The House of Burks » 2010

This is my last blog…

Posted on November 21st, 2010 by Rachel B.

...as a person in my twenties. For tomorrow, you see, is my thirtieth birthday. The big 3-0. The Dirty Thirty. Over the hill. Put me out to pasture. Make my reservation at Shady Pines.

Psht. Whatever.

Thirty is going to be MY year. I'm taking no prisoners. This is my year to get back in shape, make myself even more indispensable at work, kick some ace on the tennis court, hone my crafty skills, continue to be an awesome mom and wife, and just generally keep on rocking. I know this is going to be a really great year for me.

I know I have been a terrible blogger, and for all my three regular readers, I apologize. Work has been pretty busy lately. I'm trying to really keep my ducks in a row and stay on top of everything, and according to my review a few days ago, my efforts are not going unnoticed. This was probably my best review yet. I sat down with the managing partner and we just had a chat about my performance, which according to my timekeepers is great. We are getting into a good groove and everyone is working really well together. This past year was a little rough for my firm, but we have tried to make the best of it and I think we've done a good job of coming together. There are a few things I can work on, but overall I am really pleased with my performance review this year (and the fat raise and bonus it earned me). What a great way to start my time off for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I cannot wait for Turkey Day. It is by far my favorite holiday, and holidays in general are so much more awesome with a child. Two years ago we told our families on Thanksgiving that we were having a baby, and last year we had the cutest little 5-month old baby boy to show off. CJ is going to be the life of the party again, I'm sure. He is so full of joy and life. We already have a very busy week planned with lots of traveling and a photo session thrown in, not to mention the biggest (to us) football game of the year to watch on Friday. That would be the Iron Bowl, for those who don't live in the Southeast. If we put up wins in the Iron Bowl and the SEC championship game against South Carolina, we are pretty much guaranteed a bid to the BCS championship game to play for the national title. Hopefully everything will go our way and you will see the Auburn Tigers playing for the crystal in January.

My Thanksgiving vacation time officially started on Thursday afternoon. I took Friday off because I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with some friends. I had to chug a Mountain Dew to stay awake, which was quite painful after having been off sodas for over six months, but it was either that or blow an Adderall to make it through the movie, so I went with mainlining caffeine instead of popping amphetamines. The movie was really great, but exhausting. Everything happened at such a fast pace, and I'm used to being able to dwell on the scenes and settings in the books/audiobooks. I like getting lost in the details, and the movie understandably had to cut to the nitty gritty. I'm just one of those purists that would have them recite every word in the book in the movies, but it would make the movies 27 hours long (I know, I don't see a downside either). But I'm not the producer, so I don't get to make the decisions. Overall, though, the movie was great and I cannot wait until Part 2. We went to CJ's school on Friday for a Thanksgiving feast. It was so much fun to see him interacting with his friends and teachers. They are all so cute and sweet. Here's a picture of me and CJ at the feast:

I am getting ready to do some shopping on Black Friday. Hopefully it will go smoothly this year and I can be out and back home in time for breakfast. I don't really have much on my list this year because I think the Mister and I are going to get something for the house as a Christmas gift for each other. Maybe a sectional for downstairs and some new nightstands for the bedroom. CJ will only be getting a couple of things from us as well. His big gift is going to be a play kitchen. The strong favorite is this one:

I was going to go with the Pottery Barn Kids set, but I would have to have all three pieces and it just looks huge. This is a more space-friendly alternative that will fit nicely in either the corner of our living room or downstairs in the playroom. There is a baby blue set as well, but I would have to get it on eBay because it's been discontinued. I haven't made my decision yet on which color. Guess I'd better be deciding soon. I also want to get him the Moon in my Room lunar lamp:

This thing is so cool. You can program it to go through the phases of the moon at the same time the real moon does. I think this would look really neat hanging above his window. It has an automatic shut-off, so it wouldn't be shining all night. Lastly, I think we are going to get CJ a nice table and chairs set:

CJ loves to sit at the little table at school to eat his lunch and snacks, and while the high chair my parents gave us converts to a table and chair, the chair sits a little too far away from the table for him to eat comfortably at his current size. A nice table and chair set would give him his own place to eat, as well as a place to color and draw and play with toys. I think that will just about do it for CJ's Christmas from us. His grandparents will more than likely go overboard with clothes, books, and toys, so I don't really see any need to add to the gift pile. Some nice big gifts that will last a long time are just perfect for us.

We went ahead and got the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations out, but out of respect for the turkey they will not be going up until we return home after Thanksgiving. Curmudgeon that I am, I don't much care for Christmas and I especially don't like Christmas decorations, so all of our decor fits nicely into a large storage tote. Tree decorations, outdoor lights, big star, stockings, and door wreath. That is all I need and all I care to put up. I still fondly remember the year we didn't even put up a tree. I just bought a foot-tall tree in a little red boot at Walmart and set it on the fireplace. Job done. But I guess I can't get away with that anymore now that there is a child in the house. God forbid I deprive my son the opportunity to shatter glass ornaments and ingest fake pine needles. I'm glad we have the huge baby jail to create a large barrier between baby and tree. I find it to be better at keeping him out of things than keeping him inside it. Our downstairs television would have met a thousand deaths if not for the twelve feet of gate. Hopefully we can accomplish the decorating shenanigans next Sunday afternoon when we return home.

In another burst of as close to Christmas cheer as I can muster, I have scheduled a session with a photographer on Wednesday afternoon to take photos for this year's Christmas card. A friend of mine from high school is a photographer, so we will be meeting her at a Christmas tree farm to do some family photos. We got CJ a cute blue and red and grey argyle sweater at Gap yesterday, so the Mister and I will be wearing coordinating sweaters, mine grey and his navy blue. I'm hoping that the weather and CJ both cooperate and we can get some good shots. I'm not very photogenic and CJ moonlights as the Flash, so it might be difficult to get some good photos. But try we must.

Alright, I guess I will wrap up this rambling blog post. I just wanted to get a last hurrah of my twenties out of the way, since Mother Nature decided to see fit that I not be able to get any other kind of last hurrah. If I don't make it back around here before Thursday, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. I am constantly amazed at how blessed I am. Many blessings to you and your family.

*************

Please vote for me. I'll love you forever.

Filed under: Life As We Know It | 5654 Comments »This+is+my+last+blog...2010-11-22+03%3A30%3A52Rachel+B.

This Family is All In

Posted on November 13th, 2010 by Rachel B.

As you may have noticed, the House of Burks is a House that supports the Auburn Tigers. The Mister and I have been Auburn fans since we could walk, and we are raising CJ to follow suit. He attended his first Auburn game when he was 4 months old, and this year were were fortunate enough to purchase season tickets, so he has been to a few more games this season.

And my, what a season it has been. I knew we would improve on our 8-5 record of last year. Our offensive line is full of seasoned seniors, brimming with experience and a drive to win. We had a nice recruiting year last year, which brought us Michael Dyer, a freshman that, when running down the field, resembles a fire hydrant that has been shot out of a cannon. He has proved his worth and then some this season. Our returning players have matured and improved by leaps and bounds under the coaching of Gene Chizik, Trooper Taylor, Gus Malzahn, Curtis Luper, and the rest. Zac Etheridge, Neiko Thorpe, Josh Bynes, Lee Ziemba, Philip Lutzenkirchen, Ryan Pugh, Byron Isom, Terrell Zachery, Mario Fannin, Nick Fairley, all of these guys are worth their salt out there on the field.

And of course, there is quarterback Cam Newton. 2010's Mr. Football. Heisman Trophy frontrunner. The most exciting player Auburn, nay, college football as a whole, has seen in many years. I have become such a huge fan of this young man. Not only is his story of making good on second chances endearing, but Cam is just fun to watch. He is like a little kid out there on the field and in his everyday life from what I can tell. He exudes joy and happiness when he steps into the stadium. The smile never leaves his face. His joy and love for the game and for Auburn is infectious. I think Cam Newton makes Auburn fans better Auburn fans. He has said repeatedly that he feels blessed to be a part of the Auburn Family, and his love for the school and fans really draws this Family together.

Recently, as I am sure you have heard (unless you have taken up residence under a rock), Cam and Auburn itself have come under fire for some allegations made by people associated with the Mississippi State football program. This has snowballed into madness. First there were allegations of a pay-for-play deal at MSU (with no hard evidence and "witnesses" that have both changed their stories and contradicted each other's stories several times), then the supposed cheating scandal and the leaking of his academic/disciplinary record at Florida (which violates federal privacy law), and finally talk of SEC/NCAA/FBI investigations regarding Auburn University (which have all been refuted by MSU, Auburn, and the SEC/NCAA). Auburn's name has been dragged through the mud in the past 9 days. The Newton family has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion with no evidence except the stories of those supposedly involved at MSU (which implicates MSU in some very severe violations, by the way, if certain people's stories are true). The media has become a circus. Journalism has gasped its last dying breath with the stories that are flying around on the internet about Cam Newton and Auburn.

Will he play? Will he sit? Will he be suspended, never to set foot on the field again? Sure, there are questions. Nobody is really sure what to think or who to believe. All we have to go on is the reports from MSU and the SEC and NCAA saying that Auburn has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, and the integrity of one Gene Chizik and Auburn's NCAA compliance department. We have to believe that if Auburn would have found any sort of issue with Cam Newton's eligibility, he would have never taken the first snap for Auburn. I for one choose to believe in Gene Chizik. I feel that he is a man of integrity and honor, and that if the first hint of impropriety had arisen, Cam Newton would have been sat.

There is certainly more going on behind the scenes than the media or the fans know. To think that Auburn has not been in communication with the powers that be is foolish. Auburn has remained confident in their quarterback, and that is good enough for me. Until I am given a reason to not believe in Cam Newton, Gene Chizik, and Auburn, I am behind them 100 percent. All in. When the Tigers take the field today, Jordan-Hare Stadium will be in danger of collapsing from the uproar. When we see our fearless leader send Cam Newton to lead the Tigers today, we will have our answer. The Tigers are all in. We're going for broke and God help you if you get in our way.

War Eagle! Fly down the field! Ever to conquer, never to yield! War Eagle! Fearless and true! Fight on, you Orange and Blue! Go Go Go! On to victory, strike up the band! Give 'em hell, give 'em hell, stand up and yell, HEY! War Eagle! Win for Auburn! Power of Dixieland!

*************

Please vote for me. I'll love you forever.

Filed under: Auburn | 559No Comments »This+Family+is+All+In2010-11-13+16%3A47%3A32Rachel+B.

Donkey Petting

Posted on November 7th, 2010 by Rachel B.

At the RV park we stay in Auburn for home games, they always do something fun each weekend for the kiddos. This past weekend, they had a huge inflatable slide and a miniature donkey for the kids to pet and feed. It was so cute! I think I was more enthralled with it than CJ, judging by this video.

EDIT: Now with video!