Just a thought

As Casey, Dylan and I were driving today, the thought that we could be grandparents in 20 years popped into my head. It was out of nowhere! Although 20 yrs seems like a good bit away, it was, for some reason, kind of shocking.

Jake, new smoker

Happy (day late) 1st Birthday to Jake!!! Sorry I'm late. I knew it was yesterday. I wish I had a picture but I don't. Actually, I do but I don't know how to work my scanner.

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Yesterday, we had a new arrival... our smoker. The boys took the old one to the scrap yard and had them beat it up a little before they left to put the new one in. Needless to say, they are excited.

That's all I really have. We've been enjoying our long weekend before works starts bright and early again on Monday.

Lily

Please pray that we are able to find Lily. We let the dogs out about 8:30 last night and when I went to let them back in
the morning (b/c of the heat) Lily wasn't in the yard. Our fence is messed up but they hadn't gotten out in a long time. We searched our neighborhood and couldn't find her. We are afraid she has been picked up by someone. She can't handle this heat at all. Please hope and pray we find her. She is one of our babies.



Update:
We found Lily. Casey and I searched our area of the neighborhood for a long time and never saw any sign of her. We finally had to go back to work to help get ready for lunch. Mom said she would go over around 10:30 to have a look. She was driving down a culdasac down the street from us and spotted her on someone's front porch. The lady that lived there was giving her some water to drink. She is now home safe and back to being her diva self.

The Aftermath

This picture pretty much sums up how we all feel after our first three days at Smokey's. The picture was taken about 6:30 last night (he went to bed shortly after). We all could have gone to bed then. Bless his heart, since we have to get up at 4:30, so does he. DT has done so good with it all, though. Thankfully, this won't be a permanent thing... getting up at that time of day is rough on me, too.


I knew that having a drive-thru was going to be hard work but I never expected it to be so, so quickly. I had faith that this was and is going to do good but we sold out of food everyday by 2:00. I never expected that! We had to close down before dinner. Once the new smoker comes in, we will be able to handle the demand. I know the boys can't wait. We've had people come b/c someone called them and told them how good the food was, and even had people come back the next day for more. It is so exciting. I am so proud for the guys... well, everyone. There has been a lot of hard work put into this and it is working out for them. The hardest part, right now, is trying to set up a routine and a way to get the food out more efficiently but that is to be expected... at lunch, we've been slammed from the get go and none of us has ever really done this before. Thank you to all who have prayed and sent good thoughts our way! They were obviously heard.

BIG thanks to mom and dad for watching Dylan during all of this!!!

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In baby news, I'm now 19 weeks pregnant. I'm feeling the baby move around pretty good now but it's another stubborn one. Every time Casey or Dylan put their hands on my belly to feel the baby, it stops moving. It's really not that active of a baby, at least during the day. The funny thing is, the only time it seems to get excited and move a lot is when I'm eating. Sounds like a kid after my own heart. I have a doctor's appointment this week and then in two weeks we find out what it is. yay!

So Blessed

Smokey C's had a very successful first day. We sold out of pretty much everything by 1:30! We all get to go home a little early today, which is nice since we were all there by 5-5:30. Everyone is tired and worn out. I'll post more about it later on. I've got house work to do now. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts.

It's Been One Hell of a Day!

Pardon the expression but it just fits! Today, at Smokey C's, our biggest and main smoker finally bit the dust and made sure it had a victim, besides the bank account, before it did. Last week, the guys had the gas regulator fixed and thought (hoped) that maybe it was finally fixed for good. They set the grand opening date for this Thursday. Well, today, they turned the beast on and it tried to take them out. Casey went to open the fire box door, the area where the gas regulator is supposed to work, and a big ball of fire shot out and singed the hair off his arms. This has happened before, except it got both Casey and Cory. This is why the regulator was supposed to get fixed last week. Later on this morning, Casey was walking up to the fire box door to check the inside but before he could open it, it burst open on its own and fire shot out again! This time, to keep from getting burned, Casey jumped over a table and broke his big toe. That was the last straw. We have to buy a brand new smoker.

We are still planning to open Thursday. Pray that we can cook enough food and that our other smokers don't become possessed, too.

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While I'm already gripping and complaining... I had a kidney stone this weekend. That was fun.

I hate McDonald's. Their drive-thrus turn everyone into grade A a-holes (sorry, I'm trying really hard to censor myself today). Also, their employees are just so delightful.

Last but not least, my left butt cheek cramps up every night. Kinda makes sleeping only on my left side hard.

Note: I know I'm very blessed and my day wasn't really that bad, I just think everyone has a right to complain every now and then. Besides, I'm pregnant... this is the only time its okay, right? :)

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So, how was your day?

Dreams, Rocky, Smoker

I've always had very vivid and weird dreams. I can usually remember more that one a night. I can see color, feel pain, remember little details and so on. But since I've been pregnant I've had terrible dreams... worse than normal. The other morning, I was dreaming and had to tell myself that it was ok to wake up and thankfully I did. I won't explain the whole dream but it was kind of like a school shooting dream but everyone had a gun and was shooting anyone in sight. Me and several other girls were hiding behind a tree and then went to hide in the river. We made it out ok but there were thousands of casualties. The part that had me crying and hugging Casey, when I woke up, was Casey was in the dream, too and we had been separated and I never knew what had happened to him. I just kept sitting there waiting for him to show up. I woke up before I ever found out. It took me about 5 to 10 minutes to calm down and Casey had to hold me the whole time. That is how real my dreams are. Rarely, are the dreams good. They are always bad or just plain weird. I hope that doesn't say something about me.

Is anyone else like that?

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Yesterday, Rocky was running up and down our back fence, barking at the City workers who finally came to clean up the ditch behind our house, when he hurt himself. He wouldn't put his back, right leg down, so Casey and I decided to take him to the vet this morning. Diagnosis: torn ACL. Cure: surgery! Who knew? I thought only athletes did that. So now we have until August 21 to save up the money to get him fixed. If we didn't do the surgery, he basically be a gimp and would be in pain from time to time. We couldn't do that to him b/c he is one of our babies and also, our walking and hiking buddy. He loves it and we couldn't do that to him. At the vet's, they had to give him something to relax b/c his legs are pretty muscular and the doctor couldn't find what was wrong. After is was over, we couldn't pass up the chance to take a few pictures. Bless his heart... he was out of it.

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The smoker seems to be fixed, finally! I probably just jinxed it but so far so good. If all goes well, we should open next Tuesday or Thursday. This weekend we have our first catering gig. Yay!

Random things

Our 4th of July was a good one. We got to spend some time with our friends Ken and Emily at their condo on the river. It was beautiful out there and peaceful. The condominium had their own fireworks display and we were practically right under them. It was awesome. DT got to stay with Mimi and Papa and spend time with Luke and Jake. Fun was had by all.

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Casey and I did some much needed yard work yesterday. During that time, I found three baby blue jays in our backyard. They were pretty big but not yet able to fly. Luckily, we had to let the dogs in so Casey could mow the yard b/c Lucy would have made a meal out of them. I threw some bread and bird seed out b/c the mom and dad were still around. I hoped the best for them and left them alone. I went and checked on them this afternoon and two were dead and the other missing. I hope the other was able to eventually fly off. It's so sad about the other two. I remember when I was little bringing home baby birds that had fallen out of their nests. For some reason, every time I did, my parents would let me keep them and try to keep the alive but they always died over night. I come by it naturally though... they are big animal lovers too.

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Pray for Smokey C's. Casey and Cory are having problem after problem with the main smoker. They bought it used but it supposed to be a good one. They can't seem to keep it running. A new one costs about as much as a new car. Everyone is real anxious to open. Pray this thing can get fixed and for Casey and Cory... they need it.