What a week I've had! JR's birthday was February 2nd and he had to work (of course!), so he decided he wanted ham dinner for his birthday, but we would do it on Sunday. OK, no problem, I can do that! So I'm just lowering the rack in the oven to accommodate the ham when I hear the garage door open and he's home. He was scheduled to work until 5, but had called to say he had gotten out early because he had a wicked headache. Super, worked his birthday AND the day after, both weekend days, and then gets a killer headache. Happy Birthday to him! The door opens and in he comes, but wait, there's someone walking in in front of him. OH.MY.GOD.... it's Kaitlyn!!! I just about had a mini heart attack and couldn't stop yelling and jumping up and down!!! Kaitlyn's mother-in-law-to-be had emailed me on Facebook before Christmas to ask me what airport would be closest to fly her into because she was thinking of getting her a ticket to come for a visit, but I hadn't heard back from her, so thought she must have not been able to get time off from work, etc. Come to find out, Drew (Kaitlyn's boyfriend) had actually gotten her ticket for Christmas and surprised her and then they all managed to plan the trip and surprise me! The boys didn't even know, so Chris heard me screaming and came running out of his room to see her standing in our kitchen too! Connor was so excited to see her! What an amazing surprise!! We had the BEST week! We got lots of sun time by the pool, hot tub, hit the beach one day, went to The Bubble Room on Captiva for dinner, I got to bring her to my new favorite restaurant for lunch, Cheddars!, had lots of fresh fruit smoothies, and she got to shop at some awesome bargain stores! She got some cute clothes and got to get a few things at her favorite store - Vera Bradley! And the best part, it was the Vera Bradley outlet - twice as big and lots of bargains! She was in heaven! We also had lots of memorable Connor moments - she definitely got her Connor fix :) I absolutely love having visitors come so we can show them where we live now, and how beautiful it is down here. JR's favorite part of having visitors is to show them around. And of course I'm getting so much better at finding places now, so we only missed a couple of turns here and there on our way to the beach! And then she just happened to get stuck here for two extra days because of winter storm Nemo and no flights going anywhere! Darn! She left yesterday and arrived safe and sound back in cold Vermont last night. I'll bet she is missing the sunshine and warmth already!
So this morning JR left for his PetSmart company-wide meeting in Orlando. They're staying at a hotel on Disney grounds, and they even get a private concert from Bret Michaels! Oh boy! The boys are not very excited about that, but hey, something to tell the grandchildren some day?! So, Tim's wife, Julie, had a great idea to surprise the boys with a Valentine's Day gift basket, since we won't be with them on Valentine's Day. We were going to order a Disney basket to be waiting for them in the room when they arrived today, but their prices were RIDICULOUS, so Julie had a great idea that we could make our own and hide it in the car. A few weekends ago, the two of us went shopping and got all the stuff for the basket, Kaitlyn helped me assemble it before she left, and our plan was to hide it in the car and when the boys were an hour or so into their trip, to call them and tell them to check the back seat. Chris helped me to hide it in the car, and it was hilarious! Kaitlyn and I had a Twilight movie marathon the night before she left, so we were up until almost 3 am. Needless to say, I was running all day yesterday on about 3 1/2 hours of sleep and was trying SO hard to stay awake last night so we could plant the evidence after JR fell asleep. I ended up having Chris wake me up around 11:30 pm, because I couldn't keep my eyes open, and we went out to the garage to put the basket in the car and realized that JR had cleaned his car so much that there was literally nothing in it to use for hiding it, so we hid it in the garage and planned to have me distract JR in the morning AFTER he had loaded the car with his stuff. Jacoby hates it when anyone leaves for a trip - as soon as he sees the suitcase and bags, he gets all nervous, pacing around and following you around the house. Perfect distraction! While JR was in the shower, I woke Chris up and told him the plan was for me to yell there was a lizard in the bathroom and that would be his cue to run out to the garage and put the basket in the garage. I'm telling you, I think I missed my calling and should have been an actress! I nailed it! I had him looking for the non-existent lizard for just long enough so Chris could do his work. The "lizard" was in our bathroom, so Chris could get out, do the deed, and get back in with no problem. After they were on the road for about an hour, Julie set up the three-way call and we told them about the fake lizard story, and the surprise in the back seat! We found these really cute pirate hats and eye patches at the dollar store, and got them beer, munchies, Mickey and Donald Duck Pez dispensers, and a bunch of other cool stuff. There's a great store down here where you can buy individual bottles of beer, and we think that will be their favorite part. We got them these really cute t-shirts on clearance at the Disney Store - one says "I'm with Tweedle-Dee" and the other "I'm with Tweedle Dum" and we told them they have to wear them and send us pics! They already sent us a pic of them driving down I-75 with their pirate hats on!! Friday morning, "the two Julie's" will be heading out to meet them in Orlando to go to Disney, and I can't wait! On my last blog entry, I gave more info. on our trip, so I won't bore you with repeating myself. The boys are excited to see Nanny and Papa Daly this weekend, and the puppies will be too! I'm so thankful that they are able to come over and stay with Connor!
Well, off to finish cleaning the house! It's strange having the house so quiet right now - JR on his trip, Chris at work, Connor at school, and it's just me and the pups! Going to enjoy it while I can!
