Ready for a Holiday!

Well, I should be in bed because I have to be at work at 6:30 every morning...instead, I just finished putting the Christmas letter together.  I thought, I need to put on the blog the picture that didn't make the cut.  Yes, there is a bar downtown that is "dog friendly."  This was Stella's first time at a bar and she felt right at home...no pun intended.  So after we took the "real" Christmas card photo, I had to take this one for the blog.

It doesn't really feel like Christmas to me here in Mobile because it has been in the 70's the past few days.  Now it has gotten cold and thankfully I didn't take the scraper out of my car because at 6:30 am even in Mobile there is occasionally frost.  Well, we still have a bit of Holiday shopping to finish up and we are getting excited to come to KC for a visit.  I know there has been lots of snow in KC, but knowing our luck, it won't snow next week. :)

Hope everyone has very Happy Holidays and talk to you next year! 

Not the best blogger...

Ok, so I'm not quite the best at blogging. I don't want to think that we were blown away by the hurricane over Labor Day weekend, so I'm finally back on the blogging scene...

Anyway, since our indestructible iMac's hard drive crashed a few weeks ago, I don't have any new pictures to post yet (well I did, but they are gone now), but I promise I will soon. I do love the mac, but was very disappointed that it crashed. No information has been able to be recovered, so let's just say, Andy and I learned a very important lesson about backing up you files on an external hard drive... Oh well, you live and you learn!

We just had a great visit in KC last weekend and drove home the 14 hours yesterday, so needless to say, I'm a bit sleepy and not quite sure what day it is. I actually sent an email to Sara and told her to have a "Happy Monday"...I guess it is my Monday, but felt a little silly after the fact. It was great to get back to KC. It was a busy weekend though. Andy conducted his "farewell" concert with KC Civic Orchestra and it was great with the violinist Mark O'Connor. It was definitely a great send-off. We also put on our Puccini Festival appetizer party and then went to O'Dowds to see Eddie Delahunt and the boys. It was great to be there and to have an O'Dowds pint of Guinness.

Monday night was Opera Supper at Californos. It was fun to be back there and to see some of our opera friends. Also on Monday, I was able to have lunch with my KCAA girls, Kate and Andrea, at Cactus Grill. I really miss good Mexican food. You would think that there would be good Mexican food here in Alabama because it is closer to Mexico than KC, but alas, it is not the same. Andy and I are still in search of good Mexican food in Mobile.

Anyway, I promise to be a better blogger and also to put some new pictures up of the house now that our computer is fixed. Maybe this weekend I will get to that... Well, have a Happy Wednesday as I am now having a great Monday of my 3-day week!

Gustav is on his way!

Well, what a welcome to the gulf coast!  Since we have been here for 2 weeks, we have had Fay which luckily pretty much missed all of Mobile and now Gustav.  We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary yesterday and spent a lovely day down in Gulf Shores.  We were told it was really quiet for Labor Day weekend, but we enjoyed the lack of crowds. :) As Gustav is approaching, we looked to our neighbors as to what to do.  Nobody is really doing anything different!  Our next door neighbor took her wreath and flag down, so just to be on the safe side, we put all of our patio furniture in the garage.  Better to be safe that sorry.  Andy is now whipping up some Hurricanes and Mid-Atlantic Crisis beverages for our adventure.  Thanks for everyone that has called to check on us.  We are doing fine and will update later.  There are no evacuation recommendations for our area as we live north of I-10, so we are just hunkering down for a bit of wind and rain.   

We made it to Mobile!

Sorry it took so long to blog, but it took about a week to find the computer.  We have been in our new house for just over a week.  We love it!  We are cooking our first meal at home and Andy just found the silverware (just in time)!  Wow...moving is just really not the most fun thing to do.  We are so excited to be here, but I am still waiting for the unpacking fairies to come and make these boxes disappear!  Oh well, I guess we really have to do it ourselves.  

Here is the best pic of our unpacking thus far.  Well, first of all the moving truck didn't get to our house until Monday, so Monday night 9 and 1/2 hours after the two movers unpacked the truck...  Needless to say, we were pretty tired!  Stella too and she found a very tight path to the back of the office full of boxes to her bed.  She didn't mind that a box was even on her bed.  

Anyway, 1 week later and we have a den, kitchen and the office is almost put together, so hopefully by next week, I will have some updated pics of our house to post.  We miss all of our friends and family in KC, and hope to see you all soon!  PS.  Tropical Storm Fay just gave us a little rain, so no torrential down pours this time. :)

Packing...Fun?

Well, here we are in the final days of living at 101 E 49th.  As you can see, we are having tons of fun packing!  Stella has been a great help...she is not quite sure what is going on, but I know that she will love her new house.   The packers come on Tuesday followed by the movers on Wednesday.  I can't imagine having to do this without movers.  Well just a short note, I just heard Andy pull into the driveway, so Stella and I better get back to work. :)

Mobile Humor

Ok, so it is funny enough that I, who have spent all of my life north of the Mason-Dixon Line, will be a transplant to Mobile, but here is some humor I have found since the big news...

Now Ed's Shed was one of the first places we ate at in Mobile.  And I actually took this picture for Josh, because when he and Ryann come to visit, he better bring his mullet wig for Mullet Mondays!  Then I learned that a Mullet is not only a bad hairdo but also a fish!   I wonder which one came first?  

Now here is something that Ryann brought to my attention, so I can't take the credit for this.  I guess there was a leprechaun sighting in 2006 in a Mobile neighborhood.  So if you would like a good laugh, please check out the website www.wheredagoldat.com.  There is the original news story.  It is a must see.  My favorite part is the sketch...enjoy!

Well, I am sure that there will be more humorous stories to come, but I will leave you with the thought that while you are all land-locked and freezing next January, we will be enjoying Fall temperatures and the ocean.  But again, you are always welcome to come visit!!

A busy week in Mobile, Alabama...

Hello everyone!  Andy and I have been very busy in Mobile.  In less than one week, we are pretty much ready to move to Mobile...except for that whole packing thing in KC.  We found a great house with lots of room for us and for people to come visit!  Actually, now we have a bit more house than furniture, but that won't be too hard to deal with.  :)  It is very strange and wonderful that we are moving to the gulf coast.  We went to Gulf Shores for dinner on Thursday.  The sand was so soft and the water so warm, it brought back summer memories on the Gulf for both of us.  I can't believe that we are a 45 minute drive to those beautiful beaches!!   Mobile is a beautiful city that has the architecture of New Orleans and supposedly a Mardi Gras that is just as fun!  I think I ate seafood every meal down there.   Pretty much any entree on the menu that had crab meat was what I ordered!  It is so nice to have fresh seafood available, and Andy was excited about the turnip greens and fried okra that was offered as a side even at the BBQ place.   

Well, I thought I would fashion myself after Ryann and start a blog, so here it goes.  I know that I am not as comical as she is in her writing... :) but I'll try, and at least we can keep everyone up on our adventures.  Until next time...Here are some pics of our new house.  PS. notice the two huge palm trees just off our deck!!