Summertime....and the livin's easy...

Hello friends...Ben and I have had some very good chill time on weekends of late but no photos to prove it. If we go out on the boat this afternoon, I'll try to snap some pics.

I still owe everyone photos of the China trip...I haven't forgotten, but have been rather busy with work and working out. By the time I make it home, shower, fix and eat dinner then prepare for the next day, it's time for bed. Always busy, always busy.

So busy in fact that I buy prepackaged meals from Greenlife (our local organic, natural, healthy and green store that kicks Fresh Market's butt) and this one checkout guy always comments on the fact that I only ever buy prepared foods in a really judgmental tone. We are trying to be less preservative intensive but we're not hippies either, thank you very much. And I have to say that I'm a little disturbed by the fact that this fellow keeps making the same comment to me. If you work and try to stay healthy with long daily workouts, how do you have time to prepare meals? Isn't it a bit rude for a checkout guy to look down on me because I'm not buying fresh produce and meats? Anyway, I try to avoid him but still run into him from time to time. Maybe I should tell Greenlife management that he makes me uncomfortable which in turn makes me less interested in going there...but they have a monopoly, so I'm pretty much stuck no matter what.

Let's see...oh, we had dinner at Tony's last night. We left the house right after the thunderstorm warning expired and had such a pleasant dinner up on the deck. I don't think we've been to Tony's since Ben's b'day. Anyway, we were fortunate enough to eat at the same table we ate at a few years ago...we both remember and discussed it last night. It was the November right after we were married, and the day had been gorgeous. We wanted to eat outside on a deck, and somehow ended up at Tony's. We were still on a high from having 'free time' since finishing grad school and I remember us talking about how fortunate we were to live in such a lovely place. What a good memory.

The Bluff View sign I posted a pic of back in the spring is now completely covered over with vines...you couldn't even read it last night.

Gosh, I LOVE the summer. The longest day of the year was this weekend, and I'm always a bit sad after it has passed. In Chattanooga, we are on the West side of the time zone....the next county over is central. So, we have very long daylit evenings here....you can still see light well after 9PM. I don't know how it affects others but Ben and I have a hard time winding down at the end of the day due to the light. We should be prepping for bed, but since it's still light out we want to play outside instead.

Ben has posed the idea that we stay in Chattanooga. We both love this place so much and we have such an excellent group of friends (among many other reasons) that he has made the suggestion. I told him I don't think we should do it. We see each other so little because of the odd situation we're in and I believe that we should still try to move even though the housing market sucks. We took the house off the market a couple of months ago, but we need to put it back up soon.

I feel I must mention this little item on the blog, bec my silly husband likes to use me as a scapegoat sometimes. If he doesn't want to do something but doesn't want responsibility for it, he tells people that Stacey doesn't want to do it. This has happened so many times over the years and you never know what I'm going to be a scapegoat for next. The most recent event was in China and was kind of funny...but Ben was found out! I will not go into the details, however.

I'm not going to pretend on here, though, that I'm excited about the prospect of moving to Knoxville. To be honest, I'm not at all fond of Knoxville. On the drive home last night, Ben and I discussed this at length because after such an amazing evening in the Art District, we couldn't think of a place in Knoxville that is nearly as cool. However, I must note that while I may not be fond of Knoxville, I would really like to see my husband more...so, hopefully the market will pick up soon.

Well, kiddos, I guess I should sign off here....I think a trip to the fitness center is in order! I hope everyone has a beautiful Sunday! Enjoy the gorgeous weather!