Girls Night Out, with 2 Crashers

So! Last Wednesday I had dinner with some of my Marriott Friends. Come to think of it though, there were 7 of us and 3 of them still work at the Marriott. The other 4 of us have moved on. Stephanie planned the occasion for us since she forgot my birthday and wanted to redeem herself...which she did! So, she was there and so was Anne Hastings. Stephanie was a Catering Sales Manager when I was at the Marriott and Anne Hastings was the Director of Catering. Now Stephanie works for the Soby's group of restaurants and most of the time calls me when she's being a streetwalker and traveling from one restaurant downtown to another. She comes to dinner occasionally and the Boys love their "Aunt" Stephanie. She always brings fun surprises and thinks that they can do no wrong...they love that in a woman! :o) Stephanie is dating Ed now and HOPEFULLY I will get to MEET HIM SOON!!! Hint, Hint! We need to see if he passes the "Plays Well With Others" test and unleash the Boys on him!! Steph shares my love of all things office supply related and so we buy each other cool pens that we find and write notes on cute stationery (remember-use e in this spelling...as in paper). She helped coordinate my Harry Baby Shower and picked the best invitations! I loved them! She is growing up and looking at buying a house...where does the time go?! Anne works at Embassy Florist which is one of the greatest jobs ever, in my opinion. Who doesn't love getting flowers?! I would LOVE to have the talent of being able to create floral arrangements, but snipping off the ends and placing a bouquet in a vase of water seems to work well enough for me. I envy you, Hedgie! I used to be Anne's assistant and would go sit in her office and close the door and organize and talk for hours...okay, maybe not hours, but long enough to know that I had a true friend in Anne. Another reason I love Anne is that she will have a new Baby in her family soon! Her daughter Katherine is having a Baby soon, this fall, I think, and Anne is SO excited!! I wish I was having another Baby too!!

Sherry Johnson and Anne Baker were at dinner too. Sherry is the only woman in our group that still has an office at the Marriott. She has been there like 18 or 19 years and I believe she will retire from there in 30 more years! She is the guru of all things BMW and is the most organized and disciplined person I know. You should see her desk...never anything out of place, she knows where everything is and she can work a tickle file to it's fullest advantage! She is amazing! Sherry has given me much heartfelt advice of the years. She is one of my Marriott Moms. She has listened to me, cried with me and laughed AT me more times than I can count! We shared a space in the office for many years and a lifelong friendship has bonded us together. When I take the Boys to visit her, she'll give them money for cookies at the mall or candy at the store. Logan loves to hide behind the desk in her office and jump out and scare her. Harry loves her long hair and to be held and snuggled by her. I love knowing that wherever she is, whenever I need her, Sherry will be there for me. In fact, last year, on May 21st, Sherry walked the Hotel with me. I was in BIG time labor (though I didn't know it! You'd think with Baby #4 I'd have an idea what active labor was like!) and Sherry calmly helped me walk around, go try to sit by the pool, drink water, time contractions and finally pack my office, "just in case I didn't make it in the next day!" She drove me to the Dr's on Woodruff Road while her awesome daughter, Brandy, followed in her car. Then, when I found out I was 7 cm, she once again, CALMLY, drove me to meet Rhett at Greenville Memorial! I was in big pain by then and could have easily had that Baby in the car! She was the BEST! She was my rock, my labor coach, my Mom all rolled into one amazing package! I love that we have so much FABULOUS history!

Annie B left the Marriott for Charter Communications 4 months before I left to have Harry. I had worked with her for like 16 years and I don't think she looked any different when I met her than she does today. I have been her assistant, worked beside her as a Catering Sales Manager and then came back as her assistant again before we both left. She has seen me through dating Rhett, marrying Rhett and have 4 Babies with Rhett! She has answered many questions that I have had about having Babies, raising Babies and disciplining Babies. She has 5 children, so she has me beat by one, but I will never have all of the knowledge and wisdom that she holds in her head. I have seen her through 2 hip replacements (she doesn't look old enough to have had hip replacements, I know-right?) and countless Chick-fil-a addictions! I love her even though she let me walk into her house after midnight when she babysat Reece and let me walk right out with him! She NEVER woke up! I knocked on the door, no one answered. I let myself in, walked up to the playroom, picked Reece up from where he was laying beside her daughter, Casey, and walked right out of the house! Put the garage door down, got in the car and drove home! That was the last time she watched one of my babies! She comes to the house for dinner with Stephanie and the Boys love seeing "Aunt" Anne too! I love that they have all known her from birth. I love that they have that consistency with Anne and Sherry.

Lee and Chris came to dinner too! We all came singly (is that a word?!?), but Lee met his date at the restaurant. There is a slight age difference. How many years do you think separate them?

This is Lee and Elena, Chris's oldest daughter. They have been buddies a LONG time and love to cut up together. Here they are making hog faces...

...and here they are doing their Ric Flair impersonations...WOOOO!

They are like two peas in a pod! Lee has a granddaughter a little younger than Elena (I think she's a little younger-I may be mistaken)but she lives in NC, so Lee gets his "being silly" fix with Elena. Logan loves seeing Lee at the Hotel...Lee always gives him candy from Cindy's office...but for some reason Logi calls him "Mean Man". I can't remember why. It started last year, when Logan could hardly even talk, but we could understand "Mean Man"! It's always said with a smile and if we drive by the Hotel Logan will ask to go see "the Mean Man". Lee adds humor to any situation and I miss lunch with him and Chris in Cafe La Poo Poo.

Last, but certainly not least, was Chris. He came and brought Elena for Lee and his newest daughter, Natalie, for me (okay, for me AND Annie B). She was born at the end of April and I didn't get to hold her nearly enough! Here is Chris playing Inspector Gadget-Lee said that, not me-and his adorable Natalie. Chris has my old office (well, ONE of my old offices!), which is really little more than a closet. I loved that office! I had a lamp on my desk and never had the overhead light on. It of course has no windows, so I could work in there and be totally shut off from the world. There was a chair in there and so people (Stephanie, Kristy and Annie B) could escape to my office, close the door and vent. It was Vegas. What happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas. Chris, I envy you for your office...and your precious Baby Girls! When Chris first started at the Marriott he worked at the Bellstand, or was it the Front Desk? Either way, it was out front. Mr. Nelker, my first GM, told us in staff meeting (ahhh, I don't miss those!!) that Chris was a professional football player...and Jeanne, naive little girl that I am, believed him. I loved Mr. Nelker...he could hit a fly or spider on the wall with a rubber band...and he would throw a box of kleenex out his office door into the hall if he heard you complaining...and if you had the hiccups, he'd put a dollar (or one time he handed me a $20) on the floor and tell you to pick it up and if you hiccuped again while you were holding it, you could keep the money. But I digress...point of the story, Chris was not a professional football player and I looked like an idiot-not the first time or the last time. I was sure at one point that Chris didn't like me, so now that he does like me (I think!) he reminds me that he once didn't. Chris was my go to guy. I'd call him on the phone and ask him to go get me the paper I printed off the printer...and he would. He's the greatest. I SO used my pregnancy (all four of them) to their fullest advantage with Chris. So, now that we both have multiple children, we trade Kid Stories! I love it! I get to hear all about having Baby Girls and he gets tidbits about having Boys!!

It was a super fun night and I loved getting together with everyone. Thank you again for planning it Stephanie. One day we'll have to plan a BIG get together and invite everyone from the Marriott...at least all the people we like, right JO?!? Here's our group picture. I need to frame it and put it on my counter...since my kitchen is now my office!

Since my CHOOSE JOY coffee cup is empty, it must be time to start the day. I'm off to wake my sleeping princes and get them ready to spend the day at Nadine's by the pool. I know, it's a rough life, but if I don't live it then who will?!

Until next time, I'm Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of the Quit and Return to the Marriott Scam!