Blog Challenger - Post #7 - How you came across Blogger...

and how it changed your life.

Hmmm.. I'm wondering if it has really changed my life in any way. I guess in a way, it has. Blogger is the best thing since sliced bread. How cliché of me? Since I started blogging, 5 years ago, (holy cow!), Blogger has been a way of me journaling the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life. And sometimes other peoples'. Oops.
But, all joking aside, Blogger is just an awesome way to make friends (even virtually), and to keep friends etc up to date on what's happening in my life, what's bothering me, what's making me happy or sad. I love reading everyone's posts/stories and seeing pictures that you all share. It's like I have all these friends that only exist in the blogosphere but I love it! Sometimes, my friends aren't always there to lend an ear and as long as I have my blog, I always have someoene who cares about what I have to say. We often share the same trials and tribulations and it's so awesome being able to relate to someone on so many levels.
My husband does not "get" the blogging thing AT ALL. He thinks I log on and just start telling everyone about my life etc... complete strangers. *GASP* Strangers??? Bite your tongue. These are my friends! ** corny clip art below **

Year in review

What a year it has been! Hard to believe we're saying goodbye to 2010 already and will bring in 2011 in just about an hour. So many wonderful things have happened this year!

* Jeff and I got married (after 9ish years together)
* We celebrated our first year in our first home
* My oldest sister, truly by a miracle, delivered a beautiful baby girl!
* My father-in-law beat prostate cancer. (thank the Lord for the early detection)

There are so many other things that I could list but those are the ones that stuck out right now. I'm praying for a fantastic new year in 2011. I'm trying not to make any resolutions because I don't want to let myself (or anyone else) down. My biggest resolution (if I was making one).. as always, is to get healthy & lose some weight. But we'll see how that goes. I hope that 2011 is the start of a great new year full of wonderful new memories!

My latest read

Have you read this Beth Moore book yet? I saw a short review on it some time ago and immediately decided that it was something I wanted to read. I decided to put it on my Christmas list and Santa Hubby brought it! I can't wait to start reading it. If you've already read it, be sure to let me know what you thought of it.

Christmas has come and gone so fast!

All the planning & crazy shopping for weeks - even months - and it's all over that quickly? Wow. Christmas was a wonderful day as always for me. It's never about the gifts for me; it's always about the time we get to spend with family. It's what I really treasure the most about it. On Christmas morning, my sisters and I usually go to my dad's (with our spouses/significant others) and we exchange gifts with my dad and stepmom and then enjoy a nice home cooked breakfast. Then Jeff and I go to his parent's home for a late lunch/early dinner and spend time with his family there. Finally, Jeff and I come back home and spend the rest of the night with my mom and usually my brother when we exchange gifts and have some light fare. My sisters will usually stop by before calling it a night too. It's always a busy day full of great times spent with family. I had to work the day after Christmas this year, which I haven't done in a long time. It really sucked to have to get up early in the morning and trudge to work. I should've planned my vacation time better and I could've saved a day or two to use this month. But oh well.
One of my favorite parts of Christmas day is when we go to church. I always like going to church but on Christmas, it just seems so different. It's a feeling that I can't quite explain. My only gripe is all the people who don't step foot near the church all year and then decide to make their once-a-year visit on Christmas. It's always been something that annoyed me. I couldn't believe how many people were there! The church was filled to capacity, so much so that people had to start lining the walls and standing. Craziness. But I guess I can't fault them entirely, at least they went, right? Ok, rant over. Sorry. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday with your families, whether it was Christmas or Hannukah, Kwanzaa.

TGIF - Amen!

Lots of errands to run today. Ok, not lots but enough. First I have to pay the sewer bill that I seemed to have forgotten about & then I'm off to Wegman's to drop off a picture for my niece's birthday cake. Guess what it's a picture of? Justin "Beaver". That's what she calls him; so funny. Yes, that's what kind of cake she wanted. My sister, I think, is worried that she's all into a boy but I think it's totally harmless. She's almost 5 - it's cute. So her party is at the skating rink tomorrow and initially I wanted to partake and skate but now I'm rethinking it. I haven't skated in years so I should just watch and help chaperone, right? :) It should be a lot of fun. It was planned at the same place last year but then we got all that awful "S" word and the rink closed. My sister never had a chance to reschedule either. That stinks. I'll post some pictures from the party.. hopefully none will be off me on my butt!

Post #6 - Blog Challenge - YOUR FAVORITE SEASON

My favorite season, hands down, is SPRING! I love it because it's not cold and not too hot - it's the in between. Summer can get too hot and winter, well, you know I hate the cold and the "S" word. Spring is beautiful - I can't get enough of beautiful blooming flowers!

I said Hey, What's going on!

I really want to sit here and blog until my fingers ache because I have so many things to say but seems I forgot one minor thing when I was at the store just now. Uh -- dog food. Seems it's quite vital to a certain furry-someone's continued thriving so I must take off my comfy slippers and stretchy pants and head back out in that crippling cold BUT not before I at least leave you with a quick update - of sorts. Here are some things off the top of my head:

♥ I found the Beth Moore book "So long Insecurity" at Walmart for a great price but didn't buy it for myself because I was sort of Christmas shopping. I may get it for Christmas though. It's on my list. (I don't really have a list)

♥ I have tickets to this Friday's taping of the Dr. Oz show - I was stoked when I finally got through on the phone a month or two ago and COULD NOT wait to go! But now, I don't think I will be going. For starters, I couldn't find anyone to go with me and I don't think I really have the extra duckets for the bus up there. I'm a little disappointed. I love the Dr. Oz show.. I think he's pretty awesome. If you click on the Pay*Pal link on the sidebar, please feel free to donate to Dawn's Dr. Oz Show Bus Fund".

♥ Someone posted the following on her Facebook status this week: "I realy need a job. Does anyone know of any place that's highering" Oh. My. Word.

♥ My niece made a placemat in pre-school for Thanksgiving and on it there were leaves to write names in. Names of those whom you're thankful for - and yes, I made the cut! I was so touched. My sister sent me a picture of it. She even wrote my name herself. Well, she doesn't call me by my real name.. which is even cuter.

♥ My niece also just was awarded Student of the Month. My sister had a serious case of Proud Mama! And I, of course, was one PROUD aunt.

♥ We have all our lights and tree finally up BUT my OCD is coming out and I'm having a hard time dealing with the rearrangement of the living room and how certain pieces of furniture are where they just don't belong or LOOK like they belong.

♥ I had my heart set on a job that I was pretty hopeful for..But I called 4 days after I applied and they'd already filled the position. Not nice. I prayed on it so I know that I didn't get it because it just wasn't right.

♥ I finally got out with a great friend of mine last week - It was so nice to sit and talk and catch up. We don't get to do it too often but it's awesome when we do. We always laugh and have great conversation. We went to Moe's SouthWest Grill & it wasn't too bad.

♥ I played a prank on above mentioned friend today. She had left a private message for me on Facebook about how she was sorry they couldn't make game night but it turns out she's started a new medicine and it has her constipated pretty badly. So I called her today and told her that she didn't send me a private message, that she in fact, posted that on my WALL for everyone to see. Well, after she gasped louder than I've ever heard and said "OH NO!" I just busted out laughing. Is it bad that I waited all day to call her and do that? She knows me though, so she wasn't upset.. she thought it was funny in fact. I should have at least let her run to the computer! haha

-- Ok, I've written too long and I don't want to get up early to make eggs and bacon for my pooch, so I'll conclude here and head back out to the store. Bleh!

Post #5 - Blog Challenge

Tell us your 3 favorite colors: Hmmm, I had to think about that one. Although I'm pretty consistent with my favs. They are: (insert drumroll here)... Black, Brown, Burgundy. Yep that's it. At least currently. Boring, right?

30 day challenge - Post#4 - My closest friends

This is an awesome topic to write about. When it comes to friends, I'm all about QUALITY and not so much QUANTITY. I don't have a ton of friends and most of the ones I do have, are mutual friends or just acquaintances but my CLOSEST friends are truly who I treasure the most. My closest friends are the ones that I trust with my secrets, my fears, my doubts, etc. My closest friends are the ones who have been there through it all and we can always count on each other. I let them "in" and I'm not afraid to. They're awesome and I'm so thankful for having them in my life. I regret to say that along the way, I've lost some of my closest friends but I guess if we were truly meant to be, we would have been. I'm lucky that I'm able to say one of my closest friends is my sister. She's probably the ONE person that I trust with EVERYTHING. She's definitely my BEST friend.

Thanks

Well I did end up getting behind, even after I promised myself that I would stay on top of blogging. I even was convinced that the 30 Day challenge would be the motivation but alas, life has been busy and I've been a slacker. Sorry folks. I will definitely catch up on the challenge and get back on track. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. Ours was pretty nice. We had a scrumptious dinner with my in laws and even played a few rounds of Catch Phrase. Boy, are my in laws (including my dear husband) COMPETITIVE. Woo, it gets ugly! But it's all in good fun and I had a really nice time. We all prayed as a family & also noted that my father in law just finished his last treatment. He had 39 consecutive rounds of radiation for prostate cancer and just finished his last one, before Thanksgiving... so that was something to really be Thankful for. We can only pray that when he goes back to the doctor, his scans come out clear. I'm Thankful for a lot of things this year. Good friends, good health, family, church, my new niece Chloe who arrived this month, my job (even though I'm not always a fan of it).. my home, my family, my husband, and just LIFE itself. I could list a million things I'm Thankful for but that's just the tip of it. I'm even Thankful for my blogger friends and the happiness they've all been blessed with.

In other news, we actually put all of our Christmas lights up last night. Yep, we did! And we even did the rest of the house - inside. I have all my Christmas/holiday things out already and I love it. We're in the spirit already and it feels so good! I can't wait to see everyone on Christmas Day when we get together. I love seeing my family altogether at one time. It's so rare but so precious.

30 day challenge - Post #3 - Fav TV show

I'm not much of a TV gal, at all. In fact, I can hardly tell you what's on TV these days. BUT I do have 2 favorites that I try to never miss. I love DROP DEAD DIVA on Lifetime, which airs in the summer months. It's quite a cute show & it's one of, if not the only show that I'm actually committed to. Other than that, lately, my fav show is The Big C, which airs on Showtime. It's a drama & comedy, (dramedy?) and it sort of makes you want to LIVE LIFE.. and not be afraid to do things you've never done etc.. Other than those two shows - I much prefer a good book to the 'tube' anyday.

30 Day Challenge - Post #2 - Tattoos/Piercings

This is the entry where most of you, if not all of you, *gasp* in shock! Ha! Maybe not..

Let's see, I have a tattoo on my right leg that I absolutely LOATHE. It's actually a cover-up. Yes. When I was 19, and madly stupid in love, I actually had a name tattooed on me. How freakin' stupid, right??! I know. Trust me, I do. No one was going to talk me out of it. I was going to marry this guy, have his children, live happily ever after. (no idea where he is today or what he's been doing with his life).. But, yes, I did it and then I regretted it. I had the name 'Joe' put on my right lower leg and it was really small. Just the name & it finished with a little red heart. Then years later, as time went on, I regretted it and my mom offered to pay for a cover-up. Well, I was suckered into a much larger tattoo, to properly 'COVER' it. Sure. I wish I'd just kept it as it was. After all they say that tattoos are memories of times/events in your life, right? In MOST cases, maybe. That name was so small and I didn't mind it as much as I mind the one I have now. I hate it. If I had the money, I would get it lasered off. I don't wear shorts much in the summer and when I wear dresses or skirts, I try to get them long enough to cover it. I'll post a picture.. it's ugly. And it hurt like hell!
As for piercings, all I have is my ears pierced. Twice in both. BUT, In the summer of '98 I was feeling a bit daring and I had my lower lip pierced. I originally went to get one of those small little balls put in.. it was simple. But the shop was all out of those, and I was really anxious to get it done, so I settled for a small hoop. Most people are shocked to find out that I had my lip pierced. I actually kind of liked it at the time. But it didn't last long; I took a job for the summer in Wildwood and I was waitressing, so they had me get it removed for the job or I had the option to wear a band-aid. Ewww. Would you rather have your meal served by a girl with a lip piercing or wearing a big band aid on her face? So, that's the story of my tattoos/piercings.


** my leg looks really fat & proportioned oddly - it was my pant leg doing that, I swear.

Thirty Day Challenge - # 1 - My middle name

Hmmm, my middle name. Well, many people who know me, think that my middle name is Marie. But it actually isn't. My full first name is Dawn Marie. My middle name is Dorothy... which also "doubles" as my baptismal name WHICH also is my Godmother's first name. I think a lot of people are surprised to hear that my first name is Dawn Marie. But I just don't go by that name; I've always only been called Dawn. which is fine with me. And so, that's the story of my middle name.

#1 is done! On to #2 tomorrow.

30 day challenge?

Well, I sort of 'stole' this from my adorable, newest, follower, Mere.. It's called the 30 day challenge & apparently several bloggers are posting this as a way to break the ice or even just to motivate them to have a post, every day for the next 30 days. I sometimes need that extra push. I have writer's block a lot. I never have talker's block though. Ask my co-workers! haha So anyway, I decided I'd join in and try this blog challenge.. Not only will it give me a topic to write about each day but it'll also give you a little insight.

I need a swift kick

I really want to write a new entry but I'm just not in the right mind today. I know sometimes, my bloggy friends do a bullet post to catch up on things, so I've opted to do that! I promise I'll be a little more interesting next time. I'm just trying to do some laundry and clean house today.

So -- what's been going on in my world:

- My oldest sister, who is 36, just had her first child. AFTER not thinking that she would ever have children. She had a beautiful, healthy baby girl on Monday night! She was born @ 8 lbs - 8 oz on the 8th! Pretty neat, eh? She was born at 7:45 so she just missed 8:00 which could have been really cool! I love her already & can't wait to see her again!

- I applied for, interviewed today, and was offered a part time job. It's for evenings, a few hours, for a cleaning company. They mostly clean offices, etc.. so I'll be on my own, after hours, and pretty much can choose my schedule. I almost didn't go to the interview today but I really would like to have some extra money for Christmas and such.

- I'm still looking for another FULL time job. Yes, to replace my current one. My drive to work is just too much anymore & I haven't had a raise in 2 years. Granted, I know other people have had wage freezes too and I understand that but I don't make nearly enough money.

- We sort of rescued a Basset Hound & fell in love with her.. but when we really sat down and thought about it, it wasn't fair to her for us to keep her. If we did, it would have been selfish on our part. We were not home enough for her - with the needs that she had. We rehomed her to some mutual friends we know and she is doing beyond WELL! They love her and are so grateful to us for allowing them to bring her into their family. NO SHELTER!

- I really got away from going to church for a while.. and last weekend I made the effort to go back. I went to confession first and then we went to Mass. I love going to church - It's always so refreshing and I always feel so calm afterwards. It helps me to focus on things in life. It brings alot of things into perspective. I pray A LOT .. even when I'm playing hooky from church. It gets me throug a lot.

FALLing in love

Ahh, it's a Saturday in October (nearly November) and it's a brisk but sunny morning.
I think our yard definitely needs a rake taken through it. Oh my; it's so laden with pine needes from the tree right now. And they're all dead so they're all like a yellow color. I don't remember seeing these last year. I just love the colors of Fall. So pretty. Not sure what's on our agenda today but breakfast is definitely on the list. I have a 20% coupon for Denny's so I think we'll go there. I need some coffee; I know that! Maybe we'll hit a couple yard sales too. We love yard sales. Last weekend we went to a community one at my in laws' apartment community and it was great. I bought some nice Halloween decorations for the lawn and we actually found a treadmill for sale. I hesitated asking for the price but the woman had been telling people to "make an offer" so we asked and she said $10. I thought I misheard her! Needless to say, we checked it and it worked perfectly. I was so psyched. It was electric too.. and was a good brand. For so little money! We finally have the first piece to our gym that we're hoping to build in the basement. I used it for the first time the other night and worked up a real sweat! Wow. I haven't used a treadmill in a long time. I'm really looking forward to making it a regular thing to get on there and get my excercise in. Hope you're all planning to have a great Saturday. Tomorrow's Halloween! Lots of places are still doing pumpkin picking and hayrides. I really want an apple cider donut right now.

Bullying

I know you're probably sick of hearing about it.. in the news, on TV, in print. I don't know how you could be but I realize it's really being put out there lately. Unfortunately, it's actually conjured up some old memories of my own in regards to the issue. I was talking to my husband about it the other day and said that I "think" I was bullied in high school. I say "think" because I don't know if it would be classified as bullying or just some jerk picking on me. Either way, I have only one memory of going through this. Or I should say only ONE person, but many memories. And would you believe that the culprit was a boy? I was in 7th grade & this 'kid' just picked on me EVERY day in English class. It was crazy. I was very quiet back then and pretty much just minded my own business. But every day in English this kid would call me names, kick my chair, throw stuff at me. And I hate to say that even after all these years, I've never forgotten. When I say he called me names, I mean he called me NASTY names.. Besides F'in Scumbag, dirtbag and whore, he also called me the "C" word. Yes, really. When I sat back and thought about it this weekend, it made me wonder how the hell a 7th grader even KNEW that word. It's so disgusting. I started to day dream and imagine sitting with his mother over a cup of tea and telling her all about the hell her son put me through and I imagine she'd be pretty appalled at the things he'd said to a young girl. From what I knew about him, his family was pretty well rounded. Just your regular modern family. Fairly well to do; his dad was either a police chief or well on his way to it at the time. I imagine his mother was a nice lady who made sure that dinner was on the table every day and kept a nice house.. always there for her kids. I guess it wasn't until I was older that I thought about those things. You often figure that someone must have a pretty shitty life to treat others that way.. but I really don't think he did. And trust me, this goes beyond the idea of "if a boy teases you, he LIKES you". Sooo not the case. This is the same 'kid' who, under his senior year profile, wrote... PET PEEVE: Fat Chicks. How nice. So now, fast forward, here we are all these years later ( 20 or 21) & I've seen his profile on Facebook via some other classmates' pages. Evidently, life has been pretty good to him. He's now a married man with children AND he's a police officer. Ha, a man of the law.. SERVING and PROTECTING. How ironic. I pray his child/children NEVER have to endure what I did that whole year. I often contemplate sending him a message and just getting it off my chest. If I saw him at a class reunion, I don't know how I'd feel. I really wish I could tell him how he'd made me feel and how MEAN he was to me at such a young, impressionable age. But would he care? Probably not. I don't think he's changed at all. But that's just my thoughts. I can't help but think he's the same prick today that he was back then.

Just say no to winter

I really hope that Fall sticks around for a while. I love the leaves and the crisp air. I loathe winter and snow. I can't believe I even just said the S word. Yikes! Decorating for Fall is my favorite, I think. Even next to Christmas. That's just weird. haha
I'm so glad I went to bed early last night. At first I couldn't believe I was turning in at 10 o'clock on my "Friday".. but I was tired and knew I had a busy day. Luckily, with going to bed that early, I woke up at 8, all refreshed and ready to go! I cleaned the house, polished and got a load in the washer. It's so nice to see it's only 9:30 and my household tasks are done! I have to go pick up our wedding photos today. They are finally finished! Our package came with an 11x14 and two 8x10's so all I have to do is get frames. Silly me thought that when it said they came "mounted", it meant "framed". Not so! I guess I'll take a trip to Michael's and see what they have. I'd like to get a nice vintage frame for our big picture. It'll probably go in our formal living room above the TV or the sofa. Not sure yet. We've got a wedding to attend tomorrow so I'm really looking forward to that. I love weddings! I haven't been to one since my own! heehee I had a crazy dream the other night about our wedding too. I'm pretty sure it's normal to have wedding nightmares BEFORE you get married. But AFTER? I'm thinking no. Not much else has been going on here - just working etc. I finally had a coffee date with one of my best girlfriends last night.. We actually ended up at Saladworks instead of getting coffee but it never matters where we go. We always have so much catching up to do and we could talk for hours! I appreciate her friendship so much. It's so wonderful to have friends that you can really sit with and just gab for hours about life and whatnot. I mean honest to goodness TRUE friends. I hope you all are blessed with friendships like. I may not have MANY but the ones that I do have are genuine and I cherish them.

Apple a day and such

It's only 10:30 on Saturday and I feel like I've gotten alot done already. Laundry, cleaned a little more today and straightened the basement, yet again. I got up at 7 to pick up my mom from work and we stopped for breakfast. I'm not a fan of them usually but the one buffet on the way home has breakfast for $4.99 per person. You truly can't beat that, even at a diner. We get there just as it opens, which is good because I am really turned off by some of the characters I see at those places. Getting there when it opens means that we're 2 of the first people in there. I have seen some nasty antics when I've been there. Totally skeeved!

In other news, I went for my well check up last week and had some blood work done. It came back that my cholesterol was in good order, my sugar was good and my thyroid was fine. (Why she checked my thyroid, I don't know). But my triglycerides were elevated. Damn carbs. I'm a pasta and bread girl. And although I've traded my white pastas and white breads for whole wheat or whole grain, I've not done that well, obviously. So the doctor recommended LOTS of exercise,weight loss, cutting out the saturated fats and carbohydrates, increasing my fiber and taking fish oil tablets. There's a lot you can do to bring down high tryglycerides. The fish oil tablets, I'm still a little leary on but I guess I should try. I really need to lose weight still and I think that will help a bunch. I just ordered the South Beach diet book on Amazon so hopefully I can get alot of insight from that and really get those refined sugars and carbs off of my daily menu. I'm going to start jogging again.. I love walking and jogging and before I moved in with my husband, I was going alot with my sister and did take off some pounds but then I got lazy and stopped. So I'm making it a goal to get my butt back out there and get this weight off. I have weights that I use in the house, but they're mostly building my upper body. The walking and jogging really do it for me. So once I incorporate the 'better eating' with the activity I should be well on my way to a healthy me. I've always said that I'm worried about heart disease since my dad has it and it runs in the family, so I guess I need to make it a point to fight it NOW.

I don't know what else is on the agenda for today. We had yet another potential buyer ask about the bar items we're selling and we got as far as this one atually wanting to come see them. So hopefully she calls me and it actually works out. That would be great! Just don't waste my time saying you're coming. This woman wants to come check them out - If she decides she doesn't want them when she sees them, that'll be kind of awkward. I love Craig*slist but it always makes me nervous how people actually come to your home. I guess it's no different than a yard sale but with that, you're OUTSIDE. In this case, people come to our home and go into our basement.. which means, granted, they don't see our whole house and what we have, but it's just a little scary. So, I'm off to do some more laundry and maybe take a nap. I'm so tired after getting up so early ~ I went to bed LATE.

Getting ready for Fall

I finally was able to open all the windows get a nice breeze blowing in. We have french doors leading out to the deck and I love being able to open those and the door up front in the living room! It creates this great breeze that runs right through the house. I was also able to pull out all the Fall stuff and start getting the house ready for my favorite time of year! My day ended up a little screwy; plans were messed up etc.. but I made the most of it. Picked up lunch and came home to enjoy the quiet before I have to pick up my niece. So excited about that too. I was supposed to have plans with my Mom and she was going to look at a car. Well, I never saw her message last night that she wasn't feeling well and just needed some rest. So I drove over there and accidentally woke her up - Needless to say we didn't have plans after all. This, after I canceled an interview I had with Macy's. I applied for part time seasonal help and I had an interview today. Now that I canceled, the next one I can actually make is NEXT Friday. Dang it! Wish I'd kept it. Wish I'd seen that message from my Mom last night. But what can you do? Just make the most of it. Lots of cleaning I can do and moving things around. We've been trying to sell some things on Craig*slist and that's worked out for the most part. But man, are there a lot of SPAMmers in this world!!?? And people who show a real interest in an item but then just totally fall off the radar. What's the deal there? We got rid of some stuff last weekend. Bar items mostly. We were going to build a nice bar down in the basement (his idea mostly).. but we decided the space would be better utilized if we were to build a home gym. At this point in our lives, we should be worried about our health & fitness and keeping in shape. Not sitting around entertaining friends and getting our drink on. haha! That was a corny statement.. but you know where I'm coming from. In other news, I've been trying like a FIEND to get a new job. I lost count of how many positions I have applied for. I've been trying so hard to get a position in a doctor's office or hospital. I don't have the experience in either but I went to school for some various courses and nothing has developed yet! I think my resumé could use some tweeking, I know it's a little shabby. I'm just not satisfied in my career right now and quite honestly, it's not a career for me. It's a 30 minute drive every day and as you can imagine, I burn alot of gas in a week.. if I was making more money AND actually enjoyed what I did, it might not be half bad. I just feel that I'm in a place in my life now where I need to get motivated and really find my place in the Career world. I've always wanted to be in the medical field.. just not so much the 'hands on". Nursing school would be stupendous BUT funding it isn't easy. I'll figure it all out I guess. Life otherwise, is pretty good.

See you in September

Ugh, I never liked that song as a kid. And now it's stuck in my head. What a dope!

It's hard to believe that summer has come to a close. The kids are all getting ready to go back to school. Running around getting all those school supplies etc. I always dreaded the first day of school. I can still remember a certain smell in the air and the infamous "night before". We'd always walk up to our neighborhood deli and get cold cuts for our lunches. We almost always packed our lunches. And then we'd debate for hours, over which outfit would be the "first day of school" outfit. When I was growing up I had 2 sisters so that meant that my parents had to buy school clothes for all 3 of us. That was pretty costly. We usually didn't go to the big department stores; my parents always knew of the discount places. Most times we were on a one parent income which was my dad's. So usually when we went out for school clothes, we each were able to pick at least 2 or 3 outfits to "start us off". It wasn't many compared to what most kids our ages were allowed. I remember seeing all the fancy outfits and brand spanking new sneakers. We rarely, if EVER, purchased brand name sneakers. We would go to Kmart or Fayva. And all this was fine with me.. It helped mold me into the frugal adult I am today, I think. We were appreciative of what we DID have and didn't really dwell on what we DIDN'T. I know if I had a school age child right now, I'd be one stressed out mom. I get anxious when I have to go to the store by myself and try to get some shopping done so I can't even imagine braving the malls, department stores at Back To School time. Yikes! But I hope all my friends are having a good time at least getting back in the school mode again this September. I have some friends whose children are starting Pre-K (like my niece!), some friends whose children are starting high school and even Kindergarten! I know it's an emotional time even though I'm not a mom. I'm an aunt who loves my niece like my own and I cried when she started PreSchool last year. I was a mess.. and even though I've already done the "first day" once already, I'm going to be a mess again. My sister and I usually make sure we have our sunglasses on so it's not as obvious! haha But isn't it a right of passage? To be blubbering mess? I think it is. To my awesome blogger mommies: Good Luck this year! To Hannah, Aiden and Amelie! Big, Big Days for the girls. It's a milestone! And I know there will be pictures!

Birthdays, families etc..

Yes, I sometimes am at a loss for words when it comes to a blog title. Sorry. Anyhoo.. it's Friday so that means I must be off of work! Yippee! I've been pretty productive too. I've already got my second load of laundry in the dryer. The first is dried, folded and PUT AWAY. Which is, in itself, a miracle. I never put laundry away as soon as it's finished. A bad habit of mine that I'm working on. I just started today. HA!! So I've got the laundry all set, cleaned the house, except for running the vacuum and I'm about to shower and run errands. I think we're doing a game night with friends tonight so that's something to look forward to.

And then tomorrow I'm having a little birthday celebration for my mom. Can you believe that she's going to be 58 (don't tell her I said that!) and she has NEVER had a birthday party? Growing up she had a pretty awful childhood... her parents were never around much. Her dad was an alcoholic and her mom was schizophrenic and was in and out of mental institutions. (I'm not kidding and I have no idea why I divulged that much information)..
She said it was mostly just her and her dad at home and when her birthday rolled around he would give her a few dollars and tell her to go down to the bakery and buy herself a birthday cake. It seems like it would've been acceptable but looking back it is in fact, pretty darn sad. Who wants to celebrate alone?
....but back to the subject at hand. I'm getting some good eats and I'm making a birthday cake and having a few close friends over. It'll be small but it'll be special. She'll be thrilled. I have to get some cute decorations etc from the dollar store. It'll all come together nicely. I can't wait. She really deserves a day to just celebrate her. She has been there for me in so many ways through out my life, I can't even count on all my fingers and toes. We're very close and always have been. She is very difficult at times but through the years I learned the tricks of the trade and how to deal with her in different situations.. and it works now. Sometimes she just needs a little kick in the butt. : -) Kidding.. But really, I am so looking forward to tomorrow. (her real birthday is next week; we're going to bingo and then to have some dinner).

over the hump

Yep, today is my hump day. Thank the Lord. I have so much to blog about and I haven't the time I wish I did to really get caught up. I have been so out of character lately; I hardly know myself. Not sure what the deal is.. but I've been using the old hormone excuse. In my case, it truly is though. Everyone seems to annoy me anymore. Well not just anyone.. mostly people who were ALWAYS annoying but I have started to let it get to me. So unlike me.. and I'm not liking it. I'm trying to figure it all out though. It's the stupidest things sometimes that really send me. Take for example, tonight's catching up session with all the blogs I read. I almost felt compelled to comment on someone's blog and tell her to shut the hell up. Ha! I read several different blogs, most of which I actually "follow".. but occassionally I click on a few that I often read but am not actually "following". So I read the one blog, of a gal who is one of the best moms I 'know'. And by 'know', I just mean that I have read her blog long enough to be able to come to that conclusion. Love reading her blog.. it's always filled with witty posts and chock full of stories she shares about her children. She adores them to pieces. Then I find myself landing on another gal's blog and am always irritated to no end that all she does is BITCH. I mean, really. Complains about everything. It seems, (totally my opinion) that nothing is ever good enough. And people in general appear to just annoy the hell out of her. I know some people are just made a certain way and it may just be her personality but I wonder if she realizes it? You often don't see any comments after her 'rant' fests because I can only assume no one really has anything to say to it. She doesn't strike me as someone who appreciates the effort her spouse puts out to provide her with a comfortable life. Very ungrateful is how she actually comes across. It's kind of sad actually. Everyone wants to be happy. So, that was my rant. Sorry. I shall find the old me in the next few days and get back to my regularly scheduled blogging. Hope you're having a super summer ~ it's almost over. Wahhhh!!

Pics

Me with my dad & me with the gals! The photos are a little grainy - they were taken with my elderly aunt's disposable camera but turned out pretty good for the most part.

Marital Bliss

After you get married, everyone starts to ask "how's married life?" when they see you.. And I can tell you, for me, it hasn't changed life much. Jeff and I were together just shy of 9 years before we got married so all that's changed is we live together in our own home now and I have a new last name. Otherwise, not much has changed. I guess in a way, you feel a different kind of bond. And we do feel that closeness. Of course, when friends ask you "how's married life?", you just say "It's cool"... They don't REALLY want to hear all the mushy stuff and how you've really started to become ONE together, even though they did ASK. :) Then, after you've been through that round of questions, you start to get the "When are you having kids? ARE you having kids?" ... and that is the question I don't really ever know how to answer. (whole other post). But married life has been great. We're 3 months in already... So hard to believe it's been 3 months since that beautiful day. So many people think that after a certain amount of time, things change.. or as some put it, "The honeymoon's over".. but for Jeff and me, that hasn't happened. And I hope it doesn't. We've been together almost 10 years and we still act as if it's brand new. He still holds doors for me, speaks highly of me to friends and family, we tell each other EVERY day "I love you", kiss goodbye and goodnight.. Like two newly "in love" people would. Jeff's old fashioned in a lot of ways and gets much of that from his father, which I really appreciate about him. Sometimes, out of nowhere, he'll just look at me and say "Do you know you're beautiful?" It's like he's looking at me for the first time & I love that. Some of our friends say it's "disgusting". Don't hate! HAHAHA

I've got so many pictures to develop still and so many albums to fill. Hell, we haven't even picked up our professional photos yet. We'll get there but we just haven't had the extra $500 laying around. haha Probably in the next month or two, we'll get them. Can't wait to see them. But I have so many photos from everyone else for now, I'm happy with those. At least for the albums we have at home to fill. We didn't do a big honeymoon because we wanted to do some things around the house, so we took some day trips to Lancaster, PA and Smithville, NJ. It was a nice time just shopping and sight seeing and not worrying about anything. Even if just for a little while. It was awesome.. I'll get some pics up soon. Not sure if anyone would want to sit and watch it, but maybe I'll post my wedding video and definitely some more pictures.

Found! Me!

Sorry I've been missing for so long from Blog Land but, even with as much as I've had to say, it's hard for me to find the motivation to sit down and post entries. Now I may just be sitting here all day! Yikes. I've enjoyed catching up on everyone's updates. You're all so GOOD with keeping current on your blogs. I've been taking the easy road & just posting on Twitter and/or Facebook. Twitter's so cool, isn't it? I think I've gotten really bad with it. I have it on my BlackBerry which means it's at my disposal WAY TOO easily. At work, at home.. In restaurants, out shopping! You name it. I did get away from posting EVERY waking minute on my Facebook status. It was getting crazy. I know I'm not the only one. Some people post the MOST RIDICULOUS shit on their status. I want to tell them to shut up sometimes. I know, that's mean, but I'm sure you've got one or two (or four) people like that on your friends list who do that. I think my biggest complaint is when they post WAY personal information or when they start drama. It's like high school sometimes. They start posting shit on there about other people and complaining.. I've seen arguments ensue. So silly. But anyhoo, this was just my "I'm back" post so I'll save my breath for the next couple of posts. Hope you're all well and enjoying the summer so far! From the looks of your blogs, you are! Love seeing all the pictures of summers at the beach and all the kids' pics.

Hello!

I've been out of the loop for so long now.. I have no idea where to start. So much to update you on. I'm actually even not able to give a good effort and post a new entry now either. I'm just waiting for the Stapl.es near my house to open so I can get fax toner for the office. Evidently, no one told me we were low and when I placed the last order, we were next to out of it. So, now, it's a last minute emergency. I wish they opened at 7 so I could be on time. I had so much to do this morning before work. Anyhoo, I will post a new entry on Thursday. Promise! Well, that's if I don't go to see the new Twili.ght Eclipse movie! Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer so far! I can't wait to get to the shore and walk the boards. I can already smell the pizza and salt water taffy!

A couple more pics

life in pictures.. for now

Keeping up

I really want to stay up tonight and get some things done but I'm so tired, I don't know if I can hang. I love being off on Fridays but when Thursday night rolls around, I have such big plans for it that never seem to happen. Gahh! I feel so old, going to bed early. But now that I'm done whining. I went and saw Shutter Island last night with my friend from work. It was a pretty good movie. I was debating for a while last night, what my final review was, but I did really like it. It was one of those crazy movies that sort of has a twist. But it doesn't matter with me, because I always figure movies out and this one was no exception. Nonetheless, it was a night girls' night out, complete with dinner at Olive Garden. My favorite place. Ok, maybe just ONE of my favorite places. So tomorrow, I'm hoping to get my ass out of bed earlier than usual and go get an oil change. That's the first thing on my list. My reminder light is coming on so now I know that I'm overdue for service. I'm heading to the post office to mail my thank you cards from the shower and then running some other errands. Going to be a busy gal.. but Fridays are always my "run" days. Tonight my sister and mom visited with my niece. It's always nice when they come over, even though my dog goes berzerk. She loves company and sure has a way of showing it! Gawd! She's crazy. Hope you've all got some great weekend plans in order - I'm sure you're loving this new found Spring-y weather we're having! Makes me think of flowers and gardens and cookouts! Enjoy!

Holy Hiatus Batman!

I can't believe I haven't posted since January. Really? Slacker! Well, I've got so much to update you on.. so I'm going to just do it in bullet-style, which isn't one of my favorite ways to post but it's going to be much easier for me.. Just this once, I promise. I've just been so busy with life, work and wedding plans that I haven't made a good effort to get on and post anything. I wish I could update my blog EVERY day. It would be so much easier. I'm going to be kinda silly with this, but these are the things I would have blogged about INDIVIDUALLY if I hadn't been a slacker.

* Our washing machine broke.. I think it's something simple but we're just using the laundromat for now. I don't miss the laundromat and I'd have been fine if I never stepped foot in one again. BUT it's working for now. We're planning on getting a new washer/dryer after the wedding. It's just not an expense we planned for right now.

* Our house is close to being exactly as we wanted it. We've painted and moved some things around. Bought new furniture for the living room and moved the old furniture to the room off the deck, and turned it into a family room (of sorts).

* We have a huge pine tree that we can't wait to cut down in our backyard. It's obnoxious.. Truly. The neighbor evidently hates it too; the limbs that used to hang over into her yard have all been cut.

* Our neighbors behind us have a paint gun and decided to hit ours and the house next to us over the weekend. Nice bright green paint all over our deck. Assholes.

* I had my Bridal Shower 2 weeks ago - It was fantastic! I received so many great gifts and am so grateful. I loved cleaning out the kitchen and putting all the new stuff away. We love the Keurig coffee machine! It's the best. I love all my gifts though. We're so appreciative of all the things we got. My family and friends were way too good to me. I have so many kitchen items that I really needed. Gifts aside, I was so happy that my friends (old and new) were able to make it). It was a special day.

* Evidently, it was try #3 on the Bridal Shower. The first place my sister booked, ended up losing their lease and never told her. She got her deposit back and then booked it somewhere else. So a second set of invites went out. The new date ended up falling on the weekend we had the snowstorm from hell and the shower was postponed yet again. So finally on take #3, it all came together and was a success.

* My older sister, who is 35, just announced that she is pregnant. I'm ecstatic! I was sure, as were the rest of us, that she couldn't have children and here she is all ready to be a mommy! So thrilled for her. She remarried in June of '09 and she's very happy. I can't wait to start planning a baby shower! So much fun.

* Our wedding plans are coming together.. We've got 33 days left. I'm nervous as hell. Not going to lie! Not about getting married but about that big entrance I have to make in front of all those people. Serious case of nerves, people.

* I diagnosed (sorta) and fixed (sorta) my car. It was having issues with not starting in the morning. The mechanic said it was the starter. I wasn't so sure. Paid for it, brought it home. Same thing the next morning. Did some research and was convinced, (thanks to the internet) that it was my ignition switch that was bad. Dropped my car off again, gave the mechanic the printouts that I found online in regards to the Saturn Ion and the bad ignition switches. He questioned me, I said "Yes, please do it".. He replaced the ingition switch... and Voila!! It works! No more dead car in the morning.

* I've become highly addicted to tweeting. I actually annoy myself sometimes. I constantly have my Blackberry in my hand.


* My friend (since Kindergarten) is coming in from Portland for my wedding.. I haven't seen her in way too freakin' long. I miss her and can't wait to see her. Only 33 days to go! We have so much lost time to make up for.

*I've got to get a move on and do something with our spare bedroom. I hate that we made it the "crap" room, for all of the things we were trying to find a place for. I may actually tackle it when I'm off on Friday.

* I had really good intentions to lose weight for the wedding and I totally didn't. A few pounds here and there but no serious progress.

* I've been stressing about things ALOT lately.. I was never like that but now all of a sudden, I break out in welts and itch like crazy.

* We're thinking about adding another canine-kid to our home but so far it doesn't seem to be 'meant'. We'll see what happens.

I think that's it for now.. I know I'm forgetting something but for now, this will do. I'm going to update on my wedding blog too as soon as I get a chance.. I'll post a pic or two from the shower.

Snow = A Snow Day

I'm a sissy. I admit it. When it comes to snow! I hate the stuff. Walking in it, standing in it, and of all things: driving in it. The roads around my neighborhood suck & I'm not chancing it to get out of town and drive 35-40 minutes to work & then home again. I probably shouldn't have called out but everyone at work pretty much knows I just don't drive in it. The roads may be fine once I get going but as far as I can see, they're covered here by me. I called my boss & left a message since he didn't answer & I'll also follow up with my co-worker who's in the office right now. Hope I don't get in trouble - then again I don't know why I would. So I may just stay in my PJ's all day today. What else is there to do? I had a busy weekend that started with taking my mom out dress shopping for the wedding - AGAIN. But she found a great dress, much better than the first & she seems to have decided this one is the ONE. I sure hope so. We did a game night last night with our friends ... we played Catch Phrase again. I love that game. If you haven't heard of it or played it - You MUST! It's great! I could probably play all night if I could. We had such a great time... no alcohol or anything. Just a nice night with friends, having a great time & lots of laughs. I hated to have to call it quits but it was getting late & I'm always the party pooper who has to work on Sundays. Well, not today. Bleh! I'll take some photos of our yard and maybe a quick video of my dogger. She loves the snow! Crazy Canine!

Hurtin' Pup

Well not yet but I might be later on. We took advantage of the semi nice weather today and went for a bike ride. Whew! It was definitely an adrenaline rush but my body wasn't ready for the length of ride that we did. We should have started out way smaller than what we did. But I'm glad I finally got to go and try it out. I think Jeff tried to kill me! ♥ I hope my butt isn't hurting later on, it sure was during the ride. We went uphill and down hill and we even went through the woods, so that was tough with two bridges to cross. Small little wooden ones that I was sure I was going to end up going right through! I have to get used to the bike riding but I can't wait to make it a regular routine when the weather's nicer. Jeff says we can't her our doggie one of those little attachements for my bike so she can ride with us. He's no fun. I guess I'm off to shower and dress so I can take my mom out for the afternoon.. We're dress shopping. Oh boy!

Friday, is that you?

I've yet again become a slacker with posting, even after I vowed to be better about staying current with it. It sucks that I can post from work anymore, because that's when I'm most able to get my thoughts together. By the time I sit down at the computer at night, I'm beat and I can't think straight. Not nearly enough to be able to get a blog post out. Wahhhh! I know, I'm complaining. Anyhoo. Last weekend was my sister's 30th birthday and 4 of us went to Atlantic City for the night to celebrate. No gambling. We usually don't. But we did go to the Irish Pub for some good eats and then off to the clubs for some dancing. We ended up at Mur.Mur and Jason Derulo made an appearance... and sang about 4 or 5 songs. Pretty good actually. I didn't actually get to see it because my cousin and I stayed outside while my sister and another friend went back in to say goodbye to her cousin (who had actually got us in without paying the cover or waiting in the long ass line). I learned, that night, that I'm so not into this whole clubbing/dancing thing anymore. I was miserable and just wanted to be somewhere else. With the same company of course. It wasn't the company at all, it was just the teeny boppers all over the place and the pushing and shoving and obnoxious people. Boy, do I sound like an old bitty or what? But all in all, it was a good time & I know my sister had a great time, so that's what matters. Now this weekend is going to be a busy one. Today I am taking my bridesmaid to try on her dress that finally came in and then on Saturday we have an appointment for our cake tasting and I have to also take my mom out looking for dresses. She hasn't found one yet & it's getting close. So my Saturday is going to be really busy and then I'm back to work on Sunday. Boo hoo. Maybe Saturday will creep by. I think I'm actually giving myself anxiety thinking about all that has to be done. Yikes! I'm also going to try and get to Ross maybe, and get some new tops and some jeans. My cousin was going through a rough time a couple months ago and I ended up giving her some tops of mine, even my long sleeved ones, so now I'm down to only a couple myself.. and it's been pretty damn cold lately. I didn't mind though, she needed some help and I tried to do what I could. It's hard to see people you love going through a rough time, and feeling helpless. Guess I'm going to jump in the shower and get ready to head out.. I need to run to the post office as well. Have a great weekend!

More snow?

Yep, it looks like we got some more of the aweful white stuff but luckily it's not too much. Looks like it just laid a little bit, but shouldn't affect driving etc. Thank goodness! I wanted to sleep in a little longer today but my ever loving phone has been going off since around 8. People emailing and calling.. what the hell? I guess I needed to get my butt up anyway, I have plans for lunch around 11 so I need to get showered and out the door soon. Love my Fridays but I like to get the most out of them. My fiancée is texting me from work that he is in the mood for a steak.. so I hope that means we're maybe going out to dinner. Probably just means he would like for me to go buy one and cook it. Ha! My week at work wasn't so bad this week, it was rather short actually. I worked on Sunday and was feeling under the weather so I took off Monday and Tuesday. By the time I got back to work, it was Wednesday and I had only Wednesday and Thursday left! It was kind of nice. Not nice using 2 sick days and missing work but it was a nice break. Everyone seems to have some sort of cold going on. Coughing, sore throats, stuffy heads. I said I got sick from the hospital. Oh yes! My good friend, had her baby on New Year's Eve! She was a little early since she was due in January, (the 2nd week I think) but both mom and baby are healthy and doing great. Baby Melissa was 6 lbs and 11 oz so she wasn't a bad size.. nice and healthy and cute as a button. We made it up to see on New Year's Eve before we headed out to celebrate w/friends. I held her the entire time we were there, she was so tiny and she slept the whole time. No fussing or anything. I'm so bummed that I haven't been over there to see her since she got home but I came down with this cold right afterwards, so I haven't been deemed "germ free" yet. At least I haven't decided that I am and I don't want to just pop in on them and impose when I could be passing around a nasty cold. I guess I'm off to shower and get dressed... I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll post later.

Happy 2010

Well, the New Year is here and we brought it in with just a few friends.. some good food, Pictionary and Catch Phrase. It was a low key New Year's Eve and I'm glad it was spent with some good friends. I can remember years' past when I was young and New Year's Eve parties were off the hook. Now we're all growed up and we have more sophisticated gatherings.
I suddenly realized the other day that I can get to Blogger from work anymore. I stopped posting on my own blog a while ago (from work) but I still read all my favorites every day. So Sunday I had read them all and then went back to refresh a short time later & it was being blocked! So now I guess I have to wait until I get home to catch up and post. I wasn't posting for a while at work because I know that our history is monitored, for the most part, and it was like leaving my diary out on my desk for everyone to read. I guess if they wanted to, they could still see my history on there and read my blog... which is really ok because I don't say anything detrimental to my job or anything bad about my company. Just a privacy issue with me I guess. You always want to have that mystery to yourself. Anyhoo, I'm home today and I was yesterday as well. I came down with something and I feel really crappy. Someone at work was getting sick last week and I guess she got it good because she is out until Thursday. I'm just stuffy with a headache and my body is a little achy. I can say that it doesn't feel real flu-like but who knows at this point. I am just praying that it passes quickly and I can get back to work. Yuck! I don't like being home by myself with idle time. I could be at work, being productive. So much going on. I need to keep busy. We've got 3 months until the wedding and it seems like it's crunch time now. I'm fretting every little thing. I'll have to post on the wedding blog a little later. For now, I'm gonna go curl up on the couch and rest.

Ha! Ok, I haven't been gone THAT long. But yes, I've been a slacker & by golly, I'm making a New Year's resolution to start blogging regularly. Well, and to never say "by golly" again. Hmmm.. where to start, bloggy friends of mine? So much has happened in the past few weeks. That's all it's been right? I can't get back to my last post without coming out of the composing screen, so I'm taking a wild guess. Anyhoo.. Christmas has come and gone and it was splendid. <-- another word for the "never to say again" list. It was exciting on so many levels.. but first and foremost was the fact that it was our very first Christmas in our very first home. We went all out decorating of course, not too crazy, (like the woman next door who has EVERY freakin' blow up decoration you can think of).. but we did a nice job. Lights, blow molds,(see previous post for the story on those).. we have our Mr and Mrs Claus in the bow window with candles and our tree, of course, is up and is just beautiful. And yes, we will not take it down until January 6th. Jeff says it's coming down sooner but we'll see. I'm pretty traditional. (Except when it comes to weddings, evidently). On Christmas of course, we headed to my (future) in laws' for our customary get together with them, but first we had breakfast at my dad and stepmom's. After we were done running for the day, we headed back home to host our own little get together with my family since my sister worked til 7:30. We had some light fare here and opened gifts with my brother and sister and of course, my niece! I will upload pics if I ever get around to it. Gift wise, we did pretty well. "Santa" left me a WII Fit plus & a new mountain bike! S-weet! It's really nice and I can't wait for the warm weather so I can ride it. I'm gonna get in shape, I tell ya. Between the WII Fit and the bike, I may be getting a new wedding gown! Is that good or bad? Considering it's a few months away! Yikes! Ok, no wedding talk on this blog. The new year is almost upon us and I'm so excited to have a fresh new start of a year that promises to be filled with lots of happiness, new memories and love. We're going to spend some time at a friend's house tonight and I plan to come home before the clock strikes midnight so that we can be here in our home..(well, that, and I secretly want to ring in the new year with our doggie). My sister and I have spent all but maybe 2 New Year's Eves together in almost 10 years so it's a little tough there too, knowing that we both are going to be in totally different places, but we always call each other so it won't be that hard.
I'll catch up and post a better, longer entry tomorrow.. I've got to go get ready. I'm making a stop at the hospital to see my friend who just had her bouncing baby girl this morning!! And then we're off to celebrate with friends. Have a safe & Happy New Year's Eve ... look around you tonight and see all of your blessings in front of you. Thank God for them and remember to hold them near.

The find

So last Friday my sister & I went on quite-the-adventure. We ventured to a little town just outside Ocean City, NJ to pick up the pictured items! Funny story, funny story. HaHa
On our travels in the past few weeks (or more), Jeff’s expressed an interest in these vintage Christmas decorations. He really wanted one and just didn’t know where to find them.
Everywhere we went, we’d see a house that had one or two or many on their lawn or around their home. We knew that they were SUPER old and thus, hard to find. The stores no longer sell them, that I know of.. so it was off to Craigslist I went. I checked for a few days and actually was able to find various ones on there. Turns out they’re called Blow Molds. Glad I can actually call them something besides “those old plastic Christmas decorations”. {I’m impressed that April knew what they were.. being so young and all. HAHA} Even though I have no idea what a pizookie is still.. But… back to the subject at hand…
Many people on Craigslist that were selling these things, wanted a MINT! I guess since they’re considered vintage at this point, they knew they could get good money for them, but I wasn’t prepared to pay a lot of money for any of them. Most of the sellers who had them at a reasonable price had already sold them by the time I’d seen the ad and inquired about them. But then on Thursday, there was a woman who was selling them at $7 each or all 5 for $25! I was sure they’d been sold for a couple of reasons… 1.) they were SO CHEAP and 2.) the ad was already about 3 or 4 days old. But I reluctantly emailed the seller and said “Please tell me you still have these available”…. Well, she did and I was stoked!! So when Friday came, my sister and I set out to go pick up my awesome find! It was a road trip and a half! Of course, it wouldn’t be a “road trip with Dawn” unless we got lost a few times. We didn’t really get lost, per sé, but there was a couple times that we started to take a wrong road and quickly recovered. But, alas, we found the house & the blow molds & it was so worth it. It was a surprise – Jeff had no idea where I went or what I was getting. We came home & scattered them on the lawn while he was in the bedroom getting changed… and then I brought him outside & let him see them. He was really surprised and excited. He immediately started testing them and configuring where he’d put them all. Turns out that there were 3 Santas but they were all a little different so it was ok. There was also a toy soldier and a snowman.. my favorite! I have to take some more pictures of them all set up, but for now this will have to do.

More ramblings and not too long after the previous!

I'm starting to be able to keep up with my blogging lately and I'm impressing myself. Today is so beautiful outside I just want to sit in the back yard and enjoy it! I'm doing some laundry and cleaning up a little bit. I did clean the other night but you know there's always something. We were supposed to have a birthday dinner on the agenda for this afternoon but now Jeff's mom is sick (?) and I don't think we're going. It was originally just the two of us and then I invited his parents.. so if she can't go, I don't see why we're not going anyway. BUT then he went to the dentist this morning and got some work done and doesn't think he "should be eating steak". Ugh! Whatever. So now I don't know what I want to do. Or I should say, what he wants to do. I don't like my plans being screwed up; if she's sick, that's fine but I'd still like for the two of us to go out. His birthday is on Monday and we're not big fans of going out to dinner on the week days. Other than that, I have about 4 bags/boxes, that I brought over from my old place, that I could be going through. I already checked through some of the crap and I could definitely have a yard sale or something. Maybe even post on Craigslist. I guess I'll jump in the shower and head around the corner to Michael's to get some fabric that Jeff needs for something he made at work & I'll see if they have any good sales on Christmas decor. I can't wait to decorate! I never had a home before that I could go all out on.. so this will be an awesome first Christmas in our first home. Very exciting. Have a great Saturday.

Lookout Weekend

Yeah, that's it.. I'll start titling my posts with song titles! Like the one below. Well actually that was a group but I'm sure there is a song with that title. If I can do it without dating myself, I'll tell you that "lookout weekend" is actually an old Debbie Deb song. Geez, I can see myself now - at the roller rink flying around in the floor and jamming. Well, enough of that reminiscing; it makes me feel old. It's Friday again and I've got a busy day lined up for myself. I'm supposed to have lunch with my 'aunt'.. I call her that but she's not. I've just known her since I was a wee little girl. She's almost 80 now, so she's more like a grandmother I suppose but just as well. So we're supposed to do lunch and some light shopping & I also want to pick up a couple things while I'm out for Jeff's birthday which is Monday. Old geezer's going to be 41! Just kidding. Good thing he doesn't read my blog, or does he?? I don't know what to get him... but then again I do & just am too cheap to get half of the things I know he'd like. Sure wish I'd won the lottery last Friday. Ya know, when I FORGOT to play a number that I had???! Oh, I was pissed about that. The weather seems nice right now, and I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have the back door open right now, but the air feels great.. (even though the heater is kicking on every few minutes). I just paid my bills online; I feel like I missed something & I guess I'll figure out what it was when I least expect it. Damn. I guess I'm off to get a shower and get headed out soon. I cleaned the house last night (the Thursday ritual).. so all I need to do this weekend is run the swiffer throughout the house and do some laundry. Love having hardwood floors because I don't have to run the vacuum on carpets but sometimes I don't know if it really is the better of the two. And talk about dog hair! Heavens! By the time I'm done cleaning the floors, it looks like a gremlin has attached itself to the bottom of the swiffer! And I want another dog? I think I should invest the money in getting my head checked. Happy Friday - Have a great weekend! I'm off to peruse the website for the Black Friday ads.. The one I go on, you can even create a shopping list and then print the sucker out at 3 a.m next Friday while haphazardly grabbing a cup of coffee and draggin' ass out to the car.

Tuesday's Gone

Is that a song, or a group? Maybe neither? Well, in any case, Tuesday is ALMOST gone and that means I'm getting closer to being off on Friday. Thsi week has seemed to go by quickly; maybe because I've been so busy at work. What a great feeling. Unfortunately, my work load has increased a bit due to another employee being let go. That never does work out in everyone's favor, I suppose. I think I may have a busy Friday this week. Plans are all tentative right now but I'm working on getting them confirmed. I know I should take some time this weekend and get some gifts for Christmas out of the way. Saturday, however, we're going to dinner with Jeff's parents since his birthday is on Monday. I'm super tired and would love to leave a long post tonight, but I just haven't got the energy. I did so much tonight. I made dinner, cleaned the kitchen AND made tomorrow's dinner! I tried my hand at homemade baked mac and cheese. It turned out pretty good from what I 'sampled'. It just wasn't something I could prepare tomorrow.. it would have taken way too long. So that's at least out of the way and all we have to do now is heat it up. We were thinking of going to the local animal shelter after dinner tomorrow to maybe look at some dogs, but I don't know if I really want another one. I think our fur baby we have already is enough. I like spoiling her & don't know how she'd take to another doggie in our home & our hearts. Here's a couple pics of her as a puppy the first day we brought her home & one of her now...She needs a haircut, as you can see.

Weekend's over

for me at least. I work Sunday thru Thursday, if ya haven't already figured that out. All the fun posts I do on Fridays. So the pig roast was different. Seeing the pig was a bit odd. Everyone was telling me to go "Check it out". So, I reluctantly walked up to the smoker (or whatever it's called) & I peeked at the pig. It was pretty strange. Nasty. Then I hurried back to my place on the back steps, far away from it. I told Jeff I felt like I was at a viewing and I'd just done my thing at the casket. Eww! It was that weird, yes. Needless to say, I didn't eat any of the 'pork'.. but it did smell delicious. It was just something about seeing it that made me never want to eat pork again. Hot dogs, bologna.. bleh! But aside from my swine aversion, I enjoyed seeing Katie & Dan and the added bonus to my day was that I got to hold, not one, but TWO babies! They were precious! Boy & a girl. Not the same family of course, and the funny thing was, the infant boy I held was someone's whom I'd never met before today! That was pretty crazy but he was a sweet lil thing. I have such motherly instinct, I really do. But, my having children, is another post all it's own. Hell, it's probably another BLOG all it's own. So we came home, cooked up a Target pizza we got for $2.66 and I watched the movie Taking Chance. It was ok.. I did get teary eyed on some parts.. and it seemed like it was a short movie. I would recommend it, I suppose. Evidently it was a true story, and I didn't know that before I watched it. I'm hoping to get out and see the new movie Precious soon. That'll be a ladies night at the movies. Well, I'm off to bed. Sunday @ 8 am comes early & I have to stop and get gas first, so my big blue eyes need to open way sooner than usual.

Saturday .. in the park

Not really, but sometimes I'm no so creative with titles for my posts. It's actually not a good day for the park; it's damp and chilly here. I think the rain has let up, even if it was just some drizzles. Today, we're having Jeff's brother come to look at our fireplace. We tried to fire it up the other day and had no luck. It's a gas fireplace so it's not actually burning wood. It's actually in the basement which was just about finished when the previous owners had a minor flood down there that obliterated the carpeting. Their sump pump wasn't working and since they'd never tested it, they had no idea. Pooey! So anyhoo, we're trying to get it up and running. Hopefully they can. And hopefully SOON. We're supposed to go to a pig roast today and I don't want to miss it because I've RSVP'd to two events with these particular friends and this will make number 2 that I haven't been to when I said I was coming. I don't like to do that because you know, after a while, people just stop inviting you to things. AND no, I am not eating the pig. With all this swine flu shit going around, I'm not taking any chances. My friends say that's not the case but please, it came from a pig to begin with, yes? I don't think I could consciously eat it anyway, even if it weren't a concern. I've never been to a pig roast so I just can't imagine pulling the pork off of that poor thing. Well, now I've got to go calm the dog down, because our "fireplace" friends have arrived and she's going nuts! Happy Saturday... Piggy updates later.

Welcome FRIDAY

I thought today was going to be my "do nothing and stay in my PJ's day" but I can't ever sit still. So now I'm thinking about all of the things I could be doing and none of it involves being cooped up in the house. Darn! I was actually throwing around the idea of maybe going and finishing up my registry at the one place I started online already. I figure I could do it by myself and get it done once and for all. Heck I'm getting married in a little over 4 months from now so I have to get registered right? Who knows when the shower might be. So I may go do that and I also have some letters to mail. I also wanted to get to the store and get some new tops. I have so few long sleeve tops/blouses.. so I may take a trip to my favorite place to shop: *Ross. If you're wondering why I've been adding strange characters after words, it's because I'm trying to eliminate spammers etc from arriving at my blog. I realized, through others' blogs, that when someone goooogles a word, or store or whatever it is I may be referring to, it links to any sites that have the word in it. So if someone were looking for the site to the store mentioned above, they could end up here. Not that it matters much because my blog is public but you just never know, I guess. Well, I'm off to shower and see what exactly I'll do with my day. Maybe stay in and clean & straighten out (make some sense of) the spare bedroom or high tail it out of here and over to the shopping center. I'm lucky that I live in a very busy shopping area. Restaurants, nightclubs, shopping mall and shopping centers all within 5 mins from my home... BUT I know when the real Christmas rush hits it will be chaos! Happy Friday! Enjopy your weekend!

Busy Life

Trying to get a post in before bed tonight. What a busy weekend. I had a 6 day work week but I'm so not complaining. I get overtime out of the deal. Nice! I had a girls get together Friday night; you know those romance parties that they do? Well, I'd had one before from another company and it was great.. but this last one? Sucked big time! The woman who ran it was just strange in every sense of the word. BUT in all, it was awesome hanging out with some great friends and having many laughs and good wine. Three of us ended up going out afterwards for a bite to eat and never ate. We, instead, ended up at this hole-in-the-wall place that they call a bar and it was horrible! I hate the place. When I was 21, it was tolerable and you drank enough to be able to do that! ;) But in the end, I guess it was ok. I came home, went to bed and felt like absolute shit the next day. Not sure why, still. I drank a half glass of Pinot Noir and then a 1/4 of a beer later on. Not enough close to enough to make me have the hangover(ish) feeling that I had the next day. Let's see, what else? My girlfriend's baby shower was a couple weekends ago and I'm so thrilled that she made out wonderfully! She got so many nice things and I think she's all set for baby girl when she comes! They've already got the baby room set up, it's all pink. Way cute. She's also my bridesmaid in our wedding, so she'll be having the baby in January, only a few months shy of the wedding. Makes for an interesting time when we order the dresses. Yikes! LOL But I'm thrilled for her and her husband.. they do have other children. And luckily, we live only a few blocks from each other now, so I can walk over and see the baby any time! Well, maybe I will call first. Maybe. So that's that as far as catching up. I think.
Oh and I'm working on some things that pertain to my future as well. No, I'm not talking "babies", even though that would be STUPENDOUS! Nah, it's career oriented. Sorry folks. In other news, I'm still debating what to do about Thanksgiving. I'm thinking it would be GREAT to have our first Thanksgiving in our new/first home... but I'm a big fan of going to the inlaws' to have dinner too. The idea of cleaning up that mess and basting a turkey all day is nauseating. And besides, I did it last year, so maybe I'll take a break this year? We'll see what I decide. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.