Welcome to the world, Mattie!

Tuesday was my birthday and I got the best present:  a new niece, Mattingly Jo Garofalo.

Mattie was born on Wednesday, January 4th, at 2:48 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs. 9 oz..  Welcome to the family!

Pics borrowed from my sis and bro.  I still haven't met the little lady.... boo.  

(It's my busy time at work.  Grrrr.)

Goodbye, Grandaddy

I've been thinking a lot about this blog and my lack of posts in the last six months.  Yep, nothing since June, I know.  One of my goals in the coming year is to be more diligent about it.  I've even considered doing a Project 365 again.  I had several things I wanted to post about today, but a phone call from my Dad early this morning changed my plans.

Today, my maternal Grandfather, George Hanes, lost his battle with Parkinson's Disease.  At the age of 89, he decided he'd had enough of this life, and quietly moved on to the next, with my Grandmother sitting by his side.

We've known for months that it was only a matter of time.  My family spent several hours with my Grandparents on Christmas.  It was our day to say goodbye to him.  As sad as it is to lose him, we are all comforted by the knowledge that families are forever, and that we will get to see him again someday.  He was not a religious man; I don't know what he believed, if he did at all.  I hope his parents and all his buddies were there to greet him when he moved on to the next life.  What a joyous occasion, I'm sure!

So, Grandaddy, this post is for you.  We will miss you and your peanut eating, story telling, car inspecting, airplane loving, (slower than tar) gift opening, WWII Veteran snap-back hat wearing ways.  See you again someday.  Can't wait for the stories you'll have to tell then!

This was taken on Sept. 25, 2011, his 89th Birthday

10 Reasons Why I Love My Job

1.  Books, books, and more books.  Up to my eyeballs in books.

2.  I don't sit at a computer or desk all day.

3.  I'm the boss.

4.  I have great stories about ridiculous students.

5.  I don't work weekends.

6.  The campus cops are my friends.

7.  We sell Diet Cherry Pepsi for one reason:  because I want to.

8.  In the summer we close at 1:00 on Fridays.

9.  I'm good at it.  Job security, yo.

10.  Gems like this that we found in a sold-back textbook today.  We laughed ALL DAY over this list.  My personal favorite is #2.

Good luck with that, mystery girl!

A Whole Lot a Nuthin', thankyouverymuch

A couple weeks ago I met up with a friend for lunch.  We hadn't seen each other in months.  After catching up for a few minutes she asked, "So what else is new?"  My reply:  "Uh, nothing."  Same for her.

Sometimes that happens, I guess.  You just live your life and nothing much changes.  We work, we go to church, we spend time with family.  That's life and it's great.  I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Since I haven't been the best at blogging in 2011, I thought I'd share the goodies I found on my camera, my phone, and Michael's camera.  It should give you a glimpse of what's been going on this year.

I finally got a KitchenAid mixer!

Michael sent me flowers at work, just because:

in January it snowed and I got a day off work!

 

In Feb. I flew to California for Christina's wedding:

of course I went to Cafe Rio while in CA:

some friends from AZ came to visit and we went to the new 

Air & Space Museum:

 

Miss Reagan examined her bizness:

she also anxiously awaited the arrival of her parents:

Michael dealt with the cold temps:

 He also started volunteering at DC United Games:

He took our AZ friends to both the Jefferson Memorial and Ben's Chili Bowl one night:

I chopped my hair off (again):

Michael and Reagan bonded over Captain Kangaroo:

We visited the crazy, busy VCU Bookstore the weekend their men's basketball team made it to the Final Four:

This week I went to Orlando for our annual meeting.  The view from my hotel room:

(too bad it rained THE.WHOLE.TIME I was there)

And, lastly, GO VCU! 

 

My bookstore is in the same region as VCU's.  Our regional manager gave us all the gear I'm wearing in the above picture. :)

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Yesterday was Michael's 29th+++++.  We celebrated at the local Cheeburger Cheeburger, along with 20 of our friends and family.  Despite them getting nearly everyone's order wrong in some way, we had a good time.  Michael took on the 1 lb. burger challenge and won and now his picture is on the Wall of Fame.  Um, ok, Mikey.  I turned a blind eye to that one only because it was his birthday.  :)

 the burger before he devoured it.

if you eat it, they take your picture with this stuffed burger and put it on the wall

with his friend Mac who he's known since high school

Congrats Laura & John!

I've known Laura since my freshman year of college when we lived in the same seven-story dorm.  We were on different floors so I really only knew her in passing.  The next year we wound up living in the same off-campus apartment complex and became friends.  The following year we were roommates.  Sometime in the middle of this my brother went on his two-year LDS mission, briefly serving in her hometown.  She took him a care package from me once and her parents even fed him a couple of times.

Fast forward a few years.  We'd both graduated college, moved elsewhere, and started full-time jobs.  I was in a tight spot and needed a new place to live.  She happened to be in a place that had an empty room.  Problem solved and we were roommates once again.  By this time her parents had moved to Utah and we'd go visit them on a regular basis.  One summer she flew to VA with me and spent time with me and my family. 

Sometime in late 2002 or early 2003 I started to feel like my time in Utah had come to an end.  It was time to move on.  She came to the same conclusion and we both quit our jobs and moved out here to Virginia together, where we were roommates once again.  That was almost eight years ago; I can't believe how fast time flies.

We're tight.  We've been through a lot together.  There have been jobs and boys and crappy roommates and crazy bosses and families and friends and inside jokes and tonsillectomies and ... you get the idea.  If I'd had bridesmaids at my wedding there would have only been two:  my sister and Laura.

Today was a big day for Laura:  she married John in the Washington DC Temple and I, along with my whole family, was able to be a part of their big day.  :)

Congrats, Laura and John!  xoxoxo

 It was freeeeeeeezing outside.  See me with gloves on and her with no sleeves?  Crazy.

School Starts Tomorrow

All my bookstore peeps... you know what that means.  Tomorrow is going to be insane.

Wish me luck!

________________________________________

Last Monday was my birthday; thanks for the birthday wishes!  It was a crazy day at work, too.  It was the first day we opened since Dec. 23.  After such craziness, it was nice to come home to some birthday love.

The Saturday before, Michael, LT, and I went to Mt. Vernon, one of my favorite places.  LT and I have been a million times; it was Michael's first time there.  I love that place.  To make it even better, LT got me an annual pass for my birthday.  :)

Here's a few pics:

George & Martha say hey!

Mt. Vernon made out of gingerbread!

On Sunday Michael and I went to my parents' house for a birthday dinner.  Shan, Dev, and Rea came up for the day.

 My favorite thing about this pic is Winnie perched on the couch behind Rea waiting for a handout from Dad

Winnie in heaven, thanks to Michael