Service Sunday

For February's Service Sunday Sam chose to go visit Robert Collin's grave. It's been many months since we've been to the cemetery and it's the first time we've seen the headstone.
It turned out really nice.

I got pretty teary as I read it. It seemed more real.

We made some foam flowers and left some Valentines as well. It was a beautiful day & it's hard to believe it's almost been a year.

February makes it one year since we've been doing Service Sunday as a family and I'm grateful we were able to do this on our first year anniversary.

Testing 1...2...3

Where to start...?

We had a bad afternoon.

A really bad afternoon.

Sam got mad because I didn't let him have his way since he wasn't cooperative at school or at home. He wanted to watch Fox 5 News at 5pm and I told him no. You don't get privileges when you don't behave.

Down. Hill. From. There.

Lots of stuff ensued....kicking (my shin will have a nice bruise pretty soon), punching (my upper arm will have a nice one too), spitting, screaming, slamming doors, death threats. You name it.

It was time.

I called the non-emergency number and spoke with dispatch and she said, "Is that him I hear in the background?" Yep. "How old is he?" 11. "Does he have any weapons?" Nope. Just a good left hook. "I'll send some one over."

Since I had already given all his info to the police, I felt pretty confident.

Office Shaeffer showed up and asked what was going on. I explained what I had already established with the Chief. Did you read his file? "No." Sweet.

He went upstairs and talked to Sam about hitting his mom and that he usually takes kids to jail who hit their mom and they have to go in front of a judge. He told him that in jail you don't have a nice bed to sleep in with nice blankets. Sam was talking nonsense and not really responding. I made it crystal clear for him.

The officer walked down the stairs and says, "Do you see a specialist?" Yes, lots of them. "Maybe he needs to be on medication." Um, thanks, he is on medication. "I've seen adults talk out of their heads before but never a kid his age. Do you want to press juvenile charges?" Um, NO. Did you even read his history? It should be in your system. "No, I didn't read anything." Ok, I just want to see how the process is working.

He spent most of his time calling into dispatch with my driver's license number making sure I wasn't a felon. He says, "Well, you have no murder convictions." Not yet.

I give this experience a D+.

I believe I will be calling the Chief or the internet officer tomorrow. What's the point of getting info to the police if they don't even bother to read it.

Epic FAIL.

Anniversary Bliss

Todd & I had discussed what to do for our anniversary. We wanted to do something cool for our 10th, like go to NYC but no such luck, or funds for that matter.

Five years later there are still no funds and I don't want to go to NYC in the winter, especially this winter as it's been brutal in NYC. We decided to just spend the night at Todd's parent's condo in Buckhead, eat dinner at NY Prime and shop or see a movie. Pretty low key. I had made arrangements with Kelsey C. to babysit overnight and we were set...we would leave around 5pm on Friday night.

On Thursday morning, Todd tells me, "You need to ask Melissa to cover for you for the parent meeting at Sam's school." I was a bit confused...and panicked! I'm a planner and a controlling kind of person and all he said was he had things covered. That afternoon I took Todd some flowers and candy at work and he still wouldn't share with me what he had planned.

Todd had already planned on having Kristina come babysit for the weekend and we had our neighbor watch the kids til she got there and then we were off...

Driving off on our anniversary adventure!



I had some ideas of where we were going since he let a few details slip so when we stayed on I-20 and headed east, I kind of knew where we were going but wasn't positive until we arrived...

Oh yeah...the Ritz! The first and probably the last time!
(this is the same lodge that Carrie Underwood got married at-yeah, we're cool like that)

The lobby



Our room

the view from one of TWO balconies in our room

the bellhop delivered this!!

We had access to the Club Lounge which meant there was always food available. The breakfast was by far the best.

Our favorite little corner

the fantastic reading selection available at the lounge

We wandered around the grounds of the resort...so pretty!

I opened the nightstand drawer and no kidding, there was a Book of Mormon and I didn't put it there!

For dinner that night, we went to a local place that we went to years ago when we stayed at the parent's lake house. Everything is fried!

Fried green tomatoes...

fried catfish, hush puppies, shrimp and sweet potato fries.

They really do turn down the bed and leave mints! Super fancy!

Ok, a bit of a disclaimer...I don't normally post a photo of me in a bathing suit, it's just not good for the masses (or the 3 people who read my blog) to see but it was freaking January!!
(ps...we both forgot bathing suits and had to drive 25 minutes each way to go to the Madison, Ga. Wal-mart to pick up suits)

Too bad the pool was waaaaayyy too cold to swim in

Todd hanging out with his girlfriend
(and I just noticed he was flipping me off-sorry to offend)

It was so awesome that every night a cute kid name Will started a big fire and had all the stuff for s'mores. He offered drinks and blankets too. We got to roast marshmallows by the fire and drink hot cocoa! Is this for real?!

There are no photos of my 4.5 hours spent in the spa. Let me just say that the steam room, facial, couples massage, more steaming and pedicure were A.Maz.Ing!

This is our lunch on the balcony, our last meal there and it was so sad that we had to leave. It was 70 degrees and so fabulous.

We really wanted to finish off our weekend with a bang so we stopped by my beloved ice cream place, Morelli's, and got some ice cream. DELISH! I got Sweet Corn and Athena's Feta (I know, it's strange but good) and Todd got his fav, Rosemary Olive Oil...again, don't knock it till you try it. YUM-O!

After this, our fun ended as we pulled into the driveway and had to resume our parental duties.

It was an awesome weekend and we had a BLAST!
(many thanks to those who took part in the planning. xoxo.)