A New Decade. A New Year. A New Blog...

Can you belive it's not just a new year but a new decade? Where were you when all the Y2K stuff was going on? Me? I was gong through a divorce and working constantly in order to bury all of the the horrible emotions I had. If I worked enough I didn't have to think abaout what was going on in my life. Sadly I also buried myself from realizing my life was falling apart and my kids were suffering. Oh to go back those 10 years even if it was only to make sure that I worked harder at helping my kiddos get through the rough time as their parents ended their marriage.

I'm thrilled that I have not only repaired the relationships with my children and my in-law family but have been wonderfully in love with my best friend for 9 years. This last decade has been life changing and wonderful in so many ways.

So in celebration of the New Year I've decided to also start a "New" blog. While it's not officially "New" since I don't have THAT much energy, it's going to be New in the sense that I'm actually going to post. Yes, the whole posting to the blog is New for sure! Before I logged on tonight I had decided that I would try to post photos once a month as well as a short update each week.

Tonight while browsing a few blogs I read on occassion I stumbled on Lorie's blog and loved her idea of setting goals each month instead of a bunch of "Resolutions" that go by the way side before the year is even close to being over. I will share them with you each month and hopefully you will hold me accountable in some way.

So, my goals for January are: Posting to my blog at least once a month but hopefully once a week. Following the monthly goals set by FLYLADY and sticking with them. Walking or exercising for 30 minutes each day for 30 days. January's FLYLADY goal is Shining my sink each night. This is simply making sure that all the dishes are done and the kitchen counter is clean and shiny for the next day. Simple yet effective for starting the day right.

What are your goals for January or for 2010? I hope you succeed in them. Until next time I hope you all have a wonderful January and an amazing 2010!

Pioneer Woman Contest....

Check out this contest. You don't have to post it to your blog to win, but I thought I'd share as there's just a few hours left and I happened upon it. Good Luck!

Oregon Trip.... Day 1 & 2

Wow we just spent a wonderful week in Southern Oregon. The Medford area to be exact. We left steaming hot Bakersfield on Tuesday afternoon for a race over the weekend in the cool air of Oregon thinking we would make a mini vacation out of our trip.

We packed the Motor Home with food and goodies for the trip, filled the race jugs with pricey racing fuel, threw in some toys and food for Turbo and hit the road around 1:30 pm. Our first stop was the groomers a few blocks from the house where we picked up a freshly groomed Turbo who was feeling frisky and excited with his new haircut and the fact that he was going bye-bye in the rolling house.

After driving through some desolute looking "Congress created Dust Bowl" areas that used to be beautiful farm land in the Northern Part of California we disscussed how sad it was that so many farmers and farm workers were being put out of work because of some stupid fish. Here's a little link where you can see the full story.

Around 9PM we decided we should sleep so we settled in for the night at a little RV park in Willows that could handle 70 feet of rig. At 9:30 we were munching on on a couple of TV Dinners and then crawled into bed for some exciting Tuesday night Television. Keep in mind that since we would not have plug in power (Hookups)for the balance of our vacation, falling asleep with the TV set to snooze was kind of exciting as it wouldn't happen again for awhile. The same hold true for the extended "Non Sailor Shower" the following morning.

Around 8AM we woke up and showered. After buckling everything down from out night in the park we hit the road again eating breakfast as we cruised the I-5 at a little over 60 MPH. Yes we were breaking the law, but not by much. As we climbed in altitude and got closer to Oregon we passed some beautiful landscape. Of course I didn't pull the camera out as there was nowhere to stop and I hate through the window screen shots.

When we were just outside of Oregon Honey decided we should rent a car so we could tool around a bit. I made a few calls and found that we were out of luck due to lack of planning. Oh well, the cars were overpriced anyway. We would just plow down the road in our 70 feet of glory!

Our first Oregon stop was Hell Gate Jet Boat Excursion. We pulled through their crowded parking lot onto the quiet residential street behind them. The generator and big air conditioner were started and we enjoyed sandwiches before taking a brief nap. Our reservation was for 4:15 and would be a 4 hour drip down and back up the Rogue River.

What a blast!!!! Our tour guide Craig took us down the river doing several 360 degree turns as well as some random body soaking stops just for fun. We saw beautiful Bald Eagles, Starlings and lots of beautiful homes and nature. We were then treated to a yummy meal at their resturant, The OK Corral, before heading back up the river for even more wet fun. Because of the wetness of the ride, we were warned not to bring our good camera. We regretted having to leave it behind as our seats weren't as wet as others, but we had no idea of where we would sit.

We finished around 8:45 and loaded back into the RV for our short 40 mintue trip to the race track. Of course by the time we got in the area it was after 9 PM and quite dark. Race tracks are generally in obscure out of the way places, so to say there was no lighting in the area would be an understatement. It was incredibly dark. We followed the directions and saw no sign of the track. We called our friends who informed us that they had passed it in the middle of the day and that we needed to turn around. Have you EVER tried to turn around a Motor Home pulling a car trailer on a lane and a half of country road with water gulleys on either side? It's not a smart thing to do so we just followed the road until we saw a church with a decent sized parking lot.

The church parking lot was a nice size but the drive way wasn't and there was not room to "Go wide" as you would normally do turning into a parking lot. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. Front half of the rig half on the lawn of the church, half on the driveway. Back half of the rig teatering on the edge of previously mentioned water gulley. Moving forward was not an option. Moving backwards wasn't working so well either. Traffic of course appeared out of nowhere and began stacking up behind the trailer.

After walking around the trailer a few times we decided to just back all the way up until the back tires were nearly in the gulley on the other side of the street and then turn so that the Motor Home was out of the Parking Lot and back on the road. I stood out in the middle of the road hoping the car headed in my direction would see me and not squish me into the side of the trailer and directed Honey as to when to stop.

We got the rig back on the road and I ran to jump into my seat. We continued down the road until we hit the highway. We had made a complete square. We started again, and this time when we turned off the highway and onto the racetrack road we ignored our GPS and went off the advice of others and found the unlit driveway of our destination.

9:30 pm found us setting up camp, nibbling on some leftovers and crawling in to bed after a long morning driving and a long evening in the sun.

Sad News About Popcorn....

So Dear Husband bought us a new office computer right around New Years. We bought it because our Accountant told us to "Spend Money" and because we bought our refurbished one in 2001. Yes it was ancient and had some major issues and the Accountants comments were just enough to get DH motivated.

Anyway, after getting the computer set up I noticed that my emails were coming in at random times that made no sense to me. The date was also wrong. What the heck?

One day as I sat playing games instead of working I glanced down at the time. OMG I had somehow been sitting there for 2 hours and 10 minutes?! No Way!!!

Once I calmed down and went into the kitchen and looked at a "real clock" I came back in the office and realized it had only been 10 minutes. I mean yeah, I know, time flies when you're having fun but I wasn't having THAT much fun!

The clock is obviously wrong so I call time. Now I know I'm "Old" but I'm sure most of you reading this, atleast if you grew up in or near California know that you can dial POP-CORN (767-2676) and hear the nice lady tell you that "At the sound of the tone the time will be 8:09 and 10 seconds".

I punched in the digits and the sound I heard was NOT the sweet lady I have heard for nearly 40 years but an ugly tone and the evil woman at the other end saying "We're sorry, your call can not be completed as dialed. Please check the number and dial again." Certainly I had dialed wrong. I dialed again. Oh No!!! The number is no longer working? How can that be?

I googled Pop-Corn Time Check and sure enough, I found this little article buried among happy stories of Jolly Time Popcorn.

I was saddened by the fact that something from my childhood had just passed by the way side and I hadn't even noticed for over a year. I found my cell phone and checked the time and then realized that the time zone on our computer was set wrong. I changed the clock on the computer.

Later that night I told my DH that an old friend had passed. I don't think he was quite as sad as I was.

My First Contest....

Oh no... don't be confused. I'm not having a contest. I'm entering one. Yes it ends tonight at midnight, but hey, a contest is a contest right?! Follow this link to the contest. You too could be a winner!

We Are So Proud!

Today our Dear Son In Love graduated "With Honors" from the Sheriff Academy. He was #1 overall in the class!

It's been a long process and he has worked so hard and worried so much. Late nights of coming home dog tired to the job of washing and pressing his uniforms for the next brutal day are over. Being yelled at, working out like mad, being beat up as he practiced arrests and shooting a million rounds a week are over.

His little family has been very patient (most of the time)with his total mental and physical exhaustion and his lack of desire to go and do things in the evening. We're so glad that he was able to make it through the entire academy and come out not only alive but kicking and on top.

We are SO Proud of you Popeye!

After the graduation there was a nice quiet gathering of close friends and family at his sister's house. About 40 people enjoyed the great food and better company. Our poor Dear Grandson was so good through the long ceremony and the party even though he was sick and exhausted. Our dear daughter was beaming and giddy all day. She loves him so much and is thrilled that he's ready for the next part of his career.

Hu-Rah for our boy! May you change the lives of those you come in contact with, just as you've changed our lives since you became a part of our family. We love you!

We've Decided We Like To Date

As you may or may not know, Dear Husband has been working out of town constantly since mid November. We don't see much of each other, which has been the norm for the past 4+ years but not quite to this extent.

When Honey is gone I crawl into bed pretty early and watch tv while I surf the net, stalk blogs and play solitaire. Yes I could use my time more constructively, and do at times, but most times it me, the bed, the bubby, the computer and the tv. Anyway, early last week I saw that the new Clint Eastwood movie was coming out on Friday December 9. Personally, I think ol' Clint is hot. Yes, I know, he's an old guy, but he is SO Sexy!

Because I HAD been doing constructive things a few days prior to seeing this movie advertisement I knew that we had some gift cards to some yummy yummy resturants in the junk drawer. We're bad about going out and forgetting our gift cards or just not planning. So I went through the drawer and found a $50 card to this place. We had made one attempt in the year that we'd had the card to dine here but this is one place that you MUST have a reservation and get it several days in advance. Dear Husband had been here but I never had, so I was excited.

I then called Dear Husband and asked him if he would like to go on a date with me the following Saturday night. He was thrilled at the idea of dinner and a movie and encouraged me to set the stage for a romantic evening!

On Thursday before our date I looked up movie times, made dinner reservations for an hour or so before, pulled out some gift certificates for movies that I had from who knows when and drove to the theater and bought the tickets. I was going to be totally organized for this date.

Dear Honey was coming home on Friday night, but I didn't want him to be too tired etc for our date. Saturday morning started out rough, as it sometimes does when poor Dear Husband comes home to a lot of un-finished projects. Yes, although I had gotten the house mostly back in order, there were areas I had ignored. Dear Husband was nice about it but I could tell he was annoyed. I have to admit that it did get him to go through some "Stuff" that he needed to go through and resulted in a very full outside trash bin. Yippee!

Anyway, early in the day my BFF called and invited us to her house for a birthday bash. I told her we'd come for a while but that we had a date. Cool. Later, while I worked in the office, honey enjoyed a nap. I woke him with about 20 minutes to spare before we needed to be at my BFF house for a short visit before leaving for our date. He dozed a little longer, changed into nicer clothes and we were out the door.

Once at BFF's house we enjoyed a VERY rousing game of dice. The game calls for chips but we play with one dollar bills. We each had to buy in 3 times and the pot (center) was up to $108 to the winner. The birthday girl won the pot and we had to run out the door and drive a little quicker then we should have in order to make our reservation. It was a blast though and we almost wished we didn't already have plans.

Dinner was wonderful. We sat next to each other and talked about things other then work and kids, which was nice for a change. We enjoyed watching the people in the resturant and chuckled at the youngsters who were all dressed up for prom/winter formal. We enjoyed ourselves, got cute little chinese to go boxes for our food and wandered to our car pleasantly full without being stuffed.

As we arrived at the theater parking lot it was really full, but we had our tickets so we sat in the car (at my urging) and enjoyed the heated seats for a few more minutes. We continuted to talk until the seats cooled down a bit. We got halfway to the front doors when I remembered the tickets. In my wallet. In the glove box. Waaaaay out in the parking lot. No worries. We'll just be warmed up when we finally get in to the movie.

We waltzed past the long lines that went on forever. WOW, we ususally come on Sunday afternoons to movies. We're not used to crowds like this. We were so smart for getting our tickets ahead of time! Once inside we bypassed the snack bar, hit the restrooms and entered theater 7. We stood at the bottom of the top seats and our jaws dropped. We were in plenty of time for the movie and yet there were no seats. What!? We looked again hoping that we wouldn't have to sit in one of the two front rows at the base of the screen that were remaining. Oh pooh. WHY did we sit and linger over dinner and over the nice heated seats in the car? Wait! There are 2 seats. We climb to the top of the stadium and sure enough the seats are NOT saved. Sure they're the only two seats next to the wall but they're together and not at the base of the screen. Woo Hoo! Wait. There is a BAR across the front of them right at eye level? What the heck!?! Oh well. No worries.

This movie was awesome. Seriously. Even if we had to look "through" a bar, it was worth it. Yes there was cussing in it so I wouldn't recommend it for children, but OMG it was a wonderful movie. We laughed, we teared up, we were nervous and in the end, as the lights came up, we along with a good majority of the audience applauded. There were no high speed chase scenes, really no crazy fight scenes, no sex scenes, only a well written touch your heart amazing piece of art.

My Dear Husband and I left the theater holding hands and discussing how much we enjoyed the movie, how we wish more movies left you feeling this way. We drove home having a wonderful conversation about anything, everything and nothing. We visited while we got ready for bed, crawled under the covers, curled up and both fell asleep. Yes we had other expectations, but admittedly it was a perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Mission Accomplished....Kinda

The living room is put back together. The carpet is as clean as its going to get and the big rug is on the back porch. I DON'T think it will be coming back in unless I can shampoo the lovely Bubby gift out of it. I feel like we have too much furniture in there, but I'm not willing to give up the recliners and where would I really put a sofa or love seat anywhere else in the house?

The office has been shampooed and so has the Master Bedroom. I need to move a few things back in to place and tidy up but the carpets are shampooed and vacuumed and look clean.

The floors are still uncleaned and the grout is unsealed. I have high hopes of Dear Husband helping me this weekend by operating the machine while I scrub the grout but I'm not going to push the issue. If it doesn't happen there is always next week or the next week. Babysteps.

I had really been wanting to take my table and buffet from the kitchen and put it into the dining room. I tried it and the room looked really good. Dear Daughter came up with some great decorating ideas to add to the room. I was SO EXCITED!!! Of course in order to keep it this way I had to put the dining room stuff into the kitchen. No problem right?! I mean it was in the kitchen when we first moved in here so we'll just move it back in.

I dragged the dining room furniture, which was really the "Old" kitchen furniture into the kitchen. Hmmm, the table doesn't look right horizonally against the wall. I moved it vertically against the wall. Hmmmm, maybe it was here at an angle? Hmmm. How in the heck did we EVER have this HUGE table in the kitchen nook let alone all 4 chairs?! There is NO WAY it's going to fit. Phooey!

I'm so sad. I really wanted to switch everything around. I call Honey. He actually laughed at me! He tells me he knew it wouldn't work. The table was always too big which is WHY we got a new one in the first place. Oh. I guess I forgot. Well I was hoping my memories were wrong anyway. Pooh.

So, tomorrow I'll put the house back together with all the furniture where it fits, even if I don't think it belongs there, so Dear Husband and Dear Son can relax when they come home for the weekend. Pooh!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! I've spent the day doing something I rarely do. Yep, I slept in, yammered on the phone with my step mom and now I'm laying in bed watching the replay of the parade on the Travel Channel.

I'll get up soon enough but for now, I'm enjoying the quietness of the "staying in bed til noon". There's plenty of time to do the things I need/want to do, which still includes shampooing the rest of the carpet, scrubbing the floors and packing for my weekend away to see Dear Husband. I figure I have until Friday night to make the house peaceful and I'm going to take advantage of the time instead of pushing myself so hard that I can't enjoy the process.

May your News Year Day be peaceful and calm. And may your New Year be wonderful and give you plenty to be thankful for.

I just stole this. No I wasn't tagged. I'm just a thief.

As my many many readers well know, I am new to the blogging world. Yes I have commented on my Dear Daughter's blog and a few of my neices and some of DD's friends, but as for me, I'm new. I have actually begun commenting on stranger's blogs and reading the blogs of random strangers.

That being said, I have found a blog that I really enjoy. This young lady is whitty and sarcastic and funny but is crazy intelligent when it comes to finance and political issues. I love reading her blog. It makes me laugh. We all need somebody like this in our life to remind us not to take our lives so serious.

The phrases that are in a bold are true….

Appearance:

- I am 5′4 or shorter.

- I think I'm ugly.

- I have many scars.

- I tan easily. Yes I pay for it but it's easy

- I wish my hair was a different color.

- I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color. With my gray I live for my monthly appointment.

- I have a tattoo.

- I am self-conscious about my appearance.

- I have/I've had braces. Had them through jr and high school and getting invisaline soon.

- I wear glasses. again.... after lasix.... for distance & reading... grrr

- I'd get/have gotten plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free, scar-free.

- I've been told I'm attractive by a complete stranger.

- I have had more than 2 piercings.

- I have had piercings in places besides my ears. It was my Belly Button and I let it heal.

- I have freckles.

Family/Home Life:

- I've sworn at my parents.

- I've run away from home.

- I've been kicked out of the house.

- My biological parents are together.

- I have a sibling less than one year old.

- I want to have kids someday.

- I have children.

- I've lost a child.

Embarrassment:

- I've slipped out a "LOL" in a spoken conversation.

- Disney movies still make me cry.

- I've snorted while laughing. it happens often. its not pretty.

- I've laughed so hard I've cried.

- I've glued my hand to something.

- I've laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose.

- I've had my trousers rip in public.

Health:

- I was born with a disease/impairment.

- I've had stitches.

- I've broken a bone.

- I've had my tonsils removed.

- I've sat in a doctor's office with a friend.

- I've had my wisdom teeth removed.

- I've had serious surgery. I crashed my quad and tore my MCL a couple of years ago.

- I've had chicken pox.

Traveling:

- I've driven over 200 miles in one day.

- I've been on a plane.

- I've been to Canada.

- I've been to Niagara Falls.

- I've been to Japan.

- I've been to Europe.

- I've been to Africa.

Experiences:

- I've been lost in my city. Lost might be an overstatement but I had NO idea where I was.

- I've seen a shooting star.

- I've gone out in public in my pajamas.

- I've pushed all the buttons in a lift.

- I've been to a casino. I love Black Jack!

- I've been skydiving.

- I've gone skinny dipping.

- I've played spin the bottle.

- I've crashed a car.

- I've been skiing. Water & Snow

- I've been in a play.

- I've met someone in person from the Internet. Met and married Dear Husband

- I've caught a snowflake on my tongue.

- I've seen the Northern Lights.

- I've sat on a roof top at night.

- I've played chicken. In high school. We were stupid but played at LOW speed.

- I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Only bits and pieces but I'm sure all of it when you add the bits and pieces

- I've eaten Sushi.

- I've been snowboarding.

Relationships:

- I'm single.

- I'm in a relationship.

- I'm available.

- I'm engaged.

- I'm married.

- I've gone on a blind date.

-I've been the dumpee more than the dumper.

- I have a fear of abandonment.

- I've been divorced.

- I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.

- I've told someone I loved them when I didn't.

- I've told someone I didn't love them when I did. A bad time in my life.

- I've kept something from a past relationship.

Sexuality:

- I've had a crush on someone of the same gender.

- I've kissed a member of the same gender.

- I've had sex with someone of the same gender.

- I've had sex with more than one person at the same time.

- I am a cuddler.

- I've been kissed in the rain.

- I've had sex outdoors.

- I've hugged a stranger.

- I have kissed a stranger.

- I have had sex with a stranger.

Honesty/Crime:

- I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't.

- I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't.

- I have lied to my parents about where I am.

- I am keeping a secret from the world.

- I've cheated while playing a game.

- I've cheated on a test.

- I've driven through a red light. Not on purpose!

- I've witnessed a crime.

- I've been in a fist fight. In high school but it was more like a cat fight. You know.. girls

- I've been arrested.

- I've shoplifted.

Drugs/Alcohol:

- I've consumed alcohol.

- I smoke cigarettes. In high school. It was gross

- I smoke pot. I was young. It was stupid & did nothing for me but make me giggle. A lot.

- I regularly drink.

- I've taken painkillers when I didn't need them.

- I've taken cough medicine when i wasn't sick.

- I've done hard drugs.

- I've been addicted to an illegal substance.

- I can't swallow pills.

- I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem.

Mental health:

- I have been diagnosed with depression.

- I shut others out when I'm depressed.

- I take anti-depressants. I don't take the perscribed meds, but started Sam-e

- I have had an eating disorder.

- I've slept an entire day when I didn't need it.

- I've hurt myself on purpose.

- I'm addicted to self harm.

- I've woken up crying.

Death:

- I'm afraid of dying.

- I hate funerals. But I go when it was somebody important to me or a loved one.

- I've seen someone dying. I worked on an ambulance, but sat with my dad when he died.

- I have attempted suicide.

- Someone close to me has attempted suicide.

- Someone close to me has committed suicide.

Random:

- I can sing well.

- I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.

- I open up to others too easily.

- I watch the news.

-I don't kill bugs.

- I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for sake of being able to rhyme.

- I swear regularly.

- I am a morning person.

- I paid for my mobile phone ring tone.

- I'm a snob about grammar. And spelling

- I am a sports fanatic.

- I play with my hair.

- I have/had "x"s in my screen name.

- I love being neat. I'm not always neat but love it when I am!

- I love Spam.

- I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day.

- I don't know how to shoot a gun.

- I am in love with love.

- I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.

- I laugh at my own jokes.

- I eat fast food weekly.

- I believe in ghosts.

- I am online 24/7, even as an away message.

- I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.

- I am really ticklish.

- I love white chocolate.

- I bite my nails.

- I play video games.

- I'm good at remembering faces.

- I'm good at remembering names.

- I'm good at remembering dates.

- I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.

So Much For My Big Plan!

My day started out fine. I did a little, and I do mean LITTLE, work in the office, made my list of where I needed to go, got my deposit ready, grabbed my stuff to take to good will, Kohls, My Sister in Love's (SIL)and headed to pick up material for our customer. This was going to be a busy busy day.

I hit Starbucks on the way into town, hit goodwill and made it to pick up material. I was running a little later then I had hoped but the Starbucks by my house is SO SLOW! I swear I watched dude fill up the coffee grinder with beans, grind coffee and deliver coffee to inside customers and sweep etc while I was sitting at the window waiting for my simple little cup of Hot Chocolate. After atleast 7 minutes he finally brought me my drink and said "Sorry for the wait" WHATEVER! (Sorry had to rant).

Anyway, old friendly chattie guy at the parts place finally gets my Trailblazer loaded with material for 2 jobs/2 customers (bonus delivery) and I'm ready to go. I get in and start my car and throw it in reverse and it doesn't move. What the Heck!?!?! I put it in drive and it won't move. It's like somebody has me chained to the fence or like there are big tire chocks behind my tires. The engine roars but I'm barely moving. I could go into the many, many calls to my Honey, his best friend who I call my Spare Husband, Our Mechanic, AAA, Our Customer and the other folks that needed to be contacted but it would make your eyes bleed. I'll just say that I sat there for over 2 hours waiting for the tow truck to come get me and haul my sweet ride to the shop. I thought I could make it because while I was waiting for tow truck dude the car suddenly worked, but then after a few short blocks it literally ground to a hault with burning brake smell and squeeling. UGH. Dude gave me a ride in his freezing cold dirty truck and dropped me and my material off at home on the way to the shop.

Of course we have loaned my Dear Son's truck to my wonderful neice who is visiting from Michigan so the only thing I had to drive was a filthy, muddy service truck that needed diesel and air in the tires that really need to be replaced. NASTY. I think the inside was 10 times dirtier then the outside.

Dear Daughter (DD)to the rescue! She is anti-driving right now and so she offered her car to me. As soon as the sweet grandson woke from his name they drove over and picked me up. After dropping her off I drove to the customers and Sister in loves 45 minutes from home. Hit the bank and Costco and dealt with the tax advisor and the guy making some shirts for us while I was driving. I was told to spend some money and I LOVE spending money!!

By the time I dropped off DD's Costco needs and then dropped of a huge crate of oranges from SIL at a friends house and came home I was done. It's now nearly 6 pm! I am SO not in the mood to clean. Dear Son came home for his requested 2 days off for a trip and we went to dinner. We came home and the dog had marked on the ladder I had put in the nice freshly cleaned dining room. I like the dog but I seriously considered killing it when I saw it. WTF?!?!!? We've had the ladder longer then him, it's been in the house a million times and it's been in this time for atleast 3 days.

How can you dislike a face like this?? Normally he is referred to as Turbo the Wonder Dog or Bubby. Tonight he is "The Dog". That's all I'm sayin!

I need to go shop for office supplies and Honey is taking the "Spend Money" advice from the Tax Guy to heart and is trying to buy a new company vehicle in the next 24 hours. He also had me order a new office computer which we desperately need. Ours was bought used in 2001!

Big Sigh.... tomorrow is another day. I'll head to office depot in my little tiny borrowed Toyota and fill it with cases of paper, storage boxes and file folders for the new year. Hopefully my outing will NOT include driving to a car dealership and handling paperwork on a new service truck. That is SO not on my schedule of things to do! When I get home I'll dive into the new spot in the dining room, finish the living room and maybe do the office and master bedroom rugs. The floor can just wait. Hmmmm, maybe I'll have the heavy cases of paper delivered. That's a GREAT idea!!! :-)

Getting Ready for the New Year

I made a decision the other day. Since Honey and The Boy Child are both working out of town, and for the time being I don't have my sweet grandson, I'm going to shampoo every room in the house. I'm also going to super-duper clean the tile and grout in every room and then after it dries I'm going to seal it. Of course first I had to finish un-decorating Christmas.

So, this morning I packed all the Christmas stuff away and labeled each box. I put everything I really wanted into the garage to be loaded into the attic. Everything else went into the back of the car to go to Goodwill. Gotta get my tax credit!

When Christmas was put away I finished what I had started last night which was moving all of the furniture from the dining room and kitchen into the hall on The Boy's side of the house. Then I moved all the living room furniture to one side and vacuumed everything. I took a break to drop off payroll, meet my Baby Girl at Target for some Christmas returns, to pick up some cleaning supplies and to force feed her some lunch. I then did some banking, tanned my body and then came home to dive back in.

Accomplished tonight was shampooing the dining room and half of the living room. Not bad for an old lady!

The guys are totally gone until the January 10th and I'll drive South for a race with honey this weekend. I figure I can have all the floors done by New Years Eve so the grout can dry and I can seal it before leaving on Friday Morning. It can dry while me and the Puppy are gone.

Wish me luck!

Peace Begins Within

So, Christmas... it has come and gone. I have to admit that this year was a little off. Of course last year was a LOT off which may have contributed to this year being off. This holiday brought with it memories of last year's loss and the saddness we endured along with pressures and worries of the health and well being of my sweet girl child.

Getting ready for the holidays was strange this year because Honey and the Boy Child have been working out of town since the middle of November. They came home for Thanksgiving and a day or two here and there but didn't come home until the night before Christmas. Although the boy child hung my lights outside it was hard to focus on Christmas without them here harrassing me or encouraging me to hurry and get some presents under the tree etc.

We adopted a needy family this year so I managed to bury myself in shopping for 7 people that I didn't know. I have to admit that it was a challenge but it took my mind off of my own issues. It was really nice to be able to provide a nice Christmas for this family who truely needed help this year. They were so apprecitative. The kids all received things they needed as well as some toys. The lincoln logs were a HUGE hit with the little boys. I hope that we are in a position to do it again next year. Maybe we can adopt 2 smaller families and spread the joy.

We celebrated the holiday with my side of the family on December 20th. It was strange to be celebrating without any of the men in my family. My dad passed 2.5 years ago and even though he pretended to be a scrooge he really loved the holiday and the many friends and family it brought together. Its still hard to celebrate without him. Honey and the boy child were gone working and the girl child let her husband "Off the hook" as he had friends here from out of state that he wanted to see. The day was very relaxing and we ate, visited, opened gifts and played a game. It was a nice day but it just didn't feel like Christmas without my true love by my side and all of my kids gathered round.

I found myself floundering on December 23, suddenly realizing that I should take the turkey out of the freezer, do some grocery shopping and maybe even wrap some presents. I didn't have most of the presents that I wanted to buy bought and the ones I had ordered had not arrived yet. I was just sort of "Oh well". I enjoyed the evening visiting with honey as I prepared everything that I could do food wise that night and wrapped presents. He couldn't figure out why I was wrapping stuff just so we could unwrap it in the morning. Silly man.. You just have to!

On the morning of December 24th Honey had to run out and work for a local client and the boy child was out running parts and gathering material to take back down south on Saturday morning. The girl child called around 9:30 and said that they would be late for the 10:00 am planned celebration. I realized there were a couple of gifts that I wanted to get and one was important enough to go out for and left the house to go get them.

As I drove through town I was amazed and joyful at the lack of stress I was feeling for once. Was it that I didn't care enough about our celebration to worry that nobody was on time and that things weren't done? No, that wasn't it. I think I found the joy in the holiday while I was out getting the one gift that I thought was important for my daughter, the one thing that I hoped would move her the way it moved me.

We put a lot of thought into the gifts that we bought for our family this year. I'm not sure if the kids found as much joy in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University as we had hoped they would, but we know that some day they will thank us. We bought the boys things for their jobs and the girl child things to decorate her room and make it someplace that she would feel joy and happiness. Then I ran across something that came in a sales catalog and knew I had to buy it.

I found my girl child, somebody who is struggeling with her emotions and her stress, a small ID bracelet that said simply "Peace begins within" and I knew I needed to buy it for her. I hoped that she would understand how much those three little words meant towards her getting better.

On the way home I realized that the lack of stress I was feeling, even though normally I would be losing it at 10:15 am on Christmas eve when everything was so un-organized for a 10:00 gathering that NOBODY was there for, was because I was at peace. At peace with the gifts I had purchased, the food I had prepared regardless of there being no jello salad or dessert, and the family arriving whenever they could make it. The entire day was spent visiting and eating and opening gifts and just hanging out. The plan was to eat at 1:00 pm so the girl child and her family could go to church before leaving to her family-in-loves home, but we sat down at 3:00 pm and she wasn't stressing about it so I wasn't either. I am so thankful for that time.

After all of the kids left, my sweet honey and I cleaned up most of the mess and relaxed in front of the fire before heading out to a movie. There was still a few dishes to wash but they would keep til morning. We had another celebration the next day with his family and some friends coming over. We knew it would be a long day due to the difficulty of picking up and delivery his father, but we went out anyway.

Our Christmas day started out less then peaceful as my husband tends to clean things that have been annoying him when he is nervous and having family over tends to do that to him. I was having a hard time understanding why he wanted to clean the garage and shampoo the carpet when there was food to prepare and presents to wrap. The carpet got cleaned, the presents got wrapped, the food got prepared and we were fine. His family was very late, which is common, so things got switched around a bit on our plans but we had a wonderful day anyway.

This year Christmas was different. It was peaceful even when it was hectic. We spent time with family who we rarely see and love and miss, our own little family who we adore, our childhood family and friends who we are thrilled to have close to us. I hope that your Christmas was peaceful regardless of where you were and who you were with. If it wasn't, remember that Peace Begins Within.

I Don't Get It

What?! Two posts in not only 1 month but in 1 day!? Yeah, well, Christie complained that first she didn't even KNOW I had a blog, but also that I wasn't posting to my blog. So here goes .... Why is it that even though I make great little proper paragraphs when I'm typing my post, that there are none when the post actually gets posted? Can somebody please 'splain this to me? I hate haveing run on sentences and a run on single paragraph post is WAY worse. Toodles!

An Early Christmas for Me!

I try to be a good "Pit Wife" and take great photos of my husband as he is putting his life on the line racing at dangerous speeds down the quarter mile track. I stand near the wall, my body vibrating from the power of the combined engines, feeling as if my ears will begin bleeding any second from the intense noise from two 500 plus horsepower engines reving up less then 10 feet from me and I wait for just the right moment. The light turns green for Don and I snap the shot as he shoots away from the starting line and races down the track. I watch as he finishes the race and then look at my photo display only to see nothing but track. Where's Don? Where's the guy in the other car? Why are there no cars in my photo?! Oh, it's because they were half way down the track before my little point and shoot actually recorded the moment I was trying to capture. No the perfect light isn't there. The little wheelie that made me cringe isn't visable. There is nothing but blacktop and wall to prove that there had been a race. What a dissapointment.

I love taking photos of our sweet grandson Sammy. He is starting to get into things he shouldn't and it's usually something that is too cute to pull him away from before taking a photo of it. The last great attempt was when he had somehow worked himself under my bed feet first. He was trying desperately to wiggle OUT from under the bed and didn't know that anybody was watching him. I quietly told Uncle Jerry to grab my camera off the counter and bring it to me. There was still time, although Sam was nearly out, he was still struggling and it was getting funnier. I turn on the camera, I point, I shoot.... Certainly I got it!!!! Nope, Sam is walking away from the bed proud that he had escaped without harm and my camera recorded his back as he walked out of the frame. Another photo oppurtunity foiled by a slow camera.

We took a wonderful trip to Tennessee in October and I was complaining to my dear sweet husband that the camera was having issues. Of course it picked a perfect photo moment to again act up by the lense not opening up all the way as I tried to shoot some wildlife during our side trip to the grand canyon.

Fast forward to mid November. I get a pre-recorded call from UPS saying they have a red label delivery for me and that an adult must be present to sign for it. Hmmmm, I hadn't ordered a thing but..... Christmas IS just around the corner. It's probably just material for a customer so no need to get excited. The day drags on and I'm forced to stay home waiting for the package. What a drag. If I didn't have a package to sign for I would have WANTED to stay home, but since I couldn't leave I wanted to! You know you've been there too. :-)

Anyway, half way through the day my DH (Dear Husband) calls to say hello. Before I hang up I ask him if he has any idea what is coming red label that I need to sign for. He pauses for a long time and then says "I'm sorry. This is going to ruin your Christmas suprise. It's something for you but the order got messed up and I need you to fix it." (The fix it story is long and boring so I won't go there but I fixed it.) So, my DH proceeds to "Ruin my Christmas suprise" by telling me that he purchased me a wonderful new camera. I have to send it back and get the order fixed so when UPS arrives I refuse the package. Bummer.

A few days later I go visit him for the weekend where he is working out of town. We grab a bite to eat at a fast food place as he is working sun up to sun down and hit the hotel. As soon as we finish dinner he brings me a BIG bag and tells me that he hates to ruin my Christmas but wants me to have my present since I sort of know about it anyway. This is where I grin like crazy and clap my hands together in anticipation for my new toy. Just like my daughter I can't always control this little quirk.

It's WAY better then I imagined!!!!!!!! We had glanced at Canon D40's while shopping for a replacement stereo for the broken one in his work truck but this was WAY WAY WAY BETTER!!!! My amazing husband purchased me this little baby along with lots of do-dads to go with it.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/canon-makes-eos.html

Now, keep in mind that I have NO CLUE how to work this thing. There are SO many settings and things to learn. It's really complex and I have my doubts about my ability to absorb it all but I assure you I am going to give it the Ol' Navy Try. I've taken a gazillion shots, mostly of Turbo the Wonder Dog because he will usually stand still or at the very least not run away like Sam does. I have a funny little sequence of him (Turbo) rolling around scratching his back. Since the camera takes 6.5 frames per second its a cute little "Movie" of him. Anyway, I'm learning and will be looking for a photography class where you can use a digital camera in the very near future.

Can you imagine the amazing racing shots I can take with 6.5 frames per second?!!?

Hopefully I'll find the time in the next week to download the better photos off the memory card and then a few more minutes to figure out how to upload a few of them to my blog.

My Very First Post...

So this is it. I am posting for the very first time. What should I say? Do I really have anything to say that will impress the heck out of my friends and family? Probably not but I'm excitied to be starting. Today has been a low key day. I've just been trying to catch up on laundry and office work while enjoying the company of my sweet charge Samuel. He keeps me running so times like right now, when he is sleeping, I can get a few things that require focus done. Of course those things should be filing, billing & general office work, but at the moment I'm sidetracked and saying hello to the world. DH (Dear Husband) is coming home this evening after being gone all week, with MY car, so I should actually get a few things done. I've missed him and I must admit, as much as I've enjoyed driving my dad's beautiful truck, which Jerry now owns, I REALLY miss my Trailblazer SS. Don has told me each night how much he's enjoyed driving it, so I hope he isn't getting any "Hostile Takeover" ideas! I won't bore you with the details of my day, I just wanted to say hello and let you know that I'm part of the blogging world now. I'll try to pop in once a week or so and update you on my life.