Run Boy! Run!

Posted on October 4, 2013 by sghamer

Hey Reader’s! How is your Friday? Mine has been uneventful. I had my second round of chemo at 8:30am. At the moment I am getting my Mensa and Thiamin. Last night my RN was Tiffany and today it has been Theo! They make my stay so much easier.

Today The Boy participated in his School Boosterthon Fun Run which raised money for his school. This is the second year that his elementary school has raised money this way. So much better the selling wrapping paper! Since I was in the hospital I asked my mom and dad if they could go cheer him on and take some picture.They were more than happy too. My dad said they had music and someone using a bullhorn to cheer the kids on. My dad and mom yelled at him go keep up the good work! He ran the total 35 laps which they were told was about 2 miles. So proud!

Boosterthon Run!

The boy in back with his hair flowing!

Getting ready

Run Boy! Run!

The Boy and Nana Pete

Ran all 35!

I am so proud of The Boy this week. He came down after to school and told me all about his day and the run. My dad told me how kind he was to his classmate who is special needs during the run. That’s My Boy! I got his weekly graded work folder to review and he did really well this week.

Shout Outs!
Brad and Angie H.: I must say I wasn’t expecting the shirts, they made me laugh out loud when I saw them. But the more I thought about I realized I do Love Brad and want the world to know! Thank you guys!!!

Carol T.: Thank you for the hat! It is super cute!

Tammy J.: I hope your treatment is going well and you aren’t feeling to shitty! Thinking of you!

Reader’s- We lost a fellow My Hotel Yorba Reader today. I have known Katie C. for over two years. She and I were financial advisors for the same company and were part of an all women advisor group. I have never met Katie in person but via Facebook, we found out we had a lot in common. Frist of all cancer. Katie had breast and liver cancer and had been fighting it for over 2 years. But that did not define who she was. Her love of The White Stripes and all things Jack White, they defined her. He wonderful husband and darling little daughter, they defined her. The fact that she fought her ass off for the last two years, that defined her. I am told she was peace when she passed. That she did it on her own terms. And that too is what defined her. I will miss you Katie. Please come visit me in my dreams.

Have a wonderful weekend Reader’s. Hug those you love a little extra hard. Be kind to a stranger. Don’t flip off the idiot in the car in front of you who is to busy texting then driving. It’s not his fault, he was born that way.

I will be doing the chemo thing and watching football….RTR!

The Majestic

Posted on October 3, 2013 by sghamer

Hey Reader’s!

I am writing you from room 7129 at Emory Midtown. I am all checked in and have started getting my fluids. This will last for four hours before my first round of chemo starts at 8:30pm. My meeting went well with Dr. Reed. He did say my white blood cell count was a little low but that just means I may need to take more shots after I get home. I also will have to monitor my temperature, which I do anyway. I told him I have three thermometers, one in my office, one by my bed and one in the family room! I never know when I will feel the need to take my temperature!

The Majestic!

Last night Matt, the chicken man, finished up with the chicken coop/run. It looks so great! I was so afraid it would not be ready before I went back to the hospital. The pictures are a bit dark due to the time of day but I will take more when I get home and post those.

I had Matt paint the door into the run red to match our red door. He also placed four roosting poles inside the coop for them to roost on at night. I hope they remember how to do that since their old coop did not have them.

Around 7pm my Dad, Mom and I went to get Turbo and Poppy out of their old coop/run and move them into their new coop/run. I was able to grab Turbo pretty easily and brought her into her new home. Poppy on the other hand was a bit harder to get. My dad tried to grab her, I tried to grab her, nothing. She is a fast one. I finally came up with a plan. I had my mom use a rake to force Poppy into the coop, my dad locked her in and I opened the back of the coop and grabbed her. Once I got her she leaned her head into me, it was kind of sweet.

To be honest, I think the girls were a bit overwhelmed by their new home. They didn’t have much time to explore before it got dark and it was time for them to go to sleep. We weren’t sure if they would know to walk up the plank to get into their coop. The Boy and I went up to check and sure enough they were in the back corner underneath the coop. I got down and climbed under the coop and grabbed Turbo. I then put her inside. Poppy came out from under the coop on her own and let me pick her up and put her in. They were both very chatty for a few minutes but then settled down and went to sleep.

Happy Girls!

Nesting boxes

This morning The Boy and I took a flashlight out to take a peak at them. It seemed as though they had just woken up even though it was still pretty dark out. I was able to look out my window while I was getting ready and see Turbo walk down the plank. My Mom and I then went outside to check on them and Poppy made her way down the plank. You could tell she was a bit nervous and almost fell off but she caught herself and made it down ok.

The Playground area

I love the “playground” area! Matt used the ladder and one of the swings from the play set to make roosting area for them to use. Turbo tried to get on one but fell off. She need some practice. I can’t wait to get home and watch them. My dad is going to get some regular dirt to put on top of the red clay, to make a dust bath area. I put a mixture of all-purpose sand and wheat straw inside their coop.

A reader, Tammy, wrote and suggested we name the new coop/run. Keeping in the spirit of Hotel Yorba, I have named it The Majestic. The Majestic is the club over the Magic Stick bowling alley where My Man and I first saw the White Stripes play.

We are so happy with The Majestic. Matt did a wonderful job. If you live in the ATL area and want a chicken coop, let me know!

Getting Ready!

Posted on October 2, 2013 by sghamer

Good Day Reader’s!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Tuesday. Today I am getting ready for my last cycle of chemotherapy. I check into the hospital tomorrow and still have a lot to do. My parents are on their way over from Birmingham as I type. We are going to go out to lunch at Breadwinner where I will grab two containers of yummy soup to bring to the hospital for lunch. We are also going to stop at Trader Joe’s to grab some things. Such as more chocolate! I knew My Man couldn’t help but eat most of what I bought last week. I am also going to by some yogurt and fruit. I am going to make a fruit of salad to bring for snacking and yogurt for breakfast. No more burnt bagels for me! Who knows what else I will get, it is Trader Joe’s after all. Just like Target, you go in for one thing and come out with thirty.

Me and my bother!

My brother is traveling for work this week and was in the Atlanta area last night. We met for dinner and he spent the night. We took our bald picture (it is staying in the vault) and one with my favorite hat.

The Boy and his new tent

The Boy is raising money for his school and will be participating in a fun run on Friday. The weather is supposed to be perfect for it. I am sad I won’t be able to go and watch him run, like I did last year but I know he will have a fun time. As The Boy received pledges, he won gifts. The last one he got was a tent. It is much nicer then I thought it would be. However, now that it is open, none of us can get it closed. Why does that always happen? They make these impossible to close!

The Boy

The chicken coop/run is still under construction. I really hope he can finish it today. I wanted to get the girls all moved in before I checked into the hospital. However, when I go through all the still needs to be done, I just don’t see it happening. I will take some pictures this evening and load them on the computer, so I can at least show how it is coming along. It looks really good. I can’t wait till they are moved in. They are going to love it!

Ready for my new home!

Have a wonderful day!!

Thirteen Years

Posted on September 30, 2013 by sghamer

My Man and I are celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary today. What a wonderful and crazy 13 years it has been. Never a dull moment! We were supposed to go on a cruise to celebrate however like our other vacation plans the last few months, we had to cancel. We still wanted to do something especially since I will be heading back into the hospital on October 3rd. I got online and booked us a hotel room at The Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead on Saturday night. I was already down there for the Type-A Conference so it worked out great. My Man dropped off The Boy with our friends Jeff and Devra and their kids for the night (thank you again!) He then drove down and met me at the hotel.

Our room had a nice view of Stone Mountain in the distance.

Stone Mountain is the rock on the right in the distance

Once we got settled, we went up to check out the club level. We have stayed at a few of the Ritz Carlton club level room and have really enjoyed the club. Good food, snacks and free beer and wine. When we got there it was snack time. The view was great. Could see all of Buckhead and the furnishings were very nice. The snacks kinda sucked. The Ritz always had a hot bar and little sandwiches. Also they didn’t serve beer or wine till 6pm! Boo! We had some ice tea and chilled out.

Lots of Bourbon

Around 3:45pm we went down the Bourbon Bar for a drink. The Georiga/LSU football game was on so we talked and watched it. I was nice to relax and do some people watching.

We had dinner reservations at Bistro Niko, which was right across the street from the hotel. We went a little early to have a glass of champagne before our dinner.

Yummy

We order a bottle of wine for dinner that was very good. My Man picked out a good one!

We ordered a dozen of oysters and crisped duck confit as appetizers. By this time they had turned down the lights so the pictures I took are pretty dark. I loved both of the appetizers. My Man said next time we are ordering two of the duck confit so he doesn’t have to share! One of the dinner specials was a hanger steak with pommel frites which is french for french fries. We both ordered that and it was tasty. Only problem was I could not finish mine and since we were staying at the hotel, I could not take it home with me. Boo!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and the bar again. It had gotten pretty crowed and the Alabama game was on. RTR! We chilled out there for a while and watched the game before we headed up to our room. In the morning we headed up to the club room to see what the breakfast looked like. It was pretty good. I had a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, fruit and chicken sausage. My Man said his eggs were pretty good. After breakfast I was ready to go pick up The Boy and get back to Hotel Yorba. I missed my fur kids!

We talked a lot about the last 13 years and what we would like to do in the coming year. We both need to get in better shape and one thing My Man is going to do in October is try to run everyday. Timber was very excited to hear about this. He loves to go running with My Man. I will try to ride the exercise bike as much as I can and after my 4th cycle, I will try to get back to working out with my trainer SK. Also, we are both giving up alcohol for the month of October. We talked about going back to Quebec City next year too. The last 13 years with My Man have been wonderful and I look forward to many more happy years!

Day 2 Type-A Parent Conference

Posted on September 29, 2013 by sghamer

Day 2 Type-A Parent Conference

My day 2 of the Type-A Parent Conference started off with the Expo Opening. I love me a good expo. I love me free stuff! They have the conference in a few cities throughout the US, so it keeps it smaller, which is nice. I got a lot of different kind of bars for The Boy to try out. They also had some dog food samples for Timber!

What a Zone Bar?

I also spoke with the people from the Minute Clinic that is located in certain CVS’s throughout the US. The clinic’s focus on colds, flu, shots etc. The nice thing is they are open 7 days a week. Have a sore throat on a Saturday? Go to Minute Clinic. Did your child wake up throwing up Sunday morning? Go to Minute Clinic. There is one near my office and I will definitely check it out. Plus they are sending me a swag bag with full sized samples! Can’t wait!

Free Stuff!!

One session I went to was titled Semantic Markup and Webmaster Tools. Wow. So. Over. My. Head. Yeah, not sure what the hell they were talking about. I really wish my Dad was there. He would have been totally into and would have know what they were talking about. Blogging is a much bigger industry than I had realized. There are people out there making lots of money and I don’t think most of the public even realizes it. I also went to a session called Share Your Knowledge: Making Money with Webinars. The speaker was a women who makes a living doing webinars teaching people Photoshop and other graphic art programs. She said she start because a few years ago she was looking on the internet for help learning more about the latest Photoshop release and couldn’t find anything to help her. So she started doing webinars. She offers them free for a week, with notes and then sells the taped sessions later.

This conference was geared towards women, however there were few men. Most of the women I spoke to were moms. Some have jobs other than blogging, like me, some are stay at home mom’s who started blogging and then started making money doing it. I met a woman whose blog, www.EducationPossible.com, is all about home schooling her children in Florida. Her kids have never gone to a traditional school. One blogger I met started a blog, www.ViewAlongTheWay.com, about the foreclosed home she and her husband bought and are redoing. Her before and after pictures are amazing!

I also met Lindsey Peterson with Mom It Forward Media. She is the Social Media and Community Manager for the company.

Mom It Forward ™ is a social media community and worldwide network dedicated to enhancing the lives of women, their families, and the communities in which they live. By partnering with various brands and organizations, Mom It Forward provides the community with in-the-know information via a weekly #gno event. The #gno parties enable women to share and learn about a topic of interest from expert panelists, effectively creating a unique platform for real-time interaction with hundreds of participants. – from www.momitforward.com

The website is a great way for bloggers to get their name out there and have people learn about them and their blog. I will defiantly check it out and see if I become part of the community.

Overall I learned that I have a lot to learn about blogging, the community, branding, the tools….EVERYTHING. But I have only been doing this since June and everyone I met had been part of the industry for years, so I am not worried. I will defiantly try to attended more conferences and meet more smart inspiring women!

Type-A Parent Conference

Posted on September 27, 2013 by sghamer

Hey Reader’s!!!

Guess where I am today? I am at my first ever Type-A Parent Conference. This actually my first ever blog conference. It is being held at the Westin in Buckhead. I took the back roads to get here (so happy to avoid 285 and 400) and made great time this morning. I checked in around 8:30 and got my first ever “swag bag”. So exciting!

Swag Bag

The keynote speaker was Amber Naslund and the title of her talk was The Other Side of Courage: Embracing Fear, Taking Risks, the One Truth You Need to Know. I thought his would be a perfect for me, not only when in comes to my blog but my real job too. The talk was great. Things I took from away from it: Don’t be afraid to quit. Don’t blame the world around you if something doesn’t work, take accountability for yourself, your life, your business. Don’t be afraid to take risks. I am the diver of my life. Quit taking everything so seriously. Laugh. Nothing is irreversible but death. Fake it till you make it.

The next talk was How to Build Your Facebook Audience Without Breaking the Rules given by David Griner. I don’t have a Facebook page for My Hotel Yorba yet but I found the talk very interesting. I had no idea how big a deal/business your blog FB pages can be.

The last talk before lunch was titled Selling Yourself- It’s Possible to Do It Without Being That Guy given by Lisa Lehmann and Titania Jordan. Once again, a subject that can help me with my day job as a Financial Advisor. Take aways: Share what you known. Be prepared. Be honest, be real. Share your failures as much as your successes. No one can refer you if they don’t know you. Know your market. Know your strengths. Focus on what you are good at. Stretching yourself way too thin makes you less authentic and less effective.

I met some nice ladies, two from ATL, and got some good ideas. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Finally!
Guess who is now parking in the garage after 5 years of parking in the driveway?!? My Man! We have finally cleaned out the third garage so we could move the motorcycle, which is in pieces, into it. Woot! Woot!

Chicken Coop/Run Update

Almost Done!!

Posted on September 26, 2013 by sghamer

The Chicken Man and Landscape guys are back! Woot! Woot! Due to the rain yesterday, no work was done. The landscapers are almost done with everything. They have to take down the basketball net, lay the pea gravel and plant three bushes. The coop/run is coming right along too.

Chicken coop/run

The coop will be off the ground.

The girls coop will be off the ground. They will have a walkway to walk up to get into it. I can just see Turbo and Poopy strutting their stuff up the walkway. They will have a nice area underneath to hangout in.

Coop/Run

My three blueberry bushes!

Leading to backstairs

Backstairs

The Boy in a Tree

I picked up some chocolate at Trader Joe’s yesterday. I have been craving chocolate while in the hospital and when I get home. I have a lot of hard candy but no chocolate! My Man suggested I stock up on some, so I grabbed a few different kinds. I just hope that I won’t eat it all before I actually make it to the hospital! At short time later….My Man could not help himself and broke out the chocolate last night! As he said, you still have time to go to Trader Joe’s and get more!

My Hotel Yorba

Take the wife of The Man, mom of The Boy and a H.C.B., a decade with cancer and see what happens.

Run Boy! Run!

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The Majestic

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Getting Ready!

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Thirteen Years

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Day 2 Type-A Parent Conference

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Type-A Parent Conference

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Almost Done!!

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