl Kate, a guy Danny and the makeup artist Elizabeth were there. The two girls had done some previous shoots but weren’t professional. Danny, is actually a race car driver/actor/model and lived in New York for a time. You can see some of his work on his web site http://www.dannybopp.com/.

The first thing we did was sit at a few tables to see about lighting and grouping of people. Next, we all picked out outfits. I went wearing a black top, blue jeans and black heels. Another girl had a similar outfit and then the other two were both wearing jeans and white shirts. Weren’t we creative?! I had brought two more shirts and pants. He decided on a green and brown top that I had, khaki jacket/white shirt for Kate, Mackenzie kept her black shirt and Danny got a salmon colored sweater.

We each got our makeup done by a former MAC-turned-independent makeup artist. She did mine very natural. Nothing like NY when she did a smokier eye. While we each waited on makeup, we took turns getting individual shots and then getting to know each other.

The first shot I was in was with Kate. We sat at a table and I had lean over and pretend like I was telling her a secret and another shot where we were laughing and then we switched places. Let me tell you, I don’t think I understood it but modeling takes a bit of acting skill. Which, if you know me, I do not have. I was definitely not prepared with funny stories. I think I said a lot of um’s.

When it came to the group shots, we sat at two different tables while he took pictures of us talking. We had to tell funny stories. Or just interesting stories and wear a fake smile. Except…I was very interested that we all took turns telling actual stories. I learned about a man peeing in Rome and a man smoking crack on the train in NY! We also had drinks given to us and we just had to hold them. In one of the first shots, Danny poured us all wine. Don’t worry, Mom, I didn’t drink!

Kate and Mackenzie did a pose together and then Danny and I sat together and did a pose as a couple chatting at dinner. He kept scooting us closer together and we were all “Awkward!” It did make us smile though! So somehow we decided to talk about TV to keep the chattering going while he took pictures. We both talked about our favorite shows. The funny thing was trying to talk about Dollhouse and talking about murder while supposedly being happy and dating! We were like murder! funny! haha! Awkward!

So yeah, we all actually just had a good time, smiling a lot and actually listening to each other’s stories and backgrounds.

Armando Bellmas was the photographer. Look him up if you’re in the Charlotte area! He was great at giving direction, was very organized and seemed to be very genuine and nice. We’re supposed to see some proofs to choose from at the beginning of next week. Much better than a cell shot in my car. Can’t wait!

So I know I’ve talked about it before but I really would like to do more of this. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I see the pictures but really, each time I do this I walk away thinking I could do that all the time!

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Weekend Plans

August 28th, 2009 at 9:43 am / Amy Bennett / 1 Comment »

It’s one of those days I need a brain dump that basically turned into a weekend plans post.

Melissa recommended me as a model for a photo shoot for a photographer’s portfolio when she couldn’t make it. I use the term model loosely. Very. loosely. But it is going to be at a restaurant in downtown Charlotte and there is a makeup artist and other people to interact with. I’m pretty excited about that. I’ll be paid in digital pictures to do whatever I want with which is totally cool with me. Maybe I can use them for a comp card. Whatever works. I’m taking the afternoon off from work to do that. He said it’d just be an hour or two.
Tonight and tomorrow morning I’m attending the Beth Moore simulcast with Dani. I’m all kinds of excited about that. I love listening to Beth. Watching her live with thousands of women across the country should be fun. Plus, it seems that Dani and I hardly see each other so it will fun. Did I mention Dani’s expecting again?!
Tomorrow afternoon I think we’re going on the boat with that couple from our church. The kids are both so excited. I hope the weather lets us.
And best of all, I’m so looking forward to church on Sunday. Counting down until Sunday is not something I’ve done in a while and I have to say I like it!

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Life Jackets and Fishing Poles

August 25th, 2009 at 9:27 pm / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

If you remember, Lexi had issues with her life jacket last week. Well this weekend we’re supposed to go visit an elderly couple who live on the lake. They really want to take us out on their boat. I really want to go out on their boat. Lexi really didn’t want to go out on their boat. Scott told her he would go buy her a life jacket if she would wear it on the boat. Also, the girls wanted a fishing rod. So last night we took the girls to Wal-Mart and got them Barbie fishing rods. They had no life jackets so Scott took them to Target today and got those.

And today Scott taught them how to cast it. I think that’s what you call it anyway. I’m clueless about fishing!

Emma really, really…

got into it.

Then they got serious. It was time to try out their life vests and try it out at the pool.

As green as our water is right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually caught something.

I think they eventually got the hang of it though. That looks about right…

Here are a few videos. If you can’t see them, in one the girls are practicing in the front yard and the other I try my hand at it and utterly fail. I’m a lot of things but a fisherman is not one of them.

Videos might not be done processing but I need to get to bed!

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Renovation Progress 8/25

August 25th, 2009 at 7:42 pm / Amy Bennett / 3 Comments »

Ta-da! The new stove is just lovely and we didn’t manage to blow anything up! Here’s the before from yesterday:

Next step is hardware.

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Fall TV

August 25th, 2009 at 3:34 pm / Amy Bennett / 4 Comments »

You all should know I love my TV. Probably a downfall of mine but I love getting lost in the stories and after a full day of staring at code and answering to Mommy, it’s my way of not having to think about anything and relaxing.

I do have to say I have REALLY enjoyed the break this summer and love that I rarely if ever turn the TV on for myself.

Each season though, I find that there are always new shows I want to check out and invariably I’m sitting in front of a TV for hours. It’s really too much.

Over the last few seasons I have started cutting back. Over time, I threw out Big Brother, Biggest Loser, 24, Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Private Practice, So You Think You Can Dance, even House. Not to mention HGTV altogether. I really could spend all day watching TV if I let myself.

Sometimes I have to throw shows out just because of the time conflict. And yes, I have DVR but I have other shows on other nights to watch. There are some I love enough to DVR and watch later but usually, I like to watch shows live. I KNOW I’m probably in the minority there.

So all that to say, this is what my schedule is looking like in about two weeks:

Monday

One Tree Hill 8-9
Greek 9-10
Gossip Girl 9-10

You can see I already have a conflict on Day 1. But I do love both Greek and Gossip Girl. Greek is all thanks to Heather who wouldn’t keep raving about it. Because of my OTH blog and all the posting I do on Monday nights, I’ll probably be DVRing both of those and watching both later. Also worthy of note is Greek is only 10 episodes.

Tuesday

Melrose Place 9-10

If you didn’t already know, I started a blog for MP. I’m not very happy with what I’ve seen with it so far (racy storylines and advertising) and am thinking about selling it. Any takers? Either way, I’ll probably check it out before I write it off completely.

Wednesday

Glee 9-10

Glee is very questionable. I almost didn’t include it. But the pilot episode was good enough to make me check it out again. I think.

Thursday

Vampire Diaries 8-9
The Office 9-9:30
Grey’s Anatomy 9-10

I usually watch The Office first so Scott will watch it with me before going to bed and also so I can fast forward through all of Grey’s commercials. I read the Vampire Diaries books so I definitely want to check out the show. Or, I read the books so I could watch the show. Something like that. Either way, I’m going to check it out. It will probably be a DVR thing though because it comes on before the kids go to bed.

Friday

Dollhouse 10-11

Dollhouse was a solid show last year and Scott will watch it with me. Plus, it’s the only show I watch on the weekends.

Also, others I’d like to check out if I had the time is The Secret Life of the American Teenager. A show I threw out that I wish I had time to watch is Lie To Me. And I do miss House. The others I’ve gotten rid of I like but I’m not missing them too much.

As you can see, I’m looking at 1-3 hours of TV every night. *sigh* I honestly feel tired already.

But are there any other shows you think I HAVE to watch? I don’t mind catching up on several seasons if it’s worth it!

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At Least Opposites Attract

August 24th, 2009 at 9:14 pm / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

I can’t help but post this picture. There is so much in that one picture that is so US. Lexi took it. She was waiting for me to get shoes on today so we could go pick Emma up from school. I love that it’s from her perspective. You can see the key fob thing on the red chain for work. My iPhone is ever close. The banana that Lexi half-ate. My Chick-fil-A cup from lunch. I’m posting something to a blog on my computer. Google Reader sits in the background. And of course Lexi’s little pink toes on the bottom left. All very much real life there.

And in other randomness, Scott just read the previous post and says "Why didn’t you take a picture of my desk?” He refused to get an action shot but there ya go.

Actually I guess those two pictures are related after all. The top desk is very me (read: messy) and this one is very him (read: clean).

*shrugs*

What can I say?

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Renovation Progress 8/24

August 24th, 2009 at 8:46 pm / Amy Bennett / 2 Comments »

OK, fine, just a few more days of daily kitchen pictures and we should be done. Well. Until we do the lighting. But we’ll all get a break. Today Scott took out our old microwave and installed the above the stove one. I was really hesitant to put it up to be honest. We covered up a good 5” of the tile and it makes me sad. But I really, really like the microwave. I like the empty space in the corner and once we get the new stove in, it’s really no more tile I’ve lost. I really think it was a blessing in disguise. EXCEPT. Let me just say I thought we were getting a great deal on our microwave at this out of the way appliance store this weekend but when we went to Lowe’s tonight (also a daily occurrence lately) it was the EXACT same price.

In addition to the microwave, we bought the stainless steel socket covers. A small change but I think it makes a big difference.

The doors haven’t been put up yet but I think you get a good idea. In case you happened to forget what it looked like before…

It’s better right?

In other news, Scott got off early last night at 12:30am. For some ODD reason he decided that he needed a desk in my office. STAT. I heard the banging around but was too tired to actually see what he was doing. He takes my desk and moves it to the front corner of the room and puts a board on two sawhorses and calls it a desk for me.

I certainly can’t leave the room like that. Why does this feel like a can of worms in the making?

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In Which Amy Fails

August 24th, 2009 at 8:00 am / Amy Bennett / 5 Comments »

These are snippets of an email conversation from one of my other blogs.

Hi Amy,

I’m a lurker. I’m disabled and can’t join the discussion group, but I really enjoy the camaraderie the girls have with each other.

I don’t think I disabled you….can you try posting a comment again?

amy

Amy,

Just to clarify things, I am disabled (ill)…

FAIL

Go ahead, read it again. It’s only funny the second (and third) time you read it.

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He loves you

August 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm / Amy Bennett / 2 Comments »

My heart is so full. The past two weeks of church have been almost overwhelming. It’s to the point I’m writing things down just trying to make sense of it. I feel like God is weaving together some sort of message to me. I have a grasp on the threads but not quite the tapestry. But there is one thing I know to tell you.

He loves you

He loves you

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Renovation Progress 8/23

August 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 pm / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

Are you tired of pictures of my kitchen yet? Cause I’m kind of tired of posting them. But you know that can o worms I referred to? Well, the worms? They do multiply.

See the plan was to go Saturday to buy that gas stove from the appliance store we found via Craigslist. But then Saturday morning the digital panel of our microwave conveniently messed up. If you know the time, you can see parts of the line and understand it but just to look at it, you can’t tell what it says. The microwave still works. You just have to really pay attention to what you’re doing. Well, when we got to the appliance store we also realized that we should buy a stainless steel hood AND they had some over the stove microwaves. Why not kill two birds with one stone and go ahead and buy a microwave while there was a good deal and also eliminate the need for a hood. Go us. Here is the lovely set sitting in our garage.

But then. We get it home to find out if we installed it under our cabinet, it would be all of about 5” from the top of our new lovely stove. So now our worms are multiplying and after much discussion, we decide that Scott needs to cut our cabinets in half, as marked by the blue tape. This sounds kind of easy but when you actually do it, you have to cut the cabinet, reinstall the bottom shelf, and remanufacture the doors so they are smaller.

Also not mentioned is he needs to run the gas for the stove and create another piece of cabinet at the back of the stove where there will be a 3” gap.

So yeah, something that could have been as easy as sliding out the new stove and sliding in the new one has sort of become complicated.

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In Which They Found My Lingerie Drawer

August 22nd, 2009 at 8:06 pm / Amy Bennett / 8 Comments »

This has got to be one for the books. One that I may regret posting but it’s just too funny not to share. The girls have found my lingerie drawer. They’re trying stuff on. I told them they were my other nightgowns. Emma found an *ahem* nurse outfit and *loved it*. I looked up to see in her in it and chanted “this is not happening” to myself.

Emma: Mommy, I didn’t know you used to be a nurse! Why didn’t you tell me?

I was going to ignore her but I imagined her saying Did you know my Mommy used to be a nurse!? to be father in law and decided to somehow explain.

Me: I wasn’t a nurse. I just…

Emma: dress up?

Me: Yeah…

Emma: Oh, I know! You wore that for Halloween!

Me: No, um…

Emma: Oh I know, you used to dress up like a nurse when you were a little girl.

*crickets*

Emma: Oh, I *love* this red dress

Lexi: Oh, man, this one is showing my boobs!

Emma, holding up an untied th*ng: Mommy, what is this?!

Me: Uh, not sure

Emma: I think it goes on your head.

Oh my word, this is hilarious!

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Renovation Progress 8/21

August 21st, 2009 at 6:45 pm / Amy Bennett / 1 Comment »

You can call the backsplash DONE. And GORGEOUS. If you’re in or near the Carolinas and need tile work done, please call Luke Clonts at 1-843-408-5429 or email him at lukeclonts AT gmail.com. He was meticulous in his work and did a fabulous job. And yes, I post his information with full permission (encouragement, actually) from him.

(please ignore the spices on the toaster oven, whoops!)

The thing about renovations is once you crack it open, you usually have a can of worms on your hands. We are at a point that the only thing left planned to do was the lighting. However, both of us are ready to upgrade the stove and hood to stainless steel. It’s 16 years old, the burners are uneven, the oven light doesn’t work and the timer on the stove is broken. I don’t think we’re jumping the gun too much (and yes, I’m trying to rationalize this unplanned purchase).

I really want a slide-in but they are expensive. We went to Sears and realized they were easily twice the price. But Craigslist to the rescue! An appliance store about 45 minutes from here posted about a discontinued one, brand new with a warranty for the same price we were going to pay for a free standing one. Plus, this one is gas. I’m so excited! We’re planning to go tomorrow to pick it up.

Also, I’m pretty sure I want to go with stainless steel handles now.

As for the bathroom, Scott finished measuring for the outlet/light holes on the mirror and took it to the glass place today. We’re supposed to have that back first of next week.

So whew. I see a light at the end of the tunnel on all this and really all that will be left ironically is lighting. Always lighting. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me!

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Emma and Lexi-isms

August 20th, 2009 at 8:46 pm / Amy Bennett / 4 Comments »

On the way down the interstate a few days ago we were discussing trucks and what those trucks might be hauling. The U-Hauls were for furniture, the round ones were for gas but the big rectangle ones, well, I don’t know, stuff like what Wal-Mart sells.

Emma replies in her teacher voice, “Mommy. Wal-Mart has their own trucks which have the Wal-Mart sign on the side.” Heavy emphasis on the phrase ‘which have’. OK, smarty pants.

—————————————–

Emma: Mommy, I want to go to our old church Sunday

Me: Sorry, honey,we’re not going there

Emma: But they don’t have a snack

Me: A snack is not what’s important about church.

Lexi, very intent on getting her point across: Mommy, yes it is because we might get hungry and they don’t have ANY FOOD!!

—————————————-

This is the only thing I caught from my bedroom listening to Lexi from their bedroom:

Emma, when I get to heaven and I can talk to Jesus and I can talk to Mommy and Daddy…I’m going to tell on you!

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She Liked It! She Really Did!

August 19th, 2009 at 7:48 pm / Amy Bennett / 1 Comment »

Scott picked Emma up from school today. Even that sentence is so much different than last year’s first day of school. The simple fact that I didn’t go with him to pick her up should tell you how not worried I was she had a good day. But of course the first question I asked her was how it was. She gave me a hug and a big smile and said “Wonderful!”

So there you have it. First Grade is a hit.