Sheer Insanity

That's really the only term I could think of that could describe the past few days.

My life as a sane person officially ended last Wednesday afternoon when sweet Sophia, our leasing manager, decided to go to Chattanooga to get married, leaving me with the 1) rental phone 2) responsibility of taking calls 3) responsibility of renting properties and 4) no hope.

Sidebar: In case you're wondering why rental calls = no hope, imagine this: Take the dumbest people in the world and offer them the chance to rent the cutest, most advertised, most affordable rental properties in Murfreesboro and Smyrna. Then, give them your phone number.

Yeah. It's that much fun.

Friday, with Dawson in tow and rental phone in hand, I headed to Chattanooga to accompany my dad to the closing of my grandfather's house and to attend Sophia and Caleb's wedding.

My dad did a ton of work to my Papaw's house...updating it, painting, landscaping...you name it. All of his work paid off because he sold it himself to a family friend. Before we went to the closing, I took Dawson for a swim in Papaw's pool...this is where I learned to swim, spent countless summer days and had many birthday parties and my high school graduation party. There were many, many tears shed as I walked out of my Papaw's house for the last time.





Mark, the buyer, was beside himself with excitement to be purchasing his first home. He grew up with my dad and uncles, and would play at their house all the time as a kid. So, he's coming full circle in purchasing the home.




Saturday, my mom and I spent the first part of the day shopping, and then David met Dawson and I to attend Sophia and Caleb's wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We attended the reception at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club and then headed back to Murfreesboro.



Sunday, we worked all day while D-Man spent some Q-T with his Aunt Meagan. Then, we met Meagan, Moo, Web and Vance at Red Robin for some hamburgers and onion rings. Yummy!

Monday was again spent at the office...Dawson in his Pack n' Play and I with the rental phone, banging my head against the wall. Isn't it sad when you're good at something that you hate? Six leases in five days isn't bad, yes? Albeit I accused someone of being "learning-impaired" and said on more than one occasion: "Call back when you've learned how to speak English." Gah.

Today? Much, much better. I gladly returned the rental phone to Mrs. Sophia Heath, cleaned my house and actually took a nappy with Dawson!

And! His full set of pictures arrived from Krista today...here's a sneaky-peeky!

Friends, Food and Major Fumbles

My sweetly hilarious husband uses a phrase often to describe an accident or spill, both literal and figurative..."Major Fumble."

As in when I literally fell INTO the Expedition while loading Dawson's carseat; or when David forgot he had put a house on realtor carvan and drove like a bat out of you-know-where to get there in time to unlock it so 54 agents wouldn't be standing on the front porch waiting on him.

All Major Fumbles. All pretty common in the Fletcher household.

So, why on earth I thought we could out to dinner with our sweet friends Gentry and Rachel and NOT experience a Major Fumble is beyond me.



Here are Gentry and Rachel BEFORE the Major Fumble...their little son, Noah took this picture!
David and Noah, his new BFF.
Noah Wheat, a Self Portrait. Could he be any cuter?

So, I guess you're wondering what the Major Fumble was.

Imagine, if you will, a huge Outback-Steakhouse-We-Don't-Want-To-Have-To-Give-You-Another-Refill-You-Loony-Man glass.

Now, imagine it filled with red Hi-C Fruit Punch. The drink of champions. 'Cause everyone knows HAWAIIAN PUNCH meshes so well with steak.

Now, if you can, imagine the entire glass being tipped over and all of the fruity goodness spilling ALL OVER my husband's pants as he's scooting out of the booth.

Take a moment. I know you need one.

Yeah. No amount of napkins in the world could've made that better.

What's funnier is that instead of saying "Oh, crap!" or rushing around to find a napkin, David just sat there, tipped his head back, closed his eyes and said "Oh, yeah. That feels good. So good."

Had we not already been leaving, I do believe we would've been thrown out because we were laughing SO HARD. I was crying I was laughing so hard.

So, a lesson for you: If you ever, and I mean EVER, go out to dinner or any other meal with us, just be ready for a Major Fumble.

You might also want to bring some napkins.

"Mr. Fletcher, we're ready for your close-up..."

All I can say is "TOO STINKIN'CUTE!!!"

Thank you, Krista!

For the Love of EVAN!

This cute kiddo is Evan, the son of my wonderful friend Leigh Ann, who lives in Arkansas.



To look at Evan, you would think he is a normal, healthy six-year-old. And he is, for the most part. However, Evan faces a challenge that many kids today do: autism.

Autism is a disorder that challenges kids in many ways; in their communication, social skills, and learning ability. What a lot of us moms take for granted, like a baby who readily smiles back at us or a child who immediately tells you how they feel, moms with autistic kids number these everyday occurences as rare blessings.

Autism research has advanced by leaps and bounds over the past few years, but we're still a long way away from fully understanding autism and how to treat it and eventually prevent it.

But we live in the now, and that means acting now. Acting, to me, Meagan and Megan, is participating in the Walk Now for Autism event at the Nashville Superspeedway on September 13. We'll be working the event part of the time, and walking the rest.

The team we've organized is called "For the Love of EVAN!" and we've already raised A LOT of money in his name for autism research. Our goal is $1,000 and we've already gotten $725!

But - we still need more. If you'd like to give, walk or just see what we're doing and pray for much success, please visit this link.

http://www.walknowforautism.org/c.rmL7JlO5KzE/b.3752211/siteapps/teampage/ShowPage.aspx?c=rmL7JlO5KzE&b=3752211&teamid=2817721



I've designed some custom shirts for our big day at the walk (hello, fashion is important, even at charity events, yes?) and if you'd like to have one, too, shoot me an e-mail and I'll tell you how to order one. There are shirts for women, men, kids and even babies.




The Horton Family will be with us on the day of the walk; it will actually be the first time we've ever met Leigh Ann in person. I CANNOT WAIT! I never expected to make a new best friend just by blogging, but I have and now consider her challenges as my own.

As sisters in Christ, we are told to lift each other up, support each other and take on one another's burdens. Leigh Ann's burden is Evan's autism - please pray about what you'll be lead to do to lift her up.

Have I Mentioned We Love Krista Lee Photography?

I have officially dubbed this week "Glamour Week" because not only did we get headshots taken yesterday at Krista's studio, I took Dawson there again today for his six months photos.

The two things I love most about Krista are: 1) no matter how ugly, fat or unglam you feel, once you see her photos of you, you start wondering if you should perhaps consider calling Heidi Klum your BFF and 2) she is an overacheiver who e-mails you samples almost immediately after wrapping the shoot.

Here are just samples of the four of us from yesterday. She took a bajillion more and I can't wait to see how they look. If you need pictures taken- baby photos, family, wedding, senior portraits, whatevah!- I don't think I'll have to twist your arm to get you to use Krista.

That's a Wrap!

We spent most of the day today in Nashvegas at Krista's studio. "We" was me, David, Dawson, Eric and Sophia...together (except for Dawson), we all make up the Eric Blum Team. In short, the best realtors in the universe. We're also very humble. Heh.

We each got new headshots taken and some group photos, as well. Krista, as always, was amazing and flexible and creative. I can't wait to see our finished products. They'll eventually be on our brand new website!

As an honorary member of the team, Dawson came along to manage the editorial content and keep everyone smiling.

"Hey, uh, Mom? Are you going to freak when you realize I just dropped a huge load of drool on your brand new charmeuse blouse? Just curious. 'Cause if you are, I'm gonna go hang out with the boys."
"Hmmm. Interest rates? Construction loans? You know, guys, you could relax for a second. I think y'all need a bottle like mine. It's really easy to lift and juice comes out of it."
"Ahh, yes. This? Is much better. I love my Sophia. Can I get a sandwich? Maybe some milk or something? Oh, and Mom? The drool? It's still there."

Our Water Baby!

Yesterday, we visited Aunt Michelle at her pool in Primm Springs for Dawson's first swimming experience! People, the child is fearless. He LOVED the water.

Is it bad that I'm as pasty as he is??
He splashed and splashed...so much so that he splashed water in his eyes. Crying? Not this one. He looked at me like "What? I'm fine. It's just water."
"Honey, what are you doing wasting your daddy's gas money? Come on and get in MY car."
"Can we go home? I'm tired and a wee bit pruny."

We had a wonderful time! Thank you to Aunt Michelle for hosting a great pool party!

Dawson is 6 Months Old!

Happy Half Birthday to Our Little Man!

We celebrated Dawson's 6th month with some special dessert...peach cobbler! He loved it! He did try to eat the candle, of course.
Dawson is growing so quickly! He can sit up by himself for about 30 seconds (then he topples over and starts laughing), and he can roll from his back to his stomach now. It's hard to believe that just a few months from now, he'll be crawling and babbling away!
Dawson's new favorite toy is his feet! He is one flexible little critter. He laughs out loud and smiles all of the time.

Every day with him is a reminder of how blessed we are that God allowed us to be his parents. He is truly the light of our lives!

Announcing a New Blogging Beauty!

I'm so excited because my friend, Rachel, now has a blog!



This is Rachel, her husband, Gentry, and their cutie-pie son, Noah!

We have known Rachel and Gentry for awhile and adore them. Gentry sang at our wedding (seriously, Rascal Flatts has nothing on him), and Rachel is the bakerella responsible for the a-dorable ladybug cupcakes featured at Krystal's baby shower.

So, go check out her blog...it's linked to the left. Go now!

A Fabulous Fourth at the Fletcher's

Happy Fourth of July!

Dawson and Zoey celebrate their first Independence Day together. I think Dawson was trying to give her a kiss. Or have a small snack. It's a toss-up.
Uncle Brandon and Dawson bust loose with some dance moves. Dawson has fun no matter what he is doing!
Zoey loved her Fourth of July buffet! Ours had hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, slaw, chili, chips and (drumroll,please)...Four-Layered Pie. And watermelon. All low-cal and fat-free.
FOUR generations...my mom and her dad, me and Dawson, Jason and Zoey. Happy 1 Week to sweet Zoey!
One week can exhaust a girl. And this is how all of us looked after polishing off the watermelon.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

This is What I Do When I Should Be Doing Laundry

My friend Leigh Ann did this on her blog, and I thought "Hey, why not? Do something totally teenager-ish and procrastinate some more on cleaning out my closet? Or clean out my closet?" I think it's obvious what I chose.

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

This is HILARIOUS. I don't know who half these people are. I am so way excited because a computer thinks I resemble Brenda...my favorite used-to-be-alive character on General Hospital!

Now, stop working or folding towels or whatever you're doing and go see who you look like.

The Icing On the Cake

My 26th birthday was wonderful, thanks to my wonderful friends and family!

This is what greeted me in the morning when I stumbled into kitchen to start my Diet Coke fix...a single pink rose that David had picked from our beds next to our front entry. What a great way to start my birthday!
Then, I joined these lovely ladies for some lunchy at The Front Porch. As always, we had a great time. I think I almost choked on my chicken salad about 4 times because I was laughing so hard.
And then, I came home from lunch and was greeted by a wee flower delivery man bringing me these! Our sweet friends Rachel and Eric sent me these...aren't they gorgeous?!
And then, my hubby came home with a gift for me...something I've wanted for so long...it's a LABEL MAKER!!!! And...wait for it...here's the best part...it prints in PINK INK!!!!
And then, David and Dawson took me to Macaroni Grille for a birthday dinner. I had asiago steak and fettucine...yummy! It was chased by a hot fudge sundae. Hey. It's my birthday. No calorie counting allowed.

All of these wonderful things were peppered in my day between phone calls, text messages and e-mails from friends and family wishing me a Happy Birthday. How fortunate I am to have so many people who care about me!

Also...a special blogger shout-out to you lovely ladies who made ME your post yesterday! What a fabulous gift!