meet the johnson's...for thanksgivinig

well, as a couple we're progressing, to the point where we drive all over the state visiting every family member on both sides for holidays. whatever that gets ya...we went to canton to the johnson's and had the best dressing ever: its chicken and dressing all baked into one dish. its so awesome, we took what was left home with us.

Colors of autumn...or the 70's

aubrey and i painted the house recently. we went with a green/ orange/brown colorscape, otherwise known as my favorite colors. given that autumn is also my favorite season, its a no brainer as to the color choices. when we were all done though, aubrey said it was very 70's...not sure what that means b/c that certainly wasn't my favorite decade. well anyway, here it is with a fresh coat of paint and a shed to match. Color names are rice paddy, fudge truffle, and pumpkin umber. hungry? the green is just shy

of a pale celery shade, it has a tad more yellow than i wanted and in sunlight looks more pale yellow, but on a good shady day, its pale celery green. now the fudge truffle brown is just the right shade but it turns out you have to paint brick with oil-based paint if you want it to stick and thus it has a sheen. i'm very much into matte finish and they say the sheen will dull quickly in weather. i'm still waiting. lastly the deck is sort of a terra cotta shade which i love with green and brown. you may notice the shed is green with brown trim and that

the brown is subtler. thats the mocha brown in matte finish that i selected initially but opted out of for fudge truffle. so truth be told, there are 2 browns. and the front door is stripped down to natural wood and we loved the color so we just put on a coat of poly to protect it. come to think of it, the steps dont look so shiny anymore in full sunlight. whew! who wants a shiny house with 70s colors. oh and finishing touch, that's aubrey's sculpture on the front porch.

Let the eating begin...

Mom had her retirement age birthday yesterday and the whole family made it to the brunch celebration. Not that she can actually retire just yet, but any excuse to eat big eh? So we went to the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, GA, reknowned for its fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, and mac-n-cheese among other typical southern specialties. Bad time to try low-carb diet...but I made the best of it. Said no to the mashed potatoes, dressing and gravy. Tried awesome turnip greens, butter peas, squash with bacon, mac cheese (had to), pork bbq, and a tiny pinch of corn muffin. The food was like most southern food i've had actually, which is fine, but not what i really eat these days. so i dont know if the menu is awesome, but the decor is fun and we ate in the charleston room. all in all, mom loved it and it was her favorite birthday in a while. i think she just loved grandkids crawling all over her. ;-)