Does this ever happen to you?

Today my hubby came up to me and gave me a quick kiss....
then looked at me sort of funny..
Then he said "It isn't really cold enough yet for a beard".

And THEN I noticed that he had shaved his beard off!
LOL.  He doesn't get mad that I don't notice and he really
does look quite different with one (like 10 years older)... :)
but I just didn't notice.

Too funny!

I am so excited! Still working right now but finishing up hopefully by midnight then I'm done working until after Christmas!

Looking forward....

to this week...

That is something I rarely say on a Sunday but for the first time in 6 years I am taking 3 days off before Christmas.  I have been working a ton the last several months and there have been some very long work days/nights....so it is a much needed time off. 

So the fact that I only have to work tomorrow and Tuesday and then that's it until after Christmas has me thrilled!  Hoping my youngest can get off work all the days I took off, but she does have at least a long weekend off so whatever time she has will be nice having her home.

My other daughter is back east and just moved there in August so she won't be making the trip back here but hopefully she'll have a great Christmas and much more of a chance having a white Christmas than me.

I did manage to get done 60 of the Angel Christmas cards considering I didn't have a lot of time I'm happy with that!  Makes me feel good doing this little nice project each year sending people some Christmas cheer with  a card!

Rain..rain DON'T go away....

We probably have had more rain in the last few days than we have had all year.. not always a steady downpour but it is a much welcomed change from the extensive drought we've been experiencing!  It is cold outside too, in the 40's which is not that common for central Texas but I'll take it, since it has brought the rain! :)

Today I am doing laundry, a regular weekend chore as usual but also doing some Christmas cards that we send to family and friends.  We managed to get a very good picture this year of our dogs as well. Not bad considering we took it ourselves!  Of course it is easier taking a picture of 4 as opposed to when we had 6, but I'd be fine with that!  I miss Obi and Shelby. 

Didn't do any decorating yet and will most likely not do a lot.  With no little ones in the house, I don't get the desire to decorate much. I still look forward to Christmas and actually for the first time in years am taking off of work a few days before so that I can enjoy some relaxing times and cookie baking with my youngest (the oldest is back east).  It will be hard not seeing the oldest this year at Christmas but perhaps next year. Well back to it, I've only done 4 cards so far..

Here's something I do every year...

I will not have as much time to participate in this project this year....so I wanted to share the link in the hopes that others may be willing to help.  It is really a nice thing..and simple.. sending Christmas cards to those who are ill or perhaps alone this year...

Chillin...

Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday too..and I'm just chillin and watching Lifetime movies...they are playing Christmas themed ones...'tis the season.

Based on the news lately some people are placing far too much emphasis on being in the front of the line on Black Friday at 3:00am for the store sales...that is nuts !  Pepper spraying people to get to the front?...I think all the stores should just open regular time on Black Friday and not a minute earlier.  There really is no need to open in the middle of the night or earlier!  I suppose this practice will never end as retailers count on the early birds shopping 'til they drop. 

It is hard not to get caught up in all the hoopla over Black Friday, but I don't let myself, it just can set me up for spending more money than I'd like to or can afford to.  The hardest urge for me to resist is the cyber sales since I am on the computer a lot, but I delete most of the emails before I open them to avoid temptation.

Thanksgiving was nice although I missed my oldest as she is back east, but my other daughter came home for the night. She had to work Black Friday so she left Thanksgiving early evening.  We had Turkey and all the trimmings and as tradition would have it, I ate too much! :) 

We did make one of our traditional apple crumb pies and it turned out perfect!  I still have one sliver that I'm going to finish tonight. YUM..





 

Figures..

It figures...that now the latest medical news is that sitting for prolonged periods of time can significantly increase risk of colon cancer...  top that with more bad news...women who have more than 3 drink in a week having an increased risk of breast cancer....might as well sit here in my Lay-z-Boy and have a tall drink, or two or three...

It is not that I drink every day or even every other day but what happened to one glass of Merlot a day was good for you.  I guess it still may help the heart but give your breast cancer? Ever notice how these sort of stats are changing all the time?  And do they actually have evidence that these things do cause more cancer? Have they discovered more people with colon cancer because they sat several hours a day?  

If this is the case I might as well not bother with the colonoscopy..no I haven't had one yet and past 'due' if one is suppose to have one at age 50....not sure what doctor made up that rule either..once you turn 50, time to get a colonoscopy.  Since I sit upwards of 15 or more hours a day working, I feel like I must already have colon cancer or am doomed to get it. 

Ever since I heard that news I have been trying to get up and walk around a little bit every few hours, but sometimes i just forget.  It is so hard to do or NOT do everything to avoid getting cancer.  I think I'll keep eating healthy, exercising and doing the best I can to avoid cancer...until the next new breaking medical news comes out...can't wait!

Daylight savings?...

As I was headed back into the office to work last night, I asked my hub to make sure to wake me up early enough today so that I could exercise before meeting my sister for breakfast.  I reminded him that the clocks needed to be turned back.  He said he would..

When I got to bed after midnight I saw that he had advanced the clocks in our bedroom an hour instead of turning them back. I didn't have the heart to wake him up and just brought a clock with the right time into the room and placed it on my night stand. 

The next morning he got up early as he usually does, I found out later it was approx 6:00AM going by his clock next to the bed.  He came up at what he thought was 7:00AM to wake me and I told him he set the clocks forward an hour and not back so now he was two hours early!  He didn't like it when he realized he had gotten up at 4:00AM!  He said he'd wake me up then when it was time.  An hour later he came up again and said it was 7:00AM.  No, now it was the same time it was yesterday.  Instead of being mad, I thought it was funny!  Then I dozed off again for another 45 minutes or so.  We joked about it for a while, though I know he was mad at himself for getting up so early!  :-)


So much for sleeping an extra hour!  I think, next year I'm going to change all the clocks myself!

Been over a month.. I know..

Sorry it has been so long since I've blogged.  Just when I thought I couldn't work any harder, I've been working day and night, sometimes forcing myself to stop after midnight as my brain refused to think any more!   This includes weekends too...even Labor Day!  

I worked yesterday too but got it all done so that I could have today off..finally!  

Spent some time this morning cleaning as the house really needed it!  If I'm working all the time, that means no time for even cleaning.  I'm lucky to get 7 hours of sleep some nights!

So .. since it is 911, I reflect back to what I was doing back then.  I had just finished my Diane's Mortgage Tips newsletter and sent it off to my subscribers and then saw what was going on at the twin towers. I was working from home underwriting back then too and was starting to work on my files. We had sent Stac off to school with cupcakes for her birthday as yes, 9/11 is her birthday and she was celebrating her 10th birthday that day.  Today she is 20, wow! My girls are now officially in their 20s!

At first I thought it was just a horrible plane accident, but then quickly realized it was escalating into so much more.  My brother who worked in NYC had missing the plane crash by about 15 minutes if I recall as he walked from the train at the World Trade Center as he did every day on his way to work.  I was so glad to know he was NOT in that or he surely would have been one of those who lost their lives there..

Back to the present...we have had a lot of wildfires in Central Texas over the last few weeks and last weekend we got two bins ready in case we would have to vacate.  Luckily none have hit our area so we haven't had to evacuate the area. At least I feel a little better that we are more prepared than we were.  We even have 5 leashes at the ready in the garage so that we would be able to get all the furkids out quickly if the need arose. It is incredibly dry here in Texas and it has been months if not over a year since we've had a good soaking rain.  And with all the fires recently the water having to be used to try to control them, has me worried that we will run out of water.  We conserve water and limit its use as best we can.  Our front yard is partially dead but it is expected as I do not believe in wasting a ton of water on keeping the yard perfectly green.  Water needs to be treasured!

Well we are going to watch a few movies today......so I will end this with a promise to come back before another month go by to blog again.

Oh..almost forgot..due to the hot, dry summer, I had to give up the garden as it was just dying. I do have 2 pepper plants that are still doing okay, but the rest has died.  I plan to start all over again later this month when we stop having 100 degree days and hope for a late fall harvest.  We'll see.

Nice weekend....

Got back from spending the night with my girls. Stac and I went up to visit my oldest before she moves back east.  It was great having time with both the girls.  With the way time is flying, it is going to become less frequent that we can get together like this and when I thought about that this morning while we were eating breakfast, it made me a little sad.  But anyway, we saw the last Harry Potter movie which we all liked and I for one was glad it was finally concluding.  I think too much time passed between the movies though because I had a hard time remembering the last movie and where it left off.   The ones I am really looking forward to are the last Twilight movies which is the last book they are splitting up into 2 movies. 

It was too hot (106 degrees) to be outdoors much yesterday afternoon but we got to eat in some nice air conditioned restaurants, went to the movies, and got some play time in with her fur kid and her friend's dog who really had us laughing.  Her dog tripped on a ball and fell over and we enjoyed watching them both want the same ball at the same time.

I will try hard not to be too sad that D is moving so far away. She will have what sounds like a great job and  will not have to struggle so much financially as she has been.  She still amazes me as she just randomly stood at the edge of her couch and brought her leg up to a 180 degree angle, like it was nothing. So flexible and graceful!

Tomorrow my youngest is headed back to college and at least she will be back home fairly often to visit and still has a few years before she graduates...  I hope the next few years go really super slowly.. 

Empty nest feeling .....again..

My oldest dropped some news on me that I guess should not have been a surprise, but nonetheless saddened me a bit. Even though she has technically been out of the house ever since she was still in college, she still was less than 4 hours drive away and somehow that made me feel like she still hadn't totally left the nest...just that the nest had a long bottom to it.. sort of like a rubber band.

Anyway she has decided grad school is too costly for whatever value it could give her which I don't blame her for, but she has decided to move back East and work there.  So..she won't be somewhat close to me anymore and that is what makes me sad.  She is all grown up though and has a mind of her own so, all I can do is hope that she is happy and does well there.  Her dad at least still lives back East so he will be lending a hand and at least I know she won't be there totally by herself.  I plan to go visit her with the youngest before she leaves next month.

This weekend I didn't have to work and it was such a nice break from working all the time I felt like I was on vacation. I even didn't mind cleaning all  2 1/2 bathrooms, and scooping poop in the back yard. It was just so nice giving my brain and eyes a break from the computer.  

We watched some movies this weekend too, some were good, others were not.  These were all rentals.  Planning on seeing the last Harry Potter movie when we go visit the oldest. I am really looking forward to it! 

See??

I said I'd write before another long period and I am!

Happy what's left of 4th of July!  I actually got done working all weekend before Craig Ferguson was over.  No, I'm just kidding....or ammm  I?... ;-)


It is very nice having a few hours off for the 4th of July.  Here is a picture of some our my very own lettuce from my balcony garden that we used for salad with our spaghetti tonight. Yum!

Of course the balcony garden was planted before I got really busy!  I'm hoping the cucumbers, zuchini and pole beans survive the heat. We've been having several days of 100 degree weather and that is not great for vegetable gardens.

I checked out the filter in the A/C unit and after only 3 weeks it was really full with dog hair and such. Ick!  Hubby went and got a new filter for me.  Hard to believe it barely lasts 3 weeks!  Well with 5 furkids and needing to run the air every day nowadays it is no surprise.

Not going to try to catch the fireworks tonight, it will be really crowded for sure because there aren't many towns that are having them with the drought we are in.  We're watching Eagle Eye right now and I haven't seen it before but it really is action packed at least so far.  Going to get back to it and enjoy the rest of my evening.

Well I was hoping...

to have posted this yesterday so that it wouldn't look like quite so long since I've blogged. 

But just to let you know I am fine, just working alot.  How much ? Well in the work I'm in it is feast or famine and I have been working 16 hrs days, (trying to) sleep 7 hours and just goofing off the other hour per day.

Luckily I still manage to keep in my exercise and then there is the power walk in the evening with my youngest (and oldest when she is visiting), so despite all the work I have probably never been in better shape since pre-baby!  And yes I am working this weekend all weekend as well, but hey sometimes we do what we have to do...I keep playing the lottery but until my luck has turned..I am a slave to my work.

I'll definitely stop back sooner than a month later!  But just wanted to blog a keep in touch.. entry...
Hope everyone has a great 4th of July !

Is it summer yet?...

No?...Well it sure feels like it. I think this is going to be a hot summer this year. We've already had a few days hit 100 or more and it isn't even officially 'summer' yet.  Not complaining though, I much prefer heat to cold so bring it on! :)

I have been so busy as of late with work that I haven't had time to write here.  When I say busy, I mean working some nights until Craig Ferguson is on.  I was lucky today and got done at a decent time...time enough to go for a long walk with my youngest who got off work earlier than normal (had an earlier day) too so that worked out nice. We caught the first half of So You Think You Can Dance, also.  Love that show!  Probably because both my girls are dancers, especially my oldest who loves it so much she is getting a Masters in it. 

Between work and trying to help with my mom, I don't have much me time.  I've been at least doing some singing while I work to keep my voice in half way decent shape at least...never know....maybe someday. My mom has had health issues and her back is hurting her again. I may be taking her to get an x-ray sometime tomorrow, not sure.  Her bones are very brittle and she is getting really frail. I think the zest for life has left her poor body and it is sad to see her not really enjoy anything as of late. I am proud that my dad still gets out and plays bridge and makes lamps as he is even slightly older than she. He tries to help her with whatever she needs, but sometimes I think she just needs a new body, and with that no one can help.

Some days I sure wish I'd win the lottery.  Then I could do so many thing I'd like to do, enjoy life more and have the option of working be just that...an option.  At least I am playing once in a while now so there is always that chance! :)

Happy Memorial Day..

Hope everyone had a Happy Memorial Day and took time out to thank our troops both present and past for all that they do!..

Will blog soon.. worked all weekend...

~ Phew! ~

Was just sweating out a tornado watch.  Luckily the storm passed through just to the north of us and I am very good at storm tracking right to our street since I have spotted exactly where we live on the Interactive weather map. We did hear non-stop thunder though for about a half hour earlier.  Then I was getting a little worried and stopped working and shut down my main computer.

Now all alerts for this area are over and frankly I don't think we even got much but a spattering of rain.

Let's see ..I know it has been way too long since I blogged.  For a while my work was slow and so I was taking a lot of walks and now it is getting busy, so I haven't had as much time to blog.

I DID find out something wonderful yesterday!!  I had been holding off on getting my mammogram which was due last October (well that was my one year since prior one).  I wanted to avoid going to the doctor, having that extra expense just to get a script for the mammogram.  But last month I realized I was 6 months overdue. Okay fast forward....went to the doctor last week and got my mammogram finally yesterday morning.  Here's the great news which I wish I had known YEARS ago.

I asked the place that did the mammogram if I absolutely HAD to go to a doctor first and get a script for a mammogram or could I just get one.  I was thrilled to find out as long as I'm over 40...yes the guy telling me the criteria was being kind... and not on medicare/medicaid and the doctor that I choose to send reports to does not require me to have an appointment first, I CAN they called it 'self-diagnose' to have my own mammograms. He checked on his 'list' my doctor's name and said I'm good to go. So next year when it is time I will just make my appointment and skip the worthless visit (and bill).  Wish I had known that before and I would not have waited so long.  Fingers crossed as always that there will be no results from this mammogram.

I have to say that I am very pleased since I went on my 'get even heathier' push. I have been walking nearly every day, eating healthy and did just start taking added Calcium/Vitamin D as I asked my doctor whether I should as I don't take any extra calcium and I don't wish for bone problems like my poor mother is experience!  Without even really trying I have been shedding weight.  I was not what anyone would consider overweight before but I did weigh as much as 151 in the a..m. (when I weight the least) and today I weighed 135.4 lbs!  Woo hoo!  I can definitely tell my waistline is smaller and my legs are thinner. Go me! :)

I am also happy to say that my youngest is home for the summer now and it is really great to have her here again.  She is already back to working her summer job in retail sales.  She likes it and she can earn money to save for college expenses next year, plus she can't get as bored being 'at home'.

Mothers Day

Another Mother's Day has come and gone...got a phone call from each of my daughters which was very nice!  This is the one day out of the year I know I can count on hearing from both of them. Yay for this day!  The youngest will be home soon for the summer.  This may be the last summer she is home all summer, as she is itching to do something else for the summer, but I insisted she come home this summer.  Not sure what next year will hold.  May be getting closer to that empty nest that this blog was titled for.  Hope that this summer goes S L O W !

My oldest is getting ready to move again.  She's subletting an apartment from a friend for the summer. She's got 2 more years of grad school but not sure what she is doing. She needs to support herself while attending and not sure how that's going to work out.  Life is challenging to say the least. 

I visited my mom (and dad) today too with my hubby and we visited for a while. My sister was there when we got there with her son, but she was on her way out the door and had already taken lunch for them.  We stayed and chatted a while with the folks about politics, one of my mom's favorite topics these days. Glad she is still spirited about something!  

May Day!

"It's May, it's May the lusty month of May"....in case you don't know it that is from Camelot.. Anyway changed the calender today.

This is a good month!  It is the month my youngest comes home from college for the summer.  It is the month that I can put away my winter clothes..well I think so at least.  The temmperatures today plummeted from the 80's to the 50's !  It is 6:19PM but it is only 55 degrees out in central Texas.  Weird!  Luckily other than sporadic wildfires, we have escaped any of the horrific weather that has hit so many of the states.  But we are in a drought situation so that is not good. 

My hub came back from being back East on Thursday.  He looked really beat!  It took him a few days to feel a little better.  One good thing about him going back East besides being there for his friend is that he has decided to QUIT SMOKING!  Woo hoo!  I don't know if it was that he realized it is not doing his body any good and the fact that he just came back from a funeral for a 46 year old woman or what, but whatever the reason I am thrilled.  I have only ever known him to be a smoker.   He has only had 3 cigarettes per day the last 2 days (this will make day #3).  I am so proud of him and am his biggest cheerleader!  He has also decided to try to eat healthier and walk with me once in a while. He did walk with me last evening too.  Not only will it be so much better for his lungs and health it will save us at least $1500/yr by him not buying those cancer sticks! 


 

~ Happy Easter ~

While many are going to church today, celebrating the rise of Christ, or having Easter Egg hunts, or gathering with family, I wanted to take some time to blog about life, or rather death and how suddenly it can change everything.

My husband got a call from his best friend back east on Thursday.  It was a shocking call.  This man's wife who was only 46, never drank, smoke, well you know the rest...was found dead at work. She was working a graveyard shift at the nursing home and was found still clutching the curtain in the room she was in, and had already been gone for hours.  They think it may have been a brain aneurysm.  She left behind her loving husband who is one of those old fashioned typical males that likes to hunt deer, fix things that need fixing, and provide for his family. She also left behind two children, a 10 year old daughter and a 15 year old boy.  It is going to be hard on all of them for I can't fathom how long.

When I hear about this sort of thing, especially when it is someone I know...it really jolts me.  We all walk around hearing "Live each day as if it is your last".  I think about those words and how hard they are to live by.  I think a better mantra should go something like.. Even though you need to go to work every day, take care of your house, and do everything else you have on your daily plate, don't get your plate to a point of overflowing. What your day does entail, do it with purpose,  happiness and confidence and tell your loved ones you love them every day. And if your spirit is not like this on a daily basis, but rather full of deadlines, stress, headaches, sleeplessness or sleepiness...then you need to slow down..so you can feel good about yourself at the end of the day.  It is easy to think there is plenty of time to relax, be with family and enjoy your life, but one never knows.  It is all about balance.

We never know when it is our "time".  I do believe in heaven and I also believe in the possibility of returning back for another life on Earth.  I only hear/read positive things about the afterlife from those who claim to have been on the other side and have come back. For me, it should be only a great thing (assuming I end up in the better place).  It is so much harder for those left behind.

Sorry to be so morbid on a day that is suppose to be happy and full of celebration, but this has been on my mind that this is what blogs are for right?

To end on a lighter note, my youngest is home for the holiday and it has been great as usual having her here. Next time she comes home it will be for the summer again. Yippee!  Happy Easter to my oldest who couldn't make it here.  To everyone, tell those close to you that you love them!

..from Shadow's view...

I know I posted about helping to walk dogs last weekend at the local animal shelter, but I thought I'd do my best to convey what it may have been like for Shadow, the cute Chihuahua/mini dobie mix puppy that was one of the dogs I played with.

A visit from a nice lady….

I was sitting in the kennel with my two brothers waiting for somebody, anybody to come around to play with me.  I saw this lady who took one of my friends two kennels down out to play in the play yard.  When she came back I tried my best to get her attention. I jumped up and down and even used one of my brothers as a step stool to get her attention first.  After all, there were three of us in this space and if I wanted to get that lady’s attention, I had to stand out!

Here she comes, she is close by. She’s looking down at all of us. She looks happy.  On no, now she is walking away from me to another kennel.

Sadly, the lady took a big black dog and went away with it.  Why would she want to walk a stupid big black dog that wasn’t even jumping up and down for attention?  Well hopefully she will come back.  I have hope.  It may be my lucky day. 

It seemed like forever, but the lady finally came back.  She spotted me and my brothers and smiled again. Then she went away. No wait, I see her at the back door of this thing.  She’s talking to another lady.  She is shaking her head.  Maybe because there are three of us, she doesn’t want to bother with me. She was gone again. Now she is back in the front of the kennel.  I’m gonna get there first!  Zoom…Plop.  I’m in front now and so is she but my brothers are not. Lucky me! Oh the back door has a wall there now. Weird, I guess my brothers are stuck back there. Good! “Lady, pick me, pick me!”, I thought.  

Then she opened the door and was in the kennel with me.  I jumped up and licked her hand and she put this heavy metal thing around my neck, but I didn’t care. I was getting attention. She opened the door and I was free!!  I hopped up and down and was too excited to go for a ‘walk’. She was pulling gently on that long thing that was attached to the metal thing around my neck.  I didn’t care where we went. All I knew was that I was out of that cage! 

She took me into a place and closed a metal gate which was sort of like the door to that kennel I’ve been living in, but since she is in there with me, it is okay. Then she took that heavy metal thing off my neck and starting jumping and hopping herself.  I joined in with her and then spotted a big thing in the yard. It was almost as big as me with many legs and so I picked it up and shook it. This made the lady laugh.  There was a big long thing that looked like I could walk up one side and down the other, but it was way too high for me and scared me.  But inside it was nice and cool, so I would run around in the sun then hide inside it.  Then I heard the lady calling so I ran out again. We were playing for a while like this. Then the lady started talking to someone that I’ve seen around, helping me and my brothers sometimes.  I was getting tired and hot, so the nice lady picked me up and I snuggled against her shoulder and closed my eyes... Ahhhh…

After a little while, the lady put that heavy metal thing over my head again, opened that gate, and we were walking again. ”Oh no…not THAT way”, I barked.  She was taking me back to my brothers.  Not that I hate my brothers, but I really don’t want to go back into that place with the hard floors. It is so boring there and makes me sad.  She opened the front gate and my brothers were not there.  They must still be stuck in the back.  She took off that heavy metal thing and I jumped up, kissing her hand, pleading with her to take me with her. She turned and walked away, closing that kennel door. Click.

Then she left. Oh no, there she is!  She was around back and now my brothers are back here with me.  I ran up toward her, while my brothers shied away.  No please, please take me home!!  She smiled and me, blew me a kiss and said something.  I don’t know what it was but it was a very soothing voice.  Then she was gone.

(the things I said was.. "Hope you find a loving home real soon!"

Long day...

Got up early today (before 7 is early for me on a Saturday)...to go do my volunteer work at the Local Animal Shelter's annual garage sale.  It was a long day, didn't get home until after 2:00 and there was a lot of work taking down tables, etc., but it was fun.  I got to meet some other very nice people (other volunteers) and was glad to help out for a good cause.  Too bad there was still a lot of stuff left at the end and there was no where to put it, so it all was trashed.  I salvaged some things I just could not see throwing out, well we all did as best we could :-).   But...anyway, it was a good day, with a fair amount of people considering the other things going on like the Red Poppy Festival which is this weekend too.

Some of the treasures I took home were some Corelle dinner plates (7) and dessert plates (7) which were in perfect shape. I really only have a few Corelle dishes and like to use them over the heavy dinner plates and was really happy to find these.  They have a cute pattern on them too (little hearts).  I also got a nice long wood planter that I cleaned up and am using on the balcony for planting more vegetables. I got some large artificial flowers (orange/red) that I used to replace the flowers in the pots on either side of the front door as they were quite faded.  I got a nice patchwork pillow for decoration in front of the fireplace, another smaller pillow with the saying Dogs are just kids with fur. That pillow is going on the glider up on the balcony.  I also got a cute small corner 3 shelved thing to hang on the wall that is pink and I thought my oldest would like that. Also got a paper shredder that works great, a few CDs for artists I don't know but they were brand new with plastic still on, so I thought I'd give them a listen. I also got 4 place mats that were the rag type. I want to see how it looks if I hand sew them next to each other, to see if it makes an okay rag rug for the balcony.  I got a few other things I can't recall right now.  But overall I was really pleased...and I didn't think I'd bring anything home.

After dinner I took one of the dogs for a walk, not real long as I was already pretty tired from working at the garage sale.  Time to just chill out and relax....not sure I'll be awake for too much Saturday Night Live  ;-)

Productive weekend.... :-)

I had a little bit of work to do this weekend, and got that done yesterday morning.  It was a beautiful weekend and yesterday after finishing work, I did some laundry and mopped the front balcony and cleaned the furniture there too. It looks so much nicer now.  I saw that I have cucumbers and zucchini coming up, in fact the zucchini is already like 8 inches tall.  Woo hoo!!  Hopefully will have a better harvest this year than last when it got so hot for so long, most of it burned up and dried/died.  The paint on the deck is peeling in some places, so added to my long wish list...getting the decks stripped/repainted next year (if I put it on next year .. there is a slightly better chance of it happening). :-) 

Still keeping up with my walking every day, I took a walk after dinner with our high energy sheltie, Molly.  I decided to walk around the neighborhood behind us a little and surprise our other dogs by coming up the back yard fence (which is a way I never go). So we ventured out on our walk, first I walked up the street like I normally do, but then when we got to our street I kept going straight and walked around to the cul-de-sac development behind us. When I got past 2 houses there was a dog that came running out and barking and startled me and Molly. I was worried it was going to attack her, but it did stop and then I thought there must be an invisible fence.  But I hesitated, until a lady came out and told me not to worry, that they had an invisible fence. I thanked her and we started walking. No sooner did I get past her house, on the other side of the street a dog came barreling out barking toward us.  I saw the lady was still outside the first house and yelled up to her "Do you know if this one has an invisible fence too?"  She said yes, and sure enough it did not go beyond its property line.  But my nerves were a bit rattled by the time I got to the path that led to the back of our house, and Molly had not stopped barking furiously since we saw the first dog.

So I got an idea, when I got to my house, I surprised the rest of our dogs and at first they thought Molly was strange dog, until they realized it was us.  I was laughing so hard at that.  I got the idea to hand Molly to my hubby over the fence so that I wouldn't be taking her back by the barking dogs again. So I did. Then I went back the way I came and sure enough the 2nd dog was waiting there at the edge of its property...it looked at me...as if to say "Where's your dog?". And the owner who was on his cell phone in his driveway gave me a look too.  I started laughing to myself.  Wonder if they thought I dumped my dog in the woods.  LOL

I was pretty tired by Saturday Night Live time and only caught the first 15 minutes or so..before falling asleep.

Today was exercise day and I did that as usual and then decided to go volunteer at the local animal shelter by walking some of the dogs, since I haven't been there in a while.  The first dog I started to walk was full of energy, and it was pretty clear when I got him out of his kennel that he was going to possibly pull me down to the ground, so after a few steps, I decided to play with him instead in the play area. He did really great at fetching a tennis ball for a while.  Then I took him back and walked a dog that was a really short Lab (Lab mixed with Basset Hound I think).  He was fine to walk and I had no problem with him.  There were several small dogs there, which there usually aren't. There was one kennel with 3 puppies in it that were mini doberman pincher/chihuahua mixes. I got another gal to help me trap 2 of them so I could get one out to walk. I knew I wouldn't be able to take all 3 at once.  This little girl was really cute, jumping up and down, playing with the leash, and interested in playing more than walking. So we went into the play yard and she had a great time. She would chase the toys then go hide in an agility ramp, then bop out again.  I started chatting with one of the employees there and picked her up and she snuggled her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes..She was so cute!   But we are not getting any more dogs, so I didn't let myself grow too attached.  Then she went back in her kennel and I walked a dachshund (hot dog I like to call them), last. I think it was a bit hot thought for that one because he wasn't too interested in walking very far. I spent over 2 hours there. 

Rest of the day was relaxing, coupon clipping and writing up the menu/grocery list for the next two weeks. Nice to feel like I got some things accomplished!!

Surprise!..

Yesterday I was getting ready to go take a long walk and when I was grabbing my pedometer I leave in the garage, I saw something move on the shelf.  Here is our most recent visitor.  I didn't see it today so I'm not sure where it is now, but probably somewhere in the garage. I zoomed in, so no it is not THAT big.  Maybe 4-5 inches long from head to tail.

Spring has Sprung!

I was going to skip buying any flowers or vegetables this year since money is tight, but when I went grocery shopping Monday, I couldn't resist the price of flowers. 64cents a pot for bedding flowers (petunas, impatients, etc). So I bought a flat since that wasn't much money and got two .99 cent bags of potting soil. Yesterday I cleared out the old dried flowers and vegetables, tilled the soil with a hand trough, and planted the flowers and the vegetable seeds I had leftover from last year and used the potting soil to mix with the soil already there. Actually I already planted Kale about a week ago and that is sprouting.  I have a picture of that too below! This year for a change we placed three of the hanging planters on our balcony so that they can get better sunlight. The pitch of the lower porch just is such that sun cannot get to flowers I try to have in planters there. Found that out a few years ago when they just all pretty much died within weeks.

<---Kale

Beautiful Day!!

It was a gorgeous day outside. The wind has finally stopped blowing. It seemed to have been blowing for weeks! My youngest is here this weekend. What a great couple of weekends. First my oldest last week for several days and a great visit, and now the youngest is here. It is so nice when the kids are here..we can take walks...chat...reconnect..and just spend quality time together! I'm so happy to have great kids!

Today I used the hand trowel and tilled the soil in one of the planters on the front balcony to put some seeds in that I had left over from last year.  Hopefully some vegetables will come up. I may do more of them tomorrow as I have other seeds to try too. Today I planted Kale seeds. Hopefully it won't get hot too soon to grow.  At least no money has been spent so if it doesn't work no big deal.  In an attempt to really watch the wallet, which is getting cobwebs, I need to try this first. Then maybe I'll get some pepper plants like I did last year. Those did really well. 

My youngest and I took a long walk today, we walked all the way down to the park and it was really nice out. I was a bit worried I'd get sunburned on my legs because I wore shorts and I forgot to put suntan lotion on my legs, but they seem to be fine.  It was fun walking down to the park but it is a bit further than I'm used to walking.  I got through it, thankfully with the bottle of water we each had, that helped.  It is uphill coming back up the road, but I did fine.  It goes so much easier and faster when someone is with me walking. So thanks Stac! And thanks Dani for last weekend's walking. These are the times when I get to remind myself..it is not quite an Empty Nest just yet.

I forgot to mention that I did retest my fasting blood sugar 10 days after the first time and it was 91, so that was great news!  I am planning on keeping up the walking every day, even if occasionally it has to be a short one. I've been doing it every day for 2 weeks straight, so off to a good start!  Life is good!

Saturday ...in the Park...

Today I volunteered at the local animal shelter. They had a special spay/neutering day that they had for cats and I have never seen so many cats in one day! ;-)   It worked out pretty well as there were enough people to do the job. I was happy to help and when that was done I even stayed and walked two dogs (separately as they instruct). There is a park right near the shelter so plenty of places to walk.

The first dog I walked was a Pit Bull...I would not have picked that dog to walk but the gal who showed me what to do, picked it.  I am very Leary of the breed, can't help it, heard too many stories about them attacking...so I started out a bit cautiously but then it went fine.  She was really a well behaved dog.  The other dog I walked was a Black Lab who was bigger that the Pit but I used to own a Black Lab mix so I felt more comfortable with that guy.  It was nice getting some of my 'steps' in by walking them and helping them out at the same time, although I forgot my pedometer so I don't know how many steps I got in.

After dinner this evening I walked one of ours, Tika (my shadow) for about 30 minutes. So got some exercise in and got some work done as well.

I felt pretty good today, first day OFF any Truvia !   No bloating, no diarrhea.  I'm not going to bother experimenting any further, (not going to give it a try again), so will chuck the rest of it tomorrow.  I would offer it on freecycle but it is already opened and I wouldn't wish the side effects on anyone else either, so in the trash it is going.

Now to relax for the rest of the night...

I do NOT recommend Truvia !!

First let me say my oldest was here to visit during her Spring Break.  She stayed for 3 nights and that is the most she has stayed ever!!  It was so great having her here.  We got some great walks in, some with the dogs and a few without.  It is so much harder with certain dogs who just bark at everything and everybody!! Last night we took a short walk after dinner and that was nice and quiet!  I feel guilty we didn't take any of the dogs but hey, sometimes we people need a break from the furkids.

My oldest got to visit with the grandparents a little and spent some time being entertained by my hubby when I was working.  All in all, she was relaxed, happy and it was great to have her here.  She knows the door is always open for her, so hopefully she'll come back sooner than later.

.....
Now onto the Truvia story.. Monday while doing my grocery shopping I decided to try Truvia as I heard it was a good alternative to sugar and natural, etc..blah.. blah.. Tuesday I put about a half teaspoon in my coffee and a little bit on my cereal.  Wednesday same thing and I started feeling a little crampy and bloated, but passed it off to being that time of the month. I haven't totally gotten to menopause yet, and figured it was my once every 5-6 months period. 

By last night I felt bloated and something just didn't feel right. This morning, coffee again with Truvia...and then I got stomach cramping and then some diarrhea.  Then more.  I started wondering if it was the Truvia. That was the only thing I had really changed in my diet and everyone else felt fine. After doing some searching on the Internet I found more than one website with threads of conversation dealing with these sort of side affects from using Truvia. Some even got migraines, neck and back pains.  I'm convinced that is what the problem is.  I am going to stop taking it and see if I get better. I bet I do.  Then I plan to throw the rest away...shame too..as it was not cheap! 

I am going to just stick to regular sugar, if I really want it.  I'll just use less than I normally do for coffee. So anyone who is reading this that is thinking about trying Truvia, please read up about it first and maybe just try a packet or two to see if you have a reaction before you buy a whole container of it.

Today is the first day in over a week that I didn't take some sort of walk but between work and doing a bit of running (in a car, not literally running) around with my oldest, didn't have time. I'll make sure to get some good walks in this weekend though.

Woo Hoo!!!

I got a blood sugar meter yesterday and got a good deal. Walgreens own brand had a mail in rebate for the full price I paid, so that is cool. Mailed it today so that I wouldn't forget about it or accidentally throw out the box (which would have the UPC bar code I would need), which I have been known to do. If its free its for me!

So fasted last night and tested my blood sugar before I drank or ate anything this morning.  Guess what?  It was 89 !!!  Thus... the Woo Hoo!.. For those who may not know, the normal range for fasting blood sugar is 70-100.  So my blood sugar was normal and I'm so glad.  Now this doesn't mean I am going to slack off what I have been doing.  I am going to keep at it. So that I don't have to go totally without something sugary in my coffee, I did get some Truvia yesterday. I only needed about a half teaspoon today and it was very close to sugar. I think its going to work well!

I went to the local animal shelter today for orientation as I want to volunteer to help with their animals there when I'm not busy with work and since I haven't had weekend work for a while, I went today. I met some very nice people there and I'm sure I will enjoy helping out. It was hard seeing all the lonely dogs (and cats) needing homes, but at least I can help by walking some at times, and helping out with events they have.

After we had lunch, hubby and I walked three of the dogs and then I broke off and walked Merlin a lot further, in fact stopped at my folks to say hi. Then I walked Molly and Tika for a while too. Only did a little over 3600 steps but it was getting pretty hot and I had walked enough for today.  I guess I was not in as good of shape as I thought (since I already exercise 3 x week). My thighs are sore from walking and I don't see how I can walk 10,000 steps at one time any time soon.  That is a lot of walking!  I'll just have to try to increase it gradually.  Maybe do it in two walks and not all in one.  We'll see how it goes.  I was just so glad to have a normal reading this morning!

Pedometer..

Today I finally got a pedometer so I can see just how many steps I am taking with all these walks. I know Dr Oz says we are to walk 10,000 steps a day (as a goal).  I took one of my spunkier dogs with me, Merlin, on the walk. 4462! That is the number of steps it indicated I went.  That wasn't too bad. :-)  I already did my regular exercise this morning also so I don't think I have to do that long of a walk on the days I exercise.  I have no clue how my blood sugar is doing but I plan to get a meter tomorrow at some point so I can see how it is Saturday morning after I've changed some things for a whole week.  I am getting used to, I guess, having my coffee with no sugar.  It just isn't that great.  I don't even usually finish the cup which I guess is fine too, but it makes me hungry for breakfast earlier than used to.  I think I am going to look into other cereals besides oatmeal.  I've been sticking with that for a long time now and since it apparently hasn't done THAT well for me, I want to add something else to my morning breakfast selection.  I have already starting substituting a scrambled egg (on whole wheat toast), every couple days as I read eggs are good for keeping blood sugar down. Think I'll try All Bran.. any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment.

I am looking forward to the oldest's visit during Spring Break next week.  It will be so good to have her here and have some good visiting time in!  My youngest is going to help out with a church group event, sort of like missionary work and I'm hoping that goes well for her.  I know we have to let our kids grow up and experience life...it is just hard sometimes when we'd rather they be home whenever possible!

I disagree...Suze

This morning, while grabbing my one cup of coffee (without sugar now) .. yuck( it is taking some getting used to)! ..I was sitting in the kitchen watching a morning television show with my husband.  They had Suze Orman on as a guest to answer a few callers questions about money.  As much as I usually love Suze and usually agree wholeheartedly with what she says, I did not agree with her today. Perhaps it was due to the fact that there were only a few minutes for this Q & A, but here it is. A woman who is 60 wanted to know if she could retire next year. She has over $750K in retirement and other accounts, home owned free and clear, no other debts, no dependents and she clearly stated she does not spend a lot every month for living expenses.  This to me equals someone who is frugal with money and doesn't go on a lot of trips or shopping sprees.  Suze's answer?  NO WAY. .She told this woman she would not be eligible for social security for years and should work until she is 70 for the best security. It isn't that I don't agree that yes, she will get the most in social security benefits the longer she waits to retire, and she won't get any social security for at least a few years but my thinking is this... 

By owning her home free and clear she only has taxes and insurance and whatever maintenance costs there are. The fact that she may be able to retire next year gives me the impression that she is going to be eligible for pension at that time which would be a monthly income. Depending on how much that pension is, she could possibly live on THAT, until her social security would kick in, that granted yes, would be less per month but maybe she doesn't need to worry about getting all she can in social security benefits. 

If she can live on the pension she gets, she doesn't even need to touch the $750K she has in retirement and other investments, which could still continue to earn interest/dividends until she does want to tap into them.  And with no additional interest income whatsoever, if she takes out (when she can with no penalty) $25,000/yr to live on...that $750K should last her 30 years, so at this current juncture..this equates to well into her 90s before it is gone.  And that is just if she has to tap into it at all.

I'm just saying that this poor woman on the other end of the phone who probably had her heart set on retiring next year, just got some depressing news that she should really wait another 10 YEARS.  This is assuming she can still work, is healthy enough..etc... I just wish Suze would have asked a few more questions instead of bursting the bubble for this hopeful woman who obviously was looking forward to retiring into thinking she needs to work for another 10 years....

I hope this lady gets another opinion.   :-)

Saturday....

I did a bunch of cleaning today since it had been a while since cleaned the first floor well.  My hubby pitches in and does some house work which is really appreciated.  I just want things spotless when I clean, like the floors. I use a rag and bucket of water and scrub the floors so that they are very clean and with 5 dogs, believe me they get pretty dirty!

Even the air gets dirty in here. When we're using the heat or A/C most of the time, I need to change the air filter in the furnace at least once a month, and even then it is pretty clogged up and gray. 

The first floor is in good shape now for at least a day or two. :-)  

This is another movie rental weekend.  This time we rented Due Date, Clash of the Titans, Inception (my hasn't seen it but I have), and The American (George Clooney).  We saw Due Date and Clash of the Titans today and they were both pretty much what I expected.  I'm looking forward to seeing Inception again, it was tough to follow when I saw it in the theater. I liked the special effects though, very cool!

I am really bummed as I got the results of some blood tests that were just routine needed for insurance purposes. My fasting blood sugar was higher than it should have been and that really gets me mad.  I eat so healthy, and I exercise (although not every day of the week), and am not overweight. It just doesn't seem possible to me.  But I did go ahead and look up ways to reduce blood sugar levels and one was to exercise every day. I also decided to lower my intake of sugar as much as possible, although the only time I ever add table sugar is when I have my one cup of coffee in the morning. I may look into those sugar substitutes such as stevia, not sure yet. I might try less sugar first.  I usually put 2 teaspoons of sugar in my coffee but I started using one yesterday. Yuck!  Didn't even finish it, it tasted so bad. I don't know how people drink coffee black. ICK!  But I'm going to try to keep whittling it down to 1/2 teaspoon. And instead of putting my liquid vitamins in juice I started just adding a little water to it. I already rarely drink soda and really do not eat a lot of sweets. I already eat old fashioned oatmeal every day with cinnamon for breakfast and I drink green tea too, so already do some things good for lowering blood sugar (part of the reason I was frustrated at the results).

I'm planning to see how walking 30 minutes/day (one of the things they recommend), on the days I don't exercise may even try to do it on days I DO exercise) and watch sugar and what I eat even MORE so..and see if that doesn't help keep it in normal range.  If that still doesn't do it, I did see some additional remedies for lowering blood sugar online that I may try such as apple cider vinegar before meals. I am not interested in the potential of being put on meds. I just love that so far I have escaped the need to go on any medications for anything chronic and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

Georgetown.. or SKUNKtown..

For several nights in a row I've woken up to the strong stench of skunk!  It penetrates through the closed windows I guess..and hits me like a ton of bricks. I roll over in bed and take a deep breath and start to gag it is so bad, it wakes me up. The first night I smelled it, I even got up to see if we had an open window since it was so strong.  I've also seen three dead skunks on the roads around town too.  I guess it is 'skunk season' but I hope it ends soon or I will put in a petition to officially change the name of this town to Skunktown!

Well it is hump day.  Turned out to be a beautiful sunny day today and got up to 75 degrees.  Started out in the upper 30s this morning. We walked the dogs and I was glad to get a little Vitamin D in (from the sun). I noticed today that my husband is getting quite a thinning hair area on the back of his head.  It isn't what I would call balding but could see his scalp through some of his hair near the top center. I didn't bother pointing it out as he probably knows and would rather I not bring it up. ;-)

Speaking of hair, I got a long over due haircut on Saturday and got it back to really short and sassy. And I finally got the blond chunk highlights that I used to get.  My hairdresser had not used a strong enough blend before and now finally has it. I love it!  It was weird first time I washed it once again, as there was what felt like no hair in the back to shampoo. At least I only need a pencil point amount of shampoo. :)

Okay were watching American Idol and it is the top 12 gals tonight. I didn't catch the guys last night but the first gal on, sang flat nearly the whole song and Randy was the only one who agreed with me. Randy may turn out to be the new Simon if the other 2 judges aren't going to be honest with these people!

When it rains it pours...

If it isn't bad enough that work is slow, my work laptop quit on me yesterday and after talking with someone who knows computers after I described what the issue is, he told me it sounds like my Motherboard is shot. Great.  Not what I need right now...not that I ever need it.  Why is it when times are rough..that's when things happen that just hit the wallet even more? There is something to that saying "When it rains it pours".

Against the odds we did play the lottery yesterday but didn't win. That time I was thinking "you have to play to win".  :-)   At least it was nice being hopeful for a day...

Another Blockbuster movie rental weekend. This time we rented The Blind Side (hubby had never seen it before), Green Zone, SALT and a Steven Seagal movie that wasn't very good.  We are watching Green Zone now, and may catch some of the Academy Awards later, not sure.  I can always find out tomorrow who the big winners were, undoubtedly The Kings Speech...and a few others will get some since that's all I've heard for the last 2 months. 

Hope this next week is a good work week for me. Fingers crossed.. 

Looking forward to next month...should be seeing both girls which will be very nice!! 

Shocking....

..I know it is...isn't it?.. that I am blogging yet again? :-)

Funny how I can blog when work is slow.  It was rainy today and yes that means paw prints appeared all over the kitchen/dining/living room from the furkids.  I cleaned it partly but didn't bother thoroughly cleaning since it was damp a good part of the day and I figured I'd wait until tomorrow to see what else gets tracked in, in the morning. At least I picked up a shit load (literally) of poop last weekend so they are only tracking in mud, and not poop too. : - )

I decided when I get the means to.. I plan to start a blog of my SouthernBelleGourmet and similar to the movie Julie and Julia that I saw with my youngest, I will make something from the website store every day...well that's the plan anyway.  I will post how easy it was to make, ingredients, photos, even contests and specials..to get that business going.  It is wonderful food, priced right, convenient and easy to make, and I've got to spread the word, so what better way than to have a blog about it! 

Back to...Criminal Minds.. was watching American Idol but I'd rather hear a full song being sung than a snippet here and there so after the first hour of it, we switched stations.

....Musings....

It would be nice if this warm weather was here to stay....let us pray...

My mom is home from the Rehab Hospital...it would be nice if she continues to get better...let us pray..

It would be nice if my work picked up...so that I wouldn't have to worry about the almighty dollar all the time...dare I pray?....

I wish I hadn't forgotten one of my dog's vet appointment this morning...left a message to reschedule..let us pray. I don't forget the next time.

I hope the burn I got on my arm this evening from the hot pan, heals up quickly and without a lot of blistering...let us pray...

I hope I win that home in Stove, Vt that I entered twice daily to win on HGTV since January 1st...dare I pray?....

Funny thing about prayer, when I was little I said my prayers every night, and before dinner time and at church. 

I still pray but not quite as often as I did as a kid. I also heard somewhere along the way that we are not suppose to pray for things like winning the lottery, or landing that job...but why not?  We need to appear humble in the eyes of God?  I don't know that I believe we shouldn't pray for things like that, as long as when good things happen we Thank God for his hand in it, as often is probably the case, whether we will openly admit it or not.

So I am going to continue to pray about whatever comes to mind, no matter what it is...whether it is for world peace or a piece of the pie....and not worry about whether it is taboo or not. I'll just make sure I also thank him for all he does and not just when things are good.  ;-)

Another day....

Went to visit my mom today in the Rehab hospital she is staying in.  She had been doing better, doing therapy as instructed, eating better, and generally feeling better.  Thank God !   Then she got a therapist that pushed her too far....strained her back ..(hope that is ALL that happened)...and unfortunately seemed about the same as when she got there a week ago.  Bummer!  Why do people not take into consideration someone's AGE when they help them with physical therapy?  Nuts!  Simply nuts!!  I just hope mom hasn't fractured any more vertebrae in her back. Not sure she could handle that.

On a brighter note it has really been nice here this week and I've been enjoying the 70+ degree days.  First time in a long time didn't have to have the heat on, not even in the morning.  Spent a few times on the back porch drinking in the sun that has felt like a stranger for so long.  We walked the dogs more this week than we have in a while too.  The boys loved re 'marking' their spots along the walk.  Sure is nice that spring is coming soon.

We rented some movies for the weekend. We saw The Town this afternoon which I thought was pretty good, then we watched Crazy Heart which I liked the music but the story line was not real strong.  We also have Sherlock Holmes and a Mel Gibson movie to watch tomorrow.  Think we'll start renting movies more now that I don't have weekend work as it is so much cheaper than going to the movies. I love going to the movies, but after the tickets and snacks for 2 people it is close to $40~!  That's a bit steep for this lady.

Hope the nice weather sticks around ! 

Valentine's Eve...

Been a long time since I blogged.  I was going to blog last Saturday but got distracted as my mother hurt her back, how is still a mystery, and needed to go to the E.R.  She is 84 and I'm afraid her body is giving out on her.  She had 2 fractured vertebrae and had an operation to repair them (operation involves filling up discs with a cement type of filler). She had the same operation nearly a year ago but it was just on one vertebrae. The procedure is called Kyphoplasty.

She is slow to recover as she is still in some pain and has a hard time moving around...bottom line...getting old sucks!   I look at her and just pray that I can stay strong and healthy for a long time to come...but if not, that I go quickly. When I look at her, I see someone who really does not get a lot out of life these days and hasn't for the last couple years.  Either due to being stressed, fatigued, not feeling well...the desire to do much just isnt' there.  At least I have been going to lunch with her every Friday for the most part although now that will probably be on hold for a while again like it was last year, although I visit her and make her lunch instead of go out to eat, at least that is what I did last year and probably will again soon. 

She is currently in a Rehab Hospital until possibly the end of the week, so hopefully she'll be in better shape by the end of the week, who knows though. 

My youngest did come home for the weekend to visit and as always it was nice having her.  Hoping the oldest can get home for a weekend sometime soon too.  She hasn't been here since Christmas!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day so Happy Valentines Day to all those with someone special in their lives.  My hub and I do not have plans as money is tight, as is typical these days...so we'll just say Happy Valentine's Day to each other, just like at Christmas we just said Merry Christmas.  Gifts are overrated, especially when trying to stay above water. :- )   It is gift enough for me to have my health and my happiness and I'm doing well in both those areas of my life...so no complaints here.

Seeing a pattern...

I've noticed the last several posts were on Saturdays. That is when I have the most time to relax and think about blogging I guess. I will try to write more often though, although sometimes there just is not a lot to blog about. I know boring...!!  

The other day hubby came home from running up to Walgreen's and brought me a present!  Actually two! Two boxes of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies.  YUM.. Although I try not to eat much in the way of sweets at least these only come out one time a year.  I LOVE these cookies and probably blogged about them before. 

Since I'm on the topic of food, I am planning out my menu/grocery list this weekend and am trying to get back to the shopping for 2 weeks worth as I love having that 2nd shopping day off!  I got off this kick and was back into shopping once a week before the holidays and want to get back to 2 weeks at a time. Maybe you like to grocery shop, but I hate it! With prices of everything going up, I am experimenting with smart meal planning!  Since shopping for 14 days, I am planning to buy a bulk package of chicken breasts and a bulk (5 lb) package of ground beef for various meals. This should cut down on the grocery bill.  I am planning 4 chicken meals and 4 ground beef meals to cover 8 of those 14 days.  We are going to have, Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Quesadillas, Chicken in pasta sauce (one of those pasta envelope sides), and crock pot Barbecue Chicken.  The ground beef will make hamburger helper, meatball sandwiches, hamburgers, and my crock pot meatloaf. 

We will of course have Pizza on Friday nights as we normally do, one frozen pizza, and the other Friday we'll splurge and order a pizza. So I have 10 of the 14 days already planned.  I have a couple steaks in the freezer that I got at the farmers market in the fall so we will have them one night and then I'll come up with a few other things, probably should have some fish/seafood the other days too.  I'm actually excited to see how hopefully this will be a lower grocery bill than normal.  We'll see!

Okay all this talk about food is making me hungry and it isn't even 5:00PM yet.  Going to get just a few more cookies to tie me over..  ;-)

Another Saturday night...

First off want to share a few pictures of some deer my hubby and I caught on camera right from our living room window! :)  These were two different days. It is so neat having nature so close to us.  They love to taunt our dogs who go nuts when they are out front.

Last night my hubby and I and another couple went to a Biker Bar named Hardtails Cafe to go hear a group that was playing. The bass player is the father of my daughter's boyfriend.  I was expecting a small, dark, shady looking sort of place, but it turned out to be big and pretty nice inside and it was packed!  We barely got a parking spot.  When the dinner crowd thinned out we got a table and also met up with another friend of my husband's.  It was really a great time!  I loved hearing the live music and it was a lot of fun laughing, chatting, snacking and singing. The drink prices were very reasonable too.  It was just so nice to have a good time out.  We just rarely go anywhere and now that there is a place close to home that has live entertainment, we plan to go back there (hopefully soon).

I couldn't use the excuse that I had to work this weekend to get out of cleaning SOMETHING in this house.  So I scrubbed the tile floor on the first floor which is most of the floor.  It is a lot of work, but it is squeaky clean again and not sticky!  With 5 dogs it doesn't stay clean very long. Did a couple loads of laundry too. Got the toilets all scrubbed as well, so that is good enough for today. 

I made a peach dessert in the crock pot today to have for dessert. I got the recipe from a great Slow Cooker cook book that my oldest and her hub gave me for Christmas.  Since I am the only one who likes peaches, I saved some for a snack tomorrow and froze the rest to have again.

Tomorrow we may watch a few movies we haven't seen yet.  I should probably work on straightening up my office too but that will depend on my mood.  That is a chore I got to be in the mood for!  ;-)

Bloggin and Pageants...

Here I am watching the Miss America pageant.  Really surprised they have 2 gals with short hair in the top 12!  When my youngest was in the Miss Texas Teen pageant they didnt' have any gals with short hair in the top 10. I'm glad though..because they shouldn't stereotype pageant gals as only those with long hair.

Of course I'm rooting for Miss Texas and my youngest is here watching it with me. The talent competition is on right now and she wishes someone would dance.  We've had 3 singers in a row....

Let's see..it has been cold and rainy here the last few days.  I know I shouldn't complain as at least it isn't SNOW as some are still digging out from recent storms. So even though it isn't right for me to say this...I'm ready for SPRING!

Had lunch today with my youngest, her boyfriend and his mom so we could get together one last time before they head back to college. I have to admit I am jealous of his mom, because she is very popular and knows a lot of people.  I know very few but then again, since I work at home I don't get out much and since don't have any kids in local school, there are no school functions that I have to go to anymore... sometimes I'm happy about that !   So guess I'll just have to be happy with myself and be glad I have some great Internet friends too.

Oh...and finally saw a few dancers!  Okay, call me biased but I think both my girls could do better than what we've seen so far.  Of course they both have been dancing for years too, especially the oldest who has been dancing her entire life (except for the first 3 years)!

Going to enjoy the rest of my 3 day weekend!

Saturday eve...

Okay what's wrong with this picture? Only my hubby and I home and the only place I have left to sit is on the hard floor.  All the furkids were taking up all the other spots.  You know you're getting old when....you stand up from sitting on the hard floor for 10 or 15 minutes with a butt that is asleep and then hurts from sitting on the hard floor.  Oye!



Lucky for me it was treat time and I was able to grab the laz-y-boy when they all went running for a treat!  Suddenly felt like I was the winner at musical chairs.  :-)

I finally had a few days off of work this week but since that put me out of sync I was not quite on the ball and made a few mistakes.  That's what I get for taking a few days off.  My brain was able to relax.  I was allowed to not have to think about anything to do with mortgages, and because of that, I wasn't as sharp on the days I worked.  Weird, huh?  Maybe I should have just taken the whole week off.  Taking one day off, then working the next, then taking the next one off again, my brain just didn't know when it was on vacation or not.  LOL.

I finally got some chia seeds that I've been wanting to get.  These have a lot of great health benefits and so far I've been mixing it with my oatmeal, which I already add honey, cinnamon and fruit to, so it is one healthy bowl of oatmeal. 

Since the youngest is still on her Christmas break, I am getting her to copy all my 25-30 year old exercise tapes to DVDs so that if any of them break as a few have already been getting hung up in the VCR player, I won't be screwed. Since these were just taped televised exercise programs, I would have no way of replacing them.  So I am grateful she knows how to do it and also separate each into the 30 minute shows so that it is easier for me.  I'll be using the first DVD tomorrow. Hope I get the hang of it.

~ Happy New Year ~

Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2011...full of hope.....full of possibilities.....full of dreams.....

Ah... resolutions...do I have any resolutions this year?...

I think instead of making specific resolutions...I am going to...focus on a general one.. but one that I can apply every day... "Don't sweat the small stuff"..

If I can do that every day....my year will be better for sure!

By not sweating the small stuff...I will be going against my natural instincts as a Virgo to be a perfectionist. So this will be resolution enough for me.  If I don't get every chore done when I plan to do it, I won't sweat it.  If the dogs don't get walked because we just don't want to walk them in the cold, I won't sweat it. I could go on and on, but I think I'm getting my point across. 

Another thing I hope to do this year is reduce the debt!  That is more a goal than a resolution because it will take many New Years to achieve this.  What helps me stay on track and know I am getting there is counting down the payments on certain things like installment loans that have so many payment left. Those are easier to count down than say the credit card bills that tend to go up more than down...but hope that gets on more of a downward trend when the installment debts are paid. 

And I want to play the lottery once in a while.  You gotta play to win right?  I'm not talking about going hog wild with it but I never really play it anymore and even once or twice a month would be fun and give me at least a chance to win!

My daughters are back East visiting their friends and family. I'm looking forward to them being back safe and sound and also spending a little more time with the youngest before she returns to college. Well off to make the grocery list out and have some popcorn.   Here's to you 2011!  May it be a GREAT year!!