Long time no post....

I know it has been a long time since my last post.
Many of you may already know that the day after my last post my dear sweet mamma passed away.
She would have been 92 in late May.
I will post a tribute to her later but right now I am just not ready.

BUT the kitchen did get finished. It looks great. We are so pleased. I can not say enough good things about Wendy and the staff at The Stone Source. We still have other things we want to do to the kitchen but the granite makes such a wonderful change.

And the Winner is...

Netuno Bordeaux is our choice. "This Brazilain granite features a unique combination of engaging movements and subtle colors.
It is known for it's light cream background accented with sweeping brushes of gray, gold, and deeper browns." Once I saw it I knew it was perfect for our kitchen. We selected the slabs from the stone yard (see the photo's) and it was then taken to the fabricators to be cut. The company sent someone out to make measurements of the countertop. Very Techy.
The installation will be in about 2 weeks. I can't wait. I am meeting with the designer today to select the backsplash.
Right now my kitchen is in disarray, but I can survive knowing how pretty it will soon be.
Hope to have some pictures of the backsplash design soon.
Until I can get back in the kitchen I am staying busy in the yard. Weeds, leaves and other stuff need to be cleaned out so the flower beds can be spruced up for spring.  Ferns will soon be hung, flower pots and boxes planted.  Yippee! 
I love Spring!! except for the pollen : (

Choices, Choices

Late last September our microwave died, so we replace it with a wonderful shiny stainless steel one. BUT it was a little bigger than the other one and when Paul and Mark installed it they had to remove some of the ceramic tiles from the backsplash.
Most people would never notice but I did. So we started looking at replacing the countertop, backsplash and the cooktop.
We got some samples of granite from stores, and then we even went to two stone yards. Oh my,  all the choices. I have studied, compared, matched and then in the end I was just as confused. I have looked at stone in cold and windy weather, pouring down rain and one bright sunny day.
I finally made my decision last week. Which one did we choose?  Which one do you like?
Stay tuned to see what we selected.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Matt turned 29 and lots of family showed up in Memphis to celebrate his birthday. Paul and I drove up on Friday while Dianne and Jeff drove in from Atlanta, Mark came in on Saturday and of course Lauren was already in Memphis.

We ate bbq at Central BBQ Friday night.

 Saturday morning we ate breakfast at The Arcade,

and then enjoyed the day shopping for Matt's upcoming backpacking trip until time to go out for his birthday dinner at The Butcher Shop. Yumm.

Great Weekend.

Happy Birthday Matt!!

Someone told the waiter that it was Matt's birthday.  Wonder who did that???

Wrap it in Maroon and White

We will miss you Jack.
Many fond memories of listening to you on the radio.

Happy Valentine's Day

Beautiful flowers from my sweet, loving husband.

Master Chef Whitney Miller

I was so excited to meet Whitney Miller.  I watched almost every episode of Master Chef.
So proud for her, she is a great rep for Mississippi.

Second Annual ProStart Invitational

One of the neatest parts of my job is being able to attend great events like this.
This is the second year we have had the "cook off" and it is just like TV.
The teachers and the students work so hard to get ready for the PSI.  All the food looks sooooo good.
Here are a few pictures I took.
I didn't take as many as last year since I invited Amy to take professional pictures for us this year.  I can't wait to see those pictures.  One of the guest judges was Whitney Miller the winner of the first Master Chef.
She is so sweet.  We also had lots of local chefs and a few from the NRA (National Restaurant Association).
The winning teams shared over $750,000.00 in scholarships.  WOW! 

And no I didn't get to taste the food. : (

Paul's Birthday

We love birthdays at our house and always celebrate to the fullest.
We started the day with a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
Then Paul opened all his presents.  (It looked like Christmas)
I surprised him with a Wii. 
Then the guys got ready to smoke some ribs for a late lunch.  I prepared slaw  potato salad and beans.
We had a king cake for dessert.
I think Paul really had a great day