Back in the Saddle Again (almost)

Phewww! We had a wonderful Christmas and I have had an even more wonderful week doing absolutely nothing. Acutally I was stricken with a cold on Christmas Eve and have spent the week fighting it off. I think this is the cold I was supposed to have gotten prior to my sinus infection of a couple weeks ago and it was just late showing up. There's nothing like a cold with no sense of timing.

Father Christmas (otherwise known as Santa; I've been reading a book by the best British author ever, Rosamunde Pilcher, and now I'm doing a Gwenyth Paltrow and trying to sound British myself) was kind to all of us this year. He brought Rebecca the American Girl Doll with the purple dress which she has been drooling over for months and months. That would be Felicity, the Revolutionary War era doll. He brought Dave and Sam an XBOX 360 and several games. Have I mentioned that I am changing my name officially to Father Christmas? I haven't watched TV since that XBOX came home - it's a nice change from O'Reilly. I've been

R-E-A-D-I-N-G! You know, that thing I used to do all the time before I had a family? I'm even almost caught up on my Real Simple magazines. I've got some great ideas for next Halloween!

I got a beautiful Pandora charm bracelet with 3 charms that my husband picked up all by himself and I am pretty impressed with him. I love all three of them. I also got a beautiful cherry red cashmere scarf (red is my favorite favorite color) that I would never buy for myself.

My brother John and his girlfriend Dena flew in from Phoenix in time to see the snow on the ground before the rain came and melted it all away. Why oh why couldn't we have a WHITE CHRISTMAS? The only time of the year when I actually pray for snow and I was so sure we were in like flynn this year and then it had to go and rain! Oh well, it was still a lovely time with both my family and Dave's. Gifts aside, we are all happy (at least most of us are) and healthy which are the most important things.

The kids have been with their mom and I have had the house to myself this week to do absolutley nothing! I went 6 days without a shower. Okay, not really, but I did skip a day and let me tell you, it was downright nice to stay in my sweats all day and read and lay on the couch and just in general be lazy.

Before I know it, we will be leaving for Disney World!!!

So here are a few photos for you to enjoy. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Jen, if you are reading this, don't worry, he'll get his - I'll make sure of it.

Here is a picture of my tree, as promised. I think it's crooked. Dave thinks it looks fine, but I can see now that I was right.

Here is my mom's tree. As you can see, her's is slightly more grand than mine.

This was the best family shot, even though my dad cut the top of my head off. Alison! I need you!

This is Guinness enjoying the festivites. He opened his gift early and hence had nothing to do but raid the trash bag full of crumbled up wrapping paper. Based on the look on his face, I think he got into the spiked eggnog too!

Felicity.


And this is my mom's cat, Ally, who is obsessed with any sort of bag and must either get in the bag or lick it to death. She was just chilling in this one on Christmas morning.

The Christmas Rush

The week has been kind of crazy. It's the holiday's, who would expect anything less, right? I'm the kind of Christmas shopper who starts out strong - I usually get a couple gifts very very early and that lulls me into a state of false arrogance about how much time I have. And then, whattya know? It's the week before Christmas and I still have ten gifts to buy. So every day after work this week I have been shopping. Shopping, shopping, shopping. But yesterday I was finally finished. And I zonked at 8:00. I still have a couple gifts to wrap, but other than that, I am finished. And I'm excited. I got everyone some really good stuff this year and a few big big surprises that I don't want to mention on the off chance either my husband or my stepson happens upon my blog.

All I want to do right now is go soak in a nice hot bath. Which is my plan as soon as I post this.
Tomorrow I intend to give my house a nice good cleaning (my little devil dog got into the trash today and spread it all over my living room and kitchen) and then get some pictures of my tree. It looks so pretty now that it has presents under it. I imagine we (all my blogging friends out there) will all be scarce in the coming days - but I will try to get at least one more post up before Christmas Day.

Next week - no kiddies (they're going to their mom's house) and minimal work!!!! Woo-hoo. A week and half I don't have to wake up to an alarm!!!! And I might even get to read a book. Double Woo-hoo!

SNOW DAY!!!

My kids have a snow day tomorrow. The school district already called it. I get more excited about it than they do.

I think snow days were one of the best things I can remember from my school days. Was there anything better than getting up on a snowy morning and having your mom tell you that you can go back to bed?

It just isn't the same being an adult. Even if my office closed for the day - I would still be taking phone calls on my cell phone and working on my laptop. There are no carefree snow days in my forecast. But at least I can live vicariously through the kids!

Two Holidays Ago

Guinness in his Halloween costume. Or showing his true colors. You decide.

We're Going to Disney World!!

Yea! I booked it a couple of days ago and I'm so excited. I've been stalking the prices for about 4 months now and finally the other day I just broke down and booked it. Found a somewhat reasonable flight and booked that too! I also booked us for the Luau which I have been wanting to go to for years and never have done it. So this time I just bit the bullet and booked it.

So Mickey better get ready because here we come!!

Duh!

I've been struggling lately. It's part of the reason I haven't been very "present" on my blog the past couple of weeks. I have felt tired, cranky, unmotivated and I haven't been sleeping well for the last couple of weeks. At first I thought it was PMS. Then I thought maybe it was just the lack of sleep. Finally I decided I must just be a lazy and unmotivated person. I mean it has been a struggle for me to come home and do anything lately. I wanted to flop on the couch and do nothing the minute I walked in the door from work. Dinner? Forget it - we were living on frozen pizza and the like. I was really starting to get down on myself thinking maybe I am too weak to handle the stress of running a household and working. But what to do? I can't quit.......

The other thing that has been going on for the past two weeks is that I have had a stuffed up sinus head. And every day at some point a headache too. When I say stuffed up sinus head, I'm not sure how to explain that. I can breathe fine, but my forehead between my eyebrows would be feeling packed full of fluid and buzzing - like I was in a daze. And my ears would feel plugged and my neck and jaw would ache. I've been popping sudafed like it's candy thinking all the while that it is allergies or something. Well finally today I had enough. I'm figuring taking a box of sudafed every week probably isn't good for a person and I start thinking maybe it's possible I have a sinus infection. The reason this hadn't occurred to me before is that I have only ever had one sinus infection in my life and that was about 6 months ago following a hallacious cold. I honestly did not think you could get a sinus infection without having cold symptoms. I rarely get sick and I even more rarely go to the doctor. In fact, I detest going to the Dr. I'm always sure he is going to tell me I'm a hypochondriac and to get over it. But, in desperation, I went to the Dr today and guess what? I have a sinus infection.

Thank God.

I never thought I would be pleased to find that out - at least I know I'm not just an unmotivated sloth. I was really starting to worry.

Poor Baby

My poor husband is stranded in Philly. He has been there since Sunday on business and was supposed to fly home this afternoon on a 2:20 flight. It is now 7:35 and his new flight that is supposed to have been leaving at 8:20 now has been delayed until 9:50. He just called me and is beside himself.

I miss him and want him home!

Catching Up

When I tell you what I'm about to tell you, it won't seem so bad that I haven't posted a new post since a week ago Monday.

I got married on June 10, 2006. So I have been married 18 months already.

That isn't the shameful part.

The shameful part is that I hardly anyone has seen my wedding photos. I'm the slackerest bride when it comes to wedding pictures. They've been sitting in a box in my living room and I have done nothing with them! Enter my dear dear friend Alison. She took all my pictures off my hands (and there were a lot!) and not only did she put them on Cd's for me - she also made me the most amazing photo album for my coffee table. And, she didn't charge me a penny. This is what she does for a living (well sort of a living) and I'm having trouble sleeping at night because I nothing I ever do can ever ever repay her for this kindness. So you can thank Alison for the following little gems. Sorry it took so long! Mandy - don't kill me! I love the fact that you are all laughing in that photo.

Whatever Happened to Customer Service?

I rarely order drinks in restaurants for two reasons.

#1 It is ridiculous to pay 2 bucks for a soda and I'm cheap.

#2 I'm trying to avoid the extra calories.

So I almost always order water. With a lemon. I find it gives the water a little something extra.
I am always very clear about this. Can I have water with a lemon?

And nine times out of ten they bring it without a lemon. Why is this? It's very annoying.

Am I just being a bee-atch or does anyone else experience this?

Taking Time to Give Thanks

September 11, 2001, I was in Indianapolis on my little sabbatical. All of my family was in Michigan. So that year as I sat at the Thanksgiving table, I looked around the table at my family and thought of all the families who would have an empty place at their Thanksgiving table that year. It broke my heart all over again and at the same time I felt enormous gratitude to be sitting there with my mom and my dad and all my siblings. I then proceeded to blub like a baby and tell them how grateful I was to be sitting there with them. And thus was born a tradition of sharing something we are most grateful for at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Now let's be honest, I am not exactly the Cinderella type with birds chirping around my head. I have a tendency to be a bit of a pessimist. (I'm just keepin' it real) I don't know if it is nature or nurture, but I am obsessed with becoming more optimistic. Have you ever read, Learned Optimism? I have. So at this time of year, I really try to stop and give thanks for all that my spoiled ass has.

#1) My family. Supporting, loving, accepting, and unfailing. I never have to spend a holiday or a birthday alone. And I have always felt loved.

#2) My husband who is my best friend, my one true love. He challenges me every day. But he also tells me I'm beautiful every day. I know it sounds cheesy, but he completes me.

#3) My home. It isn't as big or as secluded as I'd like, but it's enough for us. It's warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And it's close to #1.

#4) My job. I know, I know. All I do is complain about it. But in this crappy Michigan economy, I'm very thankful to have a job that pays well and has enabled #2 to go after his dreams.

#5) My friends. Jen, Alison, Donna, Mandy (you have to call her Miranda), Val, Katie. You've all been in my life for years and years and it is so amazing to still have you in my life. You can't put a price on good friends and I would not be where I am without your love and support.

#6) My trials and tribulations. One of my favorite movie scenes is in The Lion King. (I'm a Disney groupie, what can I say?) Rafiki and Simba are talking about Mufasa's death and Simba is whining about how he can never get over it being his fault and Rafiki smacks Simba in the head with his staff. Simba says, "Oww! What was that for?" and Rafiki says, "Doesn't matter it's in the past." and then attempts to smack him again but this time Simba ducks and Rafiki says, "But you can learn from it." I've made mistakes in my life, but I never regret them. I can't change them and regret is a waste of energy. But I learned from them and became a better person and I'm proud of where I am right now.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy your holiday!

The Inconsistent Blogger

Damn! I was doing so well last week getting something up about every other day. But I took off Thursday afternoon last week and headed for a girls weekend with a couple college buddies. NO Internet access. We went to Starbucks. They had no WIFI. But they were kind enough to direct us to the Taco Bell across the street who did have WIFI. We sat in the parking lot to check our e-mails but there was no blogging going on.

I am taking the day off tomorrow. I will get some good stuff up.

Promise.

Men are from Mars

I came home from yoga last night and Dave was watching "Enterprise." Remember, that was the one Star Trek show I said I can't get on board with. Well he watches it every Monday - they show like 4 episodes on the Sci Fi Channel. So I am vaguely aware of the characters since I sometime relent and sit there with him.

So here is the conversation that went on between us last night - as I came in and noticed that the Vulcan, Tepal, was having a conversation with future self about the fact that she ends up marrying Tripp.

Me: "Which one is Tripp? The blonde guy?"

Him: "No! Tripp - he's the engineer." He may as well have said DUH!

Okay. I have no flipping idea who the engineer is. I know the Vulcan chick, the black guy, the blond haired guy, the Asian chick, the guy with the British accent etc.... The only one who's occupation on the ship I know is the Captain. It's easy to identify the Captain. Other than that I'm lost. It's like telling me to go 5.2 miles on blah blah blah road and then go east on blah blah blah road. Just tell me to go right at the Arby's and if I pass Wendy's I went too far.

Insert Rocky Theme Song Here

I went jogging today.

It's true. The thing I have been avoiding my entire life, I did voluntarily today.

Perhaps I should explain. Something else I have been avoiding my entire life is stepping on the scale. I am the woman who stands on the scale backwards at the doctor or closes my eyes so that I can avoid knowing exactly what I weigh. I have been vaguely aware of my weight over the years so when I got a wild hair up my ass and stepped on the scale today, it told me that I have gained somewhere in the vicinity of 20-25 lbs in the last 5 1/2 years.

I find this totally unacceptable. And if I keep it up, I'm going to have to buy an entirely new wardrobe for work and frankly, I'm sick of buying career clothes. I learned sometime ago that if you go to J Crew or Banana Republic, or The Limited and buy some expensive but classic pieces (ie black slacks and blazer, gray slacks and blazer, brown slacks and blazer, and three skirts) you are set because they last forever and you can then buy blouses and sweaters as needed.

Also, about 6 1/2 years ago I went through some terrible times and lost a ton of weight (not on purpose) and had to buy a new wardrobe. Those clothes wouldn't even fit my left leg now and when I got back to my "normal" weight, I had to go buy a bunch more clothes. I'm sick of buying new wardrobes. I don't want to be like Luther Vandross.

The problem is that my shirts are getting tight. I pulled a couple of sweaters out of the under the bed sweater box and there is no way I can get away with wearing them. My boobs are getting way bigger than they should be and lets face it - a tight sweater on a fat chick isn't sexy. It's gross.

My husband has been on a beer binge for the last year and his waistline has also been expanding. He likes to run, the freak. And he took me out today and bought me some very nice running attire which cost an arm and a leg but keeps the wind and cold away, so how could I deny him.

I went 1 1/2 miles. It was hell. But I'm going to try and keep to it. That's why I'm putting this out for everyone to see. So then in two weeks when I haven't done it since this post and someone asks me how the running is going. I can first feel like a lazy loser and then I can lie and say it's going splendidly.

I Miss My Hubby

But I'm watching Serendipity right now!

Conversations with Children

First of all, Becca came home with a new book from school today. Amelia Bedelia. I used to read that when I was little! Does anyone else remember those books?

A conversation between me and Bec today when I got home and she was doing her math homework.

Becca, "Sometimes I have to count on my fingers"

Me, "That's okay, I still do that sometimes. But you'll grow out of it, you're smarter than me."

Becca, "I know."

My New Favorite Product

Don't freak out that I'm blogging two days in a row. My husband and children were awesome today and helped me out with dinner so I actually have a few minutes to sit. I even got a load of laundry in. It's a very exciting day. (and now that I am going back over this and reading this, maybe kind of pathetic)

But that isn't why I'm blogging. I'm blogging to tell you about my new favorite product. The Ziploc Zip 'n Steam bags. I saw them on TV the other day and happened to see them on the shelf while grocery shopping on Sunday. So I thought I would try them. I was inspired by the mixed vegetable medley at Outback Steakhouse and the fact that Dave and I have been saying we need to eat more veggies in this house.

So for dinner tonight I sliced up 1 giant carrot, 1 summer squash, 1 large broccoli stalk, and a handful of pea pods. All beautiful fresh veggies. I threw them in the zip 'n steam bag, salted them a little and popped the bag in the microwave for 3 minutes. It was perfect. The veggies were cooked but still crispy - just as good (if not better) than Outback. It also put canned veggies to shame. And, my kids ate it without much complaint. I did get a little groan over the summer squash, but the carrots were a huge hit.

I am all about anything that makes my life easier and healthier at the same time. So I am electing the Ziploc Zip 'n Steam bags my new favorite product!!

Clarification

Lest you think I am a brainless, frivolous piece of fluff without dimension, I feel the need to make some clarifications after that last post. I LOVE MOVIES and have been known to watch anything from Dogma to Tommy Boy to The Constant Gardener to Godsford Park. Also in our collection: The Last of the Mohicans, Hoffa, Good Fellas, The Count of Monte Cristo, Once Upon a Time in America, The Lord of the Rings (all three of them) The Truman Show, and Bandits.

And not in our collection, but previously enjoyed by me: The Apostle, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Highlander (okay not exactly brain food), Memento, The English Patient (why don't I own that), Shaun of the Dead, Wide Sargasso Sea, and I could go on for two hours.

Oh, but I forgot about the 17 seasons of Charmed that I have tucked away collecting dust. And have you ever seen Shining Through? That is a World War II love story starring Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas. She's half Jewish and he's a spy. She finds out he's a spy and makes him let her go into Germany as a spy too. Even Dave liked that one. It has something for everyone.

Did I mention that we just got done watching all 476 hours of the Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War?

Girl Time

My husband is going out of town this week for business.

Can anyone say CHICK FLICKS!!!?? Sole control of the remote control!!

I hate sleeping without him, but Guinness loves it because he gets Dave's half of the bed all to himself.

I'll miss you honey. And I love you.

But it has been too long since I watched Serendipity, Pretty Woman, North and South, Anne of Green Gables and Where the Heart is (yes that is the movie where Natalie Portman gives birth to a baby in the Wal-Mart she has been living in since her white trash boyfriend ditches here there - a cheesy but wonderful chick flick. If you haven't seen it - I highly recommend it. Just don't watch it with a boy).

If I have time, I also plan on watching Sweet Home Alabama, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Legally Blonde and as many Sex and the City re-runs as I can cram in. I might have to take a sick day.

He's in there right now watching "Enterprise." It's the one Star Trek series I just can't get on board with. He's flipping between that and politcal news.

I need to practice what I preach

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I posted. How did this happen? Where did the week go? As usual it was a busy one. Especially with Halloween.

So I've been all over Mandy(you have to call her Miranda) to relax and take it easy. Nap when Max naps. Who cares if the dishes are piled up in the sink? Dog hair on the floor? Big deal. It's really easy to tell someone else that, but I must confess, I don't always practice what I preach.

My weekends have become filled with laundry and deep cleaning. Yet my house never seems clean enough to me. There's always some sort of clutter or crumbs. Someone's shoes are always in the middle of the kitchen floor and it seems like the bathrooms are always dirty, even if I just cleaned them.

So my question is: If you let that stuff go, but all the while you are doing something else, all you can think about is the dishes in the sink. Does it count?

Lessons from a Certified Control Freak

I'm a control freak. Those of you who know me are laughing right now and saying, "No Kidding." It's not a secret. I come from a long line of control freaks. It's hereditary. Or Nurture. Maybe both.

Anyway, there have been a few times in my life where my control freakiness has gotten out of hand because when I feel out of control, I tend to get anxious. I was single for a lot longer than I wanted to be and that made me anxious. I wasn't happy at work and that made me anxious. I married a man who had two kids and they live with us full time. That definitely made me anxious. Well, all this anxiousness was starting to get annoying so I had to come up with some way around it. I had to relax. So here is the conclusion I came to; You cannot control every single thing in your life. You just can't and if you try to, you are going to be crazy. And ANXIOUS. But guess what you can control? Your reaction to events. I don't have to let myself be anxious. I can choose to be calm.

I found yoga about 6 years ago for this very reason. It centers me. It grounds me. And it helps me to stop and breathe before I freak out about something stupid or something not so stupid. I would highly recommend trying it out if you haven't. I've never been a fan of exercise, but this is a practice I was born for.

Okay, so I'm kind of rambling. But the reason I've been thinking about all of this is because of recent events in my life and an e-mail I received last week.

Six months ago, my husband quit his job to do his own thing. (I can't go into detail on that for legal reasons) We discussed it before he did it and I was totally on board. I love and trust my husband. He's driven and I know that he will accept nothing short of success. And I support him 100%. But a funny thing happened to control freak me after he quit. It suddenly hit me that I was sole breadwinner for the family until he got his "thing" going. And suddenly I hated my job. And I mean hated with the passion of a thousand suns. It wasn't just that I felt trapped. It just so happened that his departure from Corporate America coincided with some very "corporate" changes that started happening at my office. We moved. I accepted a promotion. I had two new bosses in the span of 3 months. Control freak me was having trouble adjusting. And it showed to everyone. And then I received the following e-mail last week.


One of the best of Life’s laws!

THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, for an instant you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly he/she can get back his or her focus on what’s truly important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened: I hopped in a taxi and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, HE WAS FRIENDLY. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi drive told me what I now call, “THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK”.

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And, if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well and move on. You’ll be happy you did.

So this was it: “THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK” I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And, how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, on the field, on the ice, on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do it anymore.’ I began to see garbage trucks.

Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well, now, “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop their load off and, like my Taxi Driver, I don’t make it a personal thing. I just smile, wave, wish them well and move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit, never retaliated. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. He did not take the hit personally; it was just part of the game he loved to play.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good athletes know they have to leave it on the field, and persevere. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present and at their best for the people they care about most.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? Here’s my bet: you’ll be happier. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So….Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.

I realized that I had been letting outside forces influence me. The control freak was letting herself be controlled. It wasn't just nasty people that I was letting get to me; but nasty work. And my job is not my life. My job is not me. First and foremost I'm a wife, and a mother, and a daughter and a friend. Then somewhere down the list I'm an employee. And if I don't stay in control of my attitude, then everyone loses. Especially me.

A Few More Pics to Keep You Interested!

Look at this pretty lady. I think she looks as beautiful as when we were in high school - I hope she sees that too. She kept talking about leftover "baby weight". I told her to quit being so hard on herself. She looks great!

So now you can see where Max got his looks.

Dave loved playing with Magoo. She reminds him of his old dog Molly who lives with her mom and only visits occasionally.

And last but not least, the photos you have all been waiting for!! The battlefield!! We have about 400 pictures of Gettysburg and Antietam -it's hard to decide which ones to put up. When I'm looking at the little thumbnails they all look very similar! Even though I make fun of my hubby for being such a history geek, I found it very interesting as well. It was also very beautiful land.

I Finally Loaded the Camera Software

This is my baby. Dave makes fun of me because I take so many pictures of him. I don't care if he thinks I'm crazy. I love this dog.

This is Mandy(you have to call her Miranda)'s baby.

We had so much fun visiting and playing with him last week. I am currently working on a slide show, but so far have been experiencing technical difficulties. But rather than make you wait until I get it straight (which lets face it could take several months), I figured I'd give you a little preview of our trip. Dave took over 400 pictures of the battlefields at Gettysburg and Antietam. Even if I figure out the slide show, I will only be showing you about 10 of those. Otherwise no one will ever come back to this blog again!

Dave got a big smile from Max without even trying. What's up with that? I jumped around like a monkey and talked like a cartoon character trying to get that kid to smile and Dave still got the best and biggest smile. You can't tell in this photo because the Nuk is in the way. But trust me - it was a big smile.

Here we are crossing the Delaware bridge. We felt like George Washington - except it was October, not December. And we were in a car.

The battlefield at Gettysburg - the site of the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. Hallowed ground. Somewhere between 46,000 and 51,000 men died here and there was a bratty teenager running around the battlefield on her cell phone talking (loudly) about hairspray and boys. I wanted to smack her and her parents who were standing there watching her do it.

For whatever reason, blogger isn't letting me post anymore pictures. I'll edit this post and try again later.

Home Sweet Home

We're back! And I have a lot to do.

We had an amazing time on our little vacation this year, but we were very ready to get home and sleep in our own bed. I had some problem sleeping the last two nights we were away.

We also took nearly 500 pictures. I went a little overboard snapping photos of baby Max (he's so dang cute!!) and Dave went a little overboard snapping photos of the Gettysburg Battlefield. I intend to get those loaded on the computer before the end of the weekend and posted somewhere so you can look at them. I probably won't post the whole thing because I don't think most of you want to look at a hundred pictures of monuments from the battlefield. I guess that is the joy of digital cameras. You can take as many pics as you want, but don't have to print them all.

I am so glad I took today off as well. We left Gettysburg yesterday around 10:00am and arrived back home at 8:00pm last night. Getting up and having to deal with work would have bit.

The B&B was AWESOME! I will get some pictures of that up as well. The website does not lie.

Anyway, I need to get some coffee in me and get Becca up for school. I will be back with some nice vacation stories soon!!

Dr Laura and My Husband

I forgot one other thing I wanted to mention. Which was the best one.

Friday I was driving home and listening to Dr. Laura on my XM Radio (don't laugh) and she was telling on of her callers to stop on his way home and buy his wife some flowers. And I started thinking that it has been a long time since Dave has given my flowers. So I was thinking when I got home I was going to ask him if he doesn't love me anymore since it's been so long since he's bought me flowers and he usually makes it a point to do it every few months.

And I'm not kidding you, I walked in the door and there on the counter is a dozen red roses! I couldn't believe it.

I took some pictures of them; they are gorgeous. But my lazy punk ass hasn't taken the time to load the software for my new camera onto my computer so I can't load them. Sorry. You'll just have to imagine them. But I assure you - they are gorgeous!!

He says he got stopped by a train on the way home right in front of the florist and that is why he bought them. :)

Cleaning House

I have been in a post funk for the past few days. I've been blog surfing, but I just haven't had the energy to type anything up. So this post will probably be all over the place.

First of all, I did make the Oven Baked Almond Chicken. It was good and everyone ate it. It came with sweet and sour sauce so the kids dipped in that. Which they would probably eat just about anything if they can mask it with some sort of sauce. I don't think I crushed the Almonds up enough though because the kids just picked them off. Next time I think I will throw them in the food processor for a few seconds before I coat the chicken.

This week I took out of the freezer, Chicken Paella and Beef Stew. Dave and I are leaving for a little vacation on Thursday afternoon so I'm only thawing the two this week.

Okay. The vacation. Thursday afternoon we are leaving to drive to New Jersey to visit Mandy (you have to call her Miranda), her hubby Karl and little baby Max. Of course I can't stand babies so that has nothing to do with us going :) Just kidding! So we are spending Friday night and Saturday night with them and then Sunday we are leaving to drive to Gettysburg, PA. If I haven't mentioned it before, my husband is a history junkie and has been wanting to go for years. We are staying in a Bed and Breakfast called The Brickhouse Inn which I am really excited about because it looks adorable and it got rave reviews. I love staying at B&B's. So we have been watching Ken Burn's documentary, The Civil War in preparation for our trip. I have booked us a personal battlefield tour and dinner at some sort of ancient restaurant which was recommended by the B&B staff. I'm so glad I married a man who likes to do more than just watch sports 24/7.

Needless to say, we are both ready for a few days away.

On another note, I made the mistake of surfing my way over the the Walt Disney World website yesterday and have discovered that I can book us for a week in January for quite a bit less than we paid last year. And I really really want to do it. The kids had so much fun and they still talk about it. There are two problems. #1 Dave doesn't know if he will be able to get away. With his business in the baby stages, it's hard to know. I'm already feeling a little worried about taking him away this week. #2 I couldn't find a very good deal on flights. If I were to book a flight now, it would cost me over a grand for the four of us.

So for now, I've pushed the whole thing to the back of my mind the best I can. But for those of you who know me - once I get my mind set on something, I tend to obsess about it until I make it happen one way or another. We'll see.

I Heart Dream Dinners

Last night, sirloin roast. Thaw in marinade (provided). Throw under broiler for 15 minutes. Open a can of corn and toss a salad from a bag, throw a potato in the oven.

Roast - tender, delicious
Children - full
Husband - full and happy because it was red meat
Mommy - thrilled beyond belief

Tonight, turkey medallions wrapped in bacon. Pull out of bag, rub with spice rub (provided). Throw under broiler for 30 minutes. Heat up some frozen sugar snap pea pods. Get the rest of the salad from last night out from the fridge.

Turkey - tasty and tender
Children - full again (acheived the Sam seal of approval which almost never happens unless the meal involves hot dogs or mac and cheese)
Husband - not as thrilled with white meat, but more thrilled than if I had served a frozen pizza
Mommy - ecstatic. sat down on the couch by 8:00

Tomorrow - oven baked almond chicken

What more do I have to say?

The Modern Life

I'm a modern woman. I work full time, commute two hours a day and run a household with a husband and two kids in it. I love love love to cook, but I don't love to do it when I come home after working a 10-12 hour day. So this weekend I did something I am very excited about. I went to a place called "Dream Dinners" and made meals to last me a month or so. And I did it all without even picking up the phone.

I went to their website, picked the date I wanted to go "make the meals", then I chose the meals I wanted to make. I gave them my credit card number and that was it. I showed up on the pre arranged date and in two hours had twelve meals to take home and freeze to be used throughout the month.

When you get there, they had you a list of all the meals you chose to make - then you just go around to each station, assemble the meal, slap the label with the directions on it and once you've done all the ones you chose, throw them in a cooler and take them home. It took two hours.

I'll let you know how the food is - I haven't cooked any of it yet.

Dear Asshole

**disclaimer**
This is not about me and Dave.

There is never an excuse to cheat on your wife. And cheating isn't limited just to sex. It can also mean being in love infatuation with someone (at least thinking you are because I know your stupid-ass obviously does not know what love it). You can try to come up with all sorts of creative ways to try and make it her fault, but the bottom line is that you are the one who violated the vows you made in front of God (and suddenly deciding you don't believe in God doesn't excuse you either) and also you are the one who walked out on your wife and son. And if you think for a second that your relationship with your son is going to be the same or better (because I know in you sick stupid twisted mind that is what you are telling yourself) think again. And ask a divorced parent about it. And while we're talking about your son, what exactly are you teaching him? That when the going gets a little tough, you just give up and walk out? You are displaying a total lack of character.

You say that it has always been about her? I would beg to differ. I have been there from the start and it has always been about you. You tore her away from her family from the start. You dragged her all over the country with a brand new baby to boot. And she went because she loved you and she wanted you to be happy. But excuse me, asshole, if she wasn't Cinderella with birds chirping around her head singing while she scrubbed the floor. You drug her across the country to a shit hole city in a shit hole state when she had just given birth THREE WEEKS earlier! What kind of asshole does that and then has the nerve to sit there and cry about how he wasn't getting enough attention or whatever your telling yourself to justify what you are doing. You are lucky you didn't marry me because I would have told you to grow the f up and support your family. Why the hell did you get married and have a kid if you wanted to play the eternal student?

You can sit there and say that she did this and she did that and maybe she wasn't perfect. Sure, there are things that she needed to work on - but since when do you just give up on a marriage without even trying to fix it first? I will never give you an inch on this - you are the jerk here.

You are not a man. A man would take care of his family first and himself second. He would never sit around and cry because he has to work so his wife can stay home and raise their son. He would never burden her with that knowlege. You think you are some sort of prize? You couldn't even make enough money for all the bills (most of which were yours from bad financial choices you made in the past) You are a spoiled, self-centered, brat and personally I think she will be better off without you.

'Nuff said.

Remembering the Bad Times

Today I took Guinness for a walk. It was absolutely beautiful outside. The sky was gorgeous and totally blue. I couldn't find a cloud. It was sunny but the air was slightly cool and it was quiet. And it reminded me of a time in my life that wasn't so great.

Let me explain. Some of you (or most of you) know that about 6 years ago, I had an event. I don't need to go into specifics, but lets just say I was fed up with my life. So I quit my job at USA TODAY and left the state. Rather suddenly, I might add. I gave my two weeks notice, worked it less one day and when I was done, I packed my stuff and went to Indianapolis to stay with my old college roomie, Donna at her brother Dale's house. He had a house in the cute development south of the city. It had starter style homes, retirement condos, lovely single family homes and a golf course. Donna got me a job driving the beer cart at that golf course. This was right around the beginning of September and the weather was much like it has been here of late.

And I was heartbroken. And, I was lonely, and I was sad. I had left my job, my family, and everything familiar. But I knew I needed this sabbatical. So I started my job driving the beer cart. But of course, it was only part time so I had a lot of spare time on my hands.

Donna's brother Dale had this chocolate lab named Buster (RIP dear Buster). And we spent a lot of time together. I walked that dog all over the neighborhood. And I would take my journal and stop by the pond and write. And Buster would just sit there and wait for me. I spent hours walking around that neighborhood with Buster. It got to where he would get so excited if I even touched my running shoes. He became my best friend. It was the first time I had ever developed such a bond with a dog.

Which brings me to why today's walk reminded me of then. Do you know what I used to think about when I would walk around the neighborhood with Buster? I would look at all those beautiful homes and feel positively empty. I would just ache because that was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to love someone and be loved. I wanted to be fulfilled and at that particular point in my life, I couldn't have felt less fulfilled and I couldn't have felt more alone. I would walk and think about how I wanted to have one of those houses and the family that was inside of it.

I try very hard in my life now to be happy with what I have. And today, being reminded of how bad it was, reminded of good it is now. I was walking around my neighborhood, with my dog, and my husband was at home waiting for me. And when I walk in the door of my beautiful home, he kisses me and tells me how much he loves me. That it was so sour then, makes it all the more sweet now.

Guess Who's Grounded Again!?

Last night I sent Sam to get Rebecca from her friends house so I could take her to her Brownie Round Up. Guess where she wasn't? So she fesses up that she went house hopping again and when I told her she was grounded again she had two choice comments to make.

#1 "Why does Sam have to be a tattle-tale?" (She tells on him all the time)

and

#2 "I was having a good day until you ruined it!"

Like spending my evening at "Brownie Round Up" with 100 screaming 1st and 2nd grade little girls is my idea of a stellar evening.

Oh Happy Day!

Drumroll please. I have very exciting news (and before you get too excited, I'm not pregnant).

Yesterday the most wonderful thing happened.

I PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes folks, after ten years of toil, I am no longer indebted to Sallie Mae. It's over. Done with. I've written my last check to the establishment. I can now hang my diploma on the wall and know that I own it.

Rejoice with me - I never thought this day would come.

Next stop - pay off the mortgage. I'll see you all in 15-20 years.

Five Finger Discount

Did I mention that my husband has "commandeered" my digital camera for his new job? And that when I need it, it is no where to be found? That is why my blog has been void of pictures for the last couple months. I don't think I can, in good conscience, post anymore photos from my honeymoon which occurred nearly a year ago. So, I did what any sensible person would do - I went and bought a new digital camera. And this time I decided to upgrade. My old camera is a Nikon Coolpix (I can't remember the model number) and it takes beautiful pictures and has served me well for the past three years. I actually traded in my old fashioned film Nikon for the digital. It was my first digital. But as my family has grown, I have discovered that a point and click digital just doesn't work for taking pictures of children and animals. They move faster than the shutter can click. So I purchased what I believe is called a "Digital SLR". I'm not the photography expert, I leave that to my friend Alison. But the shutter is supposed to be a lot faster than a point and click and that is pretty much all I care about.

It is supposed to be here Tuesday which makes me so happy. Dave and I are going on a little road trip next month to visit Mandy(you have to call her Miranda) and her husband and new little baby. I can't wait! And then after that, it is on to Gettysburg, where my history buff husband can tour battlefields to his hearts content. Anyway, I'm sure to get all kinds of fun photos to show you!!

Dave can have that old slow Coolpix - it's fine for taking pictures of fire panels and sprinkler heads. They don't move.

Call Me Chandler Bing

If you were a "Friends" fan then you can appreciate this. I was talking to Alison yesterday and complaining about how much I hate my job and it suddenly hit me. I am Chandler Bing. No one really knows what I do and I hate my job but I make really good money so I stay. The next thing that is going to happen is that I am going to be at work on a Friday night at 8 looking at my "weenus" and bitching about it (something I swore I'd never do).

If I get transferred to Tulsa - that's it.


I will write more about this later.

What a week

I so so so want to write about work on my blog. But I can't for fear of being "dooced".

But I will say this. I had to let an employee go this week. And it wasn't fun. And it messed me up for the whole week. But that's all I can say.

Then, yesterday afternoon, to top off an already stellar week, I got a scaulding hot cup of hot chocolate dumped on me. All down my totally white shirt, down my jeans and onto my adorable little cherry sneakers. And it was hot. And brown. It looked like someone had barfed on me.

I came home, took a hot shower, and read a book until my ever-loving but over worked husband came home and we ordered a pizza.

My house could use some cleaning, but I'm sitting her blogging instead. Does anybody see a problem with that? I didn't think so. I knew you were all my soul sisters.

I'm a Super Genius

Please note that I have finally figured out how to add links to my page! Oh happy day. I'm working on adding some other stuff, but my in-laws just showed up an hour early for dinner. In the meantime, please check out the links to all my beautiful friends and their adorable children.

Coffee - Nectar of the Gods

I love coffee. I adore coffee. I am a card carrying Starbucks junkie and when I say card carrying I mean that I shell out 20-30 bucks at a time to Starbucks to "reload" my Starbucks card. I love being able to whip out that card when I go to Starbucks and buy whatever my heart desires. (Plus it makes me feel cool) I'm pretty sure Starbucks puts something highly addictive, other than caffeine, in their coffee that makes people keep coming back for more.

Let me share with you, my coffee journey.

In college I did not drink coffee other than an occasional flavored latte from Barne's and Noble. Starbucks was not as prevalent in the mid-west in those days. Back then, Mountain Dew was my addiction of choice (and I wonder why I was pudgy). So after I graduated and had to join the workforce, I discovered the joy of the office coffee maker. I discovered this while temping at a dreary office where my only two expected duties were to answer the phone and make the coffee. While sitting right next to the pot and having nothing better to do, I decided to drink the coffee. I loaded it up with powdered non-dairy creamer (the thought makes me want to vomit now) and a ton (and I mean a ton) of sugar. And hence my love affair with java began. As time went on and I got a permanent job and began my full assimilation into the life of as a rat, I phased out the sugar, but was still loading it up with non-dairy creamer as I was yet unaware of the dangers of trans-fats (or at least I was in denial about it). I made the occasional trip to Starbucks for a sugar filled latte or something of that sort.

Eventually I purchased my condo and my very own coffee maker. And I was buying, insert gasp here, Maxwell House French Roast. Or was it Folgers? I can't remember. But it was already ground and I thought it was delicious. Then I had a Pampered Chef party and the hostess brought some cinnamon something or other Pampered Chef coffee and I was turned on to flavored coffee. So I bought some of that - again already ground. At this point I started buying half and half to put in my coffee each morning. Bliss. Utter bliss. Forget that non-dairy artery clogging, corn syrup filled trans-fat laden crap. I was onto real dairy and I was never going back. I thought it couldn't get any better.

And then I discovered whole bean coffee. Oh happy day. Freshly ground coffee was from heaven. So I bought a coffee grinder and began to grind my own beans. Do you see where this is going? I soon grew tired of grinding coffee every morning to make two cups of coffee for myself and I took the lazy route. I started stopping at Starbuck's every morning on my way to work and saved the bean grinding for the weekends.

Then I met my beloved who drinks 17 times more coffee than I do. And he wants a fresh pot of it steaming and ready each morning as soon as his big toe enters the kitchen. There was no stopping at Starbucks for him. He needs it the minute he gets up. So it was back to the bean grinding. I was not enjoying this little task. So, for our wedding, I registered for a beautiful Cusiniart Grind & Brew coffee maker. You just put the beans in and then the water and, like the name, it grinds and brews. Another stop on my way to coffee nirvana.

We've been married for 1 year and 3 months and I am so sick and tired of cleaning the filter and grinder on that Cusisnart every night. Not to mention the 5 lb bag of Starbucks coffee I buy to go in it which costs me 20 bucks a pop and the approximately 5 cups of coffee I dump out each night because we didn't finish the pot. So I just took my next step in my coffee journey. I purchased a Keurig one cup coffee maker. Pioneer Woman readers will remember she gave one away in her "Give that Photo a Name" contest a while back. Okay so I couldn't afford to buy the Platinum one she was giving away, but I did buy the Special Edition which is just one step down. I am now in love with this machine. We brew what we want to drink. I'm never dumping out a pot of coffee and more importantly, I never have to wash another filter or grinder again. I think this might be the last coffee maker I'll ever buy.

So now that I have spent all this time writing and thinking about coffee - I think I'm going to go pop a "K-cup" into my best friend and enjoy a hot, steamy, fresh-brewed cup of heaven!

Personality Plus

I took this personality profile as a freshman in college, ehhemm, 14 years ago and then again today. Turns out I'm still the same. Also turns out I'm in the completley wrong profession. But I think I already knew that!

My Gal

Becca has been amusing me all weekend. Last night I gave her a bath because she had red paint in her hair from camp and I knew she wouldn't be able to get it our herself. She was giving me a hard time because she didn't want to take the bath because she knew that bed was soon to follow. Well as she was getting out I said to her, "Now doesn't it feel good to be clean?" and she says, "Yes, but I'm cold. Clean but cold. Clean but cold Melanie." You can't hear the cadence with which she said it but it was hilarious.

So then this morning we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. So I had just told the server that Becca would have milk and Becca says, "there's nothing like nice cold milk in the morning!"

Dave and I just looked at each other and laughed.

Post Script

After I finished my post last night, things got even more interesting around here. Actually, it was sort of amusing because I remember being a little like this as a child.

After Becca calmed down a bit she came to the top of the stairs to ask me if she could come and eat dinner. EEEH GAADS! I had forgotten she hadn't had dinner yet. So of course I told her she could come down and eat. I fed her dinner and we chatted like normal. After she had finished, I told her she needed to back up to her room again. I wish I had a picture of the look on her face. It was priceless, she had obviously thought I would forget. So we went through the whole rigamarole again. She went back upstairs and the waterworks and drama was back on. I told her my same speech about going to bed or playing quietly in her room. She calmed down a little and then a few minutes later she came to the top of the stairs to tell me that the reason she was crying was because she was sad that she hadn't gotten to say good-bye to Grandma (she sees Grandma almost every day). I said if she had been that worried about saying good-bye to Grandma then she wouldn't have left Grandma here by herself. So she went back in her room for a few minutes. Then she came back to tell me that she was looking out her window and saw the girls across the street playing and they wanted her to come out and play. I told her she was still grounded. She started to bawl again but she went back in her room. The she came back again! This time she told me that she hadn't gone to Grant's house without telling me on purpose, that it had been a total accident and she hadn't meant it. I told her that she was still grounded and I bet that next time she won't forget.

That little girl was up there just desperately trying to think of a way to get out of this pickle she had gotten herself into. I remember feeling like that when I was little and had gotten in trouble. Couldn't I just be sorry and be off the hook?!! For Pete's sake, it was only two hours she had to spend in her room before bedtime. Do you remember the days when it was a punishment to be locked in your room for two hours? Now I'd give my left thumb for someone to send me to my room!!

So what did Becca end up doing in her room for the rest of the night? She decided to sort her Care Bears out and see what she might want to give to the goodwill. She had a small pile amassed and then decided she just wasn't sure if she could part with them. So, back in the closet the went! :)

The Evil Stepmom - Or just Mom?

Dave is out of town this week for a few days so I'm kind of on my own with the kids. So tonight, his mom picked them up from camp and when I got home she had let both of them go play across the street with Jared (Sam's buddy) and Zoe (Rebecca's buddy). I hadn't planned anything special for dinner so I just let them stay out as they usually come home when they get hungry.

At 7:00, Sam called to ask if he could stay at Jared's to watch a movie. I said that was fine, but asked what Becca was doing. "She's at Grant's" he tell me. Grant is another friend of Becca's who lives about 7 houses away or so. We have had this conversation with her before. She knows that she is not allowed to just run around to any friends house in the neighborhood without telling us first where she is going to be. So I sent Sam over there to tell her to come home and when she got here, I told her she was grounded for the rest of the night and that she could find something to do in her room until bedtime. So upstairs she goes and about 60 seconds later the waterworks and drama start. So I go up there and tell her that she has two choices, she can stop crying and find something to do in her room until bedtime or she can go to bed now. That quiets her and I go back down stairs wondering if I'm being too mean. So I call Dave to run it by him. He validates me and offers to talk to her, but she has calmed down by then so I pass and tell him I have handled it.

It's strange. When these kids first came into my life, they were someone else's kids. I spent all my time with them trying to be nice and have fun. I never had or needed to discipline them. But now they live with me and I'm basically raising them (don't even get me started about their actual mother). So now I find myself having to actually parent them and I'm trying to find the balance between evil stepmom and just mom. I so want to do right by them. Can somebody please assure me that I'm not going to make any mistakes!?

Be still my heart

Rebecca fell off her bike face first this week. She knocked out a baby tooth as well as pushed her two front (adult) teeth in and knocked them loose in the bargain. We were at the dentist at 9:00 at night so he could put some sort of brace of them. It was my first "emergency" kid trauma. I did not enjoy it to say the least. I can't believe how much worry comes with these little suckers. And I cannot believe the amount of blood that can come out of them.

So she's fine now. She bounced right back - she's a pretty tough kid. I'm not bouncing back as fast. I get pretty queasy with blood and there was quite a bit of it. Thank God Dave was here so he could investigate the damage because I probably would have been on the floor.

Just to give you one more little bit of info about how tough Becca is, after she fell off the bike and busted her mouth up, she got up, grabbed her bike, grabbed her tooth, brought her bike into the gargae and came running into the house with her tooth in her hand. There was a big pool of blood next to her bike in the garage. She can't chew with her front teeth or bite into anything for a month!

The Good, the Bad and the Spin

Phewww! What a week. Busy busy busy so far. I really have not had time to blog and when I did find a couple minutes, I found that I was suffering from a terrible case of writers block. I couldn't think of anything witty to say. Not to bitch bitch bitch, but these are the things that have bummed me out this week:

#1 I found out that my yoga instructor who I have been yoga'ing with for over 5 years, is no longer going to be teaching in Howell. She opened a yoga studio in Ann Arbor and is going to teach exclusively there. I am so bummed. I have tried other yoga classes but just don't like those instructor nearly as much. And, as is happens, I decided to take the summer off from yoga which it now turns out was her last session.

#2 A colleague of mine and his brother, a colleague of Dave's, mother died this past week and we had to go to the funeral home last night. It was in Grosse Pointe Woods which is quite a haul from my house. Dave and I met at my office in Novi and drove there together. Visited for a while and then went out for dinner and home. We didn't get home until 10pm last night.

#3 I had to rush out of the house this morning to make it to our Livonia office for a meeting that was supposed to start at 8. I got here and 7:30 (I like to be early so I have time for coffee, pee and to check my e-mail) and what do you know but the conference room is already full of people. Eeeek Gadds! Was I late? I detest lateness. I frown on it in my employees and colleagues and here I am freaking out that I misread the meeting invite and the meeting actually started at 7. But it's possible the suits were having a "pre-meeting" so I didn't want to go barging in demanding to know why they started without me. Well, it turns out that they didn't finish with their stuff yesterday and it bled into today. So my meeting was postponed until approximately 9am. Which no on bothered to tell me. Rat Bastards! I skipped breakfast to get her on time. I have none of my job files with me so I really can't do much work. And I'm hungry!

Now for the positives.

#1 My new office (the one we are moving to that I have been less than enthused about) is going to be in Plymouth. We are supposed to be moving next Friday. Well, what is Plymouth close to? Ann Arbor. What is in Ann Arbor? Christy's yoga studio! So the ray of hope for me is that I can still probably take one class a week with her and go straight from work. So all hope is not lost.

#2 After the very sad funeral home visit, I got to have dinner with my husband and a couple other friends some of whom I work with. A community bitch session about work does wonders for the soul. Some might say that focusing on the negative is bad. But I say that listening to other people gripe and finding out that they have the same gripes as you and that you aren't just a discontented black souled asshole who hates her job with no sound basis. In fact, everyone feels the same way and you aren't in this alone like you thought!!

#3 Since my meeting got postponed and I can't really work, you get this very exciting blog post to read! BTW, someone just came and told me the meeting won't start until 9:15 now.

#4 I'm on vacation Friday meeting up with Val to go to Milford Memories and then Dave is taking me to Indianapolis where we are combining business with pleasure and just some away time! Can't wait.

See? It's all in how you spin it!

Have a wonderful day!!

Uh Oh

Have you ever had your hairdresser say that while she is doing your hair? Not really a good thing to hear.

Well, I spent 2 hours at the salon on Tuesday afternoon getting my roots done, highlights, and a trim and while she was rinsing my hair after all the color treatments, that is what she said. Uh oh. WTF? Well, apparently, after the highlights she put a clear rinse with a tint over my hair. She always does this when she colors me because it makes my hair nice and shiny. Well this time it covered up all the highlights she had just done. So you can barely see them. After a few washes they should start to show up. She offered to do more highlights, but #1 that would be death for my hair and #2 I wasn't spending one more minute in that salon and #3 that would be death for my hair. I was decidedly bummed out and I am thinking that it may be time to find a new hairdresser. There have been several little things over the past year that have bugged me, but as I have explained in the past, I hate hate hate hate hate change and I'm afraid to try someone new. What if it's worse?

And one more thing - any of you who get your hair colored - does your hairdresser get dye all over your face so that your forehead looks like Michael Jackson circa Thriller, circa Pepsi commercial, circa 1980's? Is this normal?

Free to pee, a lazy lizard and 300 the movie

You will all be pleased to know that the water came back on at my office around 10:30 or so yesterday. So we could all use the bathroom to our heart's content.

In other news, I have been a lazy lizard this week and have not even started to tape the spare bedroom. We plan to paint this weekend and I am a famous procrastinator, so I will probably put off the taping until Friday night. Really, the less time the tap in on the molding, the less sticky that will be left there, right :)

Dave rented the movie 300 last night. He has been waiting for it to come up for weeks. So last night we had to forgo our usual Star Trek nightcap for 300. If I haven't mentioned it before, Dave is a huge history buff. Well, he just finished reading a book about the Spartans (the real Spartans of Ancient Greece, not the MSU mascot), and 300 is about the 300 Spartans that found some ungodly number of Persians under the rule of Xerxes. A very inspiring story, especially when you hear Dave tell it. The movie was a little more Hollywood than history. Entertaining, but sensational. Filmed like it was computer animated, very gory, very gory and oh did I mention it was gory? Anyway, I would probably not recommend it for your average female. Unless you are married to a history geek like I am.

To Pee or not to Pee

First of all let me say that I am involved in the worst planned office move in the history of Corporate America. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, but it hasn't gone so well thus far. We are combining two separate offices into one bigger office and they are reusing the cubes from my office which they tore down yesterday. Our official move date is August 17. Yes, that is no less than two weeks away. We still have our conference room tables, so that is where we are working right now.



But to make matters worse, there seems to have developed, a water main leak right in front of our building and we all showed up this morning to discover that our water has been shut off. Yes, that means no bathrooms. Now, every morning I fill my wonderful Nissan travel mug (this mug is amazing and keeps things hot for hours) up with some delicious homemade coffee and bring it to work with me. I enjoy this so much more than the office coffee which is swill. However, one travel mug of coffee = two trips to the bathroom. This usually starts around 9:30.



Well what do you know, it is 9:20 and I am already doing the pee pee dance. I think I'm going to have to breakdown and go to Target. Hmmm, while I'm there, maybe I'll check out their home goods......

Pink Hearts, Yellow Moons, Orange Stars, Green Clovers

We're nearing a year in our house and we've finally decided to paint. Our house has the open floor plan, so just about every wall spans two rooms. I will never buy another house with the open floor plan again. No thank you. I have spent the last week dithering over paint colors. I want some color because I am so sick of flat white paint, but I'm worried of going overboard. (Remember the red room at my condo?) But the pressure. This color matches my living room, but will clash with my kitchen. My husband wants me to get some sort of olive color, but all of my accents are red and I don't want it to look like Christmas all year round. Then he wants to go with satin finish in the entire house. I want eggshell. So finally today, we settled on colors for the downstairs powder room and the upstairs guest bedroom. And he gets his green, because I'm putting it in the spare room-on one wall. We compromised and got satin for the bathroom and eggshell for the bedroom and we will discuss the rest once I come to a decision on the rest of the colors.

We painted the powder room this afternoon. It's tiny so it didn't take that long. However, he insisted on starting to paint before I was done taping and it is a tiny room so we kept bumping into each other. Also, he wanted to try not taping the ceiling. So later this week, we'll be painting the ceiling if you know what I mean (wink, wink). I can't wait to put everything back in it. I hate disorder and I've had quite my fill of it this week. My office is moving to Plymouth (insert groan here) and I have been packing up our office for the past week. So I have disorder at work and disorder at home. Might as well get it all out of the way at once, huh?

I'm seriously considering hiring a professional to paint the downstairs. It will take us a solid week to do it all which will end up being spread over a couple of weekends and I don't think I can handle that much disorder. If anyone can give me a referral for a painter, I would appreciate it.

Last Night at Dinner

We started talking about Dave being president of the United States - I'm not sure how this started. So Sam asks, "Will you make me in charge of Mars?" I tell him that he probably came from there anyway so it would be like sending him home. Then Becca asks, "Can I be in charge of Pluto?" and I say, "Why do you want to be in charge of Pluto? Pluto is in danger of losing it's planet status. Do you want to be in charge of a planet that might be on the downswing?" She says, "I will make it good again, if I'm in charge." "How you gonna do that?" I ask She says, "I will tell everyone to come to Pluto!" I say that Pluto has no way to sustain an economy. She says if they don't have enough money she will just get it from Earth. Hmmmm.

Why Not Me?

I started and finished "Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows" on Saturday. It was the perfect weekend for it to come out because the kids were at their mom's house, Dave had a test that he had to take in Southfield and I was laid up with a nasty cold. I got through it even quicker than I expected. I'm a pretty quick reader as it is, but I sailed right through it in about 7 hours or so. I took a few breaks to fold laundry and that was about it.

I know these are technically children's books, but if you enjoy fantasy, you will enjoy these books no matter what your age is. It's fun to be excited about reading again. Not to mention the fact that TV is so horrific, unoriginal, and detestable right now that it's good to have something else to do. I'm so green with envy of J.K. Rowling/I want to be J.K. Rowling. But that's another post.

Anyway, don't worry if you haven't read it yet, I won't say anything about the plot or how it ends. I'm kind of sad that it's over, but I will say that the book is very satisfying and does not really leave you wanting. I can't help but reflect on how different my life is since I first met Harry Potter......

My mom bought me books 1-4 for Christmas about 6 years ago and devoured all four of them in about a week's time (like I said, fast reader). I was still living with my parents at the time. Then I waited, like everyone else, for book 5 to come out. Book 5 I pre-ordered and it arrived on my doorstep with a thump from the Fed-ex man early that Saturday morning. I was living in my sweet little condo at the time. I read that one in a day too, but I was up late into the night finishing it. Book 6's release is hazy. I think I was in the throes of new love with my now husband then long distance boyfriend. I didn't pre-order it. I just went to the bookstore and purchased it. It was divine. (Books 4 and 6 remain my favorites) And now Book 7, again, not pre-ordered. I just got up on Saturday and went and bought it. I may be all grown up now, but at heart I'm still the little girl who spent a lot of her time reading every book she could get her hands on. I'm still the same little girl who's friends were Larua Ingalls Wilder, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, The Girls of Canby Hall, Superfudge, The Girl with Silver Eyes (and all of her telekinetic friends), Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout, and countless other characters in countless other books that I read over and over and over again. I was more comfortable with them than I was with the girl who lived down the street (I said down the street - not across the street Val). And I appreciate the fact that J.K. Rowling could create a story that captivated not only childen, but adults as well. It has re-kindled my love of reading.

If you haven't read these books, you should. The movies don't do them justice.

Now I'm off to write my own best seller. If I can just find what I did with my creativity, because I seem to have misplaced it.

Same Old Same Old

I know I'm a weenie about keeping up with this thing. There just doesn't seem to be much to tell right now. My life consists of working, making lunches, making dinners, watching a few minutes of tv and going to bed. And before I know it, it's been a week and I haven't posted. Again.

Dave's outside killing bees and I'm in here trying to think of something interesting to blog about. I've been blog surfing lately. Two years ago I didn't even know what a blog was, now I'm looking at people's blogs who I don't know from a chick pea. It's fun to start at a blog you know, look at one of my friend's blogs. Click on one of her links, then click on one of that person's links, and so on. It's fun to see where you end up. I want to put links to all my buddies blogs on my page, but so far I haven't been able to figure out how.

I promise to work on that so you can look at my friend Katie's most adorable daughter, Molly. Or see Mandy's (you have to call her Miranda) brand spanking new baby, Max. I haven't even see him yet he's so new. Or visit the Nuthouse and hear all about Val's two little nips who keep her on her toes every day. So there, you have something to look forward to beyond my boring posts!

The Wild Goose Inn

As I mentioned, Dave and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast last weekend to celebrate our 1st anniversary. The first night was a surprise gift from my bridesmaids and my good friend Katie. We decided to splurge and stay an extra night. We stayed at The Wild Goose Inn in East Lansing. It was right in downtown East Lansing and we arrived on Saturday afternoon, parked the car and didn't move it again until we left on Monday.

We stayed in two different suites which was cool because they all have a different theme. The first night we were in "Summer Safari" Sorry, I forgot to take the pictures right when we got there so the room was already "lived in" before I got the camera out. But you can also go the website to see their professional pictures!

The second night, we were in the "Great Lakes" suite. I felt like we were up on Mackinaw Island and this suite took up the entire second floor of the second buildings. It was very private. And it had it's own private deck where we spent much of Sunday lounging and reading which is something I have not had the luxury to do in quite some time.

There is also a nice patio connecting the two building together where you could sit and have breakfast or just hang out and relax.

Sunday we walked around the Michigan State Campus and looked at the botanical gardens. This is my reflection in the little pond. It was a very clear and still day.

We had an absolutley wonderful time. The bed and breakfast was so nice and relaxing. Thank you so much to my girls for being so amazing and thoughtful. I really feel so undeserving!