Just checking in. We are in Portland, Maine now. It is so nice to be back in the USA, no offense to all you Canadians. Quebec, Halifax and the Bay of Fundy were fun, but I felt like I was cut off from the world.

I didn't do a lot of shopping in Canada, but I plan on doing a lot here in Maine. Outlets, LL Bean, more outlets.

I'll be back in Alabama on Sunday.

My bags are packed, the house is somewhat clean and the cooler is ready to be packed. At 1:00 AM tomorrow morning, BFF MAB will show up and off we'll go to Quebec, Halifax and Maine. I can't wait. I think I will enjoy the trip more now that I am more confident in my staying at the bank. In between sightseeing, we'll do some shopping. There are many Brooks Brothers outlets on our route and we plan to hit all of them. When I get back, I'll report on my finds.

I hope everyone has a good Friday.

I have gotten some of my clothes for my trip folded. Our family is a firm believer in the Flip N' Fold. I don't know if I am going to be able to get all of my stuff in a large Vera Bradley duffel, small Vera Bradley duffel and Vera Bradley hanging bag. I'm going to try.

I decided to take the position in the Commercial Real Estate department. The head of the department told me if it didn't work out he'd help me find another position either in the bank or elsewhere.. I was honest with him and told him that I had been looking for jobs elsewhere. He seemed to understand and appreciate my honesty.

Today, I'm wearing my Lilly Pulitzer khaki shirtdress, silver monogrammed pendant, hot pink Fitz & Frannie silk knot earrings and...my new A. Tierney hot pink bamboo bangle. It gives the khaki dress a new pop of color.

I hope everyone has a good day.

Last night I positioned my ironing board and a chair in front of the TV. I ironed as I watched a recording of Drop Dead Diva and Mad Men. Two hours of ironing. I'm leaving this weekend to go on vacation. I ironed 20 tops. I think that may be too many for a 15 day trip, but I'm packing them anyway. Now to pack all of this stuff. I'm getting everything organized. After a good night's sleep, I'm still tired.

Have a good Wednesday.

Today was a busy day at work. It's the busiest day that I have had in a long time. I had to fill in for the mail guy today. I dressed real casual because I thought we would get the remnants of Tropical Storm Claudette, but it did not start raining until after 5:00. It only sprinkled.

I have a predicament at work that I need some advice on. As you all know, my position is pretty much eliminated. I'm just waiting on September 30 for them to decide what to do with me. The man that is over the Commercial Real Estate department called me into his office the other day. He was inquiring about my status. He told me that there was the possibility that he would need me for his department. I was very flattered. I figured that he could care less about my future at the bank. He said that I would be his assistant and would do reports and some of the clerical tasks in the department. The pros to the job are that I would get to hang on for a while, I would get to learn something new, and I would get to work with nice people. The cons are that it would be almost a demotion, I would be working with Queenie, and I'm afraid that she would assume that she was my supervisor. I'm also afraid that if a good position comes available somewhere else, I would feel like a heel leaving. If I take this position, I would have to have loan training. I would hate for them to waste time training me and then I would be leaving. Of course, that is a big "IF". I have until Friday to decide. I really don't know what to do.

I hope everyone has a good Tuesday.

I had a very busy weekend. Thursday, I drove to my mother's house. We got up early Friday and went to Atlanta. Two of her friends went with us. We all had a good time.

At Morgan & Company, I bought a silver monogrammed square pendant, a pair of silver monogrammed square earrings on hoops, a 16" silver snake chain, an 18" silver snake chain, and a pair of green earrings. At Jewelry Max, I bought a silver charm bracelet and a pair of silver cross earrings. When I got home, I discovered that I had a pair of silver cross earrings identical to the ones that I bought. Oh well, I'll give them to my sister. At Lenox Square, I went to Kiehl's and stocked up on what I needed. On the way home, we stopped at Trader Joe's and bought wine and snacks. It was a long day, but we accomplished a lot.

Saturday, I helped my mother get her house back together after having construction going on for 3 weeks. There was dust and sawdust everywhere.

Today, we tried to relax, but we had a few things to do.

Tomorrow, I have to work for the mail guy. It's supposed to pour down rain all day. I think I'll wear khakis, a tee and topsiders.

I hope everyone has a good Monday.

Yesterday when I got to work, I got an alert message that my computer had viruses...multiple viruses. I called IT at 8:02. 27 hours and 3 minutes later, the computer guy came to rid my computer of viruses. And, it was urgent.

This morning, when I was eating breakfast, a blueberry exploded and landed on my skirt. I didn't have anything else ironed to wear, so I went to work with blueberry stains on the lap of my skirt. As I was driving in, I noticed that I had on a monogrammed cardigan with a monogrammed pendant. I have a rule that I only wear one monogrammed item at a time. Even if I didn't have the rule, they were two different patterns. The cardigan had circle pattern and the pendant had Old English. I don't think anyone noticed.

I'm taking a vacation day on Friday so that my mother and I can go to Atlanta shopping. I want to go to Morgan & Co. in the Atlanta Mart. After that, it's on to Lenox Square for some real shopping. While in Atlanta, BFF MAB wants me to stop by a store and buy a bottle of that wine that has a picture of the naked nymph on the label. You know, "the wine that you can't buy in Alabama". I'm also going to buy some Two Buck Chuck for some hostess gifts.

I hope everyone has a good Thursday.

DISCOUNT REMINDER

JUST A REMINDER

A Tierney is offering a discount to my readers. Now through August 15, just use the code PCTAB and you will receive 20% off.I have the green bamboo bracelet and I just love it. It goes with so many of my preppy things. Check out the website.

There are so many cute and preppy things.

What a weekend! My mother is having the floors in her bathrooms replaced. One is finished, but the other one is a major project. It is a half bath that connects to a laundry room which contains not only the washer and dryer, but the heat/ac unit and the water heater. They had to remove everything. She is without AC and hot water. The guy that is doing the floor has been taking his time. I went up there this weekend. The AC was supposed to be reinstalled Friday, but they called her and said it would be Monday. I thought "No problem, we'll stay with my sister." She's homeless also. She is having her hardwood floors refinished and everything that she owned was in the living room. She lives in a very old house. When they started to work in the small bathroom, they noticed problems with the floor. It was about to fall in and needs to be replaced. There's a big hole where the bathroom used to be. She also decided to knock out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. The wall contained a built in hutch and cabinet. Everything that was in it was boxed up and stacked everywhere. I told her that her house looked like "Grey Gardens". It's a good thing that they have fast carpenters that work all day, because she is hosting a 50th wedding anniversary party for her in-laws at her house in two weeks. We ended up staying with my cousin.

Yesterday, my mother and I went to Huntsville to pick up a few things. I needed a couple of things from Sam's and she needed Clinique. While at Belk's, I bought a kelly green Lacoste that was on sale and then 50% off. Then we rushed home to go to a BBQ dinner that was a fundraiser for a family at church. A young couple at church has a three year old boy that is a little doll. A few weeks ago, they found a small knot at the back of his tongue. At first the doctors said it was okay, but they wanted to remove it so that it did not get on the little boy's nerves. They looked at it again and determined that it was malignant. When they went to remove it, it was larger than they thought. The little boy is going to have to go to St. Jude's to take chemo and radiation to shrink it so that they can remove it. There is another young couple at church that went through the same thing last year. They organized a BBQ fundraiser for this family. The tickets were $10 each. When my mother went to purchase our tickets, they were sold out. My cousin gave a large donation and was given 10 tickets. He gave my mother and I four tickets. We invited my cousin and a friend to go with us. We made another donation at the door. We found out that they sold 700 tickets. As of this morning, the amount raised was $9,500. After church, they auctioned off the leftover BBQ. We figured that they raised $10,000. I think that is great. The young family is very appreciative. They are going to miss work, have to travel 5 hours to Memphis, plus they will have to pay for meals. The money will help out tremendously. The couple that organized this also hosted a fundraiser for a foundation at Children's Hospital that helps patient's families with bills and expenses. This couple is an asset to the community.

Today, my feet have been swollen all day. I think it is this heat. It has been miserable outside.

I hope everyone has a great Monday.

BFF MAB treated me to dinner tonight at Brio Tuscan Grille. It was delicious. I had the chopped salad, lasagna bolognase and chocolate caramel cake. I was so stuffed when I left. But not too stuffed to go to Gus Mayer's shoe sale. Unfortunately it was 6:58 when I got there and they close at 7:00. I thought all stores in the mall closed at 9:00, but I guess not. Tomorrow, I go back on my diet.

I hope everyone has a good Thursday.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Tomorrow is my dinner with BFF MAB. She is taking me out for Italian. Thursday, I have to go to a meeting which will have cake. This weekend our family will celebrate birthdays for my mother and I. I have a feeling that my diet is doomed for the remainder of the week. I'll get back on track on Monday.

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday.

Thanks Kappa Prep for the birthday wish. I had a nice relaxing day. I will celebrate with my family this weekend. BFF MAB is taking me to dinner later in the week. She already gave me Mad Men Season 2. I already have Season 1. I didn't post yesterday because of computer problems. I finally got them worked out.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Belk's to see if they had any PJ's on sale. I ended up getting a pair of Lilly lazy pants, a pair of Hue lazy pants, a Lilly PJ top and a Lilly robe. Everything but the Lilly lazy pants were 75% off and then an extra 50% off. The Lilly pants were 30% off and then 50% off of that. I think I got a good deal.

This afternoon, I went to Vera Bradley to get a passport cover. I received a birthday card from Vera Bradley to present to get $20 off any purchase. The kelly green passport cover was on sale, so I got a Cupcake Pink memo cube. I ended up only paying $6 for both.

I hope everyone has a good Tuesday.

Today was a very relaxing day. I slept in, did some housecleaning, read blogs, and talked on the phone. It was a good day to stay in. It stormed off and on this afternoon and evening. It did not get very bad. We just had thunder and rain. This evening I watched one of my favorite movies that was on TCM. I just love The Mad Miss Matson, a screwball comedy with Barbara Stanwick and Henry Fonda. Afterwards, I had planned to watch the Britcoms, but they were not on. I watched Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith on Hallmark. I can't imagine going back to college at my age.

Tomorrow is my birthday and Monday is my mother's birthday. Because my mother's house is torn apart with no AC or hot water, I stayed here this weekend. We are going to celebrate our birthdays next weekend. It probably worked out good, because my sister's mother-in-law had a spell yesterday and is in intensive care. They wouldn't be able to celebrate with us.

I hope everyone has a good Sunday.